A Perry woman will spend 55 years behind bars for the killing of a Pleasant Point woman, who was found dead with nearly 500 knife wounds more than two years ago.
The judge handed down the sentence against Kailie Brackett, 38, on Friday at a Machias courthouse, according to CBS affiliate WABI.
That comes after a jury found Bracket guilty following a three-week trial last December.
The trial against the second person charged in the death of 43-year-old Kimberly Neputune, Donnell Dana, 39, of Perry, ended in a mistrial when the jury failed to reach a verdict against him for murder. He reached a plea deal with prosecutors in January under which he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor hindering apprehension.
On April 21, 2022, a relative found Neptune’s body inside her Thunder Road home in Pleasant Point. Neptune’s body had been covered, and a subsequent autopsy determined she had been stabbed and cut nearly 500 times on her legs, stomach, neck and head.
Two days after her body was discovered, police ruled Neptune’s death a homicide, and Brackett and Dana were arrested the following week during a traffic stop on Route 190.
Brackett and Dana pleaded not guilty in July 2022.
In the days before the killing, Brackett had been heard publicly accusing Neptune of stealing money from her, according to a police affidavit.
Dana lived with Neptune briefly, sleeping on her couch, and later shared a child with Brackett, whom he described as the love of his life in an interview with police, according to the affidavit.
In a statement to the court, Brackett maintained her innocence, saying Neptune’s family and friends haven’t gotten closure and that the killer or killers still walk among the community, WABI reported.