Judge upholds attempted-murder charge in bear case

A Burlington judge has upheld an attempted murder charge against a Milton man charged following a bear attack he says he hallucinated, recent court papers show.

Judge Gregory Rainville issued an order on Oct. 30 denying a motion to dismiss the charge against Lucas Gingras, 29, stemming from a July 2014 incident on Georgia Mountain. In addition to the attempted first-degree murder charge, Gingras has pleaded not guilty to reckless endangerment, first-degree aggravated domestic assault, first-degree arson and aggravated assault with drugs.

Police have said Gingras attempted to kill his then-girlfriend Ladonna Merriman by claiming a bear attack and compelling her to jump off a nearby cliff. Merriman had been planning to break up with Gingras, police said. Gingras told police he slipped the drug Molly into Merriman's wine cooler prior to the event, and has said he might have hallucinated the bear attack.

A hospital blood test showed that the drug known as bath salts was found in Gingras’ and Merriman’s systems.

Merriman, 45, of Milton told police in the days following the event that she believed Gingras tried to kill her. Merriman died in February due to the overuse of prescribed medications, her death certificate states. The manner of death is described as an accident.

Gingras’ lawyers argued in September that the attempted murder charge should be dismissed since Merriman’s death harms the prosecution’s case. They said many of her statements would be inadmissible at trial.

"Substantial exculpatory evidence" exists in the case, Rainville said, which undermines the state's arguments. However, the motion to dismiss fails when all of the evidence is viewed in the light most favorable to the state, he wrote.

Rainville wrote that several actions by Gingras that day contribute to the argument in favor of keeping the charge — Gingras' putting Molly in Merriman's drink, his false statements about the bear, and his conflicting stories during police interviews are among the reasons.

Bogus bear attack suspect seeks dismissal

Gingras' attorney Sandra Lee declined to comment on the decision Monday.

If found guilty, Gingras faces a sentence of 35 years to life in prison. He has been held at the Northwest State Correctional Facility in St. Albans Town since his arrest.

Contact Elizabeth Murray at 651-4835 or emurray@freepressmedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/LizMurraySMC.