This is a summary of Nun’s Killer Out of Riverview: Survivor of 1996 Waterville Attack: Psychological Impact Is Still With Us
Author: Betty Adams, Staff Writer, Publication: Kennebec Journal
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This article covers a 2010 court hearing in Kennebec County Superior Court over a modified treatment plan for Mark Bechard, the man who killed two nuns and injured two others during a psychotic episode at a Waterville convent chapel in 1996.
On the night of January 27, 1996, Bechard entered the chapel and attacked four elderly nuns. He killed Mother Superior Edna Mary Cardozo, 68, and Sister Marie Julien Fortin, 67. A third victim, Sister Patricia Ann Keane, survived the initial attack but later died from her injuries. The fourth victim, Sister Mary Anna DiGiacomo, was left paralyzed on her right side and died in 2006. Bechard was found not criminally responsible and committed to state psychiatric custody, where he has remained on antipsychotic medication ever since.
By the time of this 2010 hearing, Bechard was moving from Riverview Psychiatric Center to a nearby group home. His attorney, Harold Hainke, asked the court to let him continue his part-time janitorial job at Riverview even after the move. Justice Donald Marden approved a modified plan: Bechard would walk to work and to other group housing on the same campus, continue getting rides to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings from Riverview staff, and take an educational course under similar supervision.
Two mental health professionals testified in support of the plan. Dr. Robert Fisher, Bechard’s treating psychiatrist since 2006, described Bechard’s strong commitment to his work responsibilities as a form of atonement for the crime. Psychologist Ann LeBlanc, director of the State Forensic Service, agreed, noting that Bechard approaches his life in a steady, disciplined way that suggests he wants the rest of his life to carry a penitential quality. LeBlanc said Bechard is more reliable than most people, and that any risk involved is more to his own safety than to the public’s, since it’s impossible to predict who he might encounter.
Deputy Attorney General William Stokes supported the modification on the condition that Bechard’s time remain structured and supervised.
Sister Josephine Roney of the Servants of the Blessed Sacrament spoke at the hearing on behalf of the victims. She said the community keeps the 1996 tragedy in public view and stated that the psychological impact is still with them today. She emphasized the importance of medication and supervision for people with mental illness. Sister Mary Catherine Perko accompanied her to the hearing. Bechard himself did not address the judge.