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Trial Delayed For Man Charged With Killing Deputy

Robert F. Bukaty
/
Associated Press
John Williams, who is accused of killing Somerset County Cpl. Eugene Cole last year, appears at a hearing, Thursday, Feb. 28, 2019, in Portland, Maine.

PORTLAND, Maine - The trial of a Maine man who's accused of killing a sheriff's deputy by pressing a gun to his neck and pulling the trigger has been delayed. The judge postponed any further testimony, and closing arguments, on Monday in the trial of John Williams in Superior Court in Portland. Both sides agree that Williams fired the fatal shot. At issue is his state of mind. The defense contends Williams' drug use and lack of sleep left him too impaired to form the necessary intent to commit murder. Cpl. Eugene Cole was shot when he tried to arrest Williams during a late-night encounter on April 25, 2018, in Norridgewock. The 61-year-old Cole was the first Maine police officer to be killed in the line of duty in nearly three decades.