to 90-day jail term for probation violation

From staff reports

The man who kept Troy police at bay for four hours the night of Dec. 12 and is considered a prime suspect in a Maine murder is being held in a Portland jail for 90 days without bail for violating his probation.

Jeffrey "Russ" Gorman, 21, of Scarborough, Maine, and a former resident of Troy, was taken into custody by Troy authorities around 7 p.m. Dec. 12 after a four-hour standoff in a residence on U.S. 29 South, and was extradicted by authorities in Maine.

According to the Portland Press Herald, Superior Court Justice G. Arthur Brennan refused to release Gorman on bail in December, pending a hearing on charges of leaving the state without permission and committing three other probation violations.

During that hearing held Wednesday, Gorman entered a plea of guilt on violating probation by leaving the state and not checking in with his probation officer.

The judge ordered Gorman be held without bail and prosecutors are asking his probation be revoked.

Gorman is a suspect in the disappearance of a 25-year-old Maine woman. The body of Amy St. Laurent of South Berwick was found Dec. 8 in a shallow grave in a wooded area of rural Scarborough, Maine. She disappeared on Oct. 21 after a night of dancing in Portland.

The state medical examiner has released no cause of death in the St. Laurent case and authorities refuse to discuss Gorman’s possible connection in the case.

Gorman, who has been on probation since last year when he pleaded guilty to breaking into a motor vehicle, has been interviewed by police at least five times since St. Laurent’s disappearance.

Through his attorney, Clifford Strike, Gorman has maintained his innocence in St. Laurent’s murder.

But, during the hearing in December, St. Laurent’s name was never mentioned and prosecutors asked Gorman be kept behind bars out of concern he will leave the state again.

Gorman was apparently in Troy visiting family earlier this month, but failed to notify his probation officer before his departure, making him a fugitive.