Bangor, Maine News Update: December 15, 2017

A Wiscasset woman is charged with murder for the death of a 4-year-old girl. 43 year-old Shawna Gatto is engaged to the child’s grandfather and the three had lived together for nearly two years.  The state medical examiner says Kendall Chick died from blunt force injury to the abdomen.

Robert Burton kept the state on edge in 2015, as he led police on the longest manhunt in history, after killing his ex-girlfriend, Stephanie Gebo. Today, Burton will be in a courtroom, receiving his sentence on the murder charge. He faces 25 years to life in prison.

A dispatcher for the Maine Department of Public Safety is facing charges after police received a tip that he had been communicating with young girls via Twitter and receiving inappropriate pictures of them. Eric Kramarz has been placed on paid administrative leave, while the investigation continues.

A fire that destroyed a house in Dallas Plantation this week was started when the homeowners left smoldering ashes on the porch, to cool in the snow. The residents and their dogs managed to escape but firefighters weren’t able to save the house since the extreme cold was causing the water to freeze in their hoses. Officials say the best way to dispose of ashes is to place them in a metal container with a lid, far away from any structures.

The Brewer Food pantry got a Christmas present yesterday, but it didn’t’ come in Santa’s sleigh. Building contractor Nickerson & O’Day delivered a dump truck full of food and supplies to the pantry, an annual tradition that started when the company rehabbed and remodeled the pantry five years ago.