Jury Finds Luc Tieman Guilty Of Murder
A jury has found Luc Tieman guilty of murder for the death of his wife, Valerie.
A case that has captivated the attention of Mainers since Valerie Tieman was first reported missing in 2016 has come to a close with a guilty verdict against her husband Luc, who was accused of killing her and burying her body on his parents' property. Over the course of the trial, testimony revealed difficulties in the marriage, including Luc's alleged infidelity and drug use by both husband and wife.
By the time the media was alerted to Valerie's disappearance, she'd already been missing for several weeks. Her father originally reported her missing to police, from his home in South Carolina. Police say the family had been trying to contact Valerie, but had only been able to reach her husband Luc. When interviewed by police, Luc told them Valerie had been threatening to leave him, so when she went missing from his truck in a Walmart parking lot a week earlier, he assumed that's what had happened.
After searches for the woman came up empty, police interviewed Luc again, and he changed his story, telling officials that she had died of a heroin overdose right in front of him. A search of the Norridgewock property where the couple lived revealed that Valerie's body had been buried in a shallow grave. Among the items found with her remains were a bag of potato chips, a bottle of perfume, a package of her favorite candy, and a note from Luc, telling her he would love her forever. The State Medical Examiner conducted an autopsy and determined that, while she did have traces of drugs in her body, she died of gunshot wounds to the head. The drugs were also opioids, not the heroin that Luc claimed she had injected.
On Friday, Luc Tieman took the stand at his murder trial and admits that he lied, repeatedly, to police, WABI-TV reports Tieman said police had threatened to charge his parents, since Valerie's body was found on their property, and so he told investigators what they wanted to hear. He admitted that the story about Valerie disappearing from the parked truck was a lie, and so was the story about her overdosing on heroin.
The proceedings came to a close on Monday after Luc Tieman gave his own closing argument, rather than having his lawyer do it. During the narrative, he asked the jury why, if he had killed his wife, wouldn't he have worked harder to cover his tracks? He claimed he was only guilty of having an affair.
It took a jury less than an hour to arrive at a guilty verdict against Luc Tieman. Sentencing will be at a later date.