A convicted killer, Albert Flick, 77, who had spent the last few decades of his life behind bars for the 1979 murder of his wife, Sandra Flick, was released in 2004 and the court deemed him too old to pose a threat to anyone in 2010.
And in a tragically ironic twist of fate, the man proved everyone wrong by killing a homeless mother, 48-year-old Kimberly Dobbie, in front of her children. A Maine jury quickly found him guilty of the 2018 murder.
Authorities have pointed out that the crime was not too different from the original murder the man was imprisoned for.
Back then, he had stabbed his wife multiple times in front of her daughter. It is not clear what might have provoked him to commit another heinous act like that.
He had also assaulted another woman in 2010, and a judge opted not to send him away for too long. Flick was released in 2014.
Judge Robert Crowley explained at the time: “At some point, Mr. Flick is going to age out of his capacity to engage in this conduct, and incarcerating him beyond the time that he ages out doesn’t seem to me to make good sense from a criminological or fiscal perspective.”
The man had reportedly met his new victim shortly after getting out of prison and moving to Lewiston. He had started to stalk her out.
He made frequent visits to the homeless shelter where she was staying, and at some point became so obsessed with the woman that he claimed he would rather see her die instead of never have her for himself.
Surveillance cameras caught the horrific act, and it did not take long for authorities to arrest the man and charge him with the new murder.
Many have condemned the court’s decision to release the man early, despite reports indicating that the judge had been recommended to give the man a longer sentence.
However, he claimed that the man could pose no threat to anyone given his age, and declined to sentence him more harshly — a move that will now come back to haunt him.
Elsie Clement, the daughter of Flick’s wife, stated: “I would like to just see [everyone involved] in a line and stand there and tell [Dobbie’s] boys, explain to them how this man was on the streets and how it’s OK. How the law makes it alright for their mom to now be gone and for them to have to witness it.”
Clement also shared: “There is no age that is ‘too old’ to commit murder.”
Sentencing is set for August and Flick could face life in prison.
