Maine man sentenced to 38 years in prison for killing neighbor with machete

YORK, Maine — A Maine man was sentenced to 38 years in prison after hacking his neighbor to death with a machete, nearly decapitating him over a property boundary dispute.

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A York County Superior Court jury found Bruce Akers guilty Monday of killing his neighbor Douglas Flint in June 2016, the Bangor Daily News reported.

“The grief of a family member who has died in this manner has been magnified by the randomness and the senselessness of the act,” York County Superior Court Justice Wayne Douglas said. “(The family is) haunted by the vicious attack that they imagine their family members' suffering.”

Akers struck Flint, 55, more than a dozen times in the neck and head, nearly decapitating him, according to the medical examiner. Flint’s body was found beneath a pile of deer carcasses.

The pair had an ongoing property dispute but had worked together the day of the attack, something they often did. That day Akers called police accusing Flint of stealing a six-pack of beer. Later, they had a confrontation, and Akers attacked Flint with a machete.

“Bruce Akers reached for the machete in his trailer,” Prosecutor Bud Ellis said, WLBZ reported. “Whatever the final blow was delivered, he took that machete and he hit Douglas Flint a minimum of 13 to 16 times across the head and neck area with the machete.”

When Flint’s family came looking for him, Akers told them he had not seen him. When investigators found Flint’s body, Akers told them he planned to report the killing but wanted “a few hours of freedom.”

Attorneys for Akers said he suffered mental health issues and that his state of mind was not normal at the time of the murder.

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