AUGUSTA — Raymond Bellavance Jr. will spend 30 years in prison for starting a midnight blaze in June 2009 that forced seven people — including two infants — from their home and eventually destroyed the Grand View Topless Coffee Shop in Vassalboro.
Justice Michaela Murphy on Thursday imposed the maximum sentence in Kennebec County Superior Court in front of a dozen investigators, reporters, television crews and six other people — among them Bellavance’s daughter, his father and his uncle.
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“In the view of this court, the defendant presents a profound threat to public safety and has demonstrated that on multiple occasions,” said Murphy, who presided over the 10-day jury trial that resulted in Bellavance’s conviction Dec. 30.
As he left the courtroom, Bellavance, 51, of Winthrop, said a key witness who testified against him was “nothing but a liar” and he called the court “as corrupt as can be.”
The defense attorney on Thursday spoke of appealing the verdict and the sentence. Bellavance pinned his hopes on the court of appeal and public opinion, saying, “The people that believe in their constitutional rights of the United States should know that I have been mistreated and violated by what we call the justice system.”
Bellavance steadfastly maintains he is not guilty and is being railroaded.
“My name has been driven into the minds of the public as a monster convicted of arson,” he said in a letter written recently to the Kennebec Journal and distributed at the sentencing Thursday.
Instead of the suit jacket and tie he wore during the jury trial, Bellavance on Thursday had on a green jail uniform over a long-sleeved gray sweatshirt. He sat at a table between his two defense attorneys, and he did not address the judge at the sentencing hearing.
He was convicted on two counts of arson in the torching of the coffee shop on June 3, 2009. Each arson count carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison, but they were merged into one because it was the same criminal event, the judge said.
The prosecutor, Acting District Attorney Alan Kelley, characterized Bellavance as incorrigible and recommended he spend the maximum 30 years behind bars.
“He is a very bad man who committed a very bad crime completely in character with what he has been and done his entire life,” Kelley said Thursday.
Defense attorney Andrews Campbell suggested a 10-year sentence, with half of that suspended, saying that would enable Bellavance to pay restitution. He also said Bellavance needs treatment for substance abuse and other problems.
“Putting him in jail for life will totally institutionalize a very viable individual,” Campbell said Thursday. He added, “the state’s being somewhat mean-spirited,” in response to the maximum sentence requested by Kelley.
Five people spoke to the judge to support the defense argument for a lesser term.
Bellavance’s father, Raymond Bellavance Sr., said his son would not set a fire that could harm children.
“No friggin’ way, no way — not kids,” Bellavance Sr. said.
The defendant’s uncle, Tony Bellavance, said Bellavance Jr. was a hard worker and he loved him; and Bellavance’s ex-wife also spoke in favor of a shorter sentence.
‘I have no closure’
Donald Crabtree, who opened the Grand View Topless Coffee Shop in February 2009, did not attend the sentencing hearing.
The business — which featured topless waitresses serving coffee and doughnuts in a former motel on Route 3 — drew national media attention to the rural, 4,300-person community, prompting Vassalboro and many other central Maine communities to adopt new rules regulating sex-oriented businesses.
Crabtree, his two daughters, their infant children and the daughters’ boyfriends all lived in one wing of the building. Crabtree had no insurance on his building when it burned to the ground. He reopened the business briefly in a commercial trailer on site, but later sold the property and moved to Greenbush.
Reached later Thursday by phone, Crabtree said he didn’t attend the hearing because “I’m done with it. The district attorney ain’t helping me at all, so I’m no longer interested.” He described Bellavance’s sentence as “a little harsh” and said he remains unconvinced Bellavance is guilty.
“I have no closure; in fact, I have more questions now than I did two years ago,” he said.
Crabtree, like Bellavance, claims the investigation and court system were corrupt and says he feels victimized by investigators who he says were determined to twist evidence in order to convict Bellavance. On Thursday, Kelley said Crabtree had not cooperated with the prosecution in the case.
“I had no idea the investigation would haunt me for the rest of my life,” Crabtree said.
Crabtree declined to submit a request for restitution, Kelley told the judge, though Crabtree said later Thursday that he was never asked to do so.
Three fire departments submitted costs that totaled $16,635. Murphy ordered Bellavance to pay that as restitution.
State claims jealousy
The differing sentence recommendations for Bellavance were contained in documents filed in Kennebec County Superior Court.
Both pre-sentencing reports list Bellavance’s criminal record, and Kelley notes that Bellavance has been in trouble with the law since he turned 18, spent lengthy periods in prison, and proved to be unsuccessful on probation.
“His history is one that has been marked by antisocial and violent behavior against men and women, as well as significant drug and substance abuse,” Kelley said, adding that Bellavance continues to deny responsibility for the arson and blames others for it.
Kelley outlined the state’s theory of the arson in his report. He argued at trial that Bellavance, who recently had been released from jail, had rekindled a sexual relationship with Krista MacIntyre and disliked the fact that she worked as a topless waitress at the coffee shop.
Kelley described a scene in March 2009 in which Bellavance confronted Crabtree, who was MacIntyre’s boss, and threatened to shut the place down. Bellavance and MacIntyre testified during the trial that they had sex several times.
A day after the confrontation, MacIntyre sought a restraining order against Bellavance, writing on the complaint that he had told her, “No one will ever have U, U are myne untill I die.”
Kelley also said Bellavance conducted a practice burn at his daughter’s Augusta home on May 24, 2009, just 10 days before the blaze at the coffee shop. Augusta firefighters and police were called, and Bellavance later pleaded guilty to a charge of burning prohibited material.
Two days before the coffee shop fire, Bellavance’s estranged wife and others heard him threaten to burn down the coffee shop in order to prevent MacIntyre from working there.
The night of the fire, MacIntyre broke a promise to be with Bellavance, and he became angry after finding her in an Augusta parking lot, speaking with another man, Kelley said.
Kelley details a busy overnight June 2-3, 2009, for Bellavance, saying he got cocaine in Augusta, found a ride to his daughter’s home on the city’s east side, then enlisted a co-conspirator, Thomas Mulkern, to help him burn the shop.
Mulkern testified at the trial about his role, saying Bellavance wore gloves to avoid leaving fingerprints or DNA on the 5-gallon gas cans they brought to the scene. Mulkern, who received immunity from prosecution in exchange for his unexpected testimony, said he watched Bellavance light the fire and then fought with him after learning that people were living in the former motel that was connected to the coffee shop.
Crabtree and the others escaped unharmed after an ambulance crew driving by on Route 3 raised the alarm.
A matter of luck
Investigators first questioned Bellavance — who was jailed on another charge — about the blaze 10 months later. As soon as he was released after serving a sentence for other charges, he fled to South Carolina, claiming he worried about being framed for the arson.
In his pre-sentencing report, Campbell likened the flight by Bellavance and the pursuit by State Fire Marshal’s Office investigator Ken MacMaster to that of Jean Valjean and Inspector Javert in Victor Hugo’s “Les Miserables.”
Campbell lists numerous sentences for arson that have been imposed over the past 26 years, with the highest being 30 years, with all but 25 years suspended, when a person intended to kill people.
Campbell argued that Bellavance never intended to kill anyone, and offered to help Crabtree rebuild after the fire.
Campbell said a relatively short prison term — Bellavance has been held for almost two years on the arson charge — and a period of probation would allow Bellavance to work and pay restitution.
“Mr. Bellavance is no freeloader and no slouch,” Campbell said in the report. “He is a better dry-waller even when disabled and with one arm in a cast than most individuals with two arms. His energy, as partially testified to at trial, is indefatigable and his ability remarkable.”
Justice Murphy said fire photos submitted at the trial were “frankly terrifying,” and added that the blaze could have resulted in multiple deaths.
“It was a matter of sheer luck that night for the seven people sleeping there that an ambulance happened to be passing by just as conflagration began,” Murphy said.
Betty Adams — 621-5631
badams@centralmaine.com
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