AUGUSTA — A Maine man convicted of killing his grandmother by beating her, stabbing her and setting her body afire is asking for a new trial.

Derek Poulin was convicted last July of murder and arson in the 2012 death of 61-year-old Patricia Noel, who was beaten with a golf club and stabbed about 70 times at the home they shared in Old Orchard Beach. He was sentenced to life in prison.

His lawyers want the conviction thrown out. They say that some of the evidence – including notes from Poulin’s grandmother – should have been thrown out in his trial because they weren’t reliable.

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court gave no time frame as to when a decision will be handed down in the case.

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