Maine State Police have arrested a 55-year-old East Millinocket man and charged him in connection with the beating death of 16-year-old Joyce McLain of East Millinocket in the summer of 1980. 

Maine State Police
Maine State Police
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Charged with murder is Philip Scott Fournier, who was 19 at the time of Joyce’s death.  He was taken into custody Friday in East Millinocket about 11 a.m, Friday, police said. Fournier was driven to the State Police barracks in Bangor, and taken to the Penobscot County Jail. His first court appearance will be Monday in Penobscot Superior Court.

Joyce McLain’s mother, Pam, was told of the arrest at her home shortly after it took place by State Police Lt. Troy Gardner, who has headed up the investigation for the past two years.

Maine State Police
Maine State Police
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On Friday August 8, 1980: Joyce McLain left her residence that evening to go jogging to get in shape for soccer. Joyce was well liked student, active in sports and music.

Her body was discovered on the power-line behind Schenck High School Sunday morning. The Attorney General’s Office, the Medical Examiner’s Office and the Maine State Police Criminal Investigation Division (now known as the Major Crimes Unit) were all a part of the initial response and have continued to work on the case for the past 35½ years.

In 2008, Joyce’s body was exhumed and taken to the Medical Examiner’s Office for re-examination. Since that time, the Maine State Police Crime Laboratory and a team of detectives from the Major Crimes Unit, working closely with the Office of the Attorney General, has comprehensively reviewed and supplemented  the historical investigation with forensic testing, witness interviews and re-interviews and a number of crime scene searches.

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Those renewed efforts resulted in the issuance of an arrest warrant  and affidavit late yesterday for Fournier. A copy of the affidavit is attached here. 

Over the years, Fournier has made statements to a number of people indicating his potential knowledge and involvement in her death. Investigators are urging anyone who Fournier may have confided in over the years about this case to contact the Maine State Police Major Crimes Unit in Bangor at 1-800-432-7381.

This is the second longest homicide investigation State Police have conducted that has resulted in an arrest.  The longest – just over 36 years - was the homicide of Blanche Kimball of Augusta in 1976 and the arrest of her killer in 2012.

Maine State Police
Maine State Police
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