Florida Man in Prison For Killing 86-year-old Presque Isle Man Seeks New Trial

An 85-year-old Florida man who was convicted of killing a Presque Isle, Maine man in 2016 is asking a judge for a new trial.

Robert Craig of Clearwater, Florida was sentenced in Aroostook County Superior Court to 33 years in prison after he was found guilty in the strangling death of 86-year-old Leo Corriveau. Craig contended he killed Corriveau in self defense after the two got into a fight. Family members found Corriveau's body two days later in the backyard of his home on Route 1 south in Presque Isle.

Corriveau, who spent winters in Florida, had returned to northern Maine with Craig just a week before he was killed. A court affidavit from the Maine State Police indicated that the two men were neighbors in a mobile home community in the Tampa area and had been friends for four years.

Craig Back in Court With New Attorney

WABI reports Robert Craig was back in court in Bangor on Monday. His new attorney, Jeffrey Toothaker, argued that Craig’s attorney in the 2017 trial did not bring certain matters to light about Corriveau's character. He said testimony about Corriveau’s temper, relationship with women, money, and his family should have been "front and center" in the trial.

Assistant Attorney General Robert Ellis argued Craig didn’t learn about any of these claims until he was already in prison and the allegations were "nothing that would qualify to come in in the trial."

The judge will issue a decision at a later date on whether the information would warrant a new trial.