Maine: Vance Cayford Jr., 46, crushed the skulls of two kittens say police

MAINE -- A Norridgewock man who was indicted by a grand jury in June on felony charges for allegedly crushing the skulls of two kittens during a domestic dispute in May has been indicted again by a Somerset County grand jury for having contact with the alleged earlier victim.

Vance A. Cayford Jr., 46, faces 10 new charges of violating the conditions of his release on pre-conviction bail by having prohibited contact with the woman.

The violations, all class C felony charges, are alleged to have occurred from July through the middle of December in Madison, according to the indictments handed up Thursday in Skowhegan.

The person identified as the victim in the case for which bail was granted was a family or household member.

In a court affidavit, police said Cayford threatened a woman with a gun, refused to submit to arrest and killed the two kittens by smashing their heads on the corner of a refrigerator, all May 29.

District Attorney Maeghan Maloney said Cayford is set for a dispositional conference with the court Feb. 15 on the earlier charges of domestic violence assault, domestic violence criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon and aggravated cruelty to animals, all punishable with a conviction by up to five years in prison on each count, and with misdemeanor violation of a protection order and refusing to submit to arrest. No date has been set on the new charges.

Cayford also was indicted by a federal grand jury in August on six felony weapons charges. He is charged in U.S. District Court with three counts of possession of ammunition by a prohibited person and two counts of attempted possession of a firearm by a prohibited person.

The grand jury in Bangor alleges that Cayford, as a convicted felon, violated federal law May 29 by possessing 92 rounds of .45-caliber Federal brand premium ammunition through interstate commerce. Anyone convicted of a felony in Maine is prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition.

The charges stem from a domestic violence conviction on April 23, 2014, in Kennebec County Superior Court and an illegal firearms possession conviction in Somerset County court entered on the same date, according to court documents. The grand jury also notes another assault conviction on Oct. 28, 2002, in Waterville District Court.

 

The charge of attempted possession of a firearm allegedly involved Cayford’s effort to get a Heckler & Koch 416, a 5.56 mm by .45-caliber rifle, which also allegedly was shipped and transported through interstate commerce.

All six counts are class C felonies under federal law, punishable with convictions by prison time of up to 10 years and $250,000 in fines on each charge.

Cayford’s federal case is set on the trial list for Feb. 7 at U.S. District Court in Bangor, according to Maloney.

(Press Herald - Jan 13, 2017)