PORTLAND, Maine — A man accused of shooting and killing one man and injuring two others on Portland's peninsula in 2012 pleaded guilty Tuesday, exactly 11 years after the shooting happened.
Attorneys for the state and for Zachary Phach said they reached the deal Monday. Tuesday was supposed to be the day they decided on a jury trial. Instead, Phach entered his pleas, and sentencing was scheduled for December.
Phach's attorney, Timothy Zerillo, said the plea deal was reached as the prosecution and defense were aware it could have been a lengthy trial.
"The fact we had a robust defense is why we got this deal," Zerillo said. "The plea agreement came together quickly and went swimmingly this morning, and we should have this case wrapped up by the end of the year."
On midnight July 11, 2012, Blanchard was walking with three relatives near Congress Street and India Street when several gunshots were fired at them. Blanchard died from a gunshot wound during that shooting.
Two of the other three who were with Blanchard were also shot, but their injuries were not life-threatening.
On April 9, 2021, based on an investigation by Portland police, an indictment was handed down by the Cumberland County Grand Jury charging Zachary T. Phach and Khang Tran with murder, aggravated attempted murder, elevated aggravated assault and criminal conspiracy.
Police said Tran was already in custody in the Moshannon Valley Correctional Center in Phillipsburg, Pennsylvania, for other crimes. On April 20, 2021, with the assistance of California's Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department, Phach was arrested and detained in jail in Modesto, California. Both men faced pending extradition proceedings to bring them back to Maine, according to Portland police.
Weeks before the night of Matthew's death, Matthew had been driving with his girlfriend Casey in the passenger's seat when police said Matthew fell asleep at the wheel, sending the car into a tree.
Casey died, and Matt was charged with causing a fatal crash and operating without a license.
Matthew's brother, John, told NEWS CENTER Maine in 2018 that the night of Matthew's death began as a late-night walk to take Matthew’s mind off things: four brothers, a trip to the grocery store, and a bottle of Captain Morgan’s.
“I’ll take care of my brother as best as I can, especially when he’s going through losing a girlfriend of five years,” John said. “Yeah it was late, but I don’t care. That’s my brother.”
According to John, the night ended when shots rang out.
“I just saw a figure with the hands up,” John said. “So I turned around, and I took off.”
In the heat of the moment, John said he thought it was fireworks – until he felt the bullet in his arm.
“It didn’t hurt. It was just hot. It was warm,” he remembered.
Worried for his life, John said he ran. He said he remembered lying in an ambulance and seeing a crowd of people standing over his brother’s body. But he said he didn’t register what happened until his family told him at the hospital.
In a statement, the Portland Police Department said they hope the guilty plea brings some sense of closure to Blanchard's family.
“This plea will not bring back Matt, I hope that it will bring closure for the Blanchard family,” Interim Chief Robert Martin said in a statement. “I am proud of the work done by our detectives to bring this case to a close. These arrests and guilty pleas are the result of hundreds of hours of work by dozens of investigators, over the past 11 years."
Khang Tran took a plea agreement in 2022 and had his murder charge dropped.
Phach is due back in court Dec. 11 for sentencing. He is expected to be sentenced to 30 years and serve 12 of those behind bars.