PORTLAND, Maine (NEWS CENTER) - The man convicted in a deadly shooting at a bee farm in Yarmouth has been sentenced to 25- years in prison.
A judge sentenced Merrill Kimball to the minimum 25 years after a jury convicted him for the shooting death of Leon Kelley in October of 2013. The sentence is the minimum amount under state law for a murder conviction.
Kimball will be in his nineties by the time he is eligible for release.
The judge in the case cited Kimball's age, 72-years old, and the fact that Kimball had never been in trouble before when he sentenced him to the minimum 25-years.
Back in April jurors rejected Kimball's claim of self-defense. It was October in 2013 when Kimball accompanied his wife to Brown's Bee Farm to retrieve honey she had gathered. A confrontation ensued over a simmering dispute between relatives involved in the farm.
Kimball was found guilty of firing three shots killing Leon Kelley.
The defense claimed Kimball was defending himself after Kelley assaulted him. Today Kelley's wife told the court her husband was not a violent man and was not a threat that day.
Kathleen Kelley has filed a 1-million dollar wrongful death against Kimball. Today defense attorney Dan Lilley argued this was not a murder case, but
Lilley says he will now appeal to the state's highest court.
