Dark Downeast - The Murders of Dr. and Mrs. Littlefield (Maine)

Episode Date: February 15, 2021

HISTORIC SOUTH PARIS MURDERS, 1937: The murders of Dr. James G. Littlefield and his wife, Lydia Littlefield, became one of Maine's most sensational and confounding cases of the early 1900s.Who really killed the couple, and why? Could the 18-year old Paul Dwyer be the true perpetrator? Or did someone else force him to take the fall, sending him off on a wild ride to nowhere with two bodies in the car?Dark Downeast is supported by Alaina Maria. Get 15% off your order at alaina-marie.com, promo code: DOWNEAST. View source material and photos for this episode at darkdowneast.com/drlittlefieldFollow @darkdowneast on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTokTo suggest a case visit darkdowneast.com/submit-caseDark Downeast is an audiochuck and Kylie Media production hosted by Kylie Low.

It was October 16, 1937. Mainers were just beginning to wrap their heads around the outrageous scene that played out in the streets of downtown Bangor in the days before. Alfred James Brady, Al Brady, and other members of the infamous Indiana-bred Brady Gang were killed in the streets of downtown Bangor after an FBI shootout. The story would dominate the news cycle for days and weeks following. And so on October 16, 1937, when the excitement was still fresh in the minds of civilians and law enforcement alike, everyone had their eyes peeled for more Brady Gang activity in Maine and beyond.

So when police came upon a vehicle with a Maine license plate on the side of the road in North Arlington, New Jersey, it raised considerable suspicion. Police would soon learn that this had nothing to do with the Brady Gang at all, but what they found inside that car would lead back to one of Maine's most sensational crimes of the early 1900s. This is the murder of Dr. and Mrs. James G. Littlefield. As police approached a vehicle with Maine license plate sitting there on the side of the road in North Arlington, New Jersey, they could see a young man, slumped and apparently sleeping, in the driver's seat. He was 18-year-old Paul Dwyer. His face was red, showing either his adolescence or his exhaustion, as the New Jersey officers asked him what he was doing in New Jersey, so far from home. With Maine license plates, they were already suspicious, and he certainly didn't look like the type to be driving a luxury sedan.

Police brought Paul in for questioning. The clearly nervous teenager sat inside the station and consented to a search of his vehicle. They didn't have to look very hard to uncover the secrets inside. An officer popped the trunk to reveal the bloodied body of an elderly man amongst disheveled luggage. The officer sprinted inside and clutched the young suspect by his shoulders, yelling into his face, you're a murderer, there's a body in the trunk. Paul responded, there's one in the back seat, too. Arlington police arrested Paul on the spot.

And as police chief George Shippey began his extensive line of questioning, Paul confessed the bizarre series of events that began back in South Paris, Maine. 64-year-old Dr. James Littlefield was a respected physician in Oxford County. He and his wife were known about town for their generous ways, and Dr. Littlefield maintained his practice in Maine house calls, as was the case on the evening of October 13, 1937. Paul Dwyer lived with his mother, Jessie Dwyer, in a white two-story colonial that still stands there today. Jessie, his mother, was a nurse at Hebron Sanatorium, and she was working late that night. So Paul was home alone as Dr. Littlefield arrived for his in-home appointment

around 6.30 p.m. In his full confession to the North Arlington police chief, Paul explained that he needed treatment for a suspected venereal disease, or as the newspapers printed around that time, a social disease. Dr. Littlefield apparently chastised Paul for his exploits around town. Paul said, quote, he made a dirty crack about the girl I was going with, unquote. That comment by Littlefield was all it took for Paul to attack. Paul said he swung at the man with his fist, knocking him unsteady and off his feet. As he fell to the ground, the doctor hit his head on the tub. When Dr. Littlefield came to and fought back, Paul strangled him with his own hands for several minutes. He thought at that point the doctor was dead. Paul then scrambled to his room and packed

up some of his clothes and other belongings. When he returned to the bathroom, Dr. Littlefield appeared to be again gaining consciousness. That's when Paul said he grabbed a nearby hammer and struck the doctor several times in the head. One blow landed so hard that the doctor's false teeth flew out of his mouth and landed underneath the bathtub. Then, using a belt, Paul said he strangled the doctor until he took his final breath. According to Paul's story, despite his own slight stature, he managed to carry the bleeding man outside and then placed Dr. Littlefield into the trunk of his own car. Knowing Mrs. Littlefield, Lydia would be at home awaiting her husband's return after the house call, Paul needed to concoct a story that would satisfy the woman's concerns

when her husband didn't return home. Paul drove to the Littlefield mansion and knocked on the door. As Mrs. Lydia Littlefield greeted him with confusion, he explained why he was driving her husband's vehicle. According to his initial confession to police, Paul told Mrs. Littlefield that her husband was on the run. He was responsible for the death of two people in a car accident, and he had fled to Boston where he would wait for his wife. Paul told Lydia that he would be her chauffeur and to grab all the money she could and get in the car. She fell for it, Paul told police. From there, Paul really didn't have a plan. Over the next three days, he drove Mrs. Littlefield from Maine to Boston, then to Concord, New Hampshire, and back to Portland,

Maine. At each stop, Mrs. Littlefield would ask about her husband, but Paul would only tell her that the plan changed, and Dr. Littlefield would meet them in the next city. Lydia's suspicions mounted on the third day as Paul drove them down a wooded road in New Gloucester, again on their trip to nowhere without sight of her husband. The gray-haired and frail woman turned to the teenage chauffeur behind the wheel of Dr. Littlefield's car and said plainly, you killed him and I'm going up the road to get help. Though she attempted to flee the vehicle, Paul restrained her. He told police he again used a belt to choke and strangle the wife of the man that he'd already confessed to murdering. Paul first placed her body in the passenger seat of the car and drove for a while just like that. Then he hid her body underneath

the back seat amongst some suitcases and set off again towards state lines in the doctor's car, making it to New Jersey the next day, where police would discover him asleep in the driver's seat on the side of the road. As his retelling of his crimes came to a close, a trembling Paul blurted out, quote, I didn't mean to do it. I just lost my temper. Then I got scared. New Jersey police explained to Paul Dwyer his rights as a citizen, as they transcribed the first version of his confession for the killing of Dr. and Mrs. Littlefield. And I say the first because Paul Dwyer's version of events would change at least seven times before the final and what many believe is the true story of what happened that night in South Paris, Maine. Paul Dwyer was transferred by plane back to Maine, where both the Cumberland County Sheriff's Department and Oxford County took over the case and investigation. Word had already spread about the teenage murderer, and his plane landed to crowds of curious onlookers and the media snapping photos of Paul as he entered the police vehicle.

Paul had agreed to take law enforcement back through his crimes. Cumberland County Sheriff Henry E. Burnell drove Paul to the spot on the side of the wooded back road where he claimed to have strangled Mrs. Littlefield. As reported in the Bangor Daily News on October 18, 1937, he told officers, quote, this is the place. I can identify it by a bag of bananas we left there, unquote. Sure enough, the banana bag was there amongst the tall, dry grass. Paul signed his confession there in New Gloucester and was transferred to the county jail. Meanwhile, Oxford County Sheriff's deputies searched the home of Paul's mother, where he apparently murdered Dr. Littlefield. Deputy Sheriff Homer Farnham relayed to the Bangor Daily News that, at the scene,

they recovered a blood-soaked rug and a bath towel hidden in the attic. Underneath the second floor hallway carpet was a blood stain leading to the murder scene in the bathroom. The stairwell wallpaper was bloodstained too. The deputy considered the blood evidence within the home. Farnham reported that Dr. Littlefield's body, quote, must have been lugged rather than dragged, or more traces of blood would have been left, unquote. Paul was forthcoming with every detail. His confession seemed to leave nothing to the imagination and it could have been an open and shut case. But for Oxford County Sheriff Fernando F. Francis, the motive wasn't giving him the satisfaction he should get from a double homicide confession. That's when they started to dig deeper into Paul's story.

Paul Dwyer, the son of a widowed mother, was characterized as courteous and well-mannered, but scholastically lazy, according to the South Paris high school principal. Paul's own mother, Jessie, called him unruly, and although he still lived under her roof, she had all but disowned him for reasons that were not clear. Paul did not have an existing criminal record. And although he was found at the time of his arrest with several love letters in his pockets and luggage, the one girl in question who triggered the violent attack on Dr. Littlefield, she wasn't identified by name, at least not at first. Just as investigators started to suspect something was off about his version of events and the motive that would lead to two brutal murders,

Paul Dwyer changed his story. This had nothing to do with the, quote, dirty crack about a girl he once knew. This was all for the money. Paul made a second but different confession to state trooper Ralph Price. According to the signed confession, quote, I killed Dr. Littlefield because I needed money. I merely intended to hold him up. I became panic-stricken and did the rest as in a previous confession. The girl angle is a big mistake and was started over some letters found in my suitcase in New Jersey. Paul was arraigned before Norway Municipal Judge Harry M. Shaw. He pleaded innocent, and after a 30-minute conference with his court-appointed attorney E. Walker Abbott, they announced he would plead insanity when the case reached Oxford Superior Court.

The prosecuting counsel said that if Paul's defense team wanted to have him admitted for observation as to his sanity, they would need to seek that action immediately to avoid any delays in going to trial. After the arraignment, Paul Dwyer doubled back on that latest confession, telling the Associated Press, quote, I guess they're going to say robbery was why I did it, but it's not so. I certainly didn't have any reason for robbing him. If I did, I could have left the body somewhere and kept on going, unquote. Paul seemed almost emotionless as he told the reporter, quote, it's all over now and there's nothing that can be done about it. If I hadn't given myself up, I would have been nervous. This would have been on my mind It was becoming clear that with his back and forth between stories,

Paul Dwyer was unreliable. On October 20, 1937, he was transported to the state hospital in Augusta for observation. Doctors would need to report on his condition by November 16th of the same year. Meanwhile, the family of Dr. and Mrs. Littlefield made their arrangements to bury the couple in the family plot in Norway, Maine. The entire community mourned the loss of that couple. Businesses shut down for the day, kids at school participated in a two-minute moment of silence, and a mile-long procession of family and townspeople followed state patrolmen at the head of the convoy to the cemetery. It seemed all of Oxford County felt the loss of Dr. and Mrs. Littlefield.

Just over three weeks after he was committed to the Augusta State Hospital, Paul Dwyer was released back into Oxford County Jail. He gained 10 pounds and he flashed a smile to awaiting cameras. It was a big change for the previously expressionless teen. At his indictment the next day, November 17, 1937, Oxford County Attorney Robert Smith told the court that physicians pronounced Paul sane. Upon hearing the murder charges against him, Paul firmly pleaded not guilty. I should note that jurisdictional issues between Cumberland County and Oxford County meant Paul would face double the arraignments and indictments, as well as separate trials in each county, since Mrs. Littlefield was allegedly killed in Cumberland County and Dr. Littlefield was killed in Oxford County. Paul Dwyer's trial for the murder of Dr. Littlefield began in Oxford

County Superior Court on December 1st, 1937. The court limited spectators to about 100 people, and the gallery was packed with curious onlookers, some even with packed lunches, apparently ready for a day of entertainment as they listened in to the details of the horrific tale. The state summonsed 32 witnesses from both in and out of state, including the arresting officers from North Arlington, New Jersey, who first discovered the body of Dr. Littlefield and obtained Paul's confession. That confession was a primary piece of evidence presented to the jury on the very first day of proceedings. The detailed, signed confession was challenged by the defense, as was testimony by Dr. Raphael Gilardi, a state physician from Hackensack, New Jersey, who had examined the

bodies of Dr. and Mrs. Littlefield after they were discovered in the vehicle. According to the examination, Dr. Littlefield had five large bruises on his skull, the largest in the center, as though made by a blunt instrument. He had blood clots over the left temple and right eye, and his arms and body were also severely bruised. Attorney Peter McDonald said to Dr. Ghilardi, quote, Wouldn't you say that to inflict the injury you have cited, the other man must have been a strong man? Unquote.

Paul was short and weighed only 102 pounds. Dr. Littlefield was estimated around 150 pounds. Dr. Ghilardi only replied, not necessarily. Still, it seemed, the defense was attempting to present the angle that despite his confession, Paul did not commit these murders. He couldn't have. Adrian A. Cody, a Lewiston-based lawyer as well as a former Androscoggin County fingerprint expert, were among the roster of witnesses for the defense. But the trial wouldn't get that far. Just before his trial could reconvene for the third day, Paul and his attorneys met to discuss the proceedings. The result of that conference was a change in plea. Paul reversed his plea of innocence to guilty, swiftly ending his trial on December 3, 1937.

He was sentenced on the spot to serve the decision of Cumberland County officials on whether they would prosecute him for the murder of Mrs. Lydia Littlefield. A death tour. That's what the media loved to call Paul's trip from Maine across New England with the bodies of Dr. and Mrs. Littlefield in tow. But with the sensational crime and dramatic abrupt conclusion to the trial now behind the town of South Paris,

little was heard from or about the man serving life for the heinous crimes. That is, until the summer of 1938, when the cases of Dr. and Mrs. Littlefield were reopened, Paul Dwyer had penned a letter from prison detailing yet another new version of events, but this one, it seemed, could be the actual truth about what happened that night with Dr. Littlefield. Paul Dwyer's prison letter explained that he didn't do it, despite his detailed confessions and guilty plea. His whole story had been a lie, a lie he told under pressure by the real murderer. When Dr. Littlefield made a house call that October evening in 1937, it wasn't for Paul. Instead, the visit was for his girlfriend, Barbara Carroll, and her father, Deputy Sheriff Francis M. Carroll, was responsible for the murders because, as Paul said, the Littlefields knew something they shouldn't. What did Dr. Littlefields knew something they shouldn't.

What did Dr. Littlefield know about Frances Carroll? According to letters sent to Paul, Barbara Carroll had confided in her boyfriend that from a young age, her father had molested and sexually assaulted her, and she believed she was pregnant as a result. Barbara was only 15 years old. The accusations of incest reached Oxford County Sheriff F.F. Francis, Carroll's boss, who had always held his doubts over Paul Dwyer's confession. The sheriff relieved Francis Carroll of his duties on what was reported as a morals charge. At that point, Carroll must have sensed that the walls were closing in on him, because in the hours following his dismissal, he made a trip to Thomaston to visit Paul Dwyer. Later in that same day,

the former deputy sheriff Francis Carroll was arrested on charges of incest. As he sat in the county jail, the murder investigation of the Littlefields was quietly reopened. It's then that the sheriff's department made the connection that Francis Carroll had been Paul Dwyer's jailer throughout his entire trial ordeal. The abrupt change in plea before the third day of Paul's trial, before the defense could even call key witnesses in their case, Francis Carroll had pressured Paul into reversing his plea. Paul later testified that Carroll said to him, quote, If you don't stick to your original story, I'll shoot your heart out and say you are trying to escape, unquote. In the following months, Sheriff F.F. Francis would build a case against Carroll for murder. New charges were handed down, and Francis Carroll went to trial on August 1, 1938, for the murder of Dr. Littlefield. In the same courtroom where Paul Dwyer was tried and convicted of Dr.

Littlefield's murder not even a full year prior, Francis M. Carroll sat as witnesses testified against him. Paul Dwyer was the prosecution's key witness. Paul struggled to even make it to the stand. He was overcome by nausea and tremors. He even fainted just entering the courtroom and entering the gaze of Francis Carroll. But once on the stand, his testimony was damning. As the state began their line of questioning, Paul revealed that in the summer of 1937, when he learned about the alleged sexual assault of Barbara by her father, Francis Carroll, he confronted the then deputy sheriff. If the abuse continued, Paul threatened to expose him. When Barbara suspected that she might be pregnant,

Paul called Dr. Littlefield. That's how Paul and Barbara, her father Francis, and Dr. Littlefield all came to be in his home on that night of October 13, 1937. During her examination, Paul and Barbara reported to Dr. Littlefield the abuse that Barbara had claimed to face by her father. Carol Francis arrived at the home after the doctor. Why or how he came to be there, or even knew to find his daughter there, isn't clear. But according to testimony by Paul, Carol was on the defensive as soon as he arrived. Carol asked, what are you messing in this for, Littlefield? And then he tried to pin the pregnancy on Paul. But Dr. Littlefield wouldn't stand for it. He knew Paul. The two were close. And so Dr. Littlefield said to Carol, I know the

whole story now. Paul has told me all. If it is true, you belong in prison. If no one will accuse you, I will. The scene escalated quickly. Paul left the room to be with Barbara, but doubled back upon hearing a struggle and a groan from Dr. Littlefield. He returned just in time to see Carol strike the doctor with a hammer, and then again with the butt of his pistol. Carol instructed Paul to create a noose from a belt, but Paul stood in shock, unable to follow the orders. It's then that Carol himself strangled the doctor. According to this new story, Carol demanded that Paul help him roll the doctor's body up in a rug and place him in the trunk of his own car. Carol was the one who devised the plan to get Mrs. Littlefield

out of Maine under a false story of her husband being on the run. Carol had told Paul that he'd better comply, and if he did, Carol would handle everything else. And so the story of his roundabout New England trip with Mrs. Littlefield in the passenger seat, and unbeknownst to her, Dr. Littlefield in the trunk, it seemed to be rooted in truth. And though this was a trial for the murder of Dr. Littlefield, the question was raised. Who killed Mrs. Littlefield? If Paul didn't strangle Mrs. Littlefield on the side of the road in New Gloucester, how would he know that there was a banana bag sitting there in the grass, in the very spot he directed Cumberland County Sheriffs?

Paul explained that series of events too. As Lydia became suspicious of the story Paul had given her for her husband's mysterious disappearance, Paul found it impossible to conceal the truth any longer. As they stopped to eat on the side of that New Gloucester Road, Paul told her what had actually happened that night at his house. Horrified by the news and wanting to find help, the pair decided to return to South Paris, arriving shortly after midnight. They parked on High Street to keep watch over Francis Carroll's house, and Carroll apparently spotted the car. As Carroll got in his own vehicle and approached Paul and Lydia,

Mrs. Littlefield opened her car door. With a swift swing of his pistol, Lydia was unconscious in the backseat of the car. Paul looked away as Carroll strangled the wife of Dr. Littlefield. Though he testified that much of that scene is blank in his mind, he said he recalled regaining his memory behind the wheel of the car, already en route to another destination out of town at the instruction of Francis Carroll. He told the jury that he wanted to be pulled over. He ran red lights in New York. He drove erratically,

hoping someone would put an end to this nightmare. He just kept driving further west, but only made it as far as North Arlington, New Jersey, where police finally discovered what he was hiding. The prosecution's case wasn't held up only by Paul's story. Sheriff F.F. Francis testified that Carol's whereabouts were unaccounted for between 6.30pm and 10.30pm on the night of the murder. Further, investigators recovered a cigarette lighter at Paul Dwyer's house that was identified as the same lighter Carroll had purchased from another officer.

According to the New England Historical Society, there was another witness who placed Carroll at the scene of the murder that night. The prosecution had a strong case. They even showed evidence that proved the wounds inflicted on Dr. Littlefield's skull were caused by the butt of Carroll's own pistol. On August 12, 1938, Francis Carroll was found guilty of the murder of Dr. Littlefield. He was sentenced to life in prison and began serving that sentence at the Thomaston State Prison on the very same cell block as Paul Dwyer. Now you might want to assume that when Carol was convicted of the murder, that Paul Dwyer would be pardoned and released. Because how can two individuals be tried and convicted of the

very same charges and the very same crime? But it wasn't that simple. Paul's petitions for pardon were denied. Meanwhile, both men proclaimed their innocence from prison for over a decade. For four of those years, Francis Carroll's attorney collected evidence to support a petition for a writ of habeas corpus. Superior Court Judge Albert J. Beliveau, Sr. heard the petition. Interest in the case had reignited after 12 years. Crowds even gathered around town and they waited to hear how the judge would rule. Judge Albert Beliveau Sr. wrote in his decision, quote, the case seethes with inadmissible evidence, hearsay, and opinion, unquote. According to an article published in the Lewiston Sun Journal in 2013, the decision

also detailed altered photographs that the state used to prove the injuries on Dr. Littlefield's head were inflicted by Carroll's pistol. But in fact, the evidence was fabricated by enlarging portions of the photo to fit the size of the gun. He called it, quote, a deliberate and planned distortion of the real facts, unquote. For the first time in Maine's history, on September 20, 1950, Francis Carroll's writ of habeas corpus was granted. He was a free man after serving 12 years of a life sentence. Upon his release, Francis Carroll told reporters for the Portland Press-Herald, quote, I haven't any hard feelings towards anyone, unquote. Francis Carroll died

six years later. As for Paul Dwyer, he remained in prison for 22 years as his appeals were denied and Maine's governors ignored his pleas for mercy from behind cell walls. In 1957, the American Civil Liberties Union took Paul's case. Harold Bennett, argued that the state of Maine implied that it was Francis Carroll, not Paul Dwyer, who killed Dr. Littlefield when they used Paul as the primary witness in Carroll's murder trial. Before the high court could rule in Paul's favor as they were expected to do, the parole board released Paul Dwyer in 1959. He was 40 years old. Paul never crossed paths with the law again. He got married and he secured a job at a Norway hotel and restaurant. He lived to be in his late 60s or early 70s. The confusing yet compelling case became the source material for a fictionalized version of events in the book New England Gothic, later renamed Thunder Over South Parish, written by Addison

Allen. The book seems to be out of print, but original copies from the 60s are still floating around, if you know someone who knows someone. Unless a local with a flair for research has done their own into this case, like many of the Dark Downies listeners who sent me their own brief summaries of the story, lots of people simply don't know about this dark piece of the otherwise quiet Oxford County town of South Paris. And those who have looked into it still question their own assessment of who actually carried out the brutal murders of Dr. and Mrs. Littlefield. I'm still questioning it, even after all I've looked into. I question Paul's motive. Did the doctor really offend him to the point of violence with a remark about his girlfriend? I also question Paul's final version of events.

Is it possible that Francis Carroll could have forced Paul into driving the bodies all over New England as part of some sort of plan to conceal the truth? And I still have questions about the trials. What really made Paul change his plea? Was it because he was truly guilty, or was he intimidated? And as it was later revealed, why would the state fabricate evidence against Francis Carroll? These are the questions that are unlikely to ever receive a truthful answer. And in a detail I find particularly upsetting. To this day, no one has ever been tried for the murder of Mrs. Lydia Littlefield.

Thank you for listening to Dark Down East. All sources for this case and others are listed in the show notes at darkdowneast.com so you can dig into the research and learn more. Subscribing and reviewing Dark Down East is free and it not only supports this show, it really is the best way to ensure that you never miss an episode of Maine and New England true crime stories. I've been known to drop bonus episodes and the only way you know is if you're a subscriber. If you have a story or a case that you want me to cover, send me an email at hello at darkdowneast.com, and don't forget to follow along with the show on Instagram at darkdowneast. Thank you for supporting this show and allowing me to do what I do. I'm honored to use this platform for the families and friends who have lost their loved ones, and for those who are still searching for answers in cold missing persons and murder cases.

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