Dark Downeast - The Murders of Jack & Florence Bettencourt (Maine)

Episode Date: January 9, 2023

LIBERTY, MAINE 1973: As the wind and rain picked up on a dark December night in Liberty, Maine, Joaquin "Jack" Bettencourt closed up his popular secondhand clothing shop and headed home to his wife, Florence. Days later, the Bettencourt's car was found abandoned in the woods near their home. What police discovered next began a double homicide investigation that spanned several years and multiple states.This is the case of Jack and Florence Bettencourt and the legacy they left behind.View source material and photos for this episode at darkdowneast.com/thebettencourts Dark Downeast is an audiochuck and Kylie Media production hosted by Kylie Low.Follow @darkdowneast on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTokTo suggest a case visit darkdowneast.com/submit-case 

Driving through the mid-coast town of Liberty, Maine, you'll encounter a little village that appears almost suspended in a time from decades or even a century past. Many of the buildings that line Main Street remain unchanged from their late 18 and early 1900s appearance, save for maybe a coat of paint or two throughout the years. Just outside of that little village of Liberty, still on Main Street, is another building that is largely unchanged from its original appearance. The brown wooden structure sits vacant now, the dusty gravel parking lot empty, the porch bare, and the windows dark. If you were to travel back in time about 50 years, though, that empty building was a favorite place for the people of Liberty and beyond. Its owners,

Jack and Florence Betancourt, were an essential thread woven into the fabric of the small Maine town. In December of 1973, that fabric was torn apart when the Betancourts were found gunned down in their own home. I'm Kylie Lowe, and this the ancestral lands of the Wabanaki people, calls itself one of Maine's best-kept secrets. It's a tiny town, even today, with under a thousand residents. And in the 1970s, the town was even smaller, just about 500 people called it home. Among the residents were Mr. Joaquin Betancourt,

better known as Jack, and his wife, Florence. Jack ran a second-hand clothing store in town, located in an old supermarket building across from Walker Memorial School, on the main route through Liberty. He didn't advertise, and he didn't even have a sign out front, well, except for the one that listed the store's hours, only open Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. Because of that, customers often called the store

store hours, as they were the only words on the building's facade. In the December 7, 1973 edition of The Maine Times, writer William Masechik shined the spotlight on Jack Betancourt and his business, calling it the Emporium of the Shabby Chic. It was Jack's idea to buy second-hand clothing in Boston and all over the world and bring it back to Maine for sale. He was described as gruff and semi-balding. Jack also wore his own merchandise. Before the second-hand clothing store business, Jack was a 27-year Boston retail man, according to the Maine Times, and prior to that, he spent eight years in the Marines serving in World War II. When asked about his service, Jack told the writer, quote,

I had all I can want of it. Working for the government is strictly for the birds. End quote. Mesa Chick describes what treasures you could find inside the converted grocery store, which maintained a warehouse vibe. There were shirts and shoes and girdles and house dresses, work boots and beer truck jackets, mechanics and salesmen's uniforms with name patches still sewed on to the breast. Absolutely nothing was labeled or priced. You had to wait in line and once you reached the counter, Jack himself would tell you how

much he wanted for the items you held. Jack employed his own unique pricing structure that involved assessing the item's flaws and features. As quoted in the Maine Times, Jack might say, let's see, frayed cuff, two patches, genuine wranglers, not bad, one dollar, I should be getting three. It was generally believed that if Jack thought you could afford something, the price was higher. Customers liked to play a guessing game before it was their turn to hear the total from Jack. Though definitely a businessman and needing to turn a profit at the store for his livelihood, Jack Betancourt helps those in need with affordable clothing, often charging only a few

dollars for an armload of clothing, according to the Bangor Daily News. A woman told the Kennebec Journal, quote, he kept the poor people in warm clothing. When large families would come in, he would always clothe them for a small amount of money, end quote. Jack was known to carry two wallets, one for small bills and one for larger. He didn't trust banks. He was also known to dislike children, but that didn't seem to make anyone like him any less. Sheriff's Deputy Leon Barton later said that, though known to be a bit rough and perhaps grumpy, Jack was different when you got to know him. He was very pleasant. In all the source material, little is written about Mrs. Florence Betancourt. In fact, one article in the Morning Sentinel notes that few people

reported knowing Mrs. Betancourt, and she was rarely seen and kept to herself. She was born in Ireland on March 29, 1899, making her 74 years old in 1973, though her age was misprinted as mid-50s in several articles at the time. Two of her three sisters still lived in Ireland in the 70s, the other with her husband in Portland, Maine. Jack and Florence had raised their niece Kathleen since she was a young child, but she lived in Georgia in 1973. Just three days after the feature story about Jack Betancourt and his shabby chic emporium was published in the Maine Times, Jack and his wife Florence were dead. Sunday, December 9th, 1973 brought a brutal wind and rainstorm to mid-coast Maine. Lights flickered and the power went out as gusts whipped through the small town of Liberty. Based on weather reports in the paper at the time, it sounds like it was not unlike the storm that hit Maine just a few days before

Christmas in 2022. But Mainers were well-versed in the culture of winter power outages even then. When electricity failed, the strategically placed flashlights switched on. Candlelight eliminated your home just enough to throw some logs on the wood stove to keep warm. Jack Betancourt was still at his store around 8.30 p.m. that night as the storm picked up and the lights went out. Waldo County Sheriff's Deputy Leon Barton was parked outside Betancourt's shop at the time and fished through his glove box for his own flashlight, deciding to venture inside the store to check on Jack in the dark. According to reporting by Emmett Mara for the Bangor Daily News, Jack told Leon Barton that he was going to close up the store early given the weather and no power, but Leon didn't actually see him do so. The whole town would have

been dark as Jack locked up and got in his car, driving the short distance down the hill and home to Florence. Jack's store was only open on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. He used the weekdays to travel to Boston and beyond in search of new, used merchandise. It wasn't unusual to not see the Betancourts around town on weekdays. Everyone knew they were off collecting new inventory. So, when the house was dark and their car was absent from the driveway and the store sat unopened that Monday, December 10th, 1973, it didn't raise a single eyebrow. But on Thursday, December 13th, 1973, a neighbor of the Beddingcourt's noticed that their car was parked about a mile off into the woods from their house, apparently abandoned.

According to the Kennebec Journal, the neighbor reported the car to Town Constable Hiram Batchelder, who reported it to the Sheriff's Department. A deputy responded to the report to take a closer look. The couple lived at the intersection of Routes 220 and 173, just outside of Liberty's town center. It was a small ranch-style home with awnings on every window. When Deputy Sheriff Leroy Thomas stepped onto the Betancourt property and approached the front door, he found it unlocked. Once inside, despite no immediate signs of forced entry, it was clear that he was dealing with the scene of a crime. The home had been tossed, completely ransacked and turned inside out. Florence Betancourt was dead in the kitchen. As he continued to search the home, the deputy found Jack Betancourt outside,

also dead. An autopsy by Dr. Irving J. Goodolph found that the couple had died at least two or three days before they were finally discovered and were killed by multiple gunshot wounds. No weapon was recovered from the scene. State Police Lieutenant Gerald Boutelier told Elaine Quinlan of the Morning Sentinel that many leads had been checked, and the investigation continued. But as Mr. and Mrs. Betancourt were laid to rest on Monday, December 17, 1973, in Massachusetts, there were no new leads to report in the case. Months passed, and the case stalled out. About two months later, in February 1974, the Bangor Daily News reported that the case continued to stump police, but they believed that robbery could be the motive, since the place was ransacked

and the telephone line up to the house had been cut. It was also known around town that Jack carried large sums of cash on him due to his distrust of banks, and the feature article published in the Maine Times just a few days prior to his death stated that fact outright. A safe had been removed from the Bedding Court home for further inspection, but police did not disclose the contents or if anything was missing from the house. They didn't say if either or both of Jack's signature double wallets were missing. Pieces of evidence, referred to only as materials, were sent to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for analysis. Rumors began to float around the small town of Liberty. Town whispers claimed that

a murder weapon had been recovered from Lake St. George, but the Assistant Attorney General told the Bangor Daily News, quote, if one was found, no one told the criminal division or the state police about it, end quote. Another rumor said that the power in the town had been intentionally cut by the perpetrators to aid in committing the crime, but that was quickly found to be untrue. The storm had knocked out a transformer in the neighboring towns. Another two months passed, and though scant for specifics, Richard Cohen, head of the Attorney General's Criminal Division, told the Kennebec Journal that some real progress had been made in the case in April of 1974. The trail of evidence had apparently taken the

investigation as far away as Florida, according to comments made by State Police Detective Lt. Gerald Boutelier in the Bangor Daily News. As the investigation dragged on, town residents grew increasingly worried and irritated that police had made no arrests and were tight-lipped about any potential suspects. Liberty resident Arthur Sprague told the Bangor Daily News that, quote, they have waited long enough, end quote. The Benning Courts and the Town of Liberty would have to wait one more month before the investigation made an enormous leap forward in May of 1974. On May 1st, 1974, 31-year-old Chandler Littlefield was indicted on two counts of murder

in connection with the deaths of Jack and Florence Betancourt. Investigators revealed in the Morning Sentinel that Littlefield had been on their radar for months, though it took time to develop enough evidence to secure the indictment. In the meantime, Littlefield, previously from Belfast and Searsport, Maine, had left the state and made for Florida, where he was staying with an uncle. He had actually been arrested several months prior to his indictment for murder on unrelated felony assault with intent to kill charges in Florida. He had allegedly shot and wounded three people in Orlando. When Florida authorities ran his information in the National Crime Information Center Index following that arrest,

they found that Littlefield had a lengthy criminal history and was actually on parole in Maine for assault with a dangerous weapon. The felony arrest in Florida while on parole made him ineligible for bail. So there he sat in an Orange County, Florida jail as investigators built their case back in Maine. Maine sought extradition for Littlefield, though he'd have to face his trial for the assault with intent to kill charges in Florida first. Meanwhile, Justice Louis Naiman said that the special session of the Waldo County grand Jury may be recalled to again hear evidence for another indictment in the Betancourt case. It was believed that Littlefield did not act alone. In July of 1974, police made another arrest in the Betancourt case. 37-year-old Charles Heald of Belfast, Maine, was held on charges of

conspiracy to rob Jack and Florence on a date sometime before their murder, but police said in the Bangor Daily News that the charge had nothing to do with the murder itself. A report in the Kennebec Journal by Elaine Quinlan noted that the conspiracy occurred on November 18, 1973. Assistant Attorney General John Atwood said at the time that there was another indictment related to the Bedding Court murder handed down as part of the special session of the Waldo County Grand Jury, but the name of the individual was sealed until an arrest could be made. Within the same week, Chandler Littlefield faced trial in Florida for the aggravated assault with intent to kill charges and was convicted on both counts.

He received two concurrent five-year sentences. Maine authorities announced that they'd begin the extradition proceedings for Littlefield to face murder charges in Maine if he did not voluntarily return to the state on his own. The extradition procedure was slow, and Maine officials ran into numerous issues working with the Florida authorities to get Littlefield back in Maine. Between July and November 1974, Maine and Florida exchanged paperwork and phone calls to get things sorted out, while the man suspected of killing the Betancourts sat in a Florida penitentiary. It was December 1974 before the issues were finally sorted and Maine's authorities secured the extradition of Chandler Littlefield. And he would have been returned to Maine shortly after

if Littlefield hadn't managed to escape custody in Florida. The Bangor Daily News reported on December 3, 1973, that Chandler Littlefield and a companion, also incarcerated at Union County Correctional Institute in Lake Butler, Florida, escaped the facility by cutting through two fences. Authorities believed that the pair also stole a car, as one turned up missing in the area following their escape. A nationwide manhunt for the Betancourt's accused killer began, just shy of a year following their deaths. In January 1975, Littlefield was still on the lam.

Meanwhile, back in Maine, a third suspect was indicted, relating to Jack and Florence. Police tracked down Thomas E. Morton, also a Belfast, Maine man, in Texas. His face had been printed on wanted posters and distributed to law enforcement agencies around the country. When Morton walked into a police station in Ozona, Texas to apply for food stamps, the officer on duty recognized his face and arrested him on the spot. Like Charles Heald, Thomas Morton was charged with conspiracy to rob Mr. and Mrs. Betancourt. He was extradited to Maine to face that charge, alongside Heald, in March of 1975. The trial began March 27, 1975, in a Penobscot County courtroom, despite the crime having been allegedly committed in Waldo County. Both defendants, represented by Attorney Errol

Payne, had requested and were granted a change of venue. According to reporting of the trial proceedings by Linda White for the Bangor Daily News, the state's principal witness was an alleged co-conspirator named Harold Smith, though he was not indicted for his involvement. He did not receive an offer of immunity in exchange for his testimony against Heald and Morton, however, he did have a known informant relationship with the Special Investigating Unit in Bangor. Harold Smith outlined the alleged events of November 18th, 1973 in his testimony. According to Smith, he had met up with Heald and Morton in Bangor that day, and they asked if he wanted to get in on a deal with them. Heald talked about an old man in Liberty who had

a lot of cash, both in his wallets and at his house. Smith accepted the offer to join them, and the three waited for a fourth man named Larry to pick them up. According to Smith, the four of them drove to Liberty, stopping at a store on the way to get some nylons to use as disguises in their scheme. They then drove to a vacant farmhouse, where they waited out the nightfall. Once darkness fell over the town, they drove by Jack Betancourt's store to see if he was working, and then passed his house, finally leaving their vehicle hidden on a dirt road, but not before grabbing a.22 pistol and another automatic pistol from the glove compartment. They retrieved a third firearm, a shotgun, from the trunk. The men then intended to cut the telephone wires, Smith said, but they

forgot wire cutters, so instead, he used an electrician's knife that he had. While they were hacking away at the wires, some lights came on inside the Betancourt home. Fearful that someone inside called the police, Smith said they ran off. Smith's testimony made no mention of Chandler Littlefield. In fact, mention of the murder of the Betancourts was not permitted during the conspiracy trial, so as to not influence the jury. The first trial ultimately ended in a mistrial due to a technicality. Sources simply say it was due to issues with legal paperwork filings. So, a new trial was set to begin on April 10th, 1975. Again, Harold Smith testified about the plot to Rob Jack Betancourt on November 18th, 1973.

But when Heald took the stand to testify in his own defense, he said that the story was a lie and claimed that he had an alibi that evening. Morton, too, testified that the plot was fabricated and he had an alibi that evening. Morton, too, testified that the plot was fabricated, and he had an alibi for that evening. But other witness testimony poked holes in those alibis. The trial concluded on Thursday, May 15th. The jury found Charles Heald and Thomas Morton guilty of conspiracy to commit robbery, and the men were both sentenced to four to ten years at Maine State Prison in Thomaston. Amidst the conspiracy trial for Heald and Morton, accused killer Chandler Littlefield was finally captured in San Diego, California

on April 11, 1975, after nearly six months on the run. Although at first, San Diego authorities had no idea the man they had in their custody was wanted for murder. Littlefield was using the alias Charles Ward when he was arrested in California on two counts of assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer and burglary. The officers had been standing outside a bar when Littlefield approached them. It's unclear why, but officers asked him to take his hands out of his pockets. When he did, Littlefield was holding a gun. According to Emmett Mira's reporting for the Bangor Daily News, Littlefield was held on just $2,000 bond. It wasn't until later, when they ran his fingerprints,

did they realize the man was using a phony name, and he was actually Chandler Littlefield, the fugitive from justice, out of Florida and Maine. There were many legal hoops necessary to get Chandler Littlefield back to Maine to face charges for allegedly killing Mr. and Mrs. Betancourt. His charges in California and Florida needed to be sorted first before he could be returned to Maine to stand a trial. Not only that, John Atwood in the Maine Attorney General's office said that Littlefield was so dangerous, he needed to be transported in full irons on his hands and feet. Commercial airlines wouldn't take him as a passenger, and so two Maine State police intended to fly to California and then drive Littlefield back to Maine. Chandler Littlefield had to be handcuffed to Sheriff Stanley Knox on his walk in and out of the courthouse. A photo published August 12, 1975 in the Bangor Daily News shows the accused man linked to Sheriff Knox at the wrist. A flight risk before, authorities weren't taking any chances when it came to Jack and Florence

Betancourt's accused killer, now that he was finally in Maine, to stand trial. Littlefield laughed during his arraignment as the charges against him were read. His court-appointed attorney requested and was granted an extension for filing motions. The case was finally ready to move forward at trial in September of 1975, nearly two years after the murders occurred. According to Emmett Maris reporting in the Bangor Daily News, Littlefield threatened to, quote, shoot his way out of any main courtroom which tried him, end quote. A witness would later testify that Littlefield asked him to hide a gun in the courtroom ashtray. The ashtrays needed to be checked daily during the proceedings. According to court records, Chandler Littlefield's defense

lawyer argued that yes, his client was with Charles Heald and Thomas Morton on December 9, 1973, the same two men previously convicted of conspiracy to rob the betting courts. They had left Raleigh's Café in Belfast together that night, the alleged night of the murders, but the defense claimed that no evidence would place him at the scene in Liberty. A state witness testified that she was drinking beer with the trio at the cafe that night, and they dropped her off at home around 8.10 p.m., saying they had an appointment at 9. Establishing a time of death was difficult due to Mr. Betancourt being found outside in the snow and Mrs. Betancourt inside in an advanced state of decomposition, but it was believed that they were shot sometime around 9 p.m. on Sunday,

December 9, 1973. The defense also presented the detail that Mr. and Mrs. Betancourt were shot with two different firearms and that their client would have needed, quote, an arsenal, end quote, to pull off a murder single-handedly with different weapons. State Medical Examiner Dr. Irving Goodolph testified that Jack Buddencourt was shot on the right side of his chest with a shotgun and between the eyes with a small caliber weapon. Florence was shot twice behind the left ear and twice in her chest. He stopped short of stating in any definite terms that two different weapons were used. He would only say that Florence's wounds were consistent with a.32 caliber weapon,

while Jack's could be from a.22 caliber weapon. The state called a Waterville, Maine man and woman who were previously married to the stand and questioned them about their gun collection that included weapons possibly consistent with the.22 and.32 caliber firearms that killed Jack and Florence. The couple was friends with Thomas Morton, who had been previously convicted of conspiracy to rob charges. A.32 caliber bullet was found in the front seat of the woman's car, which she stated was often driven by Thomas Morton since she didn't have a license. But the woman's former husband said that he never loaned out any of his guns in the collection to Morton or anyone else. One piece of physical evidence in the case was candle wax found at the scene, which was processed by the FBI. The power had been knocked

out that night, and it was possible Mrs. Betancourt was burning candles in the house for light. Special Agent Ralph Strickland testified that candle wax found inside the Benningcourt house and inside the car allegedly driven by Littlefield, Morton, and Heald the night of the murder was the same type of wax, but it was not possible to determine if it was from the same singular candle. Other tests on shell casings and bullets found in the house and in the vehicle came back inconclusive. No murder weapon was ever recovered or examined as part of the trial. The defense questioned State Police Detective Dale Ames about the investigation, pointing out perceived errors in the procedure when examining the Betancourt's home. Detective Ames testified that no prints were found inside the house.

In fact, no fingerprints were found on any evidence collected by the state. The state's case seemed quite weak, and the press reported it as such. Emmett Mara for the Bangor Daily News wrote in a September 25, 1975 piece about the proceedings that 10 witnesses called by the state failed to link Chandler Littlefield to the murders. In the Morning Sentinel on the same date, quote, in the first two days of the trial, the state has presented 22 witnesses and 38 exhibits of state evidence without establishing a clear link between Littlefield and the Betancourt murders, end quote. It wasn't until the uncle of Chandler Littlefield took the stand that the state had their first

convincing witness. Carlton Dwelley spoke to Littlefield's character and his alleged confession to the crime. According to Emmett Mears' reporting, Duelli told the jury that he was sitting in a van outside a shopping center with his nephew and had offered to set him up with an upholstery business. Littlefield allegedly told his uncle not to buy any equipment for him, quote, because I have two murders hanging over my head. I have to leave, end quote. Over the next 48 hours, Duelli said, Littlefield confessed additional details of the crimes. Duelli testified that Littlefield told him he hid in the eaves of the garage at the Betancourt house and when Jack returned home from the store, he confronted the man with a shotgun, demanding his money. According to the story Littlefield allegedly told his uncle,

Jack swore at Littlefield and went for his own gun, a.32 revolver he kept on his belt. And that's when Littlefield shot Jack, first in the chest, and then again in his face. Florence Betancourt witnessed the whole scene, Dwelley testified. When Littlefield saw her, he emptied his own gun at her and then grabbed Jack's and chased her into the house, killing her too. Throughout his testimony of the alleged confession by his nephew, Dwelley was upset and openly sobbed at points. Emmett Mira said that Littlefield, meanwhile, was stoic at the defendant's table. He squirmed noticeably only a few times and was otherwise unmoved. Duelli said in his testimony that Chandler Littlefield and his two accomplices made off with $1,400 that

night. After, they drove to Searsport to clean the car and then rubbed dirt on the floor of the vehicle to conceal evidence. The three then went back to the bar in Belfast. Through tears, Dwelley said that he could not understand why three young, strong men, quote, could not take an old man's gold without all that violence, end quote. When asked how he felt about his nephew, Dwelley simply said, quote, I love him, end quote. The defense hadn't actually presented any defense at all for Chandler Littlefield, instead relying on cross-examination and holes in the state's case to protect their client. In closing arguments, Littlefield's attorney attempted to discredit the alleged confession made by Littlefield to his uncle and to a former prison mate who also testified.

The attorney also suggested that Littlefield, who had a third grade education and watched a lot of TV, may have made up the story. He composed the tale to sound like the hero, the attorney argued, taking the fall for the real perpetrators. On Friday, September 26, 1975, the case was finally turned over to the jury for deliberation. After just two hours, they came back with their verdict. Chandler Littlefield, guilty on both counts. He was sentenced the same day. Two mandatory life sentences. At the time of Chandler Littlefield's conviction in 1975, authorities had not yet decided if additional charges would be brought against Charles Heald and Thomas Morton, whose names

featured heavily in the testimony about the murders and who were already serving time in Maine State Prison on the conspiracy to rob charges. But the following year, Charles Heald was indicted and stood trial in 1977 on murder charges. A jury found him guilty in May of 1977. That was the same year that Chandler Littlefield managed to escape custody for a second time in his criminal career. He was loose for just 24 hours in Maine, but Leanne Robichaux wrote in her piece for the Bangor Daily News in 2001 that during those 24 hours, he kidnapped a man and held two women hostage. His mother convinced Littlefield to turn himself in when Maine State Police had him surrounded. Littlefield attempted to appeal his conviction

more than once. Each appeal was denied. Thomas Morton was indicted next, facing trial in January of 1978 for the double murder of the Betancourts. The jury ultimately found him guilty of murder as well. All three men were convicted of murdering Mr. Jack Betancourt and his wife Florence in the winter of 1973. All three men were sentenced to life in Maine State Prison. A dark down east listener named Janelle lived in Liberty as a kid, about a mile from Jack's store, and she was 12 or 13 years old at the time of the Betancourt murders. She remembers going into the store with her mother and shopping for clothes and homewares. She remembered her mother once asking Jack if he had any drapes. Jack let her go into the back storage area to look. One time, Jon-El remembered,

Jack asked her mother to watch over the store while he popped into the restaurant next door. Jon-El told me, quote, part of the story I think didn't get enough attention was the impact of his store. He would go to Massachusetts and buy overstock and bring it back to sell. Nothing was priced and you had to stand in line to get a price. He would price stuff while taking into consideration what he thought people could afford. I think every kid in Liberty got their sneakers there, end quote. The murders of Jack and Florence left the town shocked and scared, Jonnell said, as well as created a void that the shop once filled. It was a real gathering place, she told me. Jack's secondhand store was shuttered for a time after

the Betancourt's deaths. A notice in the newspaper announced the dismantling and distribution of their estate. But in 1975, an ad popped up in the Morning Sentinel paper, announcing the grand reopening of a store called The Bargain Bin, formerly Jack's. The ad reads, New and recycled clothing, Herman boots, and plenty of sneakers, starting at $1. Come over, meet a friend. To John L.'s knowledge, the new owners had no relation to Jack. She said it just wasn't the same without him either. I called the Liberty Town office to ask about the bargain bin and if it was still in business. The woman who answered told me up until as recently as the summer of 2022, it was open and still operated as a second-hand store. The business is shuttered now, and may have been for sale at one point in the last year,

but it's not listed as of the original release date of this episode. It may not have been the same, but for almost 50 years after his death, Jack's legacy lived on in Liberty through the bargain bin. As he told the Maine Times just a few days before his death in 1973, it was his idea to open a second-hand store there, after all. Although, the building did have a sign with the store's new name. A sign of something Jack Betancourt never cared to have. As dark and terrible as stories like this one are, I'm reminded over and over again that it is the

humans at the heart of each case that make covering these stories so interesting. Without an email from a dark down east listener and digging up a decades old court filing about the murder of the Bedincourts, I may not have ever heard their names. I never would have dug deeper into their stories, never spoken with sources who actually got to spend time with Jack, and who were able to paint a vivid picture of the gruff but quietly kind businessman known to help families who needed it most, selling them affordable clothing for their children by the armful, even though he wasn't much of a fan of kids himself. New England is filled with so many of these individuals who lived whole, full lives,

whose legacy is far more than the violent crime that ended their full lives prematurely. And though we at first encountered these people and their stories through something as terrible and forsaken as murder, I can only hope, with the way I share them here on this podcast, that how their lives ended becomes the least memorable thing about them. In the December 5th, 1974 edition of the Evening Express, Florence Betancourt's sisters published an in-memorial message. It reads, In loving memory of our beloved sister, Florence M. Betancourt, and brother-in-law, Joaquin Betancourt, of Liberty, Maine. They wished no one a last goodbye. They were gone before we realized,

but their memories will never grow cold. Thank you for listening to Dark Down East. Sources cited and referenced for this episode are listed at darkdowneast.com so you can do some digging of your own. If you have a case I should cover on Dark Down East, if you have a personal connection to a Maine or New England homicide or missing persons case, you can contact me at hello at darkdowneast.com. Please follow Dark Down East on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you're listening right now. The best way to support this show is to leave a review on Apple Podcasts and share this episode or any episode with your friends. 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 homicide cases. I'm not about to let those names or their stories get lost with time. I'm Kylie Lowe and those names or their stories get lost with time. I'm Kylie Lowe, and this is Dark Down East.