Law&Crime Sidebar - Major Update in Case of SpaceX Engineer Whose Wife's Naked Body Was Dumped

Episode Date: April 27, 2025

Samuel Whittemore allegedly murdered his wife, Margaux, and injured his mother during a visit to his parents' home in Readfield, Maine back in February. Now a judge has made a decision about the next step in the legal process. Law&Crime’s Jesse Weber discusses the latest developments with criminal defense attorney, former prosecutor, and former CIA agent Jack Rice.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW:If your child, under 21, has been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes or fatty liver disease, visit https://forthepeople.com/food to start a claim now! HOST:Jesse Weber: https://twitter.com/jessecordweberLAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokeVideo Editing - Michael Deininger, Christina O'Shea & Jay CruzScript Writing & Producing - Savannah Williamson & Juliana BattagliaGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this Law and Crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wondry Plus in the Wondery app Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Agent Nate Russo returns in Oracle 3, Murder at the Grandview, the latest installment of the gripping Audible Original series. When a reunion at an abandoned island hotel turns deadly, Russo must untangle accident from murder. But beware, something sinister lurks in the grand. views shadows. Joshua Jackson delivers a bone-chilling performance in this supernatural thriller that will

keep you on the edge of your seat. Don't let your fears take hold of you as you dive into this addictive series. Love thrillers with a paranormal twist? The entire Oracle trilogy is available on Audible. Listen now on Audible. The court will rely upon the report of Dr. Riley, which I reviewed, and the court will make a finding that Mr. Woodmore currently is not competent to stand trial. A former SpaceX engineer accused of murdering his wife, has now been deemed incompetent to stand trial. Samuel Whittamore allegedly murdered his wife Margo and injured his mother during a visit to his parents' home in Reedfield, Maine back in February. Despite the couple's seemingly idyllic life, their story took a tragic turn.

I'm going to break down everything we know and the shocking complexities of this case. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. Maine Man has been deemed incompetent. to stand trial after allegedly murdered his wife and injured his own mother. And this is a horrible, horrible tragedy that's left police in the community with a lot more questions than answers. We're back with an update in a case that we covered previously on Sidebar. This is of Samuel Whittamore, a 34-year-old SpaceX engineer from Belfast, Maine. At April 16th, the judge ruled he was incompetent

to stand trial for the murder of his wife Margot Wynne Whittimore. Now, I might be mispronouncing her a maiden name, but I believe since it's Vietnamese, there are a lot of different ways you can pronounce it, so I apologize there. And the decision followed a psychological evaluation that was ordered after he was arrested. And when we talk about competency, generally we're talking about someone lacking the capacity to understand the legal proceedings or assist in their own defense. So instead, he is going to be committed to a psychiatric facility for further treatment. And we're going to get into more what this means for future legal proceedings. But first, I want to take a step back to that violent February morning that unfolded in Reedfield, Maine.

On February 19th, police responded to a 911 call at the Whitamore family home. This is where his parents lived, and his mother, 67-year-old Dorothy Whitamore, was home. When police arrived, they encountered a disturbing scene. According to a statement released by the Maine police, quote, upon arrival, troopers discovered a deceased adult female outside the house. The deceased has been identified as 32-year-old Margo Whitamore of Belfast. Responding officers found 67-year-old Dorothy Whittamore, the homeowner suffering from injuries inside the residence. She was transported to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston, where she was listed in critical condition. Now, Whitamore's father, Henry, wasn't home at the time this all went down, but Margot's death

was ruled a homicide. It is interesting, though, because a cause of death has not yet been released. In fact, that's according to reporting from WMT. Although it is worth mentioning that according to reporting from Shore News, oddly Margo was apparently found without any clothes on. Even though Margo was tragically killed, Dorothy fortunately managed to make a recovery. And while police say Whitamore attempted to make things a bit more difficult for them, they were ultimately able to track him down. The statement reads the suspect, 34-year-old Samuel Whitamore of Belfast, fled the scene, was taken into custody by a trooper a short distance away.

He was transported to Maine General Hospital in Augusta for an evaluation, and has since been transported to the Kennebec County Jail where he has been charged with murder. And yes, Whitamore has been charged with murder, attempted murder, and aggravated assault. Now, before we even get into the latest in this case, the competency ruling, this is not the first time that we have addressed this issue in this case. No, rather, there were concerns about Whitamore's mental state initially. That delayed court proceedings. His first hearing ended up being postponed after his lawyers cited a competency. issue and that prompted the judge to order an evaluation. And in our own research, we couldn't find

any evidence to indicate that Whitamore had this prior history of violence. There were no media reports to appear to suggest that he had anything like that. There was no prior mental health crisis that were reported on either. But this all leads us back to April 16th where Justice Michaela Murphy ruled that Whitamore was not fit to stand trial. The court will rely upon the report of Dr. Riley, which I reviewed, and the court will make a finding that Mr. Woodham currently is not confident to stand trial. The court is going to order him committed to the custody of the Department of Health and Human Services for restoration of confidence. We will receive reports from the hospital 30, 60, and then 180 days. Hey, everybody. This is a law and crime

legal alert. Did you know that children are being diagnosed with serious conditions like type two diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease? And the research is potentially linking ultra-processed foods to this? Yeah. Well, Morgan and Morgan is stepping in to fight to hold these food companies accountable. And with decades of experience fighting large corporations, they are ready to stand up for the families who deserve justice. So if your child under 21 has been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes or fatty liver disease, then visit www.4thepeople.com slash food or scan the QR code on screen to learn more. Now, this wasn't a typical hearing because usually where witnesses are called to testify both sides argue motions. That's because both parties here,

They apparently agreed prior that Whittemore was unfit to stand trial. That is based on a report from a medical expert, forensic psychologist Dr. Robert Riley. Now, the ruling means that Wittermore is going to be retained in the custody of the Department of Health and Human Services, and he's going to be sent to either one of two facilities, either the Dorothea Dick Psychiatric Center in Bangor or Riverview Psychiatric Center in Augusta, all in an effort to treat him so that he can eventually stand trial, to restore his competency. And according to central main.com, the court is going to receive updates in intervals, 30, 60, and then 180 days. So before we go any further, I want to bring on a guest to the show. We haven't had on in quite some time, but good to see him nonetheless. Jack Rice, criminal defense attorney, former prosecutor, former CIA officer, Jack, so good to see you.

Thanks so much for taking the time. In your experience, what are the key factors that courts consider when determining a defendant's competency to stand trial? Well, first of all, thanks for having you on the program. This is a really difficult conversation for a lot of people because there's always that tension between, well, who did it versus who do you hold responsible and what do you do with the mental health question, with the competency question? It depends upon the jurisdiction, Jesse. Some jurisdictions look at this and they will simply say that do they really understand what the charges are and can they help their lawyers essentially? Can they work within their own defense? But there's other standards that are out there that technically talk about whether they knew it was right or wrong.

Now, that isn't the case, as I understand it, in Maine. In this case, it really has to do with understanding the charges and really helping in their defense with their attorney. And in this case, they're really looking at that psychological history. They're obviously going to be looking at the competency questions as we sit. But frequently, what you will find is there is a long. history of this. And it's complicated because we realize allegedly his mother was one of those victims. Their father peripherally would have been too. But my guess is that they will have been able to provide a lot of history. And that history would have been something that would have been

useful to the psychiatrists who are trying to make that determination. Let's say he didn't have a history of mental illness, commits this crime, then has a competency issue. You know, you can look at that seems so skeptical. But then again, I mean, if he really did commit this crime, killed his wife, attacked his mother, you might be saying there could be a mental health issue at play here. So would it be strange, though, if there really was nothing in his past, then all of a sudden now is when there's a serious mental health issue? You know, not necessarily. I think it depends. Every single case is different. And I think there are those times when if there is no history, what you will see frequently

on the prosecution side is, oh, this is something else. And I've seen this sometimes from psychiatrists who will be extraordinarily hesitant to actually go along with that incompetency conclusion if they don't have that history. And yet it absolutely does happen. For instance, I realize he's 34 years old, but an example of that would be you will sometimes see typically more in men who are that 19, 20, 21, 22 age, you start seeing schizophrenia. And we've seen that with no history at all, it just comes out of nowhere. At the same time, we have absolutely seen circumstances where there were simply no diagnoses. That doesn't mean that the mental illness, that doesn't mean that the mental health issues weren't actually there. There's always a third

option, and that could be some physiological change. Is there something that has happened to him, meaning everything from a blow to the head to a tumor to something else, that can actually change behavior and that can be something else in addition to that history issue or something that has happened internally that that isn't uh outside of what has happened to them physiologically how do they restore his competency i mean what kind of treatment do they engage in at these psychiatric hospitals um and how often is that successful well that is a wonderful question because sometimes it's very hard to get the statistics on something like that remember what we're about here is this. Certainly in Maine, we're talking about the question of whether or not you can

even do this. Because ultimately, if you can't restore competency here, what you're going to see is a dismissal of the charges. That doesn't mean somebody would necessarily walk free, if you will, but they're trying to make the determination of whether they can. Now, sometimes we've seen, think the Lori Valo case as an example, where we had mental illness questions. She was found to be incompetent and then this effort to actually go through the process of bringing her back to competency. Sometimes it has to do with drugs. Frequently what they will do is there will be a drug issue. There is something missing here that will bring that person back. That may be the case here. At this point, we don't know what they're going to conclude or what they're going to do or whether

or not they can even be successful at doing so with Mr. Whitamore. And how do you know it doesn't lapse? I mean, maybe if it is a medication, issue, right? You make sure they stay on the schedule. That's the solution. But if it's not that, you've seen cases before, I'm sure where somebody deemed incompetent, then deemed competent, then deemed incompetent. It's a back and forth. Yeah, we've absolutely, I have absolutely seen this in cases of my own where somebody was found incompetent. They restored them to competency. And then they slide back into incompetency in the first place. We have to remember, there are a lot of things that trigger this. There are a lot of things that can drive somebody towards incompetence. I mean,

sometimes people don't realize we'll watch these trials from the comfort of our own armchairs and the intensity of a trial is an extraordinary thing. You're dealing with the murder case, and I can tell you from first experience, that you're dealing with the murder case and what that can do to somebody who doesn't have mental illness, who's somebody who doesn't have a competency question. It can drive them in ways, which is actually quite extraordinary. You can see people start to crack. Now, let's imagine somebody who is precariously brought back to competency. And now you start bringing all of those circumstances in and around them.

And what that can do. By the way, that ignores the question of where were they at the time of the alleged acts? Whether they were competent at the time versus where? whether they are even competent now to essentially face the charges that they're dealing with and whether or not they can actually help and understand and deal with their lawyers to help defend themselves. That's a very fair question. And you know, the counter argument is you always have to be worried about malingering.

Somebody just, you know, malingering, making up symptoms, faking it to make sure they don't see justice. But see, that's really the issue, isn't it? I mean, what's interesting, and it's been my experience for doing this for almost 30 years, is that one of the things that we see is there are some people who don't believe in mental illness. It's true, they think it's all a ruse. There are other people who can be on the other end

of that spectrum. But the problem is, is sometimes it's very, very difficult because it's easy when you have a broken bone to just run it through an x-ray and say, boom, there's the radius, there's the ulna, boom, broken bones. You may not get that objective MRI, MRI that says, this person lacks competency. In fact, it's almost certain you're not going to get that.

And so what you get is a much more subjective view based upon a lot of experience, but it is still more subjective. And as a result of that, it makes these very difficult. Then you layer over that a dead body. And it's that dead body that people are saying, somebody has to pay for this. And now you're saying you're incompetent. So you're going to get that pushback, that tension that always exists. And frankly, if you want to find mentally ill people, let me take you into jails all day long

because they exist in vast numbers and you can find them so commonly. Now remember, there is a distinction between being mentally ill and being incompetent. They are different than one another, except sometimes, dare I use this phrase, they do bleed together. And they also slide back and forth, as you've just been alluding to. Can we get into a little bit more of the circumstances of this actual alleged crime? First of all, do you find it strange that we don't know the cause of death yet? I do. And I do because sometimes in police investigations, what will happen is they won't disclose certain facts.

They won't disclose certain things partially because they're looking for the perpetrator. They're looking for the alleged perpetrator. And so what they're doing is they're simply disclosing certain aspects of this. This isn't that circumstance, at least based upon the fact that they've already charged him. They should have a lot more. It's odd to me that we're not seeing that much more because one of the aspects about the criminal justice system, whether it's in Maine or Cincinnati, Florida, California, is that what we like to see is transparency. Well, it's not the court records in this case, the court records in this case are impounded,

apparently. So we can't view anything, not even the docket information. Why would that be? That's the weird part. Now, sometimes there's the part of me that wonders, how do you use the mental health piece to wrap it around this to say, is there some sort of, dare I use this phrase? Because we've had to deal with this in our practice regularly is HIPAA. You start talking about mental health issues and mental illness issues. But that shouldn't actually wrap all the way around the fact that somebody was objectively murdered in front of their mother-in-law's home. I'm not suggesting that Mr. Whitamore did that. But what I am suggesting is that if somebody were killed in front of their home in a particular way, we're not suggesting necessarily that it was the husband or that it was anybody else.

but the facts are what the facts are. And that's part of the transparency piece. And I think there is a little bit of heartburn that a lot of Americans have when it comes to that. I thought it might have something to do with the fact. The police reporting that Margot was found with no clothes on. That's a very sensitive aspect to this. And it makes you wonder what might have been going on here.

You know, that's a great question. And yet what I've seen is salacious facts come out all the time. And the idea that something is salacious, so what you're going to do is protect a victim from something. And my thought process on that is I see those disclosures constantly. And it's actually slightly troubling if what you get is a police department who is saying, oh, well, this is salacious or this is disrespectful to a victim in a case. So therefore, we have decided that we're not going to disclose that. I understand the limitations when you have juveniles.

I do. I understand the limitations of that. But when it comes to adults, generally speaking, we don't see that. Those disclosures come out. Certainly, I've seen this in some pretty horrifying murder cases, some horrifying rape cases, some others where you would think, wow, nobody wants to read this. And yet, there it is. Let's talk a little bit more about these two.

So Samuel Whittemore, if you look at his LinkedIn profile, It reveals that he previously served as a senior avionic systems engineer at SpaceX, the private aerospace company founded by Elon Musk. SpaceX's mission centers on reducing space transportation costs, facilitating the colonization of Mars. But Wittermore was a graduate of MIT, had a degree in mechanical engineering, describes himself as a passionate engineer and sailor with experience in flight critical instrumentation and marine operations. He's also noted as the captain of the SV Havilli, a 50-foot sailboat that he's. He apparently sailed across the Pacific, making stops in Mexico, French Polynesia, New Zealand, Hawaii. And here's the thing. Aside from his accomplishments and clearly a bright guy, before these

tragic events unfolded, the Wittemores appeared to be living a great life. According to social media posts and reporting like from Bangor Daily News, Samuel and Margo met in 2021. They were married on September 8th, 2024 at Acadia National Park. Margo, in fact, shared a heartfelt message from their wedding, writing, Am I dreaming in the heart of the Pacific where the ocean breathes, two souls met in a dance of reality. When are we going sailing together forever?

Samuel is tagged in the post. And their social media accounts depict a couple that is passionate about world travel, sharing numerous adventures together. Margot documented a trip that the couple took together in November, 2023, as well as a journey to Colorado with a friend in September of the same year.

And Jack, that's what makes this really, really chilling. I mean, we don't know the circumstances surrounding this. We don't know what an apparent motive would be. How do prosecutors approach that? How do they work looking at this evidence? And maybe does the defense use this to their advantage as well? Great questions all. You know, Jesse, I think about this issue, and it's a great question for this reason to me,

is that I think about this issue a lot because as a criminal defense attorney, and as a former prosecutor, I had to. Maybe it's human nature, but human nature, I think, tells us that good people do great things and that bad people do bad things and that monsters are monsters, and it's just that simple. You just have to figure out which one they are. That's it.

The problem is that's not true. That's not how the world works, and that's not how human beings work. What we will regularly find, I hear is a perfect example. He apparently is an extraordinary human being. I mean, truly, in the sense that he is outside of what is ordinary, contemplate the capability of somebody like this,

or at least when he was competent, maybe even if he were incompetent, because in aspects of his life, in aspects, he was doing things that you and I collectively, together could never do. I mean, that may very well be, the case. So you have that aspect. And what's going to happen is that jurors sometimes, and I still see this, they will see monsters as all monster, all monster, or all hero. And they don't see the

distinction. So if you think about how you prosecute or defend this, I think the prosecution has to be able to talk about the holistic nature of human beings and about. about the ability of people to do all of these things, good people doing horrible things, horrific things, all of that. From a defense perspective, does this, you use exactly all of those issues, and that you just described about this, this relationship, does this sound like somebody who then all of a sudden magically, on a singular day, months after this amazing heartfelt email, brutally kills their wife and brutally tries to kill their mother. That doesn't jive. There I use the sailing analogy,

but it doesn't fit to what that perspective is. And so sometimes you start talking to a jury about how they see the world and you're trying to find those consistencies or inconsistencies to drive them down the path you're trying to drive them, whether you're prosecuting or defending. And look, from just a human point of view, with all that being said, despite how open the couple appeared online. It seems based on the reporting that Margot's family didn't really know a whole lot about Mr. Whittemore because Margo's cousin Roger Risley told WCSH as far as the information we have right now is that Sam is a killer and we are frustrated and angry. Margo who was originally

from France apparently moved to Belfast Maine to start a new life with Samuel but Rizley told the media he didn't really know anything about him saying Sam I don't know much about his history I never got the opportunity to actually meet him. This is according to ABC 13. Now, Rizley lived in Houston quite a ways from Maine, but he told the press that he and Margo were close. They had practically grown up together. And when this tragedy struck, Rizley says he was left without anything to go off of telling the media to go from zero to 100 like that. That's the biggest question for all of us. It's just mind-boggling. You would think there would be signs. And I think that's a really,

really fair question to have here. Now, Mr. Risley has also started a GoFundMe page to honor his cousin's memory. And as of April 22nd, the fundraiser has accrued over $18,000 of its $20,000 goal. We're going to put it up here too. And in remembering Margot, Risley wrote, growing up in France, Margo developed a deep appreciation for culture, art, and exploration. That love carried her across the world from the beaches she adored to the many places where she made lifelong connections. She had so many talents, speaking multiple languages, playing guitar, singing beautifully, and she combined her artistic soul with a brilliant mind, earning her master's degree and inspiring others with her wisdom and curiosity.

But beyond her brilliance and creativity, Margot had a quick wit and a wonderful sense of humor. She could light up any room with her laughter and make even the hardest days brighter. Her kindness, strength, and ability to empower those around her, especially women, made her unforgettable. So Wittemore's case paused indefinitely. happens with the competency issue, but at the end of the day, we are at a loss. The world has lost somebody who is truly special. Jack Rice, thank you so much for coming on, breaking it down with me. Really, really appreciate you taking the time. Thank you. And that's all we have for you right now here on Sidebar, everybody. Thank you so much for joining us. And as always, please subscribe on

YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you should get your podcast. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll speak to you next time. You can binge all episodes of this law and crime series ad free right now on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.