FARMINGTON – Bail was amended for a Wilton man charged with murder in Franklin County Superior Court Friday, with the court eying a September 2017 trial date.
Timothy Danforth, 25, was arraigned on the charge of murder on Aug. 19, after a Franklin County grand jury indicted him in relation to a shooting death in Wilton. The state alleges that Danforth caused the death of Michael Reis, 23 of New Sharon, outside of a residence at 259 Weld Road in Wilton in the early morning hours of June 1.
According to police, at approximately 12:45 a.m. on June 1, an individual called 9-1-1 to report a shooting. Reis was transported by friends to Franklin Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Police later said that it appeared that a group of people went to the Weld Road residence and got into a confrontation with Danforth and his father, who lived at the residence.
Assistant District Attorney Robert Ellis had previously stated in court that Reis had been shot three times at close range and that the shooting had arisen out of an altercation about a debt owed over a small amount of marijuana.
Danforth’s attorney, Sarah Glynn, has said that his involvement went toward the “protection of his home and the protection of his father” and that Danforth had been cooperative with law enforcement. The alleged drug debt was between Danforth’s father and a third party who was not present at the residence at the time of the shooting, Glynn had noted.
On Nov. 9, Danforth’s bail was reduced from $150,000 cash to $80,000 surety, after a family friend had indicated a willingness to put her property up for bail. She had been misinformed about the value, however, and the property was in fact worth $60,000.
Justice William Stokes amended the bail bond accordingly, reducing the surety required to $60,000. He noted that Danforth had signed a Maine Pre-Trial Services contract that included “significant restrictions” on the Wilton man’s movements. Conditions of Danforth’s bail include a number of no contact provisions and an order not to possess alcohol, illegal drugs or dangerous weapons.
Stokes and the attorneys discussed scheduling the trial for September 2017.
