BELFAST (AP) — A man whose wife was fatally shot has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against her killer, who’s due to be sentenced Wednesday.
The target of the lawsuit, Todd Gilday, pleaded guilty to murder and attempted murder in the killing 55-year-old Lynn Arsenault and the wounding of her 22-year-old son, Mathew Day. Under a plea deal, prosecutors are recommending a 50-year prison sentence.
But the sentence that’s imposed Wednesday won’t be the end of the case.
A civil lawsuit filed last week in Waldo County Superior Court seeks unspecified damages for Donald Arsenault Jr. for the loss of his wife and her conscious pain and suffering before her death, his lawyer James O’Connell said.
“Ultimately it’s up to a judge and jury to come up with an appropriate amount,” he said.
Gilday was accused of forcing himself into a Belfast home and killing Lynn Arsenault while she was visiting her son. After the shooting, Gilday checked himself into a hospital’s psychiatric and addiction recovery unit. He withdrew his insanity defense and pleaded guilty in July.
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