ALFRED — An Acton woman accused of stabbing her former husband to death in February 2017 after learning he had been awarded custody of their two children pleaded guilty to murder Monday.

Kandee Collind, 48, formerly known as Kandee Weyland, entered a guilty plea to a charge of intentional and knowing murder at a hearing in York County Superior Court. The plea avoids a trial, which had been set to begin on Sept 17.

She initially pleaded not guilty during a court appearance in May 2017.

Collind faces a minimum of 25 years in prison. After the hearing, her attorney, Clifford Strike, said a plea agreement caps the sentence at 32 years. Collind is scheduled for sentencing on Nov. 19.

“She wanted to spare her children the trauma of a trial, which I think is honorable and the correct decision,” Strike said. “She is at peace with her decision.”

Collind told police that both children were in the car with her when she pulled into the driveway, crashed into a parked pickup truck and got into a confrontation with her ex-husband, Scott Weyland, according to a court affidavit filed by Maine State Police Detective Corey Pike. The children allegedly witnessed the stabbing.

The affidavit noted that one of the couple’s two children called 911 at 12:55 p.m. on Feb. 22, 2017, and said Collind had stabbed Weyland in the chest.

Nine minutes later, York County Sheriff’s Deputy Tom Searway arrived at 1097 Milton Mills Road in Acton, where Weyland had been living with his mother.

Searway allegedly found Collind administering CPR to her former husband outside on the ground. She was crying hysterically, and told Searway that she had stabbed him in the chest, and that he had pulled out a knife as well.

An autopsy revealed Weyland died of a stab wound to the chest, with penetration of the heart.

In court Monday, Collind, showing no emotion, quietly responded “yes” when Superior Court Justice Wayne R. Douglas asked if it was her intent to plead guilty to the charge.

Strike acknowledged that had the case gone to trial, the state could have proved its case against Collind.

The confrontation was sparked by a letter Collind received a few days after the couple’s divorce was finalized on Feb. 17, 2017, which awarded primary physical custody of their two children to her ex-husband.

According to police, Collind was taken into custody on the day her husband died and was taken to a hospital for evaluation. She was treated at Southern Maine Health Care in Biddeford for minor lacerations and, according to the affidavit, was found to be concealing a small knife stuck in her abdomen.

Tammy Wells can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 327, or at:

twells@journaltribune.com