Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

Portland, Maine:  United States Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty II announced that Gregory Owens, 59, of Londonderry, New Hampshire, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court by Chief Judge Nancy Torresen to 20 years plus life in prison for interstate domestic violence and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence in connection with a home invasion shooting in Saco, Maine on December 18, 2014. He was also ordered to pay over $80,000 in restitution.  He was found guilty following a jury trial on February 16, 2016.

According to trial testimony, on December 18, 2014, Owens drove from New Hampshire to Maine intending to kill his wife who was an overnight guest at the home of friends living in Saco. During the home invasion, Owens shot his wife and the male home owner with a 9mm pistol. Both survived their injuries.   

In imposing sentence, Chief Judge Torresen noted that this was one of the most serious crimes she had encountered.  She said that the defendant crossed a state line planning to murder his wife and she called his trial testimony denying it “bunk.” “I don’t believe you, no one here believes you.”  In imposing the sentence, she recognized that the defendant had exhibited the capacity to commit murder to achieve his ends two times and that she needed to protect the public because he would never change.

The investigation was conducted by the Saco Police Department; the Londonderry Police Department; the Maine and New Hampshire State Police; the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and the Maine State Police Crime Laboratory.

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