Man facing murder charge accused trying to get fellow inmate to commit arson
A man facing a murder charge in Washington County has been indicted for allegedly trying to get another man to commit arson.
Paul DeForest, 67, is accused of shooting and killing Eva Cox at her home in Lubec on Jan. 8, 2022. He was arrested that month.
DeForest was transferred to Hancock County Jail in Ellsworth last December after he allegedly approached another inmate about committing an act of arson.
It wasn’t immediately clear what DeForest had wanted the other inmate to set on fire. Court documents in the case have been impounded.
Solicitation to commit arson is a Class B crime, a conviction on which is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000,
DeForest is tentatively scheduled to go on trial this October for the shooting death of Eva Cox, a 58-year old woman whom police say was DeForest’s girlfriend. Police say DeForest shot and killed Cox while a friend of DeForest’s was staying at Cox’s home on Jim’s Head Road.
The friend later reported the shooting to police. DeForest was arrested the next day in Virginia.
DeForest, who remains held without bail on the murder charge, is in custody at Washington County Jail in Machias.