Jaime gets court date
By Kathy McCarty
Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE — A hearing for a local pawn shop owner, charged with murder in connection with the death of a Presque Isle woman, Starlett ‘Star’ Vining, has been scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 6.
“State Police, working with the Presque Isle Police Department, arrested George Jaime Sr., 75, from Presque Isle, the afternoon of July 12 and charged him with murder in connection with the death of Starlett ‘Star’ Vining. Vining was last seen alive in the fall of 1998 in the Presque Isle area and would have been 38 years old at the time of her death,” said Steve McCausland, spokesperson for the Maine Department of Public Safety.
Presque Isle tax records indicate the structure, which includes a pawn shop, wine store and apartments, is owned by A.M. Smith Trust, in care of George J. Jaime. Members of the Maine State Police Evidence Recovery Team had their mobile crime unit truck parked in the alley between Jaime’s building and a State Street thrift store called The Cubby off and on between Monday, July 9, and Thursday, July 12, with officers, assisted by Presque Isle police, traveling between the unit and the lower level of the Smith Block. Jaime’s pawn broker license was renewed by City Council in April 2012.
“Jaime Sr. was arrested at the pawn shop he owns in the building, Star City Trading Post. The business shares space in the building with several apartments and a store called The Wine Cellar and is located at the intersection of Main and State streets. Police began searching the site on Monday,” at a location Vining was known to frequent, said McCausland.
No information is available as to what evidence police discovered during their July search. That information may be made available once the matter is taken up in court.
Alan Harding, a Presque Isle attorney, is representing Jaime. According to a court official, no bail has been set and Jaime remains in custody at the Aroostook County Jail in Houlton, awaiting his November date in Superior Court.
Anyone with information related to this case is asked to call Det. Adam Stoutamyer with the MSP at 532-5400 or 800-924-2261.
