PATRICK WHITTLE, Associated Press
ROCKLAND, Maine (AP) — A former Maine man has been convicted of bashing his wife’s head with a rock and pushing her off a cliff in disputes over an affair and inheritance money.
The couple, Charles and Lisa Black, had moved from Kansas to retire in coastal Maine. Before the fall in 2011, they’d argued about how he spent money from a $4 million inheritance from her father and over an affair he had.
Prosecutors say 71-year-old Charles Black hit his wife with a rock before pushing her off Maiden Cliff. Both tumbled down the mountainside.
He was found guilty Monday of attempted murder and other charges.
Charles Black, who now lives in Utah, did not testify. He has said he had no memory of pushing his wife. They have divorced, and she goes by Lisa Zahn. The Blacks are former Johnson County teachers.
——————
ROCKLAND, Maine (AP) — A Maine jury is deliberating the fate of a man accused of bashing his wife’s head with a rock and pushing her off a cliff.
Authorities say Charles Black hit 55-year-old Lisa Zahn with the rock before pushing her off Maiden Cliff in Camden in 2011. Both survived after tumbling 800 feet down the mountainside.
Prosecutors say Black and Zahn were having a dispute over how Black spent some of Zahn’s inheritance.
But Black’s attorney made the case Monday that the details surrounding their falls are too fuzzy to convict Black. Prosecutors say investigators found Zahn’s blood on Black’s jacket and shoes.
The 71-year-old Black is charged with attempted murder, two counts of elevated aggravated assault and three counts of aggravated assault.
The Blacks are former Johnson County teachers.