Millionaire Homeowners in Camden, Maine Could Face Prison Time for ‘Poisoning’ Neighbors’ Trees to Clean Up Ocean View

A MILLIONAIRE couple could be jailed after secretly poisoning their neighbour’s trees to improve the ocean views from their mansion.

Residents of Camden, Maine – about 80 miles north of Portland – have come together to demand that Amelia and Arthur Bond III faces consequences for poisoning Lisa Gorman’s trees.

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The couple allegedly pretended to help Gormon after she was having trouble with her trees, a local resident said.

“They literally applied the poison, the trees started dying, so they called Mrs. Gorman and said, ‘Boy, these trees don’t look so good. You better cut them down,'” Tom Hedstrom told Boston Globe.

“And then, trying to show how kind and generous they are, they offered to share the costs.”

In 2022, Amelia Bond sprayed two kilograms of Tebuthiuron, a lethal herbicide, on trees belonging to Gorman.

Gorman, who is the wife of the late Leon Gorman, president of L.L. Bean, became suspicious when her trees and large areas of vegetation began to die.

After Gorman performed some tests on his property, it was revealed that two of his oak trees had been treated with herbicide.

I’ve never heard anyone use a pesticide to vandalize someone else’s property and they chose a really bad chemical to do it with.

Kerry BernardoPesticide Safety Education Specialist at the University of Maine Cooperative Extension.

Amelia Bond admitted using the poison, saying trees blocked her view of Laite Beach and Camden Harbor.

The Bonds’ actions left residents so upset that they decided the $1.7 million legal settlement was not enough punishment.

Now they are calling on Knox District Attorney Natasha Irving and Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey to file criminal charges against the couple.

However, Irving said he would not seek charges because he did not believe he could prove a crime was committed.

The case made headlines across the country and Amelia Bond, former head of the St. Louis Foundation, has since paid $1.5 million in compensation to Gorman.

But Bond’s attempt also spread poison on a nearby beach and park, bringing even more anger into the community.

“Someone dumb enough to poison trees, right next to the ocean should be processed as far as I’m concerned,” resident Paul Hodgson told Associated Press.

Amelia and Arthur So far, Bond III has paid $4,500 in violations with the Maine Pesticide Control Board and $180,000 in violations with the city.

The couple also shelled out $30,000 for additional environmental testing on the Gorman property.

However, Attorney General Frey launched an investigation due to growing anger in the small town of 5,000.

Gorman had lived in her home since 2002, when the Bonds moved to the neighborhood in 2018.

Despite a friendly relationship with his neighbors, Gorman was adamant about not cutting down any of his trees.

At some point, the Bonds tried to hire a crew to cut down the trees, but were stopped by Gorman’s landscapers.

“I’ve never heard of anyone using a pesticide to vandalize someone else’s property,” said Kerry Bernard, pesticide safety education specialist at the University of Maine Cooperative Extension.

“And they chose a really bad chemical to do it with.”

The US Sun has reached out to Irving and Frey for comment.