50 CENTS JhedailyrnewspaperroUYorklCountVr Maine yyw w j o urn a It r i b u rie ico XHdefendant mm Raymond Wood left of Watertx)ro listens as attorney Joseph Wrobteski speaks during a press conference at his office in Saco Wednesday By TAMMY WELLS Journal Tribune Staff Writer SACO — Raymond Wood believes prosecutors won’t again charge him with the murder of his girlfriend Bessie Selek V The Waterboro man was accused of running down 41-year-old Selek with his van as she walked along Route 202 on April 20 1999 An admission he made to police was suppressed by a Superior Court judge however and die state dropped the murder charge against him Monday i- The charges were dropped "without prejudice” which means they could be reinstated But in a press conference at die office of attorney Joseph Wroblesld Wood asserted his innocence and criticized Maine State Police for subjecting him to an intimidating interroga tion The only way I could see diem open it (is if) they finagle some of die evidence No way can I see them recharging me” Wood said Wood 38 walked out of York County Jail Monday night a free man for the first time in a year "I got out at 3:30 pm I just walked" he said The slight man with sandy-colored hair said he lit a cigarette as he walked away from die jail He joked nervously that it was a bad habit he found hard to break even after being incarcerated and away from the smokes for a year He wore jeans and a blue-checked shirt a wel-' come change from the orange jail garb worn by prison- ere The state said it did not have enough evidence to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt after Justice Robert Crowley last month suppressed incriminating testimony made by Wood the day of his arrest York County Sheriff’s Department deputies and Maine State Police officers interviewed Wood for six hours after his arrest Last month Crowley ruled Wood was coerced into an admission he ran over Bessie Selek during the portion of the interview conducted by the state police Testimony from the Sheriff’s Department interview was not suppressed “I was surrounded I was grilled It was emotional overload I was intimidated” Wood said Wednesday describing his interview by the two State Police officers Wood said the officers took turns playing “good WOOD Continued on Page 16
