A MILLIONAIRE couple could be thrown in jail after secretly poisoning their neighbor’s trees to improve the ocean view from their mansion.
Residents from Camden, Maine – about 80 miles north of Portland – have rallied together to demand that Amelia and Arthur Bond III face consequences for poisoning Lisa Gorman’s trees.
Amelia Bond and her husband paid over a million after destroying their neighbor’s treesCredit: Business Wire
Bond sprinkled herbicide on trees belonging to her neighbor to get a better view from her mansion in Camden, MaineCredit: AP
Lisa Gorman (left) didn’t realize her trees were dying until performing several testsCredit: Getty
The couple allegedly pretended to help Gorman after she was having problems with her trees, a local said.
“They literally applied the poison, the trees start to die, then they call Mrs. Gorman and say, ‘Boy, these trees don’t look so good. You better cut them down,'” Tom Hedstrom told the Boston Globe.
“And then, trying to show how gracious and generous they are, they offered to split the costs.”
In 2022, Amelia Bond sprinkled four pounds of Tebuthiuron, a lethal herbicide, on trees belonging to Gorman.
Gorman, who is the wife of the late Leon Gorman, the president of L.L. Bean, became suspicious when her trees and large areas of vegetation began to die.
After Gorman conducted some tests on her property it was revealed that two of her oak trees were treated with an herbicide.
Amelia Bond admitted to using the poison, saying that the trees blocked her view of Laite Beach and Camden Harbor.
The Bonds’ actions left the residents so upset that they decided the $1.7 million legal settlement wasn’t punishment enough.
Now they’re calling on Knox District Attorney Natasha Irving and Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey to file criminal charges against the couple.
However, Irving said she wouldn’t seek charges because she didn’t believe she could prove a crime was committed.
The case grabbed headlines around the country and Amelia Bond, the former head of the St. Louis Foundation, has since paid $1.5 million in compensation to Gorman.
But Bond’s attempt also spread poison into a nearby beach and park, bringing even more anger into the community.
“Anybody dumb enough to poison trees right next to the ocean should be prosecuted, as far as I’m concerned,” resident Paul Hodgson told the Associated Press.
Amelia and Arthur Bond III have so far paid $4,500 in violations with the Maine Board of Pesticides Control Board and $180,000 in violations with the town.
The couple has also shelled out $30,000 for additional environmental testing of Gorman’s property.
However, Attorney General Frey launched an investigation due to the growing anger from the small town of 5,000.
I’ve never heard anyone using a pesticide to vandalize someone else’s property and they picked a pretty bad chemical to do that.
Kerry BernardPesticide safety education expert from the University of Maine Cooperative Extension.
Gorman had been living in her home since 2002 when the Bonds moved into the neighborhood in 2018.
Despite a friendly relationship with her neighbors, Gorman was adamant that she wouldn’t cut down any of her trees.
At some point, the Bonds had tried to hire a crew to cut down the trees but were stopped by Gorman’s landscapers.
“I’ve never heard anyone using a pesticide to vandalize someone else’s property,” said Kerry Bernard, a pesticide safety education expert with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension.
“And they picked a pretty bad chemical to do that.”
The U.S. Sun has reached out to Irving and Frey for comment.