A woman who was sentenced to a decade in prison for suffocating a Canadian tourist to death by stuffing his mouth with sand has been elected to the city council of Bangor, Maine — the town that helped inspire Stephen King’s horror novel It.
Angela Walker was elected a Bangor council member this week, 22 years after she pleaded guilty to manslaughter charges alongside her brother, Benjamin Humphrey, in the 2002 death of a Canadian tourist, Derek Rogers.
Online critics considered her election an outrage, while Walker herself said she hoped to serve as an example of recovery from alcoholism and homelessness.
A post on X by Libs of Tik Tok, among others, generated thousands of views and critical commentary.
“America is so broken,” posted one observer. “Voters in Maine elected Angela Walker, a violent murderer, as a new city councilor [sic]. The glittering pinnacle of progressive enlightenment.”
Walker has lived in Bangor for 13 years and did not shy away from her past.
“I want people to see that it’s possible that we can change,” Walker told the Bangor Daily News as a candidate. “I was so lost for so many years. I think people really need to see the other side of that.”
Walker, a Sioux Native American, has been vocal about her recovery from alcoholism, and works as the peer services coordinator at the Bangor Area Recovery Network, overseeing the organization’s recovery coaching and justice programs.
According to 2003 news reports, the manslaughter charge stemmed from Walker, then known as Angela Humphrey, and her brother, both of whom had been drinking heavily, encountering Rogers, a 47-year-old musician with the Canadian armed forces band, on a late night stroll in Old Orchard Beach on the Atlantic coastline.
What began as a friendly meeting became a violent altercation after Rogers allegedly called Walker a “squaw.” Apparently Rogers was knocked unconscious and Walker filled his mouth with sand, resulting in his suffocation.
She was 29 at the time of her sentencing. Her 30-year-old brother also pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to five years.
There is no law in Bangor barring anyone with a criminal record from running for office.
The Maine city of some 34,000 residents is the former home of horror author King, a longtime liberal who has been a frequent critic of President Donald Trump.
Bangor served as the author’s inspiration for the fictional town of Derry, according to numerous profiles. Derry provides the setting for several of King’s horror novels, including It and Pet Sematary, two of his many novels that have also been adapted into films.
Contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the author of the New York Times best seller House of Secrets and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.
