Suspicious deaths in an idyllic seaside community and detective work that points to poison sound like themes from a classic murder mystery. But the victims in this Maine whodunnit were trees that stood in the way of a wealthy family's oceanfront view of Camden Harbor, allegedly felled by well-heeled killers who, while ostracized and publicly shamed, remain free. To make matters worse, the herbicide used to allegedly poison the trees leached into a neighboring park and the town's only public seaside beach. The state attorney general is now investigating, per the AP.
- The players: Amelia Bond, former CEO of the St. Louis Foundation, which oversees charitable funds with more than $500 million in assets, brought the herbicide from Missouri in 2021 and applied it near oak trees on the waterfront property of Lisa Gorman, wife of the late Leon Gorman, LL Bean's president and grandson of LL himself, per a pair of consent agreements with the town and the state pesticide board. Bond's husband, Arthur Bond III, is an architect and the nephew of former US Sen. Kit Bond. Their summer home, owned by a trust, is situated directly behind Gorman's home, farther up the hill.