A convicted killer who was sentenced to a decade behind bars for suffocating a Canadian tourist by stuffing sand down his throat was elected to the city council of a Maine city.
Angela Walker was elected as a Bangor councilmember on Tuesday, over two decades after she pleaded guilty to manslaughter charges alongside her brother, Benjamin Humphrey, in the 2002 death of Derek Rogers, the Bangor Daily News reported.
Walker, who’s not affiliated with a political party, was one of three councilmembers elected to serve a three-year term.
She was sponsored by the politically progressive Maine nonprofit organization Food and Medicine alongside the other two winning candidates, the outlet reported.
Walker was convicted in 2003 of manslaughter for Rogers’ death when she still used her maiden name, Humphrey, according to the local publication.
A fight broke out in Old Orchard Beach after Rogers allegedly called Walker a derogatory term for Native American women. He was later discovered brutally beaten and suffocated with sand, the outlet reported.
“That’s my past. I don’t live there anymore and I’m a different person,” Walker said of the conviction, the news site reported.
She also pleaded guilty to perjury and was sentenced to 10 years behind bars, according to reports.
There is currently no law in place in Bangor barring Walker or any other resident with a criminal record from running for office.
The Maine city served as the real-life inspiration for the fictional town of Derry, which provides the backdrop for several of King’s hit horror novels, including the creepy clown film “It.”
The author used to live in Bangor. His former home there is a spooky Victorian mansion that is closed to the public, according to Tripadvisor.
Several users online slammed voters for electing the ex-convict councilmember.
“America is so broken. Voters in Maine elected Angela Walker, a violent murderer, as a new city councilor,” one user wrote on X.
“The glittering pinnacle of progressive enlightenment,” the user continued.
“We need a federal law that prohibits violent offenders from ever holding office. How is this not present?” another user wrote.
Walker has responded to grudges about her criminal record.
“I want people to see that it’s possible that we can change,” Walker told the Bangor Daily News.
“I was so lost for so many years. I think people really need to see the other side of that,” she said.
She has lived in Bangor for 13 years and is also vocal about her recovery from addiction and previous homelessness, championing drug recovery programs in the town, the outlet reported.
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