Seth Therrien doesn’t know exactly how he got a broken nose, jaw and a concussion on the evening of Sept. 13. His first clear memory is of waking up a hospital bed in the Maine Medical Center the next morning. All anyone knows for sure is that Therrien was found bleeding in one of the bathrooms on the 7th floor of Dickey hall, at the end of a trail of blood that started with a large pool on the landing between the 7th and 8th floors. His injuries will require corrective surgery. The case is under investigation by the USM Police.
“Supposedly he was beaten up, but he may have just fallen down the stairs,” said a resident life staff member who did not want to be identified. “Nobody has any clue what happened.” The resident life official saw Therrien a few days after the event and said he had a “huge nose” and black eyes.
Therrien, a freshman computer science major, is not sure whether he fell down the stairs or if someone attacked him.
“I’d say I blacked out at nine, ten is when the incident supposedly happened, and at eleven p.m. I was admitted to the hospital,” Therrien said, scrutinizing the wrist band he still had from his visit. He said he has a vague recollection of police taking him to the hospital, but remembers nothing else.
“I woke up in the hospital at six o’clock.” he said. “No one from USM was there.” After being released from the hospital that Sunday, Therrien paid for a taxi to drive him back to Gorham. He has been cooperating with the police investigation.
“There are two basic stories floating around,” Therrien said. “Either I fell down, or I got my ass whupped.”
Megan Burr, a first-year pre-social work major, knows Therrien, and said that she heard from friends that he had been hurt that night and went looking for him. She saw pools and streaks of blood in the stairwell and found Therrien surrounded by police and resident life staff on Dickey’s 7th floor. “Seth was leaning on a wall in the common area with a towel in his lap,” Burr said. “Then he slumped to the ground and threw up. That’s when they [the police and resident life staff] asked us to leave.”
There is evidence to indicate that Therrien may have been attacked. A broken watch was found in the vicinity of the first blood stain on the landing between the 7th and 8th floors.
“I don’t wear watches,” Therrien said.
The Residential Director of the Dickey/Wood halls, Joel Schneider, said he could not comment on the case because the case is under investigation by the USM police. Detective Ronald Saindon of the USM Police also declined to comment. It is the policy of the USM Police not to speak publicly about ongoing investigations, and resident life has a similar policy.
The police logs from that night report blood and vomit “ranging from the 8th floor stairwell to 7th floor, 7th floor common area and bathroom.” The records indicate that Gorham rescue services were summoned at 10:08 p.m. and that they brought someone to the Maine Medical Center.
Therrien will need corrective surgery for his wounds. He says his jaw is broken such that he can’t open his mouth all the way and his nose will also require surgery.
John Bronson can be contacted at [email protected]