Murder suspect refuses to participate in court hearing over attire
By Jim Keithley
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PORTLAND, Maine (WMTW) — A Maine man who has been charged with murder refused to appear in court for a bail hearing because he did not want to be seen on television in jail clothes.
Domingus Nobrega, 49, is accused of stabbing his roommate, Matthew Merrick, to death on Nov. 30, 2024 at the apartment they shared in Portland’s West End.
Nobrega told lawyers and court officials he would not participate in Wednesday’s hearing because he knew members of the media were there and he did not want the public to see him in a jail uniform.
The bail hearing was rescheduled for January, and Nobrega will be allowed to appear in civilian clothes.
During a discovery hearing held in March, an attorney representing Nobrega said a witness told a grand jury she saw Nobrega come into Merrick’s bedroom and stab Merrick in the chest. A motive for the murder, however, was not given.
Merrick’s mother, Debra Kelly, was in the courtroom for Wednesday’s hearing. For the first time since her son’s murder, Kelly spoke with Maine’s Total Coverage.
“Two police officers came to my house at 10 o’clock at night and told me, and I was shocked,” Kelly recalled.
Kelly said her son would have turned 44 on Oct. 1, 2025, and that he did not deserve to die.
“It shouldn’t happen to any parent. You don’t think: ‘I’m going to bury my child.’ You don’t ever think that,” Kelly said. “He loved his family. He really did, especially his aunts and uncles.
“I’m thinking: ‘I’m not going to see him again,’ and I just say that to myself. I’m never going to see him again,” she added.
The judge presiding over Wednesday’s hearing said a psychological exam should be ordered for Nobrega, who previously claimed that he is not a U.S. citizen.
Nobrega has been held without bail at the Cumberland County Jail since he was arrested at the Walmart Supercenter in Scarborough on Dec. 3, 2024.
The judge also said a trial in this case would likely not happen until August 2026.
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