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Dark Down East is proudly sponsored by Amica Insurance. The unexpected can happen at any moment, and Amica knows how important it is to be prepared. Whether it's auto, home, or life insurance, Amica has you covered. Their dedicated and knowledgeable representatives will work with you to make sure you have the right coverage in place to protect what matters most. You can feel confident that Amica is there for you. Visit amica.com to get started. Hey, Dark Down Easter's, it's Kylie.
Before I share this week's story with you, I have an important announcement. On October 1st, 2023, Dark Down East is going dark. This will be the last episode of Dark Down East this year. But I'm saying this with a smile on my face because this isn't an ending. Far from it. In fact, this is just the beginning of something big.
I can't give you all the details at the moment, but starting next year, Dark Down East is partnering with one of the biggest media companies in the podcast world.
So, with this new partnership on the horizon, Dark Down East will take a hiatus, starting in October through the new year. When the show returns, you can expect more of the Maine and New England stories Dark Down East is known for, and an even bigger platform that will reach more ears and bring more attention to the important cases I cover for families still waiting for justice and answers. Absolutely none of this could be possible without the support that you have given me.
When I started this show nearly four years ago from my tiny closet studio in Maine, I couldn't imagine being where we are today and all that's to come. I have goosebumps sharing this news with you right now, and I hope you'll share in my excitement. Get ready. This next adventure is going to be incredible, and I can't wait to return to you in 2024.
In the meantime, make sure to follow Dark Down East on Instagram to stay up to date with what's going on and hit the follow button wherever you listen to podcasts, just in case I decide to share some updates along the way. So with that, let the countdown begin. I'm Kylie Lowe, and this is Dark Down East. John Pownall was a visionary.
His photography and commercial work had been featured all over the world, and in the summer of 1973, he was about to expand his creative career even further with a feature-length film set and shot in his home state of Maine. But just months into production of the new and exciting project, John Pownall was found dead in his Monument Square office in Portland.
Why would anyone want to kill him? As the investigation into his murder began, the motive for his death emerged. But the question of who was behind it all is one that still hasn't been answered with a conviction 50 years later.
Linda Pownall Carlson was only 16 years old when her father was killed. She's on Dark Down East to share her father's story, all the complex and layered and shocking pieces of it. But most of all, she's here to tell you the parts that were left out of the narrative in 1973, the stories and memories that she holds on to all these years later. I'm Kylie Lowe, and this is the story of John Pownall on Dark Down East.
I first stumbled upon the story of John Paunil while researching another main case from the same year. I wrote his name down on my ever-growing list of cases that I want to dig deeper into. And a few weeks later, I started my initial research, combing through newspaper archives and searching for court documents and trying to locate any surviving family members.
I was immediately surprised at just how much information I was finding in old copies of the Portland Evening Express and other local publications. Where I normally would find 20 or 30, maybe 40 articles published about a case from the 70s, I encountered hundreds of stories containing the name John Pownall and the details of his murder in Monument Square. I'd worked in Monument Square for years and I'd lived in Portland for even longer and yet I had never heard of John's case before.
From the get-go, just looking at the source material I had, I knew this was going to be a complex case to cover. I also felt strongly that this particular story shouldn't be told without speaking to a family member if I could find one. Though I was flooded with details about the investigation and the trial proceedings, what the source material lacked was a full picture of who John Pownall was to the people who loved him most. I learned through my research that John has a daughter named Linda.
And through some, dare I say, expert-level social media sleuthing, I actually found Linda. This was back in early 2021. Dark Down East was a little baby podcast at the time, but I messaged Linda and she answered my message and she was open to speaking with me further.
Then life happened. Timing was never quite right for either of us. And though I checked in with her periodically and she was always kind and responsive to my messages, literal years went by until suddenly it was the summer of 2023 and the 50-year anniversary of John Poundell's murder approached.
In July of 2023, Linda and I got on the phone together. I shared more about what I do and why I do it, and Linda shared with me how important it is to her to keep her father's story and memory alive. She was ready to share his story, and her own too. So we put a time on the calendar for an interview, and when we finally sat down and hit record, Linda introduced me to her father through her precious memories of him.
Well, my father was a very outgoing character. You know, when he came into a room, people were aware of his presence. You know, he had just a robust presence in a room. You know, he was highly creative. He was not a guy that was sitting watching endless amounts of TV and not doing anything. You know, he was always thinking about something, how to create something, how to build something.
When John was a preteen, he received his first camera as a gift from his mother. That camera gave way to his future talent and passion as he pursued a creative career in photography and filmmaking. He graduated from Stanford High in 1952 and pursued his associate degree in photographic chemistry at the Rochester Institute of Technology.
That's where he met Jean, the woman who became his wife and the mother of his children, and his teammate as they launched their own studio in Chicago. After they graduated from RIT, they went to Chicago, and they were on their own. It was just the two of them. You know, 1954, my dad went to the University of Chicago to finish his degree, and my mom worked. You know, they were highly ambitious.
After John completed his studies at the Institute of Design in Chicago, he actually couldn't find a job. But always the self-starter, with an entrepreneurial spirit, I mean, he'd even run his own fruit and vegetable truck business as a teenager, John opened his own business with Jean and never worked another day for anyone but himself.
The pair set up shop in a three-story brick building on West Armitage Avenue in Chicago, Illinois. The growing Pownall family lived on the third floor, and the basement, first, and second floors was where the creative magic happened.
It was in that multi-use, live workspace that John and Jean held their first big shoots for Life Magazine and Look Magazine. John also shot photos for Playboy, even photographed a layout with centerfold model Avis Kimble Miss November 1962. His photos were featured on the cover of Rogue Magazine and
And soon, his still photography work evolved into directing TV commercials for big-name clients like McDonald's, Wishbone Salad Dressing, Pabst Beer, Xerox Company, Oldsmobile, and more. You know, and he promoted himself. My mom and my dad promoted themselves and got jobs and started being very successful at what they were doing. Sometimes, the photo shoots and commercials required kids to model products and clothing.
And of course, he used his kids for models, so we were always incorporated in some magazine or book. I asked Linda if this unique upbringing—her father a director, their home a studio—ever struck her as unusual. See, I don't know anything different than that. But it affected all three of us children.
None of us really work well in the 9-to-5 job routine. But when you live that, you don't really know that that is so very different than the mainstream. Until you move to Maine, of course. John's creativity knew no bounds. He had endless ideas. And in the early 70s, he expanded his work even further into feature-length films.
He directed and shot his very first movie, titled Goodbye Fat Larry, in 1970 and 71. It was never widely released, but Linda is very familiar with the plot and the characters that her father dreamed up. It was about a woman who was trying to make her way in life but didn't like the one she was leading in Chicago. So she rented a big truck, packed up all her things, and moved out west to find herself and something new.
In order to make that film, Goodbye Fat Larry, John Pownall had to put his commercial business on hold, which Linda says created a sticky financial situation. Living and working in Chicago didn't fit into the plan anymore. And money aside, the Pownalls wanted a different, safer life for their kids. The family had to make some changes. And so John and Jean decided to move. And so when my dad had finished the movie,
they were in financial crisis. So part of the reason we moved was because of the financial crisis my parents were in. And in Chicago, my father was held up at gunpoint for his wallet. So that was another issue. So at that point, between those two experiences, my dad decided that they were going to make a life change and
moved to Maine. Now, Maine is where, Sanford, Maine was where my father grew up. Maine had always been a part of Linda and her family's summer ritual. My parents had a cottage there, and we stayed there every summer. So every summer, we'd go to Maine, Square Pond. We had a sandy beachfront, you know, it was, it was great, you know.
Chicago in the winter, all those activities you could do, my friends for my whole life. And then, you know, my dad would like, we would have our, you know, Ricky would have a friend come for the summer. I would have a friend come for the summer or however long they were allowed to come. You know, it was fun. It was fun. But then one summer, we didn't come back to Chicago.
The family's place of summer respite became their permanent home. That was a shock, and I was not a happy teenager at that point. When you think of John Pownall's line of work, Playboy photoshoots and producing commercials and making movies, Maine isn't the first place that comes to mind.
Although today the Maine Film Office and the Maine State Legislature encourage film production with tax breaks under the Maine visual media incentives, the Pine Tree State wasn't exactly Hollywood's up-and-coming rival in the 70s. But John Pownall's dream persisted after he left Chicago, and he continued to pursue his filmmaking endeavors once back in his home state.
His idea was, so he had experience with that one film. He realized what parts of it he didn't want to do and what parts he did want to do from that experience. He did not want to run the company of finding financial people to back the movie. He wanted to be the creative part of designing the film, directing the film. So his idea, when he moved to
when he moved to Maine was that Portland would be a good hub for a movie company. You know, New York City was not that far away. So his idea was to start a movie company, but not be part of the movie company. With his creative spirit intact, John set about finding the right people to fund his projects. For interim, he worked teaching film to young people in Portland.
and looked for somebody that was interested in starting a movie company. And you know, he knew how to arrange that. He knew what that work was like. And that's how he met Joe Castellucci. Joseph Castellucci would become a central figure in John Paunil's silver screen ambitions, as well as John's untimely death, just as those ambitions were taking off.
After my dad finished his first movie, he had an idea for a second movie and a third movie. I don't know what the idea was for the third movie. The Salem Six was about basically seven kids, not six kids. It was like a tag-along. And they wanted to do something about the factory that was polluting their lake, their river, did you mean? And it was going to be humorous and adventurous.
but bring out a point that corporations are not interested in the welfare of our environment through humor and children doing something about it. So it was a very advanced idea for 1971, 72, 73. I think the movie would have made a huge difference.
Salem 6 would be the first film produced by the Planet 3 Films Company, founded by John and his wife. Planet 3 Films set up its offices at 465 Congress Street in Portland's Monument Square and began work on Salem 6 in the spring of 1973.
The movie created a ton of buzz here in Maine. John wanted to cast local kids to play the main characters. Casting calls ran in the local papers asking for anyone between the ages of 9 and 14 years old interested in playing a role in the film to call the Planet 3 Films office. Nancy Payne, who is referred to as both the secretary and talent coordinator for Planet 3 Films in various sources, said that the phone was ringing off the hook.
with calls from both parents and children wanting their chance to make it in the movie. As for the grown-up roles, an article by Michael Smith in the Journal Tribune says that big-name star Mickey Rooney had signed on for a part in the film. Gene Shepard, who wrote the beloved film A Christmas Story, was writing the screenplay for Salem 6.
According to the Town and Country column in the Portland Evening Express by Janice Dougherty, which appears to be a sort of summary of who's who and what's what in the area, Joseph A. Castellucci was identified as executive producer of Salem 6.
Joseph presented himself as a wealthy or at least well-off man, but based on events that come later, I'm willing to make the assumption that Joe's facade of money wasn't entirely real, and his wealth was more likely family money from his wife's side of things. But in any case, Castellucci was not only the executive producer of the buzzy forthcoming film, but he was also the majority stakeholder in Planet 3 Films.
Reports say he owned at least 96% of the company, which had to have come at a massive investment. But on the surface, it seemed all those involved with Salem 6 and Planet 3 Films made a good investment. Big names were in talks or already attached to the project. Casting for the main character, Kiddos, was complete, and the whole thing was getting a ton of press. Below the surface, though, trouble was brewing.
The team behind the production, including John, Joe Castellucci, and other investors, they were at odds, and tensions were rising. In the late summer of 1973, meeting after meeting between Joseph Castellucci, John Paunil, and another investor in the film, Herbert Schwartz, got heated. Linda remembers sitting outside her father's office one night while the men argued inside.
My mother brought me to the Planet 3 films and they were having a meeting. But the meeting was not very pleasant. You know, I was 16. I was sitting in the front office and in the back office, they were yelling and screaming and pounding on the table. And then Mr. Schwartz came out to the front office and
I didn't like that man. I just was repulsed by him. I didn't know him. Do you mean he tried to make chit chat with me? And I was like, oh, geez, I want to I'm 16. I'm saying I just want I don't want this guy near me. He's creepy. You know, I don't like this guy. And my father felt the same way. My dad did. My dad did not like that man.
Herbert Schwartz was an interior designer and was the expert on staff for Lancaster Furniture in Portland in the early 60s, then later Young's Furniture, which is still around today. He and his wife then bought the historic Daniel Howe House on Danforth Street in Portland, and together they restored it into the headquarters of their interior design firm.
Design wasn't Herbert's only passion. He was also very active in the political arena as a fundraiser, supporting numerous campaigns and candidates. At one point, he was noted as the largest fundraiser for the main Democratic Party. Schwartz was brought into the film company as a minority owner and investor, and given his experience, he also coordinated fundraising for the Salem Six project.
Fundraising and finances were at the center of the disagreements between Castellucci and Schwartz and John Pownall, though specifics of those disagreements wouldn't be clear until later. On the evening of August 30th, 1973, Joe called John into the office for yet another meeting about money. John left his home, the cottage on the lake in Sanford, around 9 p.m. that night and made the 45-minute drive into Portland.
He didn't plan to be out late. He was supposed to fly to the West Coast early the next morning for meetings with some more big-name stars for the film. As reported by John Lovell for Casco Bay Weekly, John's wife, Jean, waited up for him to return home. Three hours later, the headlights of John's car still hadn't shown through the cottage windows. At 12:45 a.m., the phone rang with news. John Pownall was dead.
Linda remembers how she heard of her father's death. I stayed the night at my girlfriend's house, and my mom had called her parents. My mom shared with her parents what had happened to my dad, and they didn't want the radio put on or the television put on. They called my girlfriend down, and they told my girlfriend, oh, of course, you know what she did.
She came right upstairs and told me. And I knew it was true. I just knew, because the night before, I couldn't, I had a hard time sleeping. I was like up in the middle of the night. I was, you know, I was just like disturbed. And when she told me that, I knew it was true. You know, I just knew it was true. And I wanted to hitchhike to Portland. I had everything to do, like to, like, not be impulsive to do that. You know, I was just so sad.
Despite what some sources reported at the time, Linda told me it was the Secretary Talent Coordinator, Nancy Payne, who found John's body that night. He had been shot in the back of the head and upper back, almost in the neck. A later autopsy found his estimated time of death to be around midnight. There was no weapon recovered at the scene, but investigators suspected a pistol due to the large slug found in the offices.
In his earliest statements, Joseph Castellucci told police that he was the last person to see John alive on August 30th, as he had called that meeting to discuss a potential investment for Salem 6. But Castellucci claimed that he left the film company's office at 11 p.m. that night, before the estimated time of the shooting. What he did next depends on which version of his story you believe to be true.
Some sources say that Castellucci went to Nancy Payne's apartment to make some phone calls, or that he was grabbing a late-night snack with her, or that he actually went to visit his father-in-law, who was supposedly the subject of the meeting he called that night.
Though shaky, Joseph Castellucci seemed to have an alibi for the approximate time of the murder. As investigators collected evidence and processed the scene and began their witness interviews, police learned more about the dynamics between John and the other owners and investors of the company. And then one big, crucial detail emerged in the first days of the case. About 10 days before he was killed...
John had been issued a $400,000 life insurance policy with Planet 3 Films named as the beneficiary. According to an Associated Press report in the Portsmouth Herald, this kind of insurance policy known as a key man policy wasn't and isn't unusual for the industry.
Basically, it's a kind of protection for investors and stakeholders in a film, or another kind of production if a key figure, like the director, should become unable to fulfill their role in the movie due to their untimely death, or some other catastrophe that stops production. I know what you're thinking. A sizable life insurance policy taken out on a man who 10 days later is shot and killed?
A man who was in disagreements over finances with his business partners, who stood to collect on that policy? Could the motive in this case get any more obvious?
But it wasn't actually all that cut and dry, according to investigators. As soon as the news broke about this insurance policy, investigators downplayed its significance, saying that their current findings in the case didn't put as much weight on the policy as you might think. At least at first. A month later, the case was shrouded in mystery. Investigators were done discussing the details in public and would only comment that no new leads had been uncovered.
The investigation was ongoing and no arrests were imminent. But on October 30th, 1973, Planet 3 Films and its majority owner, Joseph Castellucci, took legal action that raised some eyebrows. Castellucci filed suit against Transamerica Life Insurance and Annuity Company in an attempt to collect the $400,000 life insurance policy held on John Pownall.
Castellucci had tried twice to request payment on the policy but was unsuccessful.
The insurance company was digging in their heels. As is pretty common in these situations, they weren't about to pay anything out on that policy until the investigation wrapped up, and it seemed that closing the case would still be a very distant day in the future. Months passed, but the investigation had not let up. In March of 1974, the AG's office was "satisfied" with the progress they were making in the case, but they weren't at the point of making an arrest and going to court.
The case remained unsolved as the one-year anniversary of John's murder approached in 1974. But then, in early September of that year, rumors of the case going to a grand jury began to circulate. On December 17, 1974, witnesses, including John Pownall's wife, Jean, testified before a Cumberland County grand jury. After four days of hearing testimony, the grand jury handed down an indictment.
Shortly after, a man named Truman Harry Dongo was arrested for the murder of John Pownall and held without bail. He pleaded not guilty to the charges against him, and Daniel Lilly, a well-known and high-profile criminal defense attorney in the greater Portland area, would later represent Dongo.
During Dongo's bail hearing, a hairdresser testified that Truman had confessed to committing the murder and even laughed about it. Yet, Dongo's wife claimed that she and Truman had been at a movie together on the night of the murder. But it wasn't yet clear how Truman Dongo was caught up in the case. At first glance, the 35-year-old salesman and father of four had no connections to John Pownall or Planet 3 Films or any of its stakeholders.
Details of his connection to the case would come to light at trial. Until then, Truman Dongo was denied bail. The second year of the investigation into John Paunnell's murder trudged forward with a suspect in custody. It was forward motion in a case that waited more than a year for any type of major development. Then, in early 1975, as John Paunnell's family awaited the trial of his accused killer,
They learned that Truman Dongo wasn't the only man investigators were eyeing for this crime. On February 14th, 1975, a secret indictment was issued for Herbert Schwartz. Schwartz was arrested shortly after and charged with conspiracy to commit murder. Then a second indictment charged Schwartz with being an accessory before the fact.
Herbert Schwartz had a more obvious connection to John Pownall than Truman Dongo did, given he was an investor and fundraiser for Planet 3 Films. But how these two men were implicated in the murder was still a mystery. The details of what the state alleged happened that night in John Pownall's Monument Square office would be revealed at trial, set to begin in Cumberland County Superior Court by late spring of 1975.
The joint murder trial of Herbert Schwartz and Truman Dongo began in May of 1975 with jury selection, which was an ordeal in and of itself. For a case that received ample news coverage in the almost two previous years, jury selection had to be meticulously done. Within a week, though, the 12 members of the jury plus two alternates took their seats in the courtroom, and proceedings finally began.
Deputy Attorney General Richard S. Cohen opened arguments for the prosecution, finally revealing their case against the two men on trial.
Cohen told the jury that in the months leading up to his murder, John Pownall's relationship with Herbert Schwartz soured over disagreements about contracts and fundraising for the Salem 6 movie. You see, John Pownall was originally offered a percentage of ownership of Planet 3 Films and a set compensation for directing the film. However, from what I've gathered from the source material, the contract actually presented to him didn't include any mention of ownership rights
and his overall compensation was less than what was originally promised. According to trial coverage in the Evening Express, John Pownall refused to sign the contract because he didn't agree with the terms, and at least one source said he also withheld the script from the other members of the team, which threatened to hold up production. If production was held up, no investors would want to put their money into it.
And if no investors put their money into it, the movie wouldn't be made, and the company owners who put significant capital of their own to get the company and film off the ground could be out some serious cash. Therein lies the motive, according to the prosecution. When that $400,000 key man life insurance policy was taken out on John Pownall, the beneficiaries knew exactly what they were doing.
Deputy Attorney General Richard Cohen told the jury that witness testimony would reveal Dongo and Schwartz, and possibly others, had discussed John's murder before it happened. They had even planned out how John should be killed, and Schwartz had ultimately hired Dongo to carry out the act.
Cohen told the jury that witness testimony would even make clear that the murder weapon could be tied to Truman Dongo. Cohen said to the jury, quote, Schwartz decided that the only way anyone was going to make any money from the movie was to kill John Pownall, end quote. With that, the state began calling their cast of over 200 witnesses.
The state set about establishing that Truman Dongo had been strategizing ways to kill John Pownall weeks before he was shot.
One early witness, a high school friend of Dongo's, took to the stand and testified that one day at least two weeks before the murder, he drove Dongo around in search of a spot where the ocean water was at least 10 feet deep at low tide, where Dongo could drown a man. The witness said, quote,
End quote. According to Associated Press reporting in the Biddeford Socko Journal, two separate witnesses then testified that Herbert Schwartz had approached them trying to acquire enough heroin to knock someone, a large man, unconscious. One of the witnesses said he sold Schwartz milk sugar, not heroin, and Schwartz later complained that the stuff, quote, wasn't any good. End quote.
During the course of the investigation, a happenstance discovery gave police the murder weapon in John Pauno's case, and they presented that evidence at trial. The weapon, a Smith & Wesson snub-nosed .38 caliber revolver, was recovered from a tidal mudflat in Portland by a worm digger. Investigators traced the gun to a part-time York County deputy sheriff who testified that he sold the gun to Truman Dongo, private sale.
Expert testimony, then, explained the bullets that killed John could be traced back to that very gun. But among all the people who shared their damning testimony against Herbert Schwartz and Truman Dongo, none spent quite as much time under oath or shared quite as much information and incendiary details as the state's star witness, Joseph Castellucci.
Joseph Castellucci took the stand and revealed his version of the truth. But on the day before the murder, he met with Herbert Schwartz, who told Joe that he'd made arrangements to have John Pownall killed. Rather than warn John or do something to stop Schwartz from carrying out the plan, Joe testified that he only asked how much it was going to cost and apparently agreed to aid in the setup the following evening.
Robert Niss reported on the explosive testimony for the Evening Express. He writes that Joe Castellucci explained to the jury that he was to call John into the office on the night of August 30th for a meeting. When Joe left the meeting and John was still in the office all alone, he was told to wedge a matchbook into the exterior door to prevent it from locking so that anyone could get inside without a key.
Then, as he walked away from 465 Congress Street around 11:00 p.m., Castellucci was told to don a white hat. The hat was a signal to whoever was waiting outside to do whatever Herbert had allegedly arranged. On the stand, Joe said that he followed all of Herbert's instructions and then went home. About 45 minutes later, Joe started calling the film office. No one answered.
He called several more times and then, as he told the jury, he got, quote, "a little bit annoyed" and decided to go back to the office. From the street below, Joe could see that lights were shining from the second floor windows. It occurred to him in that moment that something was wrong. But Joe didn't go inside right away. Instead, Joe said he went to Nancy Payne's apartment just up the road on State Street first, and together they returned to the building.
When they entered the offices of Planet 3 Films, it was Nancy who pointed out the blood on the floor. Joe said he then saw John slumped over on the couch with a little bit of blood on his shirt. He quickly called Portland police. The day after John was killed, Herbert Schwartz paid Joe a visit at home.
Joe asked question after question, "What happened? Did he know who did it?" But according to Joseph's testimony, Schwartz only stared at him cold and blank, and then told him, "John was killed by a pro, and if he said anything, then his head would be blown off too." Joseph testified that he later learned the name of the man who pulled the trigger was Truman Dongo, and Dongo needed to be paid.
Schwartz warned Castellucci that no one was safe until Dongo got his $35,000. According to Joe, Schwartz expected "half of the life insurance policy payout," and that's how Dongo would be paid. Before the night of August 30, though, Castellucci said that there had been other attempts on John's life. Under oath, he recounted incidents where he saw Schwartz tampering with John's drinks by adding an unknown substance.
He claimed that when he realized what was happening, he tried to sabotage the supposed drugging or poisoning attempts by pouring coke into the glass, making John not want to drink it. As shocking and damning as all of this testimony may have been, Castellucci's credibility was called into question during cross-examination. The defense painted him as a broke businessman under mounting financial pressure.
Castellucci had failed to inform investors of his financial troubles and did everything he could to lead them to believe he was wealthy. But he admitted, quote, I never have been, end quote. Herbert Schwartz's defense attorney, Jack Simmons, took the attacks on Castellucci's testimony even further, making a shocking accusation. Here are voice actors reading an excerpt of the exchange between Jack Simmons and Joseph Castellucci at trial.
Isn't it a fact that you are a murderer? Isn't it a fact that none of the things you testified to are true? That you in fact are covering up for yourself? Isn't it a fact that none of these threats occurred? No. That you made it all up to get Mr. Schwartz convicted? No. That you did it all yourself to get the $400,000 insurance on Mr. Pownall's life? Absolutely not.
Castellucci continued to deny the accusations, but under pressure by the defense team, his story did begin to change. He backpedaled on key points of his earlier statements and testimony. Castellucci admitted that his statements about someone putting something into John's drink may have been misleading. He admitted he never warned John about the substance in his drinks either.
Castellucci said, quote, I never told him specifically. I regarded these things as smoke blowing, as contract tactics. I didn't take the threat seriously. He wavered on other details, too, saying that it's possible Truman Dongo's name wasn't actually mentioned as the hitman hired to kill John.
All of these details, the meeting between Herbert and Joe, the matchbook and the white hat, Dongo needing to get paid, Castellucci didn't share them with investigators at first. He waited to come forward with his full statement that would serve as the foundation of the state's entire case for over five months. When defense attorney Simmons asked him why he waited so long, Castellucci responded, "...the major reason in my mind was being implicated myself."
And then it was Daniel Lilly's turn with Castellucci, the other defense attorney representing Truman Dongo. When Lilly challenged Castellucci on his role in the life insurance policy taken out on John, Joe testified that he "may have asked if the policy covered murder and if double indemnity would be paid out if John's death was ruled a homicide."
Lilly also questioned Joseph about the other times in his life he'd lied or falsified information. Castellucci admitted on the stand that he was caught submitting phony orders for a chemical firm where he worked before his involvement in Planet 3 films. He signed the names of people who didn't actually place orders. When attorney Daniel Lilly asked him about it, Castellucci admitted that he lied, but added, quote, I wasn't under oath, end quote.
You only tell the truth under oath? Lily asked him. Castellucci responded, I'm much more inclined to do so. Joseph Castellucci's credibility hung in the balance, and the defense's cross-examination strategy was clear. Paint the state's key witness as a liar, a forger, and a thief. And they were doing a good job of it, too.
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In what would be an abbreviated defense, lasting only two days for Dongo and two hours for Schwartz, attorneys Daniel Lilly and Jack Simmons continued to focus largely on discrediting Joseph Castellucci, as well as building an alibi for Truman Dongo.
Neither of the accused men would testify on their own behalf, but a few witnesses gave testimony to support their defense. Although the state alleged that Herbert Schwartz masterminded the entire scheme to kill John, his defense only included a few witnesses.
One of Herbert's friends, a motel and restaurant owner, testified that he borrowed Herbert's car on the night of the murder, and then Herbert's wife testified that he got home around 8 p.m. and stayed there, watching TV with their young daughter for the rest of the evening. The more significant testimony from the defense witnesses came from Truman Dongo's wife.
Geraldine Dongo testified that Truman couldn't have been the one to shoot John, no matter what Castellucci said, because she and her husband were at a drive-in movie that night. In order to prop up this alibi by Mrs. Dongo, the defense called five other witnesses to the stand, who testified about seeing Truman Dongo on the nights before and after August 30th.
Attorney Daniel Lilly was demonstrating, by process of elimination I guess, that Truman was, in fact, at the drive-in when John Pownall was shot and killed. What would the jury make of it all? Joseph Castellucci told an outrageous story, but every puzzle piece seemed to slide perfectly into place to implicate Truman Dongo and Herbert Schwartz for the murder of John Pownall.
But Castellucci's words held less weight than what the state must have hoped for. His credibility took hit after hit as his past lies were revealed and his story changed under pressure by the defense. And with the supposed alibi for Truman Dongo throwing a wrench into the whole thing, had the state done enough to eliminate any lingering doubt in the jury's mind?
The trial approached its inevitable conclusion in late May of 1975, as both sides delivered their closing statements. Richard Cohen told the jury, "Mr. Castellucci is not on trial here. The evidence is the only thing that speaks. His testimony taken alone might seem bizarre and incredible, but it is completely credible when taken with the other testimony."
In Daniel Lilly's closing arguments for the defense, he reminded the jury of Truman Dongo's alibi. He suggested that the state's quote-unquote proof that the gun belonged to Dongo was open for debate. Lilly's words from the beginning of the trial were echoed at the close. Quote, End quote.
As the case was turned over to the jury for deliberation, Judge Glassman instructed the members on the different verdicts they could choose. It was tricky, given that Truman Dongo and Herbert Schwartz were tried together. Whatever they chose for Dongo would dictate what they could decide for Schwartz. If Dongo was found guilty of murder, for example, Schwartz would have to be found guilty of accessory to murder. If the jury acquitted Dongo, they'd have to acquit Schwartz, too.
After a three-week trial, the jury deliberated over the course of about six hours split between two days, returning on May 24th to deliver their double verdict. As everyone filed back into the courtroom to hear the decision, the judge warned spectators that any outbursts would be punished with a contempt of court charge.
Finally, Linda and the rest of the Paunil family were about to hear the fate of the men accused of killing their father and husband and son. And it was not at all the outcome they expected. Truman Dongo and Herbert Schwartz. Not guilty. The jury foreman later told the press that the decision was more about Truman Dongo's alibi versus Joe Castellucci looking like a liar on the stand.
The witness testimony raised significant doubt about Dongo being at the scene of the murder. The jury simply couldn't convict him. And again, an acquittal for Dongo was an acquittal for Schwartz. John's daughter Linda, who sat through the trial and has since reviewed transcripts and court documents as an adult, believes that the state's version of what happened to her father and who was responsible for what happened to him, that's the truth.
But she feels that the way they went about proving the truth was poorly executed. I mean, why did the state prosecute both men together when they had such a weak witness, right? Why did they not use my mom on the stand? Why did they not make my dad a real person?
What were they thinking? I don't know how you can look at the material. I mean, they had the gun. Yes, they had the gun. They tracked the gun down, you know, and that was a bizarre story all in itself. I mean, a felon who's a clam digger finds the gun. He brings it to the police station. The police find that a sheriff owned the gun and had sold it to Dongo. I mean...
It's been 50 years, but it still feels like whiplash to look back at all the events leading up to her father's death. You know, and when I review the case from May to when the movie company was developed to August and my father was dead, you know, how did that whirlwind happen? You know, how did those manipulations take place? How did those characters come together?
to do that. She's grieved and processed and analyzed and questioned everything over the last five decades. She has found a way to move through life with this. The fact that her father was murdered. It's woven into the fabric of who she is. Probably for, I don't know, 20 years when people ask what happened to your father, he died. And when you say that, internally it feels wrong.
So you want to say the truth. And then when you get to the point where you can say the truth, people do not know how to respond to you. Linda doesn't hide this part of her story now. She doesn't conceal the truth. And she's made an important decision. I don't want my life to be unhappy because there is no justice. And they took such a precious thing from our family. A precious person that was a sinner,
In 1977, the two suspects were actually tried again on different charges. But again, Truman Dongo and Herbert Schwartz were acquitted.
In both trials, the jury did not feel that the state met their burden of proof. Herbert Schwartz attempted to reinvigorate his interior design business and rebuild his client base, but he struggled. Herbert died in 2006 at 76 years old after a brief illness. In a twist of fate, Truman Dongo himself was shot and killed 10 years after John Poundle was murdered.
Hunters found his body in the woods two weeks after he was reported missing. Reports say it was a drug deal gone bad. As for Joseph Castellucci, who was never charged in connection to John Pownall's death, he packed up his family from Cape Elizabeth and moved to New Jersey. He worked as a salesman for a few different companies, shilling everything from fertilizer to medical equipment.
But somewhere along the way, he became an informant for police in a massive drug operation out of Florida. In 1981, Castellucci was going to be a key witness in a case against four men who were accused of selling over $4 million worth of Quaaludes in a single deal in New Jersey. But the same year he was set to testify, Joseph Castellucci got himself arrested for hiring a hitman
to kill his wife's parents and her sister. The plot was not successful because it turned out that Joe wasn't being very subtle about his plans, and the FBI caught wind of his search for a hitman, and the guy he met up with to discuss the deal was actually an undercover officer. Joe was arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit murder and three counts of attempted murder. The state cited economic reasons as Joe's motive in the case.
He thought that his wife, Leslie Stern, would be the sole recipient of her family's estate. Leslie was the oldest daughter of Yana and Elliot Stern, president and half-owner of the massive photo agency Globe Photo Inc. in New York City. Family money, indeed.
Castellucci was eventually convicted of those crimes and went on to serve six years in prison. Upon release, he moved back to Maine, but his obituary says he lived in California when he died in 2020. He moved there to be closer to his daughter.
The numerous civil suits surrounding John Paunnell and the primary people in his case all reached conclusion one way or another. But as for the life insurance policy taken out on John Paunnell, the only person on record who received any of that money was actually John's widow, Jean. Transamerica first offered Jean to split a sum of $175,000 between herself, Schwartz, and Castellucci. Jean refused.
In the end, the insurance company gave her $35,000. Linda told me that she and her brother and her mom all had to sign off saying they wouldn't sue. She speculates that Schwartz may have received a side deal from the insurance company. After all, he was acquitted, and technically he was a beneficiary. John Pownall was the center of his family, the sun around which everyone else tended to orbit.
Without him, the Paunos scattered. Jean moved back to her hometown in Rochester, New York in 1976 and got into the pharmaceutical industry. A stark contrast to the creative life she once lived alongside John, Jean passed away in 2012. In her obituary, In Lieu of Flowers, her family asked that donations be made to support her dream of over 30 years.
a fund to support the creation of a movie about her beloved husband's death. John's daughter Linda eventually ended up in upstate New York, too. A few years ago, she bought a defunct grain elevator building and has been renovating it into her home. When I first reached out to her in 2021, we became Facebook friends, and I've watched the work unfold.
She posts photos of the project, and my own interest in old homes and renovations was piqued as I saw her vision for the structure come to life. But every now and then, amidst before and after and progress photos of all the work she was doing on the house, Linda would post a photo of her father. He is never far from her mind and continues to be a source of inspiration in her life. Well, he gave me strength and ability to create. He gave me the ability to
to see things, to have a vision. During our interview, Linda and I talked about what it's like to lose a parent. For me, losing my mom, it was like a warm blanket I didn't even know I had wrapped around me was ripped away. I'll never feel quite as warm ever again. And it's like that for Linda, too. So with my dad, I always felt like I'd be taken care of and loved, no matter what. She reflected on her precious memories with him.
I'd like to draw a lot, so I would like write a word and then I would camouflage that word into a drawing. He had watched me do that multiple times, right, and decided that it might be a good idea if I liked it to make an animated film out of that. And so, you know, that was one of the experiences that I had with my dad doing an animation. But the memory she returns to most often is this.
I think about when I would sit on my dad's lap in a rocking chair and play with his sideburns. And, you know, I did that from when I was little to when I was a teenager. It made me feel safe and loved and cared for.
In August of 2023, Linda returned to Portland, Maine for the first time in years. On the 50th anniversary of her father's murder, she walked down Conger Street, an up-to-the-imposing, 10-story, Gothic-Bowart-style Fidelity Trust Company building. It now houses a law office, a psychiatry practice, a bank, and a few other companies, but in 1973, an office on the second floor was the home of Planet 3 Films.
In 1973, it was where Linda's father took his final breaths. Linda likes to move through life following her intuition and energy. That's how she ended up in Maine that day to begin with. And when she was finally there, standing at the base of the building where her father's life ended so many years earlier, she was called to open the door and walk inside. She felt a pull to the second floor, and suddenly, she was standing outside the door to what was once her father's office.
Time had passed, 50 years had passed, but the building was the same. And all at once, Linda was 16 years old again, thinking about her father, who five decades earlier sat at the desk, working on his big dreams, when someone came along and ended them.
Linda and her daughter, joined by a few other family members and friends, gathered near the entrance of 465 Congress Street and placed flameless candles at the entrance, their artificial light flickering against the stone facade. A writer for the Portland Press-Herald chatted with Linda, and later, a reporter from the local NBC affiliate asked Linda a few questions about her father, too.
The news cameras kept rolling as Linda and others opened paper lanterns that she'd brought for the occasion and lit the flames inside. Or rather, tried to light the flames. Linda and her daughter and the others hooted with laughter after each attempt to ignite the lanterns failed because of the wind whipping down Conger Street. Get some water. Hold on.
When one lantern finally did begin to fill with the light and heat of the candle inside, there was hesitation. The group worried for a moment that the idea to honor John with a fire-fueled floating paper lantern above Monument Square might actually be a little hazardous.
But then the wind came, sweeping up the lantern, and off the paper beacon went into the sky, gently knocking against a second-floor window of the building before making its ultimate ascent to the heavens. Or whatever's up there. Instead of eyes misty with sadness and sorrow, Linda, her daughter, everyone gathered together, even myself and the other journalists,
We were laughing. It's not what you might expect from a memorial, but Linda knew it was just right. You know my dad, he would have loved laughter. He wouldn't want me sitting around crying or being a victim of what happened to him. So you would have appreciated it? Yes. As we stood there on the busy Portland street, I had one last question for Linda. I asked her what she planned to do with the rest of her time in Maine.
She was visibly overwhelmed by the emotions that the memorial had dredged up. Maybe a little shell-shocked by the interviews and TV news cameras, too. But she knew exactly what she wanted to do next. I want to go to the ocean. I want to walk in the cold sand of the ocean water, rolling up on the sand, feel the ocean, smell the ocean. Thank you for listening to Dark Down East.
Sources cited and referenced for this episode are listed at darkdowneast.com. Please follow Dark Down East on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you're listening right now. If you have a personal connection to a case and you want me to cover it on this podcast, please contact me at hello at darkdowneast.com.
Thank you for supporting this show and allowing me to do what I do. I'm honored to use this platform for the families and friends who have lost their loved ones, and for those who are still searching for answers in cold missing persons and homicide cases. I'm not about to let those names or their stories get lost with time. I'm Kylie Lowe, and this is Dark Down East.
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