A Maine lobsterman will plead guilty to seaman’s manslaughter after his 45-foot boat turned over in a storm four years ago off Matinicus Island and his two crewmen drowned. The government says he took them out after smoking pot, attending a Halloween party, and buying 20 tablets of oxycodone.
Christopher Hutchinson (pictured at top), who was 26 at the time, left the Linda Bean dock in Tenants Harbor about 1 a.m. on Nov. 31 on his boat, No Limits, with Tom Hammond, (pictured above), 27, from Rockland, and Tyler Sawyer, 15, from Waldoboro. He was told the weather was bad, but he wanted to catch lobsters that he thought other lobstermen had overlooked.
As part of a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s office in Maine, Hutchinson agreed to a set of facts: Earlier that day he smoked pot with Sawyer’s father; he also bought the oxycodone. When he left the dock, rain had started. But he headed for Matinicus and started laying traps.
The weather deteriorated, with waves reaching 14 feet and gusts rising to 45 mph. A wave blew out the windows of the pilothouse and the boat flipped. Hutchinson pulled himself out and climbed on top of the boat, hanging on to the keel. He never saw Hammond or Sawyer again.
The boat’s raft deployed and its EPIRB alerted the Coast Guard. A Coast Guard helicopter from Air Station Cape Cod pulled Hutchinson out of the water later in the day. The Coast Guard conducted a 17-hour search for the two missing crewmen, without success. Read more:
