Murder defendant proclaims innocence on his Facebook page

billtoolbike William Morse, whose trial for the alleged murder of Richard Bellittieri starts today in Hancock County Superior Court, is not a stranger to social media.

Morse, who also is known as “Hundred Dollar Bill” and “Bill Tool,” has accounts under Bill Tool on Twitter and Facebook. On his Facebook page, which indicates he originally is from Portland, Oregon, Morse posted links Monday to Bangor Daily News articles about the case.

At about 3:30 p.m. on Monday he posted as his status:

“whats up people Im [sic] in jail waiting for trial. follow the case william morse in bangor daily newspaper caught a murder case….. NOT GUILTY.”

His Twitter account, with the handle @GT5CARTRADER, is protected so that only people with his permission are allowed to view his tweets and complete profile.

Jury selection in the murder trial started Monday and, after several rounds of thorough questioning of potential jurors by Morse’s attorneys, prosecutors, and presiding Justice William Anderson, concluded late Tuesday afternoon. A jury of 13 men and 2 women, including three alternates, was selected to consider testimony and to render a verdict in the trial, which is expected last two and possibly three weeks.

Opening statements by prosecutors and by Morse’s defense attorneys are expected to begin at 9 a.m. today.

The trial is moving forward after, late last week, the judge denied a motion to suppress evidence in the case that was filed by Morse’s attorneys. A list of Bangor Daily News stories about the case, Bellittieri, and other people who are connected to it can be found here.

Other posts on Morse’s Facebook page date from before his Aug. 1, 2013 arrest on the murder charge. He has been held without bail at Hancock County Jail since then.

There not many posts on the page from the two-plus years prior to his arrest. There are several selfie photographs, often with him wearing orange-tinted sunglasses or smoking. Some photos show him at various locations on Mount Desert Island, often by the ocean and sometimes on or next to his motorcycle (see above). The murder case against Morse developed after he sped away from police on his motorcycle and then, about a week later, was tracked down by police when he had Bellittieri’s ID cards in his pocket.

Other posts on his Facebook page include messages shared from other Facebook pages, including one that says “careful who you [expletive] trust” and “the line for sympathy starts behind the dumpster full of [expletive] I don’t give.” There also are links to a New York magazine article about the 2011 capture of Boston-area gangster James “Whitey” Bulger, and to a website for a local acupuncture and herbal medicine practitioner, among others.

Bill Trotter

About Bill Trotter

A news reporter in coastal Maine for more than 20 years, Bill Trotter writes about how the Atlantic Ocean and the state's iconic coastline help to shape the lives of coastal Maine residents and visitors. He writes about fisheries, marine-related topics, eastern coastal Maine communities and more for the BDN. He lives in Ellsworth. Follow him on Twitter at @billtrotter.