Staff Writer

Tammy Cole smiled through tears as she knelt on the ground outside York County Superior Court.

Her arms wrapped around friends, she lowered her head and briefly closed her eyes.

“We love you. We did it,” she said with both grief and joy. “Now you can rest in peace.”

Minutes earlier, Cole listened as Justice Roland Cole sentenced the man who killed her two sons to two concurrent life sentences.

Rory Holland, 57, will spend the rest of his life in prison for shooting brothers Derek Greene, 21, and Gage Greene, 19, to death on June 30, 2009, following a confrontation on South Street in Biddeford.

Holland was found guilty of the murders in November following an eight-day trial at Penobscot County Superior Court. The trial was moved to Bangor at the request of defense attorneys because of extensive media coverage in southern Maine.

In finding Holland guilty, jurors rejected the defense assertion that he feared for his life and fired in self-defense as the brothers and their friends walked past his home at 1 a.m. Prosecutors said Holland armed himself with a loaded gun, stood on the sidewalk and waited for the Greene brothers and their friends to walk by.

The courtroom was packed Monday morning during the sentencing hearing, which lasted nearly four hours. Emotions ran high and nearly boiled over several times as Holland made comments Justice Cole later called “outrageous.”

Holland – long considered a polarizing figure in Biddeford – addressed the court twice during the hearing. He spoke at length about why Justice Cole should acquit him of the charges, quoting from both the Bible and Shakespeare.

“I stand before you innocent of the crimes with which I’m charged,” Holland said. He did not testify during his trial.

Holland questioned the accuracy of witnesses who testified during the trial about the shooting. Friends of Derek and Gage Greene testified they had been drinking that night but maintained they clearly remember watching their friends die on the street.

Using a large chalkboard, Holland sketched a diagram of his property and sidewalks to show why he could not be the person who shot Derek Greene. He suggested the person who shot Derek Greene ran down a side street.

Prosecutor Lisa Marchese said qualified experts testified bullets and casings recovered came from the gun found on the roof of Holland’s house.

Holland several times suggested Derek and Gage Greene were responsible for their deaths while maintaining his innocence.

“Because they hazarded their lives and lost them of their own free will does not make me a murderer,” he said.

Holland said called the Greene brothers “two foolish, drunken, inebriated young men.”

“They found what they were looking for, an unfair fight. Somebody had to lose that fight,” he said. “It wasn’t going to be fair either way.”

Justice Cole upheld the jury’s verdict and rejected the defense motion for acquittal.

Holland again addressed the court during the sentencing portion of the hearing. He began by reciting a prayer, prompting Cole and several close friends to leave the courtroom.

“Blessed by the Lord, the true judge who justly gave Derek and Gage Greene their death,” he said.

Holland also directed comments at Elijah Copeland and Kurtis White, close friends of the Greene brothers who witnessed the shooting. He said he “expresses some hope” for their future before Justice Cole cut him off and ordered a 5-minute recess. Copeland and several friends left the courtroom in anger.

Despite declaring his innocence, Holland asked Justice Cole to sentence him to death.

“I believe any other sentence cheapens life, both mine and theirs,” Holland said.

Defense Attorney Clifford Strike argued for a sentence of no longer than 30 years in prison.

Marchese, lead prosecutor of the case, said Holland “still just doesn’t get it.”

“He doesn’t get he’s not a victim,” she said. “He stands up here today more arrogant than ever. He has actually tried to inflict further hurt on the victims in this case.”

Marchese asked Justice Cole to impose the maximum sentence. She said Holland thinks laws don’t apply to him and that he is a danger to society. Holland tried to flush his own baby down a toilet and has a long history of threatening behavior, she said.

“The victim impact is palpable,” Marchese said. “It forever impacts friends who had guns turned on them and were allowed to live.”

One by one, 10 family members and friends stepped up to the lectern to tell Justice Cole how the loss of Derek and Greene has affected their lives.

Brittany Frisco, a longtime friend of the brothers, said Derek and Gage Greene always looked out for her and they often spent time together outside. She said she felt like her heart stopped when she learned they died.

“The boys always promised me I’d be their best friend and promised they’d always be there for me,” she said. “This is a never-ending heartache.”

Laura Brackett, who has spent much of the past year and a half helping friends through the grieving process, said she will never forget seeing her best friend’s face as she found out her sons were dead. She met Cole outside of the emergency room and walked her to a waiting room.

“It was in that room I watch my friend as she was told her precious sons were dead. In disbelief she cried the words, almost asking, ‘Are they? Are they dead?’” Brackett said.

Brackett described how she watched friends and family struggl to accept that Derek and Gage Greene are really gone.

‘The hardest think I have watched is my best friend live without her sons, without the precious babies she gave birth to,” she said. “I’ve watched her cry in fear her sons suffered and called out for her as they were dying in the street.”

Copeland said he focuses on good memories of time with Derek and Gage Greene, who he considered brothers. He said it is not fair his last memories of his friends are “disastrous.”

“It felt like my heart was ripped out and thrown back in my chest,” he said.

Copeland’s mother, Nancy, spoke of watching her son and his friends struggle after the murders.

“Rory, you’re a mother’s worst nightmare,” she said.

Wendy Foster, the Biddeford woman with whom Derek Greene lived, struggled to maintain her composure as she talked how much her son, Josh, was affected by the loss of his “big brothers.”

“It’s a lot for these kids to bear,” she said. “He took two beautiful boys from us and we don’t get them back.”

Kurtis White, the friend who Holland pointed a gun at but did not shoot, said it has been difficult to watch his friends suffer.

“I can’t begin to describe what it’s like to sit next to your boy on the ground when he can’t breathe,” he said of the minutes after the shooting.

Cole was the final person to give a victim impact statement. Holding the sides of the lectern, her voice trembled as she told Justice Cole she was “the happiest mother of three” before June 20, 2009.

“In one awful moment, one awful incident, my sons Derek and Gage were taken from me,” she said. “This act has changed everything in our lives. Long after Rory Holland is sentenced, Derek and Gage’s friends will still be haunted by the loss and death.”

Cole said she and her son, Shawn, are haunted by the way Derek and Gage Greene died.

“I am guilt-ridden every day because I was not there to hold my son as he slowly died in that driveway,” she said.

Cole said she struggles to leave the house and overcome depression and anxiety that have plagued her since the murders.

“My heart is broken and cannot be fixed,” she said. “I cannot handle the thought I will never see Derek and Gage again.”

Cole said Holland has given her a life sentence and asked the court sentence him to life in prison.

“Life for life. A life sentence for Derek. A life sentence for Gage,” she said. “I only wish there was a way that we could pay with a life sentence for myself and my son, Shawn, as well.”

Justice Cole, who looked at a photo album of Derek and Gage Greene before the hearing, spoke briefly before handing down the life sentence. He praised Cole for her wisdom for keeping friends and family calm through the court process.

Justice Cole had harsh words for Holland, who showed no reaction as the judge spoke. He said Holland’s “outrageous” behavior was an attempt to “inflict one last bit of pain” on the victims’ loved ones.

It was clear from the trial that Holland intended to execute Derek Greene, Justice Cole said.

“There’s no question about his premeditation in that. He intended to kill him and did kill him,” he said.

“It’s clear he intended to do harm that night. Clearly he was not acting in self-defense.”

Justice Cole said Holland has shown no remorse or acceptance of responsibility for the deaths. In addition to a life sentence for each murder conviction, he ordered Holland to pay $12,032 in restitution for funeral expenses.

As Justice Cole announced the sentence, a short burst of applause echoed through the courtroom. Holland had no visible reaction as he listened to Justice Cole speak. As Holland was handcuffed and taken from the courtroom, Cole embraced her family.

Outside the courthouse, Cole asked supporters to take a knee in honor of the boys. Many supporters were overcome by both laughter and tears as they celebrated the sentence.

“Is this really real?” Cole asked. “I’m ecstatic. The fight’s over, reality is now sinking in and it’s a lot harder than it was when I found out they were killed.”

Staff Writer Gillian Graham can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 213.