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As former student Matthew Cushing awaits trial for the slaying of his mother, step-father and half-brother, his friends in Orono are overwhelmed with the question: How could he do this?
Middle-school friend George Maalouf heard the news he said he didn’t wonder why Cushing was detained, but rather was shocked that the police would take him away in a time of grief.
“I can’t believe the cops would take him because when your parents die you want to be around people who are supportive and help you out with things. We felt bad. We wanted to be there for him,” Maalouf said.
Cushing’s friends shared feelings of disbelief.
“I was worried for Matt in the beginning, but when I picked up the paper it turned to more disappointment. I’m sad for what his life is going to be like now. Mostly, disappointed that he let it go that far,” Jeremy Baker, a friend of Cushing, said.
“When I heard the news about him I was in utter disbelief. It was that Friday after it happened and I was at DTAV with my friends who also knew him and it literally ruined the entire night and the following days,” James MacKay, a friend of Cushing said. “I don’t know what came over him to do something like that, but like all the people that knew him are saying it was completely out of character. I had heard he had some possible anger issues, but nothing to this.” MacKay said Cushing had about 20 friends who he could have gone to for help.
Maalouf said Cushing was grieving over his dog at the time of the crime.
“His dog had been hit by a car probably a month earlier. We were helping him out with that when we heard the news that his parents and brother had died,” Maalouf said. “How many bad things can happen to this kid? It seems like one thing after another recently had been going in the negative direction. Our hearts went out to him, I tried calling him and didn’t get any answer. I wanted to be with him and make sure he was okay.”
Among his friends are mixed feelings about why this happened.
“Even him admitting it, talking to people back home and friends and family, even the adults in the area, as much as he said that he did it they still don’t believe it. Nobody back home even remotely thinks that he did it because it is so out of line, so out of character of Matt,” Maalouf said. “If the words didn’t come out of his mouth there would be nothing to prevent me from believing he didn’t do it. The fact that he said it you kind of have to believe him, at the same time you don’t want to.”
Cushing had his step-brother’s name tattooed across his stomach.
“That’s what makes me believe that it wasn’t him in the first place: how much he absolutely adored and loved his mother and stepbrother,” Maalouf said. “They loved each other to no end. It doesn’t make sense. How can somebody have so much love, so much respect for somebody- they said the whole reason was for the backpacking trip- it doesn’t add up. One plus one is not equaling two in this case.”
Some news sources claimed that Cushing may have been motivated by a canceled trip to Europe. According to Maalouf, Cushing planned to backpack throughout Europe this semester and therefore did not sign up for classes. When he found out that he could not go on the trip he thought it was too late to sign up for classes so he decided to stay in Old Town and work to save money.
“He was a little upset about it but he understood. The understanding was there. He was able to see both sides of the story. Which- from the way news people portray it to sound- that wasn’t the case. From a friend standpoint, from people who knew him, it just didn’t seem to be that big of an issue,” Maalouf said about the trip.
According to his friends, Cushing’s dreams included traveling.
“He wanted to teach and he was saving money to make a trip back to Ghana. The trip to Europe as mentioned wasn’t a big thing. He wanted to do it but it wasn’t at the top of his list,” Maalouf said.
Baker took a world food supply class with Cushing. Baker said Cushing always had something to add. “He had been to Africa, he had had malaria on three occasions”
“He loved to travel. He went to Africa for a year,” Maalouf said. “Where he went he saw the poverty and how things really were over there. That was one thing he really enjoyed was looking back and trying to help them as much as possible.”
Cushing’s friends said the alleged crime surprises them because of the type of person he is.
“To describe Matt I would have to say charismatic. He was always joking around with a smile on his face and he would light up the room with his jokes. I always found him to be a pretty funny kid,” MacKay said.
“During Christmastime he would buy you a present but wouldn’t want you to buy him a present in return. He was the kid who went above and beyond. He was just like one of us. On Saturday nights: late night trips to Denny’s. He was just like any other person,” Maalouf said. “He was always trying to make everybody smile. One of my roommates didn’t come out very often and he was always the one to call him and say ‘let’s go do something, let’s go have fun’ He was always upbeat and trying to get people to have fun and go along with him. He liked to be around people. He was a very friendly guy and I’m just so blown away by what happened.”
“He has been our best friend since day one and he was always the shinning star around us. He has been a regular at my roommates’ and my house almost daily this year,” Shawn Coulombe said. “He was always in a good mood, and always had a smile on his face. He constantly went out of his way to make sure those around him were happy and always laughing.”
“I never really saw Matt angry,” Baker said. “I never saw him have an argument with anybody.”
“He just wasn’t an angry kid. I swear to God, he’s never been mad at me. I see him three times a week, we’re always looking to have a good time” Maalouf said. “He just wasn’t that kind of person. That’s why it’s tough to take it all in.”
His friends said that Cushing gave no warning signs.
“I tried to look back and see if there was anything different, just the way he acted before- a year ago- two years ago- is still the same way he was acting, just like any of my other friends act. It was a complete 180 instantly. It was completely mind-boggling to hear.” Maalouf spent time with Cushing the weekend before the murders.
“The last time I talked to him was a week before the events, I was joking with him about the Chicago Bulls, his favorite NBA team, and how they weren’t doing well. I couldn’t notice any warning sign or change in him at all. He seemed just like his old self,” MacKay said.
Now, Cushing’s friends are unable to speak with him and are having a hard time dealing with the situation.
“It has been so long since I’ve seen him. Now I have this picture of him and I’ve got the old picture of him and they are in pretty stark contrast,” Baker said. “Some people get a bad run of cards. They do things that you wouldn’t normally think they’d do.”
“It was like someone ripping your heart out. I guess the sensation is not that he could potentially go to jail for life, but it’s more like he passed away because you’re never going to see him again. He’s never going to have the friend influence of the people you hang out with everyday. It’s hard to feel like you lost a friend. it feels like you lost a friend. That’s where the emotions come from,” Maalouf said. “Usually I’m the kid who falls asleep in a minute but when I go to bed at night I just think for an hour. How? Could he have done this? What is the real story?”
Bangor Daily News