MACHIAS — Richard B. Uffelman, 43, of Machiasport, who had been in the Washington County Jail in Machias since his arrest on two counts of murder in the Aug. 29, 1989, shooting deaths of his neighbors, was transferred Tuesday to the Penobscot County Jail in Bangor to await trial.

Washington County Sheriff Harold A. Prescott said Wednesday that the move did not come as a result of disciplinary action, but follows repeated “nuisance” incidents that Prescott said were affecting jail staff and other inmates.

“I felt that my staff needed a break,” explained Prescott. “He was beginning to get to the inmates, too.”

John Romei of Machias, Uffelman’s lawyer, was not told of the decision to move his client. A secretary for Romei said Wednesday that Romei’s office did not learn about the transfer until Uffelman called the office from the Penobscot County Jail Wednesday afternoon.

Prescott said there is no requirement to notify a prisoner’s lawyer when a transfer is made.

Uffelman was arrested and charged with two counts of murder after he allegedly shot and killed his neighbors, Florence C. and Michael G. Phillips, as they stood outside his Machiasport home on Route 92 last Aug. 29. He marked his first year in jail last week, still awaiting trial.

Prescott described the series of incidents leading to Tuesday’s transfer as “a progressive thing,” a series of minor rule infractions at the jail.

A corrections officer, whom Prescott did not identify, placed Uffelman on report Sept. 3 after cleaning supplies, a broken toothbrush handle, salt, pepper and food, and a “small garbage bag” were found in Uffelman’s cell, Prescott said.

Jail rules prohibit the hoarding of food and supplies but, as Prescott pointed out, fellow inmates normally serve the meals and pick up the trays and leftovers when the meals are done.

“Accountability could be better,” Prescott said, adding that the likelihood of one inmate informing on another was slim.

Uffelman, according to Prescott, also had given staff members problems about taking medication prescribed by jail physician Karl V. Larson of East Machias to help control Uffelman’s epilepsy.

Larson said earlier this year that Uffelman suffers from a form of epilepsy that is difficult to treat and control, even with medication. Uffelman suffers from the condition as a result of a stroke that occurred when an arterial aneurysm burst during surgery in the mid-1970s.

The most recent incident occurred Sept. 2 when Uffelman refused the medication and wrote “protest” on the medication log, said Prescott. He then scratched out several lines from a medication refusal form he was asked to sign. “We can’t force a person to take medication,” Prescott explained. “But if he chooses not to, we have him sign a form in case something happens.”

Prescott said that Uffelman wrote to him several times complaining about alleged rights violations. “He’s told me that he is being held captive and that he is guilty of no crimes,” said Prescott. Uffelman, who has admitted shooting his neighbors, has said he acted in self-defense.

At one point earlier this year, Uffelman staged a brief hunger strike to protest Department of Human Services removal of his two sons from his wife after the shooting. The boys remain under foster care.

Prescott classified Uffelman as “not violent” toward jail staff or inmates, but said the continuing series of minor incidents was fueling “rapidly growing tension” between Uffelman and corrections personnel.

Prescott expects that Uffelman will be returned to the Washington County Jail after a short stay in Bangor. “My men needed a break,” he said. “They’ve had to deal with this every day. I don’t know how they do it.”