1 dead after 10-hour standoff Monticello man survives stabbing

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MONTICELLO – He was a registered sex offender who reportedly called himself “the dark angel,” and for approximately 10 hours Thursday, he kept Maine State Police at bay outside a decrepit trailer after stabbing his brother at a residence on the Fletcher Road and refusing to leave the home.

By 1 p.m., Neal W. McEachern, 37, of Houlton was dead, and his brother Dwaine McEachern was seriously wounded. A female who also was inside the residence at 52 Fletcher Road for part of the standoff emerged unscathed.

As of Thursday evening, police still were looking into the circumstances surrounding Neal McEachern’s death.

The standoff, which began just after 2:36 a.m. Thursday, had residents of this tiny Aroostook County town of about 780 residents talking and waiting anxiously all day for news about the incident.

State police blocked off the intersection of U.S. Route 1 and the Fletcher Road during the standoff. Members of the State Police Tactical Team and Negotiations and Incident Management Teams also were at the scene.

As the hours passed, cars slowed down on Route 1 to try to see what was happening at the property, while residents waited nearby, some with binoculars, watching as the events unfolded.

State police Sgt. David McPherson said that Dwaine McEachern called 911 at 2:36 a.m. and asked for police assistance with a domestic disturbance at the home, which Neal McEachern reportedly was visiting.

McPherson said the two brothers were fighting.

When Trooper Tim Saucier went to the scene, he heard arguing inside the mobile home. McPherson said that when the trooper cracked open the door a shotgun was pointed at his face.

Saucier returned to his cruiser and called for assistance.

Police reached Neal McEachern by telephone, and McEachern told police “that he had stabbed his brother Dwaine and he had a loaded shotgun and he warned the police not to approach,” according to McPherson.

Several smaller structures surround the mobile home on the property where the standoff took place. Another one of McEachern’s brothers, Victor McEachern, escaped from an outbuilding on the property just after 8:30 a.m. The injured brother, Dwaine, came out of the trailer 15 minutes later.

McPherson said the victim had been stabbed “several times.”

He was taken by ambulance to Houlton Regional Hospital and was in stable condition as of 5 p.m. Thursday.

A female who also was inside the residence left just before 10 a.m.

The woman was said to be Neal McEachern’s girlfriend.

The standoff ended at around 1 p.m., when police used tear gas and entered the home. McPherson said McEachern’s body was found in the back bedroom.

Police would not comment on the cause or manner of death, but witnesses near the scene said they believed they heard a gunshot come from the property during the morning.

Detectives from the State Police Criminal Investigation Division remained on the scene into the early evening. McPherson said police would release more information about the cause of death in the coming days.

McPherson said police never had contact with Neal McEachern after 3 a.m.

Police said Neal McEachern had just been released from jail on Wednesday. He had been arrested late last week on charges of assault and criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon after an incident at his residence on North Street in Houlton.

McEachern reportedly threatened his girlfriend with a weapon during the incident.

Scott Trecartin, a Monticello resident who knew both Neal and Dwaine McEachern, said the brothers had been arguing over the property where the standoff occurred. Trecartin said the home on the Fletcher Road belonged to a relative of the brothers’ who is in a nursing home.

Trecartin said Dwaine McEachern had worked for him several times and was “a good person to deal with.”

“He’s a nice guy,” he said Thursday afternoon, standing at the intersection of Route 1 and the Fletcher Road. “He’s a hard worker who would do anything for you. But Neal – he caused quite a lot of trouble around here. I hadn’t seen him in a while, and I had heard he was in jail and that someone went down and bailed him out.”

Other residents, who asked not to be identified, agreed, characterizing Neal McEachern as someone who was “troubled.” Court records revealed he had numerous scrapes with the law.

A registered sex offender, he was convicted in 1992 of unlawful sexual contact stemming from a case in Aroostook County Superior Court in Caribou. He was sentenced to a year in jail. Details of the offense were not immediately available.

McEachern also had been incarcerated for burglary and was convicted in 1999 of forgery and criminal attempt to obtain drugs. Past charges also included harassment by telephone, terrorizing, tampering with a victim, assault and disorderly conduct.

Jeremy Michaud, a Monticello resident who also works as a corrections officer at the Aroostook County Jail, characterized Neal McEachern as “a career criminal.”

“We have dealt with him quite a lot at the jail,” he said Thursday afternoon. “He is a very assaultive person who likes to beat up people – mostly women.”

Michaud said that McEachern called himself “the dark angel.”

“Dwaine [McEachern] is just the opposite,” Michaud said. “He’s helped me out a lot of times before and is one of the nicest guys this town has ever seen.”

Scott Trecartin said he could not remember any such incident happening in Monticello for some time.