YORK – A 50-year-old York man was charged with murder Tuesday in connection with the fatal stabbing of a friend.

Richard Dalli was arrested in the stabbing death of John Wheeler, 39, of Wells, state police said.

Police were called at 3:30 a.m. to Dalli’s home on Rogers Road. Wheeler was taken to York Hospital, where he died a short time later of a stab wound to the chest, according to an autopsy by the state medical examiner’s office.

Police said Dalli and Wheeler had known each other for the past decade. Dalli worked for a local cleaning company and Wheeler was a carpenter.

At the time of the stabbing, several other people of varying ages were at the residence, said Maine State Police Lt. Brian McDonough.

Police had been called to Dalli’s residence many times over the years, neighbors told the Portsmouth Herald.

Mary Rieger, a seasonal resident, said she was awakened sometime during the night when she heard a person yell from the area of Dalli’s home. She didn’t think much about it until she saw police arrive, and even then she wasn’t surprised because police had been called to the home many times, she said.

“I think he was troubled,” said Rieger. “I knew he had problems.”