DOVER-FOXCROFT – A Parkman man pleaded guilty Wednesday in Piscataquis County Superior Court to trying to kill his son because of the man’s sexual preference for animals.

Frank Buble, 71, pleaded guilty to attempted murder and elevated aggravated assault after he tried to kill his 44-year-old son, Philip Buble, by striking him several times with a crowbar. In the September 1999 assault, the younger Buble received a broken arm and lacerations and required medical treatment at Mayo Regional Hospital in Dover-Foxcroft.

The elder Buble, who turned himself in to the Piscataquis County Sheriff’s Department after the attack, told police that he was sick of his son’s lifestyle, that his son was driving him crazy and that he was tired of supporting his son.

Philip Buble, who was not in the courtroom Wednesday, has made no secret that his lifestyle involves having sex with his own dog, according to Piscataquis County District Attorney R. Christopher Almy.

Contacted by telephone later Wednesday, Philip Buble said, “I’m the first out-of-the-closet ‘zoo’ to be attacked because of my sexual orientation, so they have no precedent to gauge how a jury would react.” He defined a “zoo” as a person who has a deep love and emotional attachment to animals. “This attachment is often inOr preference to humans, and the relationship can develop to be a sexual one,” he said.

Almy said after the hearing that he believed Philip Buble’s sexual orientation was one of the motivations that prompted Frank Buble to attack and try to kill his son.

In court Wednesday, Frank Buble, wearing a hearing aid, held a finger to the earpiece so he could hear the court proceedings better. The elder Buble indicated Wednesday that it was his choice to enter the guilty pleas to the two Class A crimes.

Buble, who initially pleaded not guilty to the two charges, changed his mind after a plea arrangement was negotiated between his attorney, Randy Day of Garland, and prosecutor Almy.

Under the arrangement, recommended Wednesday by Almy, Buble would receive 18 years in prison with all but five years suspended on each count and six years of probation after the incarceration. The probation would include some restitution, the district attorney said.

Presiding Justice Andrew Mead continued the case day to day for sentencing until a presentence investigation has been conducted.

The maximum sentence on each count is 20 years in prison.

Dressed in a brown two-piece suit, the elderly Buble nodded his head yes several times and repeatedly responded, “Yes, I do, your honor,” when asked by Mead if he understood the arrangement and his right to a jury trial.

Were the case to go to trial, Almy said, evidence would show that Frank and Philip Buble lived together in Parkman. He said Philip Buble had finished taking a shower that September day when his father attacked him with a crowbar.

“The beating was rather savage at the time,” Almy said in court. The younger Buble fled to a neighbor’s house and was taken later to the hospital where he remained overnight, according to Almy.

The evidence also would show that Frank Buble told police that he did have the intent to kill his son because he was upset with his son’s lifestyle and because of a dispute about the care and upkeep of the house, the prosecutor said.

Both Frank Buble and his attorney declined to comment on the case after the hearing.

Philip Buble said Wednesday that he did not want his father to spend time in jail or prison. Rather, he said, “he needs serious therapy.”

Outside of the courtroom, Almy said this was an “unusual case.” He said that the actions of the defendant were premeditated and the injuries were significant.