Eliot, Maine



From Portland’s Press-Herald of November 4, 2004

Eliot man shoots neighbor who broke in



An Eliot man shot and seriously wounded his neighbor early Wednesday after the neighbor broke through his door and followed him into a bedroom where he kept a handgun, police said. The two men did not know each other well, and police say they don't know why the neighbor, Mark Murphy, broke into the home of David Oeser on Goodwin Road.



Less than 24 hours earlier, Murphy had been arrested and given a psychiatric evaluation after allegedly "going berserk" and attacking a man sitting at a nearby table in a Kittery diner, according to police and witnesses.



Murphy, 39, underwent surgery after being shot in the chest and was in intensive care Wednesday at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. State police were investigating the shooting, and no charges had been filed.



Oeser, 54, was the only one at home about 1:30 a.m., when the incident occurred, police said. Oeser spoke briefly to a reporter from inside his home Wednesday afternoon and said he was shaken by the incident.



"It was a home invasion, I can tell you that," Oeser said Wednesday. "Emotionally, I'm bothered by it," he said, "but physically I'm OK."



Oeser repeated part of what he had told police: An agitated man he did not recognize woke him up by pounding on his door, then broke through the closed door and followed him into a bedroom. Oeser shot him with a .308 semiautomatic handgun and then called police.



Murphy, who is described as about 6 feet 2 inches tall and 330 pounds, was still conscious and verbally combative when officers arrived, despite what was clearly a life-threatening injury, police said.



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