Anson, Maine



From Maine’s MaineToday.com of October 26, 2004

Man admits shooting neighbor in head at his home



Gary Watland stared absently as he described the chaotic minutes early Monday before he used a .38-caliber handgun to shoot a man he hardly knew in the head. Watland, 42, talked Monday afternoon after spending about 10 hours talking to police about the shooting of Wayne S. Crowley, 32, of Anson.



Crowley died later Monday at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, a hospital spokesperson said.



Department of Public Safety spokesman Stephen McCausland said Monday afternoon no charges had been filed. Maine State Police and the Somerset County Sheriff's Department will continue to investigate the shooting, he said.



Watland wept and expressed remorse as he recounted a "nightmare" that lasted about three minutes and ended with Crowley falling on his driveway "like a sack of potatoes."



"I left three kids without a father because I was protecting my wife," he said.



Watland said he and his wife, Susan, met Crowley about a month ago at a yard sale.



Sunday evening, they met at Crowley's home, but after Crowley and his wife got into a fight, Watland said he invited Crowley over to his own home nearby. "I said he could come over here to chill out for a while," Watland said.



Around 1 a.m., however, and after about 10 beers, Crowley became profane and verbally abusive to Susan Watland, Gary Watland said. When he was told to leave, Crowley became physical, pushing Susan Watland.



Finally, Susan Watland pushed him out the front door. When Crowley tried to come back into the house, Gary Watland hit him twice in the jaw, knocking him down, according to his account. When Crowley got back on his feet, Susan Watland pushed him off the front porch, said Gary Watland.



As Crowley got up again and started walking back toward the house, Watland said he fired a warning shot into the ground from a .38-caliber handgun he had retrieved from the house. As Crowley continued to walk toward him, Watland fired one shot at Crowley's head, he said.



His wife called the ambulance after the shooting, Gary Watland said, because he was too upset.



Watland said he grew up in Caribou, but had lived for 20 years in California where he was a computer network specialist. In August, he and his wife moved into a home owned by one of her relatives on 127 acres. "We were trying to get away from the gangs and troublemakers and drive-by shootings," Gary Watland said.



Now Watland said he is waiting to hear from state police. "They told me that they would get a hold of me in a day or two. They may come by later today and arrest me. I am prepared for that."

No subsequent stories about this incident were found.