FARMINGTON – A Jay man pleaded not guilty to a charge of attempted murder of a Maine State Police trooper today in Franklin County Superior Court, saying he was not criminally responsible for his actions.
William Burhoe, 53, plead not criminally responsible by reason of insanity to a charge of aggravated attempted murder, a Class A felony, and reckless conduct, a Class C felony. The charges stem from a 2006 incident, when police responded to reports of a gunshot at Burhoe’s home.
On June 6, 2006, at 309 Macomber Hill Road, a man called the dispatch center, claiming he had been assaulted by his father, Burhoe. The man told dispatchers that upon leaving the residence just before 9 p.m. he had heard a single gunshot, but was uncertain as to the target.
Jay Police Department Sgt. Troy Young, then an officer, responded immediately, and reported that other shots had been fired at that address. Franklin County Sheriff’s Department personnel and Maine State Police troopers began to arrive.
At the north side of the residence, Trooper Scott Nichols reported he saw a man, described in the affidavit as “a man wearing a tan button-up, short sleeve shirt and blue jeans walking around behind the residence with a long weapon.”
According to police, Nichols ordered the man to drop his weapon, identifying himself as a police officer. The man, Nichols said, asked the trooper if he had an arrest warrant and was told by Nichols to drop the weapon again. The man then told Nichols and another officer to “to go [expletive] themselves,” and walked behind the corner of the building.
A white vehicle then approached the scene, from the nearby Farrington Road. Nichols said he saw the man point his weapon, first at the civilian vehicle and then at a sheriff’s department vehicle used to block the road. As Nichols said he was deciding to fire his own weapon at the man, Trooper Randall Keaton approached from the other side of the house. According to the affidavit, “Using the residence for cover, Trooper Keaton started to confront the man at a very close range.”
Nichols reported hearing a shot from a rifle, followed by what he thought was a shot from a handgun. Officers then converged on the man’s position, finding he had been shot in the leg. According to the affidavit, the man continued to resist arrest despite the wound.
In the affidavit, Keaten reported that the shot from the rifle hit the house.
“Keaten said he rolled back against the house for cover,” the affidavit reads, “heard the discharge of Burhoe’s firearm, and realized the bullet struck the house near his location, causing wood particles to land on his uniform.”
Keaten then told investigators that he came back around the corner and, seeing Burhoe pointing a weapon at him again, shot him. MSP’s Detective Mark Lopez interviewed Burhoe two days later, in the hospital. Lopez said that Burhoe told him “I felt I was doomed, or he was doomed.”
Burhoe was held at the Franklin County jail for a few months, before he was transfered into federal custody. Possessing a firearm after receiving treatment for a potentially-dangerous mental condition in a psychiatric hospital is a federal crime. Over the past two years, Burhoe has been moved throughout the country. The existence of the federal weapons charges make it unclear when Burhoe might actually go to trial on the state’s attempted murder charge.
Justice Nancy Mills accepted the plea, which is a change from Burhoe’s original “not guilty” plea. She also ordered that his bail conditions include no contact provisions with those involved in the case and that he not use alcohol or drugs. The bail conditions are largely moot, as he is currently being held on the federal charges.
