Maine news, sports, weather | Kennebec Journal, Augusta, Maine

Neighbors shocked, fearful after home invasion

BY MATTHEW STONE Staff Writer

PITTSTON -- Residents and neighbors on Wednesday struggled to come to grips with a violent crime that left two people critically injured and some in this rural community of 2,700 worried for their safety.

A 48-year-old man, William G. Guerrette Jr., and his 10-year-old daughter, Nicole, were critically injured early Tuesday following a home invasion at their Stoney Acres Road residence.

Investigators from the Kennebec County Sheriff's Office and Maine State Police remained on the property throughout the day Wednesday. While they have made no arrests, authorities confirmed Wednesday afternoon that the victims remain in critical condition at separate Maine hospitals.

They also went to lengths to reassure the residents of Kennebec County that they are not at risk.

Kerri Malinowski, who lives up the street from the Guerrette family, said she was still in shock following the attack on her neighbors, who she described as "very good people."

"I'm praying for the family," she said, holding her 7-month-old son, Ewan. "It's going to take a long time for them to live a normal life again."

Since the invasion, Malinowski said, she has already begun to lock her doors at night.

"Not only will it change that family," she said, "it will change the rest of us."

Cutting the grass at his property across Route 126 from Stoney Acres Road, Paul Glaeseman said the crime does not make sense to him.

"There's something about this story that doesn't add up," he said. "I'm a sociologist. This doesn't fit any pattern."

Glaeseman said he last saw Nicole waiting for the school bus on Friday. He called her a "spunky little kid, just darling." He said he regularly saw the family together on Sundays, preparing for "family activities."

"It's your basic suburban family," Glaeseman said.

Customers and employees at Brownie's Restaurant on Route 126 also expressed surprise.

"This neighborhood here is an excellent neighborhood," said Ben Wheelock, owner of the restaurant. "I never met a bad person around here."

Valerie Stickney, Wheelock's daughter, called the Guerrettes "a nice family."

"They're all smart kids," said Stickney, who went to school with William Guerrette's brother.

At Pittston Consolidated Elementary School, where Nicole Guerrette is a fifth-grade student and has been enrolled as a student since kindergarten, students had difficulty processing the news about their classmate, Principal Shelly Simpson said. A number of rumors circulated among students.

"My fifth-grade population is having the most difficult time with this," she said. "Everyone I've spoken to is scared."

Simpson said Nicole, who will turn 11 in June, has many friends at school.

"She is probably the most sweet, innocent little girl anyone could have met," she said. "She was such a good friend to everyone."

Matthew Stone -- 623-3811, Ext. 435

mstone@centralmaine.com