Thursday, 4:30 PM
Friends: Rent dispute may have led to murders in Maine
By Michael Levenson and Raja Mishra, Globe Staff
NEWRY, Maine -- Christian Nielsen, charged in Maine's bloodiest crime in 14 years, told co-workers last year that he was going straight, giving up booze and shelving his haphazard college career for the strictures of the US military.
"I thought Christian's finally finding a place for himself," said Kristen Dorey, a waitress at the Family Fare Restaurant in Farmington, Maine, where he cooked until he was fired.
But Nielsen's ambitions apparently went nowhere. Instead, the 31-year-old who had attended but never finished college, moved several months ago to the Black Bear Bed & Breakfast in Newry, where he met owner Julie Bullard, her daughter Selby, and live-in handyman James Whitehurst.
Over Labor Day weekend, say police, he killed all three, as well as Selby Bullard's close friend, Cynthia Beatson.
Friends of the victims said Nielsen may have been involved in a dispute over payment for his room at the bed and breakfast, where he lived for the past few months. Police refused to comment on his possible motive.
