Homeless man held in death expected arrest

BANGOR - Before his manslaughter arrest, a homeless house painter told a reporter that he expected to be charged with homicide after getting into a fight over beer with another homeless man who later died.

Stephen James, 56, made his initial court appearance yesterday in the death of Clyde Worster, 63. Worster's body was found Sunday in a wooded area near Interstate 95 in Bangor known as The Pines, where homeless people often hang out and camp.

Before being charged Monday afternoon, James told a Bangor Daily News reporter that he and Worster had fought after arguing over beer.

"They think I did it because we had an argument," he said while drinking beer with two other homeless people at a campsite at The Pines. "I did beat him up, but he wasn't dead when I left him."

After the argument with Worster, James blacked out, he said. He and three other men later returned to the site and found Worster's body.

"Somebody beat him up hard," James said. "His eyes were bulging."

One of the men ran to a nearby University College of Bangor building to call for help. The others checked for a pulse and could not find one, James said.

Police received an emergency call about an assault at about 3 p.m. Sunday and found Worster's body when they arrived.

James told the newspaper he was released from Charleston Correctional Facility in November 2006 after serving 28 years and seven months in prison. He did not elaborate on the charge against him, other than saying that "someone messed with my daughter."

After his release from prison, James lived in Portland and Lewiston before making his way to Bangor last week, he said. Most recently he had been working as a house painter, he said.