To some, he was 'nightmare'; others can't believe the news

PEABODY -- Marko Boskic, described yesterday in federal court as a participant in a genocidal Bosnian-Serb military unit that massacred Muslims, was a "nightmare neighbor," some said, a hard drinker frequently in trouble with police.

"If you look in the face you notice it right away: He's a scary person, you know?" said Arthur Liaperdos, 64, who lives down the hall from Boskic in Tannery Gardens condominium complex near Peabody Square. "He walks around like somebody is going to grab him at any time."

Neighbors interviewed yesterday appeared to know of Boskic, and few had anything nice to say. Several people who knew Boskic, including a former roommate and a neighbor, said they had been interviewed by FBI agents recently.

Janio Storck, 37, who lived next door to Boskic, described him as a "nightmare neighbor," saying that police had been called to the apartment three or four times over the past several years and that twice Boskic had been led away in handcuffs.

Storck said there was frequent drinking and fighting in the apartment. At one point, he said, a woman came out screaming for help and arguing with Boskic about money before Boskic dragged her back into his apartment. Neighbors said that in one instance, they heard arguing about a knife and saw blood on the white carpet outside Boskic's unit.

Fellow Bosnians spoke highly of Boskic, who entered the United States in late April 2000 as a refugee from Bosnia and Herzegovina. "I was three years in the army, I know how those guys were; He's not that way," said a friend, Niko Opacak, 36, of Lynn. "This is not true, I can not believe it."

Opacak said he thought that Boskic had once had a drinking problem, but that he had stopped. Opacak and his wife described Boskic as generous and hardworking.

Opacak's wife, Rusika, said that Boskic had explained one of the assaults, telling her that he had been drinking with two women and that he believed one had stolen $300 from him; a fight ensued.

Boskic is separated from his wife, who does not live in Massachusetts, his lawyer said.

Boskic arrived as a refugee and lived in Salem for a time, holding of a variety of odd jobs, former roommates said. He has lived at Tannery Gardens, at 111 Foster St. for several years. The complex manager said Boskic purchased the unit in 2003, but Boskic wrote in a form filed in federal court that he had bought it in 2002. He owns a third-story, one-bedroom unit in the 72-unit complex, the manager said. Boskic had been trying to sell his unit for the last month, said the manager, who declined to give his name.

Two former roommates said Boskic was initially given assistance by Catholic Charities, which helps resettle refugees, and, according to one, helps refugees obtain Social Security cards, housing, and work.

Boskic earned about $35 an hour installing ceramic and marble tiles for a masonry contractor, JAJ Co. in Medford. He had joined a union, the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers Local 3 of Eastern Massachusetts in May 2002, and had worked at Zani Tile and Merrimac Tile Co. Inc. before joining JAJ in March, according to Local 3 president Chuck Raso. Most recently, he had worked at South Station, but was working on the new Jurys Boston Hotel in the Back Bay this spring.

"He never lost his temper; he's a great guy," said JAJ general manager Vincenzo Penta. "It's weird. I can't imagine they have the right guy."

Raso said he had asked Boskic for a Social Security number, but had never checked to see whether he had a card. Penta said he believed the union had checked for a card. Neither checked to see whether Boskic had problems with immigration.

"This hiring process, it ain't interviews," Penta said. "You call the union secretary, and she sends you the next person on the list."

Boskic's boss, Danny McKay, said: "He seemed like a good enough guy to me. . . .I've been in the business 33 years, I get a lot of immigrants. If they want to talk to me about their life, fine, but I don't ask a lot of questions."

Boskic has had numerous run-ins with the law, according to court documents. He was charged five times with assaulting Johnette Kelly, whose relationship to Boskic is unknown. He was charged on one occasion with robbing Kelly of $3,000, a charge that was later dismissed. Kelly's name was also spelled Kelley in some court documents.

Boskic "allegedly made threats and assaults with a baseball bat against two females in an apartment," a police report said. "He also used the bat against a pregnant woman by poking the bat into her stomach."

Between May 2003 and March 2004, Boskic, 40, was charged 10 times with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, according to records in Peabody and Salem district courts.

Boskic had a long record of driving violations -- including accidents in New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts -- and tickets for speeding and improper passing, drunken driving, and hit-and-run collisions. In April, for example, he allegedly drove his Dodge Intrepid into a pole at 2:41 in the morning; when police arrived they found him with an open container of alcohol in his car.

Kathy McCabe, Sean P. Murphy, and Shelley Murphy of the Globe staff, and Globe correspondent Jack Encarnacao contributed to this report, which was written by Michael Paulson. Mac Daniel can be reached at mdaniel@globe.com. Suzanne Smalley can be reached at ssmalley@globe.com.