ALTON, Maine — Scott Reed stabbed his estranged wife, Danielle, to death at their house and met his best friend at a Bangor restaurant before both men were found dead of gunshot wounds at the Reed home on Nov. 19, state police said Sunday.
Speaking in detail for the first time about the grisly incident, Maine Department of Public Safety spokesman Stephen McCausland said investigators don’t yet know whether 43-year-old Scott Reed shot 41-year-old Daniel Young or if Young killed himself, possibly as part of a suicide pact with Reed.
“I have discussed this with several investigators as well as people at the chief medical examiner’s office, and it would not be an understatement to say that this case has been bizarre,” McCausland said Sunday. “The only component we don’t know is whether [the death of] Young was a suicide or not.”
The three bodies were found at Reed’s rental at 326 Alton Tannery Road by a female friend shortly before 7:30 p.m.
The men had been close friends for several years and reportedly had talked about suicide. Immediately after returning to Maine from an out-of-state location and killing his wife at her home, Reed sought Young, of Bradley, at his workplace, McCausland said.
Young owned one of two handguns found at the scene, McCausland said.
The last of the three autopsies was performed Saturday. The chief medical examiner ruled 39-year-old Danielle Reed’s cause of death was “multiple stab and incised wounds to the neck, including the throat” while Scott Reed and Young died from “close contact gunshot wounds to the head,” McCausland said.
“This is also a domestic violence incident,” McCausland said.
Scott Reed “came back to Maine, went to the house and confronted his estranged wife at that point and killed her,” McCausland said. “She is the true victim here.”
The couple had been married for five years.
Scott Reed left a suicide note at the scene. McCausland only described it as “rambling.”
Autopsies began last Wednesday, but only two were completed. A deluge of work at the chief medical examiner’s office this week, including the shooting of a hunter, a plane crash that killed three fraternity brothers and a shooting in Stockton Springs, influenced investigators to delay the third autopsy, McCausland has said.
The Reeds had been living apart in recent months, McCausland said, though a Bangor court clerk has said that no divorce records or protection from abuse orders involving the Reeds were on record.
Scott Reed was involved in a serious car crash almost a year ago and suffered severe injuries, including head trauma, according to some longtime friends.
“We do not have an explanation for what happened on Monday. We do know that he was seriously injured and family and friends did tell us that he was a much different person,” McCausland said. “He had a very different personality, and lingering physical problems as well.”
Reed also had some criminal history, including a disorderly conduct conviction, and a conviction for operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicants in December 2011, according to a criminal history records check.
Young was convicted of assault in April 2011, according to court listings printed in the Bangor Daily News.
Detectives place the time of Danielle Reed’s death as early Monday afternoon. Scott Reed and Young met afterward at the restaurant, which McCausland did not identify. The two men spent the afternoon together before returning to Reed’s home about 5:30 p.m., McCausland said.
Reed telephoned a female friend at 6:52 p.m. to meet him at the house. The woman called police at 7:23 p.m. after she found one of the bodies in an upstairs bedroom. Police later found the other two in that room, McCausland said.
McCausland lamented that some aspects of this incident may never be understood.
“I am many times asked to explain inexplicable actions. These are the facts as we have discovered them,” he said.
Bangor Daily News writers Nok-Noi Ricker and Nick McCrea contributed to this report.
What a horrible story. So sad that this nightmare occurred. Perhaps, those that commented on the original article and concluded, with NO evidence, that this was a love triangle will think twice before posting idiotic conclusions until officials release the information. Families of all these tragic events that play out in the papers read these comments. It’s real easy to sit behind a computer and post hateful and hurtful comments. Think twice before you type, with no facts to support your comments, about the friends and family members left behind to deal with these things. May all those effected by this tragic event feel the comfort and support of their communities.
While I agree that many are insensitive, I would not advise any grieving family members to read comments section at a newspaper about a story that has effected them. That’s just asking to put salt in ones wounds. :
Agreed. Unfortunately, so many times, there are comments posted by family members who have read them. What their reasons are behind reading them, I don’t know, but probably when you are reeling from tragedy you are drawn to all information you can gather on it.
Heck, I would not advise anyone to read comments sections at online news sites. I’d stop doing so myself if I could, but I seem to be an addict.
me too. so interesting to see what others have to say
Lol same here, who needs google, autopsies, state police, we’ve got the experts right on here
Just a tragic loss for so many people. It seems the wife in this whole mess got caught up with two very unstable individuals. A little advice for all the women out there that think they might be in danger…GET HELP.
Women know the deep down underlying personalities of their significant other better then anyone else. When someone loses it and makes personal threats it’s time to get out. People shouldn’t live in fear if at all avoidable.
Sane people don’t live like this.
Bushfan, you are 100% correct according to all very skilled and experienced domestic violence homicide prevention experts. But, there are a few “domestic violence” self-proclaimed (falsely) experts in Maine who believe that counseling the intended homicide victim to “get out without pause” (whether female of male) is “victim blaming”. If a woman (or man) is at home alone and a massive fire erupts in the living room due to a faulty wood stove, the woman (or man) must leave in order to stay alive. Her (or him) leaving to save herself does not cast blame on her. If you are on a cruise ship and the ship starts to go down, you go up on deck and get into a lifeboat…that does not mean that you are “blamed” for the leak. The reason more legislative and law enforcement procedure progress is not being made in Maine on the subject of Domestic Violence Homicide prevention is because of those few false masquerading experts. Amy Bagley Lake did everything perfectly, along with her kids, up to the last day of their lives. It was a few people “in the system” (experts) who failed them based upon very direct evidence. Amy and the kids got out within 15 hours, thus proving that “getting out” works. The “expert” errors alone are what made their lives last only for 365 days after the date they “got out”.
I am sorry to disagree w/you about Amy Lake when you say she did everything perfectly. she should have left the state with her kids, changed their names and SSN and never looked back. She shouldn’t have to run like a criminal, but if she had, she might be alive today.
Amy had a life and career here in Maine. Her life was here. It wasn’t her fault the state didn’t keep that animal at bay.
I asume Amy felt comfortable in the life that she was leading,
You shouldn’t assume.
No, Amy Lake’s estranged husband, the one who was the problem, should have been forced to leave the state. We should stop putting the burden on the victim, all of the inconvenience should fall on the criminal.
Disappearing is, as a last resort, the only safe bet. Hard to do, but in the end, it is the only guarantee, unless and until we decide to lock these monsters up forever.
Agree with mainegal17, your right. 100 percent right. I also believe Amy should have stayed OFF of FACEBOOK. If she was on, she should have been private. She was very heavy into posting and her STBX was equally heavy into following her posts and every move. I personally believe this was the biggest mistake she made. That and not leaving the state.
But you never know when you should take that last resort or not. One of my mother’s friends left her husband after she found him hitting their daughter in the face. She had gotten an odd feeling from him earlier and he had been getting meaner, but this caused her to leave, cut off all contact and move. She didn’t hear much from him for several months, the break had been unpleasant but he was more emotionally withdrawn then agressive. Several months later he shows up at her door, and tries to break in. She hides her daughter in a cubberd while calling the police. He somehow gets in and shoots her then himself while the little girl saw everything. She knew he could be violent, but she had no warning, or not enough of one to justify giving up her career, family, friends, and whole identity. Giving up your identity is not an easy thing, and even then victims can still be found. Some abusers NEVER stop looking, even putting out noticed of their children using the missing child services at a means of tracking down victims. There are no easy answers, and spouse/child abuse is often not fully punishable until tragedy happens. It is hard for victems to leave because they have been emotionally broken, and it often takes multiple attempts. Even then, victims who leave are statistically more likely to be murdered because the abuser cannot deal with having them out of their control. I have tried to use gender neutral pronouns because abuse happens to both men and women, I apologize if I slipped up anywhere. Rainn.org has more statistics and information
In reality short of getting a self defense gun and living on edge for the rest of your life, there really isn’t a lot victims can really do. You can easily look back and say :should have done this and this” but it isn’t clear how much warning she really had. He was out of state for a period, maybe she thought she was safe and he had moved on.
Yep. They always assume the man will come to his senses. But anyone who makes threats is already unstable and you can’t assume he’s just blowing off steam.
I like what you have to say and it shows women can have power and control of their own lives. I am tired of the attitude that women can’t do anything to improve their lot in life and are victims at the beck and call of a man. In some of these cases if they have done things differently, they would be alive.
Since the two males in this case had apparently discussed suicide previously, and because there has been no evidence disclosed regarding any romantic relationship (intimate partner) between Danielle and Daniel, we can for now rightfully assume that this was only one (even though one is still too many) Domestic Violence Homicide (DVH). However sad, that brings us to three DVH’s this year so far in Maine. In 2011 we had 11 within Maine. Despite hapless roadblocks being constructed by certain key elected and appointed individuals in Maine, remarkable progress is being made during the rightful pursuit of keeping intimate partners and children alive.
BUTT, the relationship betweeen Scott and Daniel is not addressed in the story, and, in light of the last vote, I think we need to evaluate the incursion of legally open homosexuality being a root cause for the violence inflicted upon this poor woman ……….
Do you know or have you ever known a person with head trauma that resulted in a permanent change in their personality? It happens.
I knew all 3 of these individuals well and feel terrible for what has happened. I used to hang out with all 3 back a couple years ago when I was more into the bar scene but I guess I outgrew that scene sometime ago….
I guess we all have skeletons in our closet but these 3 had more than most…especially Scott and Dan! Someone mentioned earlier, Scott was a “loose cannon” long before his accident…that’s definitely the case! The same could be said for Dan. If an altercation broke out at the bar, you could be sure Scott or Dan were involved in some way.
Dani was a sweetheart. Yeah…she liked the “bad guy” but I guess most girls do right? I remember the circumstances surrounding the way Dani and Scott got together were a little weird as well. Regardless of what led up to this incident, no one deserves what happened to Dani!
When I first heard about this story I was sad and didn’t want to believe it. The problem is…I’m just not all that surprised by it!!!!
***I dont want anyone to think that I’m trying to say anything bad about any one of the 3 involved because I’m not, besides… there was a time I considered them all friends***
Are you surmising or do you have information you should forward to the police instead of posting to a newspaper?
Terrible story. Suicide only hurts the ones that are left behind.
I would be curious to know if Mrs. Reed had confided in friends or family. These people do not often snap without some obvious indicators. We could then add the indicators to the get out when he or she does or says” XYZ”. Time to forget about the dynamics of their lives and understand what the precursors were.
Perhaps a health care professional that knew what they were doing could have helped.
I heard on the radio today that this was a domestic violence homicide, why not call it like it is MURDER. the two males were not men but cowards. Danielle was taken way too soon from her family and friends by two of the biggest cowards. no matter what physical conditions they had does not make it right. Danielle Folsom you will be sorely missed by all who knew you you and loved you. their will be many heavy hearts for years to come.
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