ALFRED, Maine — The landlord accused of shooting two of his tenants to death Saturday had threatened violence against them earlier in the day and returned with a gun shortly after a police officer had left the tenants’ apartment, according to a police affidavit.
James Pak, 74, is accused of killing his tenants, 19-year-old Derrick Thompson and 18-year-old Alivia Welch, and shooting Thompson’s mother, 44-year-old Susan Johnson, in a dispute over snow removal, late rent and parking. He was ordered held without bail Monday during his initial appearance in York County Superior Court.
Thompson had told Biddeford Police Officer Edward Dexter that he did not believe Pak would follow through with an earlier threat to come back and shoot him, according to an affidavit written by Maine State Police Detective Corey Pike. Pak allegedly returned to the apartment at 17A Sokokis Road minutes later and opened fire, shooting each of his victims multiple times.
The situation began to unfold at about 6 p.m. Saturday when Thompson called police to say that Pak was banging on his doors, yelling and making threats. Officer Dexter determined there had been a dispute between Pak and the tenants over late rent and parking, according to the affidavit. Though Pak had threatened violence, Thompson had told Dexter he didn’t believe Pak would follow through.
Dexter left the scene at 6:51 p.m. Susan Johnson called at 6:54 p.m. to report that she had been shot in the back by Pak and that Pak also had shot Thompson and Welch. Johnson and her uninjured 6-year-old son were evacuated from the residence. Thompson and Welch were declared dead at the scene.
At 7:02 p.m., Pak’s wife called police to say that her husband was walking around with a gun and threatening to kill himself. Biddeford Police Sgt. Norm Allaire was able to coax Pak outside.
“Pak told Sgt. Allaire that [had] he shot the tenants,” reads the affidavit. “He shot an older female, a young adult male and his girlfriend. Pak stated to Sgt. Allaire that he shot them several times and he knew they were all dead.”
During a later interview at Maine Medical Center in Portland, Johnson told police that she and Thompson had been in the driveway earlier in the day and that Pak was harassing the young man about shoveling snow and cars being parked in the driveway. Johnson allegedly videotaped that confrontation on her cellphone.
Johnson said that after Officer Dexter left, Pak walked into the apartment with a handgun and told the tenants that he was going to shoot them.
“Johnson thought Pak was joking and then Pak shot Johnson twice, once in the arm and once in the back. Johnson tried to hide behind the Christmas tree,” reads the affidavit.
Pak then shot Thompson, according to Johnson’s account, while Johnson laid on the floor pretending she was dead because she did not want to be shot again. Johnson then heard Welch scream, “Don’t shoot, stop,” and then there were two more gunshots.
The medical examiner ruled that both Thompson and Welch died from gunshot wounds to the chest. Johnson was listed in stable condition at Maine Medical Center over the weekend. Johnson’s 6-year-old son, who was hiding in a bedroom during the shootings, is staying with family members.
During an interview with police, Pak allegedly freely admitted to shooting the three people and stated that he was suicidal, according to the affidavit.
A search of Pak’s residence revealed several guns, including a Smith and Wesson revolver with “red-brown stains and the hammer cocked back,” according to the affidavit.
Deputy Attorney General William Stokes said Pak’s initial court appearance in York County Superior Court Monday lasted about five minutes, during which Pak was informed of his rights and ordered held without bail. Pak is charged with two counts of Class A murder.
Superior Court Justice Paul A. Fritzsche, who presided over Monday’s hearing, ruled that Justice John O’Neil will oversee the legal proceedings against Pak. Stokes said that either Leane Zainea or Lisa Marchese from his office will serve as prosecutor and that Portland attorney Joel Vincent will be the defense attorney. No further hearings in the case have been scheduled.
Mr. Pak won’t be packin anymore.
Buh-bye Mr. Pak.
Time for him to Pak it in…
Keep him in jail for life! Bread and water only, No human contact.
Just sad!!! Over snow removal!! I don’t understand how and why people so easily kill another human being…
When everyone is armed, we must expect arms to be used.
That is why we need to make sure those who have the guns will use them responsibly and not rashly. Too many people seem to be using gun ownership as a license to kill and to replace problem solving and talking problems over, using their BRAINS and a thought process.
Any one can kill someone.Too many seem to be using gun ownsership to terrorize .Hey I;m a big bad dude with a gun so do what I say…That ain’t “freedom”. Thta is dictatorship and the END of FREEDOM .
It takes restraint and a functioning brain to problem solve. EVERYONE is capable of that . In a civilized society we EXPECT people to problem solve not reach for a gun.
You can kill anyone with anything including killing them with kindness.
true and they should problem solve instead .If they can’t. They should walk away and calm down.
Some people simply don’t want to problem solve.They take offense at anything.. They WANT an excuse to get excuse to get angry and explode.
We all have “bad days ‘ We all get frustrated and angry. The key is learning how to control it , cope with it or use it productively .If you can’t , do us all a favor, and get rid of your gun !!!
Indeed but people who already went off the deep end went past the point of walk away or unarm themselves.
Very sad.
And perhaps they would have defended themselves, perhaps Pak would have been killed and not become a burden to the rest of us, try to see both sides. When law abiding citizens are unarmed , criminals will reign! Consider this , when seconds count the cops are only minutes away !
Like I just said above, when everyone is armed, arms are likely to be used. I’m glad that you agree with me.
“both sides”? you’re nuts.
Hopefully we will get an answer to that question.
Where a violent society. Program and brainwashed. I realize it doesn’t offer much comfort, but what can really be said ? I realize deep inside Mr. Pak has issues, least of which his age.
I’ve defended him on another thread because as Dr. Phil always makes note, that while a pancake may be flat it still has two sides.
He’s history ! Meaning regardless of what may have trigger his decision he will die in prison, and become the poster child of gun violence. Bad timing on his part to fall in between the current crusade since Connecticut.
so now that you have all of the facts, I guess you can apologize for blaming the 19 year old being full of testosterone like you did yesterday. In your past post you did NOT give the 19 year old boy the benefit of being like “a pancake having two sides”. Like I tried to get you to see, there was another possibility besides the 19 year old being full of testosterone. It was clear even yesterday based on where the victims were shot who the aggressor was. Want to help change society? Follow my advice and treat people nicer…thats the first step all of us need to start with.
Never blame anyone ! I tried to keep those of you from putting all the blame on Mr. Pak.
Grow up !
You find it so easy because there was a gun involved. But unless you where there we both will never fully know what transpired.
And please stop with the phony camp fire dance of Kumbaya, because if it was legitimate you would have understood a long time ago what I was defending.
It’s called ‘fact’s, not blind emotion.
You want me to “grow up”? Gee, I wonder how many of your comments were flagged for review from other people who thought you were being inappropriate and rude? If I recall, you had ALOT of your comments flagged. I think perhaps you need to be more careful what you write, because it sure did sound to me that you had made up your mind that it was the 19 year olds fault. It was I who was trying to get you to see that there was another possibility. Like I said, he was in THEIR residence, and HE was the one that used a gun to kill those two teenagers and injure the mom. I dont need more proof than that who is to blame in this. Courts must agree because he is being held without bail. I am sorry that you feel so hostile about this. I really think that we all need to make changes and to practice kindness towards each other. We all need to stop attacking each other like rabid wolves.
Here’s a fact for you, as stated in the article. An 18 year old girl, someone’s daughter, sister, etc. pleaded for her life by begging Pak to stop shooting and he responded by shooting her anyway, multiple times. Who deserves the blame????
Let’s wait for a trial and see where this thing leads to. On the face of it it looks bad for Mr. Pak. I agree. It’s just hard to phantom a 74 year old playing Billy the Kid.
Was he provoked, did he feel intimidated, questions I’m sure we will all learn shortly. Yes, a cool collective mind had other options then killing two people and shooting a third. But that’s just it, who is really cool, calm and collective under pressure if your not use to it.
“phantom”?
I was thinking the same thing…..
No we are NOT a violent society .Some want us TO BE a violent society and are working hard to CREATE a violent society …..( frankly , so they can sell more guns by selling “fear”.) Do you work for a gun manufacturer?
Yeah, keep thinking that. I had a toy gun in my hands before I learn my abc’s. By the time a young person reaches puberty today in America, he has learn how to kill in a hundred different ways from just playing violent video games.
And do you know why we use guns ? It’s easy. Less conformational, and I dare say less blood on the clothes if from a distance.
Base on your grammar the ABC’s are still a work in progress.
we are naturally a violent species, that’s why home sapiens only remain.
Why is his age an issue? I know many senior citizens, and none are killers.
Really? Dr. Phil? You do know that prior to getting a TV show, thanks to Oprah, he was one of those professionals for hire, appearing in courtrooms and providing testimony, giving seminars to huge corporate management staffs, and almost lost his license for hiring a patient? How does any of this qualify him being used as a reference regarding a criminals mind? Ole Dr Phil certainly knows how to play both sides.
The point he’s trying to make is that there are always two sides to every story.
The point I’m trying to make is that shooting 3 people simply because of a snowstorm’s aftermath is not in any manner going to be legitimized by Dr. Phil.
Yeah, two sides..
First side: Family doing their best to get along. Didn’t meet the landlord’s expectation for snowstorm behavior. Now two are dead, one wounded and the child scarred for life. Oh, and a cop who will probably blame himself for the rest of his life.
Second side: Violent, angry, nut-job landlord terrorizes tenants and neighbors for years but still manages to own guns because we need to make sure he can participate in an armed rebellion if necessary.
At age 75 he could have some form of dementia.
How does a 19 year old have a 7 year old son?
The 7 year old was the 19 year old’s brother.
Johnson is the MOTHER, not the 19 year old.
Do any of you read with comprehension or the brain and eyes engaged??
Well if its the math you’re having problems with…by having a kid at the age of 12.
Rather, I think its the reading part you are having problems with…its his brother.
Yeah, so death was the only recourse.
They found a lunatic murderer.
Pak had plenty of legal options. Eviction, tow the cars, etc …
If there are minor children, and /or are on welfare not only can he NOT evict them but has to provide heat, lights and water.
I know this when my mothers friends daughter and her kids rented from my mother and it took my mom 11/2 years to get them out, made no rent, had to provide all utilities and lawyer fees and court cost. The wench did about 35k in damages to the house before she left.
big deal. doesn’t mean that he has to go and off them. plenty of legal ways to get rid of them.
I agree, There is a lesson to be learned here, Tenants
OH yeah…. what lesson …??? sounds like a threatening one to me That is why YOU are the type who shouldn’t be allowed to own a gun .
How’s that not taking “idiocy” working out for Pak now ?
And you got your inside information from where exactly???
from his vivid imagination trying to somehow figure out a way to justify this shooting.
I saw several statements like this on the previous article about this case. I am disturbed at how many people are willing to advocate deadly violence as a solution to annoyances.
Acting as a landlord can be difficult, especially, if you take it personally and do not treat it as a business.
If a landlord can not, emotionally, handle dealing with bad tenants using the tools provided by our civil court system, then I suggest they not get into the business.
This man shot and killed a 7 year olds brother and mother, basically, infront of him and you think he was justified because of late rent or a broken civil contract (lease)?
Listen to yourself. Put yourself in that child’s shoes.
Nothing short of violence deserves violence.
according to the previous article the two teens had been renting from Pak since October. Were they consistenly late for 3 months and thus worthy of shooting? I think I’ll go with the neighbors who have already said Pak was a
loose cannon waiting to go off.
She moved in in OCTOBER with her 2 sons , according to other news reports. Your totally made up “scenario ‘ is unlikely.
oh so you PERSONALLY knew these people????? If not, then perhaps you should keep your comments to yourself. I didn’t know them either, so therefore I practiced kindness and proper etiquette and choose NOT to talk ill of the deceased and injured. Shame on you for promoting violence as the answer to settling a ridiculous disagreement. Attitudes like yours is whats wrong with society. You want change? Act with kindness. Each of us has to work at being less hostile towards one another. Things will only continue to spiral out of control if we don’t. PROMOTE KINDNESS, NOT HATE.
I have to say that I read some of your comments before they were flagged, and I was appalled as well. So its not just those “dopers” as you call them, that you are offending. Perhaps you should re-read some of your posts. You do not come across as very nice. You come across as abrasive. Certainly telling me to “grow up” is further proof of how antagonistic you present yourself. Just a thought…on that note, I wish you a happy new year. My resolution is to try and spread more kindness. How about you?
how do you know they were a section 8 tenant????? And what does “and Mrs Pak may up her maid” mean? Spell check not working? Im pretty sure the mom doesnt want that house after her son was allegedly murdered there by the landlord.
Why is he not being charged with attempted murder along with the two murder charges?
And all the charges should be AGGRAVATED, as there was a 6-year old present in the home. Using guns with young children? Inexcusable.
name calling? Wow, someone needs to go sit in a corner for a time out. Your entire response to me makes no sense. did you proof read it? Oh well…happy new year. I’m practice spreading kindness…how about you?
oh thats a little on the offensive side…Do you have poor social skills? My perspective is fine, yours on the other hand…guess that’s the answer to my question I asked you. Its obvious you do not plan on spreading kindness.
So age grants a Murder People Free Card? Are you serious?
Why did the police leave? Surely they are trained to identify a hostel situation..a man just minutes away from killing two people with a handgun.. I doubt they even spoke with the landlord. The police who were called to the scene but then left after making the “all clear” have to held responsible for their ignorance by endangering two teenagers. It is clear that the landlord is sad and angry at the world, leading back to when he was a young lad; his father would beat and probe him when he would watch morning cartoons rather then shovel the front steps so his father could go to the street and meet his heroin dealer without getting snow in his boots. In fact there has to be more to this story then reported, The landlord already enraged with the memories of his father abusing him, saw the love and life of these two teens and decided to end their wonderful life from happening. His horrible existence he has clearly made him mental. You can only have hope in this twisted country and I hope the mother gets to host this man upside down and torture this man for months and months using blow torches, pliers and bamboo. This is the saddest article I have read all month.
Ignore the troll please. he feeds on negative energy.
I think maybe you confused the word “Placating” with “Patronizing”. Did your mother and Father ever tell you when you were growing up to play nice with others and to apologize when you offend someone? Its sad how you dont realize how abrasive you come across. So because I said that I found you telling me “to take a bubble bath” (which is incredibly sexist) was offensive, I am being confrontational? Makes no sense to me. It is you who is being closed minded if you choose not to address people with respect. And you definitely are very disrespectful to others. Anyone out there if you see this post, please feel free to vote up if you feel Guest 001 is disrespectful or down if you dont agree with me and feel he is respectful towards others. Lets take a vote on this out of curiosity.
It’s easy for him to hide behind his screen name and be rude…. makes him feel like the tough guy he wishes he really was.
I wish there was an application available called a “CYBER SLAP” right beside the LIKE/UNLIKE options because this guy would take the cake.
senile seniors? So all seniors are senile? I thought you weren’t closed minded????? I have run across more senile people under 50 than I have that are over 50.
Alchohol and guns do not mix. His blood alchohol level was .15 a couple of hours after he was arrested. almost twice the legal limit for driving
I was responding to Guest 001 who had his comment flagged. He said that the shooter was a senile senior. I corrected him stating that all seniors are not senile. Not only do guns and alcohol do not mix, but people who have a history of alleged anger issues and mental health issues should not be allowed to buy or have access to guns either
was going to flag this as inappropriate, but I think I will leave it so that people will see what kind of person you really are. I will let public opinion play out on this comment. LOL
This is just the kind of murder promoted by the NRA and the right-wing American Legislative Exchange Council, since under “stand your ground” laws any 74-year-old could argue he was too weak to defend himself and he just had to use a gun. Such laws handcuff the cops and make it much harder for juries to dispense justice.
Any Maine lawmaker who pushed the ALEC legislation should be No. 1 on voters’ hit list — for the next election.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9Trh8iwNt8
You honestly think this guy is not going to be found guilty?
come on… he had made previous threats to shoot them. he went back to their house with a loaded firearm minutes after a cop broke up a domestic dispute, he had full intent to commit a crime, there is absolutely no way this is going down as a justified homicide, especially considering he shot both tenants and their mother.
except he was “standing his ground ” in his TENANT’S apartment. Does Maine have a stand your ground law?? NOT that I know of .Of course it could have slipped by …if it did ….yup it should be reversed.
I am a landlord and I know EXATLY how he felt. Killing someone is never right but I know the type of tenants he was dealing with. If this couple are hard working people this does not apply but it sounds so familiar. I wish I had the nuts to do the same.
The child is the one I feel sorry for. And all you deadbeat loser tenants the same could happen to you. For all you people who (I know) will condem me for posting this. Try renting to losers , going thru all the legal hoops, and by the time you get the maggots out you are out a few thousand dollars. What about the landlords rights. This landlord was old,retired ( I assume) and living on his rents. This is the same as stealing. The losers should be arrested and convicted. Most of these losers are losers because they are lazy.. They feel they are entiteled. Just like all the young people of today. But that’s a whole other subject. My condolences to the families and I hope the child gets much needed. Therapy
I won’t condemn you, because I have lived next to the low lives you speak of. I’ve been a renter for some years now, and have only experience two bad landlords in all that time.
But I have been rob, verbally assaulted, my car vandalized etc., etc., etc. all by fellow renters in the building.
Take all loser tenants and put them on an island in the middle of the ocean. Treat them the same as lepper. Sorry cant spell great. I hate crappy tenants. I am very passionate on this subject.
Don’t rent to them, simple as that and don’t accept subsidized housing and run background checks.
Don’t complain do your homework and develop a good solid lease. No problem.
can we do the same with the bad landlords ?in fact they should BOTH go to the SAME island .
Oh what the heck…one last reply to your post….and perhaps I can use this opportunity to help you with this act of kindness.Some advice I will give you in the hopes, however slim, that it will make a difference. Did you ever think that possibly you were robbed, verbally assaulted and your car vandalized because you are a rude and abrasive person? Practice kindness towards others, and you would be surprised at the result.
LOL!!!
“” I have been rob, verbally assaulted, my car vandalized etc., etc., etc””
Not real surprised on that one if you act in public like you act online.
I would never consider being a landlord again. Even people who are supposed to be in the upper income brackets play with you. And they always left the property like a dump. It cost me money and more money to fix the places. Wish I never went into that business. Of course, I think killing one’s tenants is the worst way to evict them.
Don’t mistake landlord with slumlord.
According to reports both teens were working. There are bad tenant AND bad landlords .
She was in school and he washed cars.
oink oink
I don’t need someone to deem me mentally stable…I have a constitution and bill of rights. it doesn’t take three minutes to take the safety off and squeeze! id be alive. self-reliance should come back into fashion.
‘I don’t need someone to deem me mentally stable…’
Clearly.
No photos of the landlord gone mad?
It would ruin the agenda of trying to portray the nice wholesome couple. Mr. Pak looks to friendly.
http://www.pressherald.com/news/Pak-scheduled-for-1-pm-court-appearance.html
So now he murdered two teenagers over late rent and parking. Yeah, seems old Pak just went off the deep end over it, became obsessed and started shooting. Guess we’ll never know the whole of it. At that age any sentence over 30 days could be a life sentence anyhow…
Also his blood alchohol level was .15 a few hours after they arrested him. Guns and alchol don’t mix.
Two young people are dead because the threat was ignored by the police. Now all we will hear for weeks is about the need for more gun control gun because the gun will be blamed, not the person who did the shooting! If he beat them to death with a bat, club or hammer etc. they would be just as dead, very little would be said about the weapon used and the story would die out in a few days! The biggest concern should be of these murdered youngsters and punishing this guy severely!
I rented a house from a landlord from New Jersey once, it was a lease and was paid in full in advance.
So, this joker shows up one Saturday morning at 7 am with his boat/trailer in tow…pounding on the front door and all but pushed me aside because he wanted to do a building inspection without prior notice given. I informed him that my children were still sleeping, my wife was in the shower and he could come back later if he wanted but for now he wasn’t being allowed to enter. He went ballistic, screaming how it was HIS HOUSE and how he was going to physically move me aside if I didn’t step aside.
I informed him that by my tenant rights I was entitled to a 24 hr notice to which he HAD NOT given and that while it was in fact HIS HOUSE it was also in fact MY HOME and that since my rent was paid 6 months ahead and smoke or water was not rolling out the building (an emergency) he was going to have to wait until later and that if he tried to physically move me I would have no choice but to knock him out and call 911 for intruder alert.
He gave me a quick up/down look of surprise, left and never came back.
When our lease was up we moved.
Should of been arrested on the first visit for Criminal Threat and taken to jail…
We need a zero-tolerance policy for bullying ANYWHERE, not just in schools.
Getting so that there is a Killing everyday now.
The landlord is 74 yrs old and obviously not in his right mind.