WATERVILLE — Police have talked to some area residents who may have information about the death of Aurele Fecteau, but they are releasing few details four days after he was found dead in his Brooklyn Avenue home.
State police ruled the death a homicide on Sunday night, after results of the autopsy were made available by the chief medical examiner.
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Police said some area residents have come forward with information for investigators, but state Department of Public Safety spokesman Steven McCausland would not divulge specifics provided by members of the public.
McCausland also wouldn’t say what in Fecteau’s autopsy led police to determine the 92-year-old man’s death was a homicide.
Detectives completed gathering evidence at the home on Sunday, according to McCausland. The home has been returned to Fecteau’s family. Evidence gathered at the scene was being analyzed Tuesday at the Maine State Police Crime Lab.
Fecteau, who had lived on the property for decades, was found dead by a family member on Friday. Waterville police responded to the scene late Friday morning. City police called in state police for assistance based on what they saw in the home.
After a weekend of heavy police presence and activity in the neighborhood, residents say things have returned to normal.
Classes were back in session after the Memorial Day holiday at Waterville High School, just down the road from Fecteau’s 33 Brooklyn Ave. home.
“Monday night was the first night where the police were no longer here,” said Nicole Noel, who lives across the street from Fecteau with her husband, Joshua and 4-year-old daughter Kya. “The police had told us not to worry, but we just stayed inside most of the weekend. Monday night was kind of weird because the police were gone.”
Noel, who works nights as a customer service representative for T-Mobile, said she hadn’t noticed anything strange over the last week.
Over the weekend, as police presence became constant, Noel said asked them if her family was still safe.
“I went out to see if I could know anything and they came to talk to me that night and told me he passed and it looked suspicious,” she said. “Basically I wanted to check to make sure we were safe to be in our home. We didn’t play outside for the weekend, just so my daughter wouldn’t see everything that was going on.”
Fecteau lived alone in the house, although neighbors said his children visited often. He and his wife Jeanne, who died in 2009, had seven children — five boys and two girls.
Noel said she didn’t know Fecteau, other than for an occasional neighborly wave. She said the 92-year-old was active and outside often.
“He was pretty quiet and we’re pretty quiet,” she said. “Now, I wish I had known him. We just kind of kept to ourselves.”
State police ask that anyone who may have been in the area of Brooklyn Avenue and Vose Street and saw anything out of the ordinary to call 207.624-7076.
Jesse Scardina — 861-9239 | jscardina@centralmaine.com | Twitter: @jessescardina
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