WATERVILLE — Police are investigating the death of a man whose body was found early Monday on the steps outside an Oak Street apartment building.
The body of a man was found on these steps early Monday at an apartment building at 13 Oak St. in Waterville. Investigators say they are not releasing the man’s name while they determine the cause of his death. Amy Calder/Morning Sentinel
A police officer went to the building at 13 Oak St. at about 6 a.m. to check on a report a man was sleeping on the steps, Chief Joseph Massey of the Waterville Police Department wrote in an email.
The officer determined the man was dead, Massey said.
“We are investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of this person,” Massey said. “At this time, we are not releasing the name of the deceased, and will have no further comments until the (state medical examiner’s office) determines the cause of death.”
Police were still at the scene at 9 a.m., when the body was placed into a black van, which then left the dirt parking lot.
Later in the morning, a woman who asked not to be identified said she called police when she saw the man at about 5:30 a.m. on the steps leading to her apartment.
“It was hot inside, so I came out into the hallway to see if it would be a little cooler, and that’s when I noticed him,” she said. “I didn’t know whether he was sleeping, passed out or dead, so I called the police.”
Another tenant at the building, Brian Huff, said the man had lived for about three years in the second-floor apartment above Huff’s apartment. Huff said the man was in his 30s and had an 11-year-old daughter who had lived with him for a time.
“One of his nicknames was ‘Ivy,'” said Huff, 63. “I gave him bags and bags of groceries every so often to help him out because he had a daughter. He did have a temper problem. He was easily angered. He seemed all right at times, and other times he wasn’t. His brother told me he was bipolar.”
Huff said he had not heard anything unusual Monday, but looked out his window at about 8 a.m. and saw police. Neighbors told him the man had died, Huff said.
The woman who called police said investigators took photographs of the area where the man was found.
She also said the man was trying to get custody of a younger son. Like Huff, she said the man tended to get angry at times.
“I know that he didn’t have much trust in people,” she said, “and he’d get defensive easily.”
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