On a summer day in West Paris, Maine, the quiet community was shaken by the discovery of a grim scene. Fifty-year-old Timothy I. Mayberry, a local self-employed contractor, was found deceased at his home on July 26, 2008. Inside the residence, another man, 43-year-old Todd Smith, was also found dead. Both men had sustained multiple gunshot wounds, and their deaths were quickly determined to be homicides.
Mayberry was a man who enjoyed the outdoors, with a fondness for the water, boating, fishing, and hunting. He was known as a homebody but also appreciated weekend getaways and scenic drives. He had served his country in the U.S. Army and was remembered as someone who loved children and his dog.
The investigation into the double homicide soon focused on Duane Christopher Waterman of Sumner, Maine. The connection between Waterman and Mayberry was rooted in a drug-related debt. Mayberry had reportedly provided Waterman and his wife with a significant quantity of OxyContin pills to sell. However, the Watermans consumed the drugs themselves and concocted a story about the police seizing them. Mayberry, not believing their account, began to pressure them for the money owed. The situation escalated when Mayberry accused Waterman's wife of being a police informant.
On the evening of July 25, 2008, neighbors reported hearing what sounded like gunshots coming from the direction of Mayberry's home. The following day, a passing motorist discovered Mayberry's body outside his house, which led to the subsequent discovery of Smith's body inside. Investigators found evidence at the scene, including shell casings from a. 380-caliber handgun and a tire impression that was consistent with Waterman's vehicle.
Although Waterman denied his involvement, claiming he had sold the gun to Mayberry prior to the killings and was fishing with his children at the time, the evidence mounted against him. Police had questioned him shortly after the bodies were found, and his home was searched. In June 2009, a jury found Duane Christopher Waterman guilty on two counts of murder for the deaths of Timothy I. Mayberry and Todd Smith. He was subsequently sentenced to serve two concurrent life sentences in prison for the premeditated killings.
