Julie was the daughter of Luther Buman Newby, Jr., and Meredith Purdue Newby.
Note: Julie, 65, daughter of Luther Buman Newby, Jr. and Meredith Purdue and mother of Selby Ellen Bullard, was born in Amarillo, TX on July 22, 1941 and passed on Sunday September 3, 2006, in Newry, ME. In her youth, Julie, whose father was a pilot for Pan American Airlines, lived in Hong Kong, attending K.G. V, Mexico City, London and other international cities and traveled the world with her parents and two younger sisters, Sol and Laura. She spent the majority of her adult life in California, residing in San Francisco for 25 years before moving to Newry, Maine in 2004. Julie had a passion for tea cups, a fine cake crumb, antiquing and her many beloved pets. She is appreciated for her charm as a hostess and made quite an impression on her international clientele with breakfast pajama parties at her two B&Bs, the Church St B&B in SF, CA and the Black Bear B&B in Newry, Maine. Julie loved and raised four daughters and nine grandchildren, who called her Dammy, and provided love and support to her four step-children. Selby E. Bullard, 30, daughter of Julie and Dennis Dean Bullard, was born in Lakeport, California on 21 June 1976 and passed on Monday 04 September 2006, in Newry, Maine. Selby spent her life in California until she followed Julie to Maine in 2004 with her two children, Leila Camille and Elliott Maxwell, now ages 11 and 9. Selby worked in both California and Maine selling fashionable eyewear for opticians. Her clients were amazed at her ability to always find just the right frame for their faces. In Maine, she began a new career in 2006 selling real estate. Selby was an adoring mother. She infused any gathering with fun and humor and had a tremendous lust for life. Julie and Selby are survived by their children / siblings, Leila and Elliott Magee Bullard, Georgia Trull, Brooke Bullard, Adrienne McNally, Dennine Bullard, Michele Ahl, Jason Bullard, Lynne Short and their families, including their grandchildren, nieces and nephews-20 in all; Selby's father Dennis D. Bullard and paternal grandmother Ruth Bullard; Julie's sisters Laura Siklossy and Sol Rainbow; and many extended family members and loving friends as well as Magic (a.k.a. Killer), the cat. The family will host a celebration of Julie's and Selby's lives on Saturday, 30 September 2006, at Saint Gregory of NYSSA Episcopal Church, 500 De Haro Street, San Francisco, California from 2 to 6 pm. Local arrangements by Greenleaf Funeral Home, 37 Vernon Street, Bethel, Maine. Published in the Press Democrat on September 20, 2006
Note: Julie and Selby Bullard had lived in San Francisco, where the mother ran the Church Street Bed and Breakfast. They moved to Maine to buy the Black Bear about two years ago, friends said. The Black Bear has had a "for sale" sign out front since February. Bullard had cut back on her business and began renting rooms. Selby Bullard began selling real estate in Bethel a year ago and met Beatson, who was also a new broker at Apple Tree Realty, run by Bonita Sessions. The two women were best friends and did a lot together, she said. On Monday, Bullard became concerned when she couldn't reach her mother by cell phone. She drove to Newry with Beatson, Sessions said. The four-victim homicide is believed to be Maine's deadliest crime since December 1992, when four people were killed in an apartment fire in Portland, set by Virgil Smith. Julie and Selby Bullard had moved to Maine from the San Francisco Bay area three years ago. Selby Bullard's husband had been killed in a car accident, Ms. Zinchuk said, and the family had been looking for a new start. Julie Bullard had run an inn in California. Julie Bullard had decided recently to look for a "different adventure" and this spring had put the Black Bear up for sale. A broker's sign was still posted on the 1830's-era property. Selby Bullard had a 12-year-old daughter and an 8-year-old son. She had run an eyeglass shop, did nails and occasionally waited tables. She had recently earned a real estate license and had worked alongside Cynthia Beatson at Apple Tree Realty in Bethel. Mr. Nielsen moved to the Black Bear about two months ago, after answering a newspaper advertisement for a job as a line cook at The Sudbury Inn, in Bethel, a few miles away. He worked the dinner shift Sunday night, after the police say he had already killed at least one of his victims, and had been expected back Tuesday night. "He was reliable, and a soft-spoken and quiet guy," Nancy White, a co-owner of The Sudbury Inn, said Tuesday. "I was as surprised and shocked as the next person." According to a sentencing memorandum filed by prosecutors Monday, Nielsen had no specific motive but told investigators he had been obsessed with thoughts of killing someone for several years and had wanted to take over the lodge. Christian Nielsen's mental health had been a focus of his defense, and he initially pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. On Thursday, two forensic physiologists testified that he was not legally insane, but that he suffered from schizoid personality disorder, making it difficult for him to express emotions or remorse.
Note: Rent dispute may have preceded Maine deaths. Newry, Maine -- Christian Nielsen, charged in Maine's bloodiest crime in 14 years, said one day last year that he was going to straighten out, co-workers recalled. No more boozing, he told them. He would shelve his haphazard college career for the strictures of the US military. ''I thought, Christian's finally finding a place for himself," said Kristen Dorey, a waitress at the Family Fare Restaurant in Farmington, where he cooked until he was fired. But Nielsen's ambitions apparently went nowhere. Instead, the 31-year-old moved several months ago to the Black Bear Bed & Breakfast in Newry, where he met owner Julie Bullard, her daughter Selby, and live-in handyman James Whitehurst. Over Labor Day weekend, say police, he killed all three, as well as Selby Bullard's close friend, Cynthia Beatson. The three women were dismembered and left in bloody heaps outside the Black Bear, alongside three dogs Nielsen killed, according to police. Whitehurst's body was found burned and left in the woods in Upton, about 15 miles away. Whitehurst was killed on Friday, and Julie Bullard on Sunday; Selby Bullard and Beatson were killed Monday, police said. Nielsen showed up nonchalantly for work Sunday night, on time for his line-cook shift at the Sudbury Inn in Bethel, according to his boss. Friends of the victims said Nielsen may have been involved in a dispute over payment for his room at the bed and breakfast, where he lived for the past few months. Marcia Thomas, a San Francisco real estate agent and close friend of Julie Bullard's, said she had recently decided to sell the Black Bear and move to New York City with another daughter because she found it tough to survive financially running a bed and breakfast in Maine. She rented a room to Nielsen to help make ends meet, Thomas said.''She loved Maine and she felt very safe in Maine and she really didn't want to leave, but for economic reasons she was going to sell the B&B and share a house her daughter had just bought in Brooklyn," said Thomas. Police refused to comment on a possible motive. Nielsen's father, Charles Nielsen, visited him yesterday at Oxford County Jail, where he is being held without bail. Nielsen smirked through a court hearing on Tuesday, but his lawyer sought to dispel notions that he took his situation lightly. ''I can assure you he's not amused. He's not been speaking to me in a light banter," said attorney Ron Hoffman, who refused to discuss details of their jailhouse conversation yesterday. Interviews yesterday with several people who know Nielsen portrayed a man given to mood swings who lived a somewhat aimless life, but seemed harmless. Nielsen studied English at the University of Maine at Farmington, following in the footsteps of his father, who teaches English at Dirigo High School in Dixfield, Maine. He completed a semester in 2001, then attended during summer and fall of 2003, spring of 2004, and spring and fall last year. He did not earn a degree, the university said. Kenny Bachner, owner of Devaney Doak & Garrett Booksellers in Farmington, said Nielsen, a frequent customer over six years, had an unpredictable personality, sometimes appearing ''very earnest," while ''very closed off" on other occasions. He called Nielsen ''very bright" and said he favored classic literature and comedy books. But he was no closet radical or extremist, said Bachner. ''I'd be very surprised if any of this had anything to do with any cohesive ideology," he said. ''He had weird stuff going on in his head that most of us can't imagine." At the Black Bear Bed & Breakfast yesterday, police continued forensics work at the crime scene. In a wooded area in Upton, authorities worked to remove Whitehurst's burned remains from its shallow grave. In Newry, a small cluster of inns near western Maine's ski resorts, and its neighboring town, Bethel, friends and acquaintances of the victims speculated about the suspect's motives even as they grieved over the victims. Julie Bullard, 65, had relocated to Maine from San Francisco, and added her own eclectic design touches to the Black Bear, said Robin Zinchuk, executive director of the Bethel Area Chamber of Commerce. Over the summer, Julie Bullard offered Whitehurst, 50, of Batesville, Ark., a free room in exchange for his services as handyman, said Zinchuk. Bullard and Whitehurst may have been engaged in an effort to evict Nielsen after he failed to pay for his stay at the Black Bear, she said. Selby Bullard, 30, and Beatson, 43, were killed when they went to check up on Julie Bullard, police said. Bonita Sessions, who employed both women at Apple Tree Realty office in Bethel, said Selby Bullard "was always smiling" and Beatson was "so beautiful and animated." "They'll be sadly missed by everyone," said Sessions. "There will be a hole in everyone's heart."
Note: 452-70-6489
Note: Julie, 65, daughter of Luther Buman Newby, Jr. and Meredith Purdue and mother of Selby Ellen Bullard, was born in Amarillo, TX on July 22, 1941 and passed on Sunday September 3, 2006, in Newry, ME. In her youth, Julie, whose father was a pilot for Pan American Airlines, lived in Hong Kong, attending K.G. V, Mexico City, London and other international cities and traveled the world with her parents and two younger sisters, Sol and Laura. She spent the majority of her adult life in California, residing in San Francisco for 25 years before moving to Newry, Maine in 2004. Julie had a passion for tea cups, a fine cake crumb, antiquing and her many beloved pets. She is appreciated for her charm as a hostess and made quite an impression on her international clientele with breakfast pajama parties at her two B&Bs, the Church St B&B in SF, CA and the Black Bear B&B in Newry, Maine. Julie loved and raised four daughters and nine grandchildren, who called her Dammy, and provided love and support to her four step-children. Selby E. Bullard, 30, daughter of Julie and Dennis Dean Bullard, was born in Lakeport, California on 21 June 1976 and passed on Monday 04 September 2006, in Newry, Maine. Selby spent her life in California until she followed Julie to Maine in 2004 with her two children, Leila Camille and Elliott Maxwell, now ages 11 and 9. Selby worked in both California and Maine selling fashionable eyewear for opticians. Her clients were amazed at her ability to always find just the right frame for their faces. In Maine, she began a new career in 2006 selling real estate. Selby was an adoring mother. She infused any gathering with fun and humor and had a tremendous lust for life. Julie and Selby are survived by their children / siblings, Leila and Elliott Magee Bullard, Georgia Trull, Brooke Bullard, Adrienne McNally, Dennine Bullard, Michele Ahl, Jason Bullard, Lynne Short and their families, including their grandchildren, nieces and nephews-20 in all; Selby's father Dennis D. Bullard and paternal grandmother Ruth Bullard; Julie's sisters Laura Siklossy and Sol Rainbow; and many extended family members and loving friends as well as Magic (a.k.a. Killer), the cat. The family will host a celebration of Julie's and Selby's lives on Saturday, 30 September 2006, at Saint Gregory of NYSSA Episcopal Church, 500 De Haro Street, San Francisco, California from 2 to 6 pm. Local arrangements by Greenleaf Funeral Home, 37 Vernon Street, Bethel, Maine. Published in the Press Democrat on September 20, 2006
Note: Julie and Selby Bullard had lived in San Francisco, where the mother ran the Church Street Bed and Breakfast. They moved to Maine to buy the Black Bear about two years ago, friends said. The Black Bear has had a "for sale" sign out front since February. Bullard had cut back on her business and began renting rooms. Selby Bullard began selling real estate in Bethel a year ago and met Beatson, who was also a new broker at Apple Tree Realty, run by Bonita Sessions. The two women were best friends and did a lot together, she said. On Monday, Bullard became concerned when she couldn't reach her mother by cell phone. She drove to Newry with Beatson, Sessions said. The four-victim homicide is believed to be Maine's deadliest crime since December 1992, when four people were killed in an apartment fire in Portland, set by Virgil Smith. Julie and Selby Bullard had moved to Maine from the San Francisco Bay area three years ago. Selby Bullard's husband had been killed in a car accident, Ms. Zinchuk said, and the family had been looking for a new start. Julie Bullard had run an inn in California. Julie Bullard had decided recently to look for a "different adventure" and this spring had put the Black Bear up for sale. A broker's sign was still posted on the 1830's-era property. Selby Bullard had a 12-year-old daughter and an 8-year-old son. She had run an eyeglass shop, did nails and occasionally waited tables. She had recently earned a real estate license and had worked alongside Cynthia Beatson at Apple Tree Realty in Bethel. Mr. Nielsen moved to the Black Bear about two months ago, after answering a newspaper advertisement for a job as a line cook at The Sudbury Inn, in Bethel, a few miles away. He worked the dinner shift Sunday night, after the police say he had already killed at least one of his victims, and had been expected back Tuesday night. "He was reliable, and a soft-spoken and quiet guy," Nancy White, a co-owner of The Sudbury Inn, said Tuesday. "I was as surprised and shocked as the next person." According to a sentencing memorandum filed by prosecutors Monday, Nielsen had no specific motive but told investigators he had been obsessed with thoughts of killing someone for several years and had wanted to take over the lodge. Christian Nielsen's mental health had been a focus of his defense, and he initially pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. On Thursday, two forensic physiologists testified that he was not legally insane, but that he suffered from schizoid personality disorder, making it difficult for him to express emotions or remorse.
Note: Rent dispute may have preceded Maine deaths. Newry, Maine -- Christian Nielsen, charged in Maine's bloodiest crime in 14 years, said one day last year that he was going to straighten out, co-workers recalled. No more boozing, he told them. He would shelve his haphazard college career for the strictures of the US military. ''I thought, Christian's finally finding a place for himself," said Kristen Dorey, a waitress at the Family Fare Restaurant in Farmington, where he cooked until he was fired. But Nielsen's ambitions apparently went nowhere. Instead, the 31-year-old moved several months ago to the Black Bear Bed & Breakfast in Newry, where he met owner Julie Bullard, her daughter Selby, and live-in handyman James Whitehurst. Over Labor Day weekend, say police, he killed all three, as well as Selby Bullard's close friend, Cynthia Beatson. The three women were dismembered and left in bloody heaps outside the Black Bear, alongside three dogs Nielsen killed, according to police. Whitehurst's body was found burned and left in the woods in Upton, about 15 miles away. Whitehurst was killed on Friday, and Julie Bullard on Sunday; Selby Bullard and Beatson were killed Monday, police said. Nielsen showed up nonchalantly for work Sunday night, on time for his line-cook shift at the Sudbury Inn in Bethel, according to his boss. Friends of the victims said Nielsen may have been involved in a dispute over payment for his room at the bed and breakfast, where he lived for the past few months. Marcia Thomas, a San Francisco real estate agent and close friend of Julie Bullard's, said she had recently decided to sell the Black Bear and move to New York City with another daughter because she found it tough to survive financially running a bed and breakfast in Maine. She rented a room to Nielsen to help make ends meet, Thomas said.''She loved Maine and she felt very safe in Maine and she really didn't want to leave, but for economic reasons she was going to sell the B&B and share a house her daughter had just bought in Brooklyn," said Thomas. Police refused to comment on a possible motive. Nielsen's father, Charles Nielsen, visited him yesterday at Oxford County Jail, where he is being held without bail. Nielsen smirked through a court hearing on Tuesday, but his lawyer sought to dispel notions that he took his situation lightly. ''I can assure you he's not amused. He's not been speaking to me in a light banter," said attorney Ron Hoffman, who refused to discuss details of their jailhouse conversation yesterday. Interviews yesterday with several people who know Nielsen portrayed a man given to mood swings who lived a somewhat aimless life, but seemed harmless. Nielsen studied English at the University of Maine at Farmington, following in the footsteps of his father, who teaches English at Dirigo High School in Dixfield, Maine. He completed a semester in 2001, then attended during summer and fall of 2003, spring of 2004, and spring and fall last year. He did not earn a degree, the university said. Kenny Bachner, owner of Devaney Doak & Garrett Booksellers in Farmington, said Nielsen, a frequent customer over six years, had an unpredictable personality, sometimes appearing ''very earnest," while ''very closed off" on other occasions. He called Nielsen ''very bright" and said he favored classic literature and comedy books. But he was no closet radical or extremist, said Bachner. ''I'd be very surprised if any of this had anything to do with any cohesive ideology," he said. ''He had weird stuff going on in his head that most of us can't imagine." At the Black Bear Bed & Breakfast yesterday, police continued forensics work at the crime scene. In a wooded area in Upton, authorities worked to remove Whitehurst's burned remains from its shallow grave. In Newry, a small cluster of inns near western Maine's ski resorts, and its neighboring town, Bethel, friends and acquaintances of the victims speculated about the suspect's motives even as they grieved over the victims. Julie Bullard, 65, had relocated to Maine from San Francisco, and added her own eclectic design touches to the Black Bear, said Robin Zinchuk, executive director of the Bethel Area Chamber of Commerce. Over the summer, Julie Bullard offered Whitehurst, 50, of Batesville, Ark., a free room in exchange for his services as handyman, said Zinchuk. Bullard and Whitehurst may have been engaged in an effort to evict Nielsen after he failed to pay for his stay at the Black Bear, she said. Selby Bullard, 30, and Beatson, 43, were killed when they went to check up on Julie Bullard, police said. Bonita Sessions, who employed both women at Apple Tree Realty office in Bethel, said Selby Bullard "was always smiling" and Beatson was "so beautiful and animated." "They'll be sadly missed by everyone," said Sessions. "There will be a hole in everyone's heart."
Note: 452-70-6489
Julie was the daughter of Luther Buman Newby, Jr., and Meredith Purdue Newby.
Note: Julie, 65, daughter of Luther Buman Newby, Jr. and Meredith Purdue and mother of Selby Ellen Bullard, was born in Amarillo, TX on July 22, 1941 and passed on Sunday September 3, 2006, in Newry, ME. In her youth, Julie, whose father was a pilot for Pan American Airlines, lived in Hong Kong, attending K.G. V, Mexico City, London and other international cities and traveled the world with her parents and two younger sisters, Sol and Laura. She spent the majority of her adult life in California, residing in San Francisco for 25 years before moving to Newry, Maine in 2004. Julie had a passion for tea cups, a fine cake crumb, antiquing and her many beloved pets. She is appreciated for her charm as a hostess and made quite an impression on her international clientele with breakfast pajama parties at her two B&Bs, the Church St B&B in SF, CA and the Black Bear B&B in Newry, Maine. Julie loved and raised four daughters and nine grandchildren, who called her Dammy, and provided love and support to her four step-children. Selby E. Bullard, 30, daughter of Julie and Dennis Dean Bullard, was born in Lakeport, California on 21 June 1976 and passed on Monday 04 September 2006, in Newry, Maine. Selby spent her life in California until she followed Julie to Maine in 2004 with her two children, Leila Camille and Elliott Maxwell, now ages 11 and 9. Selby worked in both California and Maine selling fashionable eyewear for opticians. Her clients were amazed at her ability to always find just the right frame for their faces. In Maine, she began a new career in 2006 selling real estate. Selby was an adoring mother. She infused any gathering with fun and humor and had a tremendous lust for life. Julie and Selby are survived by their children / siblings, Leila and Elliott Magee Bullard, Georgia Trull, Brooke Bullard, Adrienne McNally, Dennine Bullard, Michele Ahl, Jason Bullard, Lynne Short and their families, including their grandchildren, nieces and nephews-20 in all; Selby's father Dennis D. Bullard and paternal grandmother Ruth Bullard; Julie's sisters Laura Siklossy and Sol Rainbow; and many extended family members and loving friends as well as Magic (a.k.a. Killer), the cat. The family will host a celebration of Julie's and Selby's lives on Saturday, 30 September 2006, at Saint Gregory of NYSSA Episcopal Church, 500 De Haro Street, San Francisco, California from 2 to 6 pm. Local arrangements by Greenleaf Funeral Home, 37 Vernon Street, Bethel, Maine. Published in the Press Democrat on September 20, 2006
Note: Julie and Selby Bullard had lived in San Francisco, where the mother ran the Church Street Bed and Breakfast. They moved to Maine to buy the Black Bear about two years ago, friends said. The Black Bear has had a "for sale" sign out front since February. Bullard had cut back on her business and began renting rooms. Selby Bullard began selling real estate in Bethel a year ago and met Beatson, who was also a new broker at Apple Tree Realty, run by Bonita Sessions. The two women were best friends and did a lot together, she said. On Monday, Bullard became concerned when she couldn't reach her mother by cell phone. She drove to Newry with Beatson, Sessions said. The four-victim homicide is believed to be Maine's deadliest crime since December 1992, when four people were killed in an apartment fire in Portland, set by Virgil Smith. Julie and Selby Bullard had moved to Maine from the San Francisco Bay area three years ago. Selby Bullard's husband had been killed in a car accident, Ms. Zinchuk said, and the family had been looking for a new start. Julie Bullard had run an inn in California. Julie Bullard had decided recently to look for a "different adventure" and this spring had put the Black Bear up for sale. A broker's sign was still posted on the 1830's-era property. Selby Bullard had a 12-year-old daughter and an 8-year-old son. She had run an eyeglass shop, did nails and occasionally waited tables. She had recently earned a real estate license and had worked alongside Cynthia Beatson at Apple Tree Realty in Bethel. Mr. Nielsen moved to the Black Bear about two months ago, after answering a newspaper advertisement for a job as a line cook at The Sudbury Inn, in Bethel, a few miles away. He worked the dinner shift Sunday night, after the police say he had already killed at least one of his victims, and had been expected back Tuesday night. "He was reliable, and a soft-spoken and quiet guy," Nancy White, a co-owner of The Sudbury Inn, said Tuesday. "I was as surprised and shocked as the next person." According to a sentencing memorandum filed by prosecutors Monday, Nielsen had no specific motive but told investigators he had been obsessed with thoughts of killing someone for several years and had wanted to take over the lodge. Christian Nielsen's mental health had been a focus of his defense, and he initially pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. On Thursday, two forensic physiologists testified that he was not legally insane, but that he suffered from schizoid personality disorder, making it difficult for him to express emotions or remorse.
Note: Rent dispute may have preceded Maine deaths. Newry, Maine -- Christian Nielsen, charged in Maine's bloodiest crime in 14 years, said one day last year that he was going to straighten out, co-workers recalled. No more boozing, he told them. He would shelve his haphazard college career for the strictures of the US military. ''I thought, Christian's finally finding a place for himself," said Kristen Dorey, a waitress at the Family Fare Restaurant in Farmington, where he cooked until he was fired. But Nielsen's ambitions apparently went nowhere. Instead, the 31-year-old moved several months ago to the Black Bear Bed & Breakfast in Newry, where he met owner Julie Bullard, her daughter Selby, and live-in handyman James Whitehurst. Over Labor Day weekend, say police, he killed all three, as well as Selby Bullard's close friend, Cynthia Beatson. The three women were dismembered and left in bloody heaps outside the Black Bear, alongside three dogs Nielsen killed, according to police. Whitehurst's body was found burned and left in the woods in Upton, about 15 miles away. Whitehurst was killed on Friday, and Julie Bullard on Sunday; Selby Bullard and Beatson were killed Monday, police said. Nielsen showed up nonchalantly for work Sunday night, on time for his line-cook shift at the Sudbury Inn in Bethel, according to his boss. Friends of the victims said Nielsen may have been involved in a dispute over payment for his room at the bed and breakfast, where he lived for the past few months. Marcia Thomas, a San Francisco real estate agent and close friend of Julie Bullard's, said she had recently decided to sell the Black Bear and move to New York City with another daughter because she found it tough to survive financially running a bed and breakfast in Maine. She rented a room to Nielsen to help make ends meet, Thomas said.''She loved Maine and she felt very safe in Maine and she really didn't want to leave, but for economic reasons she was going to sell the B&B and share a house her daughter had just bought in Brooklyn," said Thomas. Police refused to comment on a possible motive. Nielsen's father, Charles Nielsen, visited him yesterday at Oxford County Jail, where he is being held without bail. Nielsen smirked through a court hearing on Tuesday, but his lawyer sought to dispel notions that he took his situation lightly. ''I can assure you he's not amused. He's not been speaking to me in a light banter," said attorney Ron Hoffman, who refused to discuss details of their jailhouse conversation yesterday. Interviews yesterday with several people who know Nielsen portrayed a man given to mood swings who lived a somewhat aimless life, but seemed harmless. Nielsen studied English at the University of Maine at Farmington, following in the footsteps of his father, who teaches English at Dirigo High School in Dixfield, Maine. He completed a semester in 2001, then attended during summer and fall of 2003, spring of 2004, and spring and fall last year. He did not earn a degree, the university said. Kenny Bachner, owner of Devaney Doak & Garrett Booksellers in Farmington, said Nielsen, a frequent customer over six years, had an unpredictable personality, sometimes appearing ''very earnest," while ''very closed off" on other occasions. He called Nielsen ''very bright" and said he favored classic literature and comedy books. But he was no closet radical or extremist, said Bachner. ''I'd be very surprised if any of this had anything to do with any cohesive ideology," he said. ''He had weird stuff going on in his head that most of us can't imagine." At the Black Bear Bed & Breakfast yesterday, police continued forensics work at the crime scene. In a wooded area in Upton, authorities worked to remove Whitehurst's burned remains from its shallow grave. In Newry, a small cluster of inns near western Maine's ski resorts, and its neighboring town, Bethel, friends and acquaintances of the victims speculated about the suspect's motives even as they grieved over the victims. Julie Bullard, 65, had relocated to Maine from San Francisco, and added her own eclectic design touches to the Black Bear, said Robin Zinchuk, executive director of the Bethel Area Chamber of Commerce. Over the summer, Julie Bullard offered Whitehurst, 50, of Batesville, Ark., a free room in exchange for his services as handyman, said Zinchuk. Bullard and Whitehurst may have been engaged in an effort to evict Nielsen after he failed to pay for his stay at the Black Bear, she said. Selby Bullard, 30, and Beatson, 43, were killed when they went to check up on Julie Bullard, police said. Bonita Sessions, who employed both women at Apple Tree Realty office in Bethel, said Selby Bullard "was always smiling" and Beatson was "so beautiful and animated." "They'll be sadly missed by everyone," said Sessions. "There will be a hole in everyone's heart."
Note: 452-70-6489
Note: Julie, 65, daughter of Luther Buman Newby, Jr. and Meredith Purdue and mother of Selby Ellen Bullard, was born in Amarillo, TX on July 22, 1941 and passed on Sunday September 3, 2006, in Newry, ME. In her youth, Julie, whose father was a pilot for Pan American Airlines, lived in Hong Kong, attending K.G. V, Mexico City, London and other international cities and traveled the world with her parents and two younger sisters, Sol and Laura. She spent the majority of her adult life in California, residing in San Francisco for 25 years before moving to Newry, Maine in 2004. Julie had a passion for tea cups, a fine cake crumb, antiquing and her many beloved pets. She is appreciated for her charm as a hostess and made quite an impression on her international clientele with breakfast pajama parties at her two B&Bs, the Church St B&B in SF, CA and the Black Bear B&B in Newry, Maine. Julie loved and raised four daughters and nine grandchildren, who called her Dammy, and provided love and support to her four step-children. Selby E. Bullard, 30, daughter of Julie and Dennis Dean Bullard, was born in Lakeport, California on 21 June 1976 and passed on Monday 04 September 2006, in Newry, Maine. Selby spent her life in California until she followed Julie to Maine in 2004 with her two children, Leila Camille and Elliott Maxwell, now ages 11 and 9. Selby worked in both California and Maine selling fashionable eyewear for opticians. Her clients were amazed at her ability to always find just the right frame for their faces. In Maine, she began a new career in 2006 selling real estate. Selby was an adoring mother. She infused any gathering with fun and humor and had a tremendous lust for life. Julie and Selby are survived by their children / siblings, Leila and Elliott Magee Bullard, Georgia Trull, Brooke Bullard, Adrienne McNally, Dennine Bullard, Michele Ahl, Jason Bullard, Lynne Short and their families, including their grandchildren, nieces and nephews-20 in all; Selby's father Dennis D. Bullard and paternal grandmother Ruth Bullard; Julie's sisters Laura Siklossy and Sol Rainbow; and many extended family members and loving friends as well as Magic (a.k.a. Killer), the cat. The family will host a celebration of Julie's and Selby's lives on Saturday, 30 September 2006, at Saint Gregory of NYSSA Episcopal Church, 500 De Haro Street, San Francisco, California from 2 to 6 pm. Local arrangements by Greenleaf Funeral Home, 37 Vernon Street, Bethel, Maine. Published in the Press Democrat on September 20, 2006
Note: Julie and Selby Bullard had lived in San Francisco, where the mother ran the Church Street Bed and Breakfast. They moved to Maine to buy the Black Bear about two years ago, friends said. The Black Bear has had a "for sale" sign out front since February. Bullard had cut back on her business and began renting rooms. Selby Bullard began selling real estate in Bethel a year ago and met Beatson, who was also a new broker at Apple Tree Realty, run by Bonita Sessions. The two women were best friends and did a lot together, she said. On Monday, Bullard became concerned when she couldn't reach her mother by cell phone. She drove to Newry with Beatson, Sessions said. The four-victim homicide is believed to be Maine's deadliest crime since December 1992, when four people were killed in an apartment fire in Portland, set by Virgil Smith. Julie and Selby Bullard had moved to Maine from the San Francisco Bay area three years ago. Selby Bullard's husband had been killed in a car accident, Ms. Zinchuk said, and the family had been looking for a new start. Julie Bullard had run an inn in California. Julie Bullard had decided recently to look for a "different adventure" and this spring had put the Black Bear up for sale. A broker's sign was still posted on the 1830's-era property. Selby Bullard had a 12-year-old daughter and an 8-year-old son. She had run an eyeglass shop, did nails and occasionally waited tables. She had recently earned a real estate license and had worked alongside Cynthia Beatson at Apple Tree Realty in Bethel. Mr. Nielsen moved to the Black Bear about two months ago, after answering a newspaper advertisement for a job as a line cook at The Sudbury Inn, in Bethel, a few miles away. He worked the dinner shift Sunday night, after the police say he had already killed at least one of his victims, and had been expected back Tuesday night. "He was reliable, and a soft-spoken and quiet guy," Nancy White, a co-owner of The Sudbury Inn, said Tuesday. "I was as surprised and shocked as the next person." According to a sentencing memorandum filed by prosecutors Monday, Nielsen had no specific motive but told investigators he had been obsessed with thoughts of killing someone for several years and had wanted to take over the lodge. Christian Nielsen's mental health had been a focus of his defense, and he initially pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. On Thursday, two forensic physiologists testified that he was not legally insane, but that he suffered from schizoid personality disorder, making it difficult for him to express emotions or remorse.
Note: Rent dispute may have preceded Maine deaths. Newry, Maine -- Christian Nielsen, charged in Maine's bloodiest crime in 14 years, said one day last year that he was going to straighten out, co-workers recalled. No more boozing, he told them. He would shelve his haphazard college career for the strictures of the US military. ''I thought, Christian's finally finding a place for himself," said Kristen Dorey, a waitress at the Family Fare Restaurant in Farmington, where he cooked until he was fired. But Nielsen's ambitions apparently went nowhere. Instead, the 31-year-old moved several months ago to the Black Bear Bed & Breakfast in Newry, where he met owner Julie Bullard, her daughter Selby, and live-in handyman James Whitehurst. Over Labor Day weekend, say police, he killed all three, as well as Selby Bullard's close friend, Cynthia Beatson. The three women were dismembered and left in bloody heaps outside the Black Bear, alongside three dogs Nielsen killed, according to police. Whitehurst's body was found burned and left in the woods in Upton, about 15 miles away. Whitehurst was killed on Friday, and Julie Bullard on Sunday; Selby Bullard and Beatson were killed Monday, police said. Nielsen showed up nonchalantly for work Sunday night, on time for his line-cook shift at the Sudbury Inn in Bethel, according to his boss. Friends of the victims said Nielsen may have been involved in a dispute over payment for his room at the bed and breakfast, where he lived for the past few months. Marcia Thomas, a San Francisco real estate agent and close friend of Julie Bullard's, said she had recently decided to sell the Black Bear and move to New York City with another daughter because she found it tough to survive financially running a bed and breakfast in Maine. She rented a room to Nielsen to help make ends meet, Thomas said.''She loved Maine and she felt very safe in Maine and she really didn't want to leave, but for economic reasons she was going to sell the B&B and share a house her daughter had just bought in Brooklyn," said Thomas. Police refused to comment on a possible motive. Nielsen's father, Charles Nielsen, visited him yesterday at Oxford County Jail, where he is being held without bail. Nielsen smirked through a court hearing on Tuesday, but his lawyer sought to dispel notions that he took his situation lightly. ''I can assure you he's not amused. He's not been speaking to me in a light banter," said attorney Ron Hoffman, who refused to discuss details of their jailhouse conversation yesterday. Interviews yesterday with several people who know Nielsen portrayed a man given to mood swings who lived a somewhat aimless life, but seemed harmless. Nielsen studied English at the University of Maine at Farmington, following in the footsteps of his father, who teaches English at Dirigo High School in Dixfield, Maine. He completed a semester in 2001, then attended during summer and fall of 2003, spring of 2004, and spring and fall last year. He did not earn a degree, the university said. Kenny Bachner, owner of Devaney Doak & Garrett Booksellers in Farmington, said Nielsen, a frequent customer over six years, had an unpredictable personality, sometimes appearing ''very earnest," while ''very closed off" on other occasions. He called Nielsen ''very bright" and said he favored classic literature and comedy books. But he was no closet radical or extremist, said Bachner. ''I'd be very surprised if any of this had anything to do with any cohesive ideology," he said. ''He had weird stuff going on in his head that most of us can't imagine." At the Black Bear Bed & Breakfast yesterday, police continued forensics work at the crime scene. In a wooded area in Upton, authorities worked to remove Whitehurst's burned remains from its shallow grave. In Newry, a small cluster of inns near western Maine's ski resorts, and its neighboring town, Bethel, friends and acquaintances of the victims speculated about the suspect's motives even as they grieved over the victims. Julie Bullard, 65, had relocated to Maine from San Francisco, and added her own eclectic design touches to the Black Bear, said Robin Zinchuk, executive director of the Bethel Area Chamber of Commerce. Over the summer, Julie Bullard offered Whitehurst, 50, of Batesville, Ark., a free room in exchange for his services as handyman, said Zinchuk. Bullard and Whitehurst may have been engaged in an effort to evict Nielsen after he failed to pay for his stay at the Black Bear, she said. Selby Bullard, 30, and Beatson, 43, were killed when they went to check up on Julie Bullard, police said. Bonita Sessions, who employed both women at Apple Tree Realty office in Bethel, said Selby Bullard "was always smiling" and Beatson was "so beautiful and animated." "They'll be sadly missed by everyone," said Sessions. "There will be a hole in everyone's heart."
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