Intruder With Brass Knuckles No Match for Armed and Accurate Homeowner: 'Straight-Up, Self-Defense

ROME, Maine (AP) — A Livermore Falls man wearing a ski mask and brass knuckles was shot to death during an attempted home invasion, state police said Monday.

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Christopher Dennison, 44, was shot after a brief altercation with the homeowner Saturday night in a mobile home on Foss Hill Lane, said Steve McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety.

Richard Duffy, 48, and his teenage son were not hurt, who'd been watching TV, were not hurt, McCausland said. An autopsy showed Dennison died from multiple gunshot wounds.

No charges were filed against Duffy. And his lawyer told the Kennebec Journal that the homeowner was defending himself.

"We don't have all the facts in yet, but from all appearances, this looks like straight-up, self-defense," Tom Ferris said. "It was a home invasion. My client was just defending himself and his family."

Police did not release details of the confrontation, which is at the center of their ongoing investigation. The case will also be reviewed by the Maine attorney general's office.

There was a second man in the car when Dennison broke down the door to Duffy's home, but that man fled after hearing gunshots, McCausland said. Police questioned him but filed no charges.

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