Murder Bubbling Under The Surface

Old Orchard Beach sits on the southern coast of Maine, in York County, about twenty-five minutes from Portland. It is a small beach town of 8,776 people, a place of holiday homes, an old beachfront amusement park and a population that swells in summer with French Canadians and eastern Europeans. Everybody knows everybody, which is why what happened there shocked the community.

The family at the centre of the story looked, from the outside, like a happy one. Christopher Balduke, 42, owned a couple of shops downtown, one of them a flag store called Blustery Day Flags. His wife Carol, also 42, was president of the neighbourhood association. They had a son, Josh, who was 15. this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed Christopher raised him, paid for his college and, by most accounts outside the family, treated him well. the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it

this part of the story is covered for now He was sociable, funny and well liked, and in 2007 and 2008 he was living in a large house off campus with ten housemates. There he drank heavily and took a great deal of cocaine. He later said he had had violent urges since childhood, and that at college he fantasised about killing all ten of his housemates. That Christmas he persuaded his parents to give him money for a trip to England; he did not go, and spent the money on drugs.

details of the account remain covered until revealed Christopher, according to several of his employees, was gay and had met a man he wanted to be with in South Carolina. the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it Around that time he was searching the internet for the best places to stab someone. He later said that when he woke on the morning of 20 February 2008 he had decided there was no other solution: he was going to kill his stepfather.

He took a taser he had bought in January and a knife, drove to Old Orchard Beach and parked in town rather than outside the house so his car would not be seen. He expected Christopher to be home alone. Instead he found his half-brother Josh, then 15, by himself. They argued about the coming divorce, which Josh shrugged off. this part of the story is covered for now Josh refused. details of the account remain covered until revealed He sat with the body and told his dead brother he was sorry.

the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it She called Christopher, who did not know either, then left work and went home. this part of the story is covered for now He later described her face turning the wrong colour in a flat, matter-of-fact way. He said he did not want her to know what had happened to Josh.

Christopher, unable to reach Carol, left the shop at about 3.30 p.m. and drove home. details of the account remain covered until revealed He lunged at Christopher as he came through the door, stabbed him repeatedly and tased him; the autopsy could not tell whether the taser was used before or after death. the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it He later said that after killing his brother, mother and father, he did not give a damn about the dog.

He set two fires, one in the hallway by the basement stairs and one in the kitchen next to Christopher's body, using a red plastic gas can. He took Carol's car, which was found near Memorial Park with blood and DNA inside, and drove back to college, where he waited to be caught. At 5.30 p.m. a neighbour rang the flag shop to report smoke coming from the house. Firefighters found the bodies. Investigators found the melted gas can, a lighter, two phones and a digital camera on the kitchen floor.

Maine State Police helped the small local department. this part of the story is covered for now Asked about his cut hands, he said he had cut them while carving a thick steak. A search turned up a bloody backpack, the stun gun and the knife. details of the account remain covered until revealed

Prosecutor Lisa Marches called it one of the most heinous crimes in recent memory. The state argued the killings were premeditated. the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it He later said that if he had not been caught he would probably have killed again. On 31 July 2014 the victims' families gathered at Augustus Holy Family Cemetery for the dedication of a monument to Maine's murder victims, which bears the names of Christopher, Carol and Josh.