WINDHAM — A 34-year-old mother of three was fatally shot at her home early Thursday by her husband, Maine State Police said.
Alicia Gaston was shot once in the abdomen by Noah Gaston, 33, just after 6 a.m. at their home on Brookhaven Drive, off Route 302, said state police Lt. Brian McDonough. Noah Gaston called 911 about 6:15 a.m. to report that his wife had been shot. The couple’s three children, ages 9, 8 and 2, were at home at the time.
Although McDonough said Noah Gaston was the shooter, he did not describe the circumstances of the shooting, how police learned that Noah Gaston had shot his wife, or say whether Gaston will be charged.
Asked if a weapon had been recovered, McDonough said, “We have seized evidence. We will seize more evidence.”
Gaston, originally from Fort Worth, Texas, is a chef and musician. A resume posted online shows he recently worked at the New Morning Natural Foods market and cafe in Biddeford.
He worked previously as the executive chef of 91 South at the PineCrest Inn in Gorham.
Matt Mattingly, who owns the inn and restaurant, said he knew Noah Gaston to be a committed father and husband, who left the intense Portland restaurant scene to work for Mattingly because it afforded him more time to spend with his family.
“I’m just hoping, praying, that it was just some weird accident,” Mattingly said.
A relative of Alicia Gaston declined to comment Thursday evening.
In Facebook posts, both Noah and Alicia Gaston are seen hiking in New Hampshire, embracing their children for pictures and smiling. Alicia Gaston stayed at home with the couple’s children, but had in the past run an online store that sold handcrafted scarves and other items, according to Mattingly. Both she and her husband were very creative, he said.
At a news conference Thursday afternoon, McDonough said that Gaston was cooperating, and that detectives planned to interview him that afternoon.
Meanwhile, at the tidy two-floor Cape-style home, a state police evidence unit awaited approval of a search warrant to complete a more thorough search of the home. The couple did not own the house and appeared to be renting it.
Neighbors said the couple didn’t show any signs of trouble, and had lived in the neighborhood only since September. Windham police had never been called to the home since the Gastons moved in.
The Gastons’ children were staying with relatives, police said.
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