Claire Randall performs “Sister Song” in New York in this YouTube video.
The 27-year-old woman killed by her father in a murder-suicide Thursday in Hebron was a gifted musician who was passionate about domestic violence prevention and substance abuse treatment, her friends said Saturday.
Claire Randall lived in New York City but was staying with her family at their home in Oxford County for a few weeks.
A group of Randall’s close friends from college – Monica Fuhrmann, Hanh Le, Bridget Read, Sarah Stein and Maggie Toth – wrote a joint statement that described her “the glue that held her friends and family together.”
“Claire was strong, brave, thoughtful, witty, had a quiet confidence and made everyone feel loved and valued at all times,” they said. “She had a beautiful soul, a wicked sense of humor, a creative mind and a kind heart.”
Claire Randall on a trip to Italy in September. Photo by Sarah Stein
They remembered Randall as passionate about social justice, never afraid to speak her mind. She was fluent in Italian and loved Italy. She adored her cats, Cecil and Lenny, and her partner, Gabe Gordon.
“Claire was a natural-born singer and performer,” her friends said. “Watching her on stage was like an out of body experience – entirely transcendent.”
During her stay in Hebron, Randall worked remotely at her job at Patron Technology in New York, which provides customer-relationship management technology for the arts industry.
“Claire brought incredible focus and enthusiasm to her work, and she embodied the spirit of our company,” her co-worker Michelle Paul wrote in an email Saturday. “She was a talented and successful musician, creating and performing work with multiple bands and groups, while also being fully devoted to her job and committed to helping our clients be successful.”
Paul, who worked with Randall for more than four years, remembered her quirky sense of fashion – a bacon-patterned shirt she made herself, the bright purple and pink hues of her hair dye. She also remembered her love for her family.
“She was very close with her brother and sister despite living in different cities,” Paul wrote. “She always made time to go visit both of them as often as she could.”
Barbara Selvin of Port Washington, New York, knew Randall because her son played in a band with her. The two were in college together.
“Claire was a glowing young woman, cutting-edge, hip, bright, talented, lovely,” Selvin said.
Randall was shot by her father, Daniel Randall, 56, a retired Congregational minister, who left a Portland alcohol rehabilitation clinic Thursday morning after a 90-day stay, Maine State Police said. He bought the gun on the way to his family’s home on Marshall Pond Road in Hebron.
His wife, Anita, had filed for divorce earlier in the week. Randall broke into the home because he didn’t have a key, shot his daughter multiple times at 2 p.m. in a bathroom, spray-painted messages to the family in five rooms and then shot himself in the head, police said.
Neighbor Carroll Daggett discovered the grisly scene after being called by Randall’s estranged wife to check on her daughter, who was not answering her cellphone.
Family members declined to speak about the tragedy.
Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety, said Saturday there was no new information about the murder-suicide. State police are continuing to investigate the incident, trying to determine where the shotgun was purchased and why Randall shot his daughter.
Claire Randall lived in Brooklyn, New York, but had been staying at the Hebron home to help with the family situation for two weeks. She was scheduled to return to her New York office Monday.
The Randall family moved to Maine last summer so that their son, Gabriel, could attend Hebron Academy.
Claire Randall lived in Maine for a couple of years as a child when her father served as pastor at First Parish Congregational Church, United Church of Christ, in Saco from 1993 to 1994. Greta Randall, Daniel Randall’s first wife and mother of daughters Claire and Molly, died in 1993 after slipping and hitting her head while on a family outing at Two Lights State Park in Cape Elizabeth over the July Fourth weekend. An unborn son also died as a result of that accident.
Daniel Randall married Anita the following year. After a brief time in Arizona, the family moved to a Congregational church in Lee, New Hampshire, and then on to Bristol, Rhode Island.
Claire Randall was the valedictorian of her high school class at Mount Hope High School in Bristol. A 2012 graduate of Wesleyan University with a degree in music, she lived in Brooklyn and wrote and sang for a number of musical groups, including the bands Sleeples and Trot Fox.
Randall volunteered with ResonantMotion, a music organization, and with local social service agencies through New York Cares, a volunteer group.
A biography on the ResonantMotion website said she was passionate about social services and education in relation to domestic violence prevention and substance abuse treatment programs.
“She envisions music as a force that provides reinforcing support to individuals, communities, and movements. It is her hope that positive creative energy will aid in the upheaval of hatred and ignorance and their corresponding social implications,” the biography stated.
Nathan Cermelj, program director and owner of Liberty Bay Recovery Center where Daniel Randall had been staying, issued a brief statement Saturday.
“Liberty Bay staff as well as current clients that knew Dan are extremely saddened by the tragic events that took place. Words cannot express the heartache and emotional pain that the family must be feeling right now. Our agency is committed to helping law enforcement at this time with their investigation.”
Staff Writer Megan Doyle contributed to this report.
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