More interviews, lab analysis on tap in Saco death probe, police say

Michael Burns (Courtesy photo)

Maine State Police told The Rochester Voice on Tuesday that the investigation into the fatal shooting of a Rochester man who was a longtime and well-respected Boy Scout troop leader remains active and ongoing.

Michael Burns, 54, was killed on the front porch of a Saco, Maine, duplex early the morning of Sept. 30 by a single gunshot wound to the head.

"This will be another week of interviews and lab analysis," said Maine State Police spokesman Steve McCausland on Tuesday.

Police for the most part have been tight-lipped regarding the circumstances and possible motive in the shooting of Burns, who worked as a self-employed computer technician.

Detectives said the man who shot Burns was the one who called police, and there were two other persons inside the house at the time.

The man thought to have shot Burns has not been identified, and no charges have been filed as of Tuesday.

Police have not indicated whether any of the men at the house previously knew Burns or what type of guns was used in his death.

According to his obituary in The Rochester Voice, Burns was a graduate of Berwick Academy in South Berwick and Norwich University, a private Vermont military college that carries the distinction of being the oldest of its kind in the nation.

Burns, who was recently divorced, was an avid skier who in the past had served on the ski patrol at Gunstock.