Neighbor says Lebanon man's suicide during standoff 'a total shock'

Harrison Thorp 8:28 a.m.


Neighbor says Lebanon man's suicide during standoff 'a total shock'

Wayne Castellez' mobile home he shared with his wife was about a mile in from Route 202 about a half mile in from where it turns to dirt. (Google image)

LEBANON, Maine - The Lebanon man who shot himself to death during a police standoff was known as a bit of an eccentric, a Lower Barley Road resident said Tuesday, but none saw coming what happened on Monday.

Wayne Castellez, 59, formerly of South Berwick and Portsmouth, is suspected of fatally shooting himself during a standoff with police at his 264 Lower Barley Road mobile home, according to Maine State Police.

Castellez formerly was a successful entrepreneur, running a business he called East Coast Antique Lumber and Flooring that salvaged old barns and farmhouses for the valuable lumber and antiques that often surface within them, said a nearby Lower Barley Road resident who didn't want to be identified for this article.

The man who knew Castellez said he had just moved to the area a few months ago.

He said he had often come over to Castellez' mobile home - set on a sparsely settled and rutted dirt road about a mile in from Route 202 - to help with minor household repairs.

"This was a total shock," he said referring to what happened on Monday.

Troopers found Castellez dead inside his mobile home around 9:30 p.m. after a six-hour standoff that began midafternoon after several shots were fired from inside the house.

Castellez' wife fled the home without injury and the State Police tactical team was called to the scene.

According to its Facebook page, Lebanon Fire and EMS was toned around 2 p.m. for an "emotionally disturbed" man at a Lower Barley Road residence.

At 2:03 p.m. Lebanon Fire was toned for the same residence due to the sound of smoke detectors sounding inside the home, however there was no fire reported.

A Maine State Police Tactical Team was soon summoned, drawing units from Augusta and even Caribou and Machias.

The Lower Barley Road resident said Castellez' body was found in the bedroom.