'Some guy was tryin' to break in my house and stab me ... I shot him.'

Detectives carry out a bag of evidence the day after the shooting. (Portland Press Herald photo); inset, Mike Burn (Courtesy photo)

A transcript of a 911 call made the night that a Rochester man was fatally shot on the porch of a Saco, Maine, duplex last September includes a claim by the caller that the beloved former Boy Scout troop leader was an intruder and had come at him with a knife.

The transcript, which was obtained this week by The Rochester Voice, begins with a 911 dispatch specialist asking "What's the address of your emergency," to which the caller replies, "Some guy was tryin' to break in my house and stab me."

The 911 dispatcher then asks for the caller's home town.

"I shot him. I shot him," he replies.

While the transcript, itself, proves nothing, it indicates for the first time a possible motive, however bizarre or inexplicable, in the death of Mike Burns, a mild-mannered, self-employed computer technician and father of two who had been a Rochester Boy Scouts troop leader.

Burns, 54, was killed by a single gunshot wound to the head on the front porch of 26 Nye. St., a Saco duplex, early the morning of Sept. 30.

The 911 call transcript begins at 1:24 a.m.

Police have released little more than what was disclosed in their initial statement, which said they had identified the man who shot Burns and then called 911, and that there were two other men in the house at the time.

After the 911 dispatcher switches the call to Saco police, someone from the department says, "OK, tell me exactly what happened."

"Oh my God, yeah," the caller replies.

With that the 911 transcript ends.

A day after Burns' death Maine State Police spokesman Steve McCausland said police had "a very good idea" of what happened.

Reached by phone today McCausland told The Rochester Voice he would have no comment on the transcript or the case.

The investigation remains with the Maine Dept. of Safety Major Crimes Unit. To date no suspect or person of interest has been identified.

Lisa Marchese, a deputy attorney general and chief of the Criminal Division, said in December that there was a limit on what can be released citing fears of jeopardizing possible further investigation or interviews.

She also cited possible privacy issues, adding, "It could be inappropriate to have a discussion of the facts of the case when you have real people involved."

Marchese added that, "Eventually the public will understand."

Police have declined since the beginning to answer any information regarding what type of gun was used, when or with whom the most recent interview regarding the case had been conducted or if the four men inside the house that night knew one another.

They also have never mentioned the presence of a knife as represented in the 911 call.

The transcript was released by the Department of Public Safety's Emergency Communications division.