Murder/Suicide in Hebron, Maine Involves Former Bristol Residents

BRISTOL, RI— The bodies of Daniel Randall, former Bristol pastor, and his daughter Claire were found yesterday inside the family's home in Hebron, Maine, according to Steve McCausland, spokesman for the Maine State Police.

"The State Medical Examiner’s Office today said 27-year-old Claire Randall died from multiple shotgun wounds. She was shot and killed in the bathroom of the family home by her father – 56-year-old Daniel Randall, who died of a single shotgun wound to the head."

Police said she had recently moved to Maine to live with her mother and teenage brother. Neither was home at the time of the murder/suicide. Her father was estranged from the family. He had been served with divorce papers this past week. Police said he broke into the house through a garage door.

Randall, police said, "left a Portland substance abuse center at 10 Thursday morning, bought a shotgun, drove to his home and then killed his daughter just before 2 p.m."

According to police, on Tuesday, he had completed a 90 day program at the Liberty Bay Recovery Center on Forest Avenue in Portland. He left the center Thursday morning. Police are now tracking down where he bought the gun.

"Randall sprayed painted messages to his family on the walls of in five rooms of the house before he shot himself," police said.

Randall moved to Maine earlier this year. He had been pastor at the First Congregational Church on High Street. The Bristol church is working on a statement.

He also once served as a chaplain in the Air Force, Maine State Police said.

Roger Williams University issued a terse statement about Randall's work as a school chaplain.

"News outlets are reporting that former Rhode Island resident Daniel Randall was part of a murder-suicide in Maine. In response to media inquiries: Randall was never an employee of Roger Williams University. Between 2009 and 2012, the university paid him as a vendor to be an affiliated chaplain."