SIDNEY, Maine — A house fire that destroyed a home on Messalonskee Lake Tuesday morning is connected to a Gardiner murder-suicide, according to Maine Public Safety spokesperson, Steve McCausland.
Several units responded to the home fire along Poppy Lane in Sidney sometime before 10:30 a.m. A person with ties to the area said departments from Sidney, Belgrade, Oakland and Augusta were called in to help.
McCausland confirmed this fire is connected to a murder-suicide in Gardiner that left a wife and husband dead. The lakefront home was owned by Lawrence Gilman. Gilman's wife, Terry, is the mother of Autumn Bryant, who was shot to death by her estranged husband, Kenneth Bryant.
The house was unoccupied during the fire, since the Gilmans live in Florida during the winter months. They were notified of the fire and the deaths.
Images of the home taken while the fire was active show a north section of the house completely engulfed in flames. Based on subsequent photos of the property, that part was flattened, and the south section appears heavily damaged.
State Fire Marshals are continuing to investigate the cause of the fire.
