By Kelly Morgan,Staff Writer

WEST PARIS – Neighbors of Kevin Behan knew something was wrong Sunday night as the sound of police sirens pierced the winter air, but news of a double stabbing was more than anyone expected.

Kevin O’Neil, who lives at 39 Sumner Road, just around the corner from the Behan residence, said the Behans were some of the nicest people he knew.

“You couldn’t ask for better neighbors,” he said.

Gary and Donna Freeland live nearby on Trask Road.

“I was just blown away,” Donna Freeland said.

Kevin and James Behan, father and son, both died late Sunday night as a result of stab wounds after an incident at their residence at 35 Sumner Road, police said Monday.

According to Maine State Police Lt. Brian McDonough, Kevin Behan, 56, appeared to have been stabbed by James Behan, 29. McDonough said police have not yet determined how the younger Behan was stabbed.

“It’s too early to tell” whether speculation that the incident was a murder-suicide is true, McDonough said. Police are still conducting an investigation and will await autopsy reports from the Maine Medical Examiner’s Office in Augusta before making a statement on how James Behan’s wounds were inflicted, he said.

The autopsies were expected to begin on Monday.

Margaret Behan, the wife and mother, called 911 to report the stabbings shortly before 10 p.m. Sunday, McDonough said. “When police arrived they found the father was dead on the floor.”

James Behan was alive when rescue workers arrived shortly thereafter, he said, but could not be saved and died at the scene.

Margaret Behan is still being interviewed, McDonough said, but “apparently she witnessed a significant portion” of the stabbing.

James Behan had recently returned to West Paris and was living with his parents, police said.

Neighbors like O’Neil and the Freelands described the Behans as very nice people, and some were shocked by the stabbing incident.

O’Neil said he moved to West Paris because of people like the Behans, who introduced themselves and made him feel welcome when he was new to the area two years ago. Kevin Behan would occasionally plow his yard just to help out, O’Neil said. “They were very good people.”

Donna and Gary Freeland said they didn’t know Kevin or Margaret Behan well, but one of their sons was James Behan’s age. “They all hung around together when they were kids,” Donna Freeland said.

“When we knew Jim he was such a nice, nice guy, he really was,” she said. “He was probably about 6 feet tall, he had sandy hair and freckles.”

Freeland did remember James Behan having some trouble with his father. When he was young, she said, he would sometimes show up at her house upset because his father had been drinking.

After hearing police sirens Sunday night and then an early news report on the stabbing Monday, Freeland said, “We knew, it’s got to be one of those boys.”

James Behan has a younger brother named Keith, she said. Freeland also said Behan has a son who is likely 7 or 8 years old and apparently is living out of state with his mother.

Capt. James Miclon of the Oxford County Sheriff’s Department said James Behan and a friend had recently finished building a deck on Miclon’s home. He was surprised by the stabbings, and described Behan as a nice kid who “was always polite and everything.”

Sunday’s incident was the first time authorities had been called to the Behan residence for anything beyond medical assistance, Miclon said.

McDonough confirmed that James Behan was the victim of a shooting accident in New Hampshire last year.

According to a paralegal in the office of the state attorney representing Carroll County, N.H., Behan was shot at the home of Christopher Frost, 28, of Center Conway, N.H., on or about April 20, 2004.

Gail Richards, deputy clerk for the Carroll County Superior Court, said Frost pleaded guilty on Feb. 3 to a charge of second-degree aggravated assault. At that point, language stating that Frost shot Behan in the arm and abdomen was stricken from the state’s indictment, a written statement outlining charges brought against Frost.

The indictment still states that Frost inflicted “serious bodily injury”on Behan.

According to police, Margaret Behan is now staying with friends.

The Behan residence appeared quiet Monday afternoon. A car and truck were parked in the driveway between the brown ranch and a single line of police tape.