LEWISTON – Scott Poirier was ordered to submit to a psychological evaluation Tuesday after pleading not guilty to a charge that he shot and killed his father last month.

The 34-year-old Sabattus man was ordered held without bail after he entered the plea at an arraignment in Androscoggin County Superior Court.

Poirier is charged with murder in the Nov. 8 slaying of his father at the family home at 302 Grove St. Police said Roland Poirier was shot in the neck as he sat at the table celebrating his 65th birthday with a roomful of family and friends. Investigators said Scott Poirier stood in the yard of the home and shot his father through a sliding glass door.

Hours before the shooting, Scott Poirier had become emotionally upset, punching holes in the walls of his Davis Lane home, according to his roommate, whose descriptions of the incident were included in a police affidavit.

Police believe Scott Poirier went to his father’s house at about 7:45 p.m. with a loaded .270-caliber rifle after telling a relative: “Lies will end tonight. Take care of my boys; I am a good dad.”

Police said Poirier claimed he shot his father because he and others had been sexually abused by the man years before. At an earlier court hearing, the prosecution requested that Poirier undergo a psychological exam to determine his state of mind on and around the night of the shooting.