AUBURN — It’s an updated version of the Hatfields and McCoys, except the feuding families live in bordering towns, not states.

Separated only by a private road, the Roddy family of Leeds and the Beaule family of Greene have been at odds for years. In 2014, a clash between the neighbors erupted when the Beaule family threw a party. A shouting match ensued between the families that culminated in a melee, involving a baseball bat, a discharged shotgun and a tree branch, according to law enforcement officers who responded.

On Friday, Bud Madrid Roddy, 42, of 21 Country View Lane pleaded guilty to charges stemming from the ruckus.

Roddy, who had been in Androscoggin County Jail for more than a year, was released after being sentenced to the 382 days he has served.

After negotiations with prosecutors on three related cases, Roddy will be on probation for two years. 

In addition to pleading no contest to felony criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon, he also pleaded no contest to misdemeanor trespassing and guilty to a charge of violation of condition of release, also a misdemeanor.

Roddy pleaded guilty to a new felony charge of witness tampering stemming from his efforts to coach his wife through letters and phone calls in preparation for her testimony about the melee.

An Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Department deputy was dispatched to 322 Line Road in Greene on Aug. 23, 2014, to respond to reports of a brawl. The Beaule family had earlier found Roddy on their property and he had been asked to leave a day before the Line Road fight, Assistant District Attorney Andrew Matulis said.

George Hess, who represented Roddy, said his client had hunted for years on that property and had been unaware that the land had been bought by the Beaule family.

Matulis said a witness who was driving along Line Road got involved when he came across the dispute between the two families. Keith Comeau told authorities that Roddy had said to him, while holding the baseball bat in a “menacing” manner, “I’m going to split people.”

The fight that ensued involved Roddy, his wife, his son, 19, and daughter, 14, who suffered greater injuries than the Beaule family, Matulis said.

Hess said his client, who suffered six fractured ribs and a fractured disc, claims that the Beaule family brought the bat to the fight.

Although Roddy is barred from having contact with his neighbors, the judge had concerns about unintended contact. The two attorneys discussed options and agreed that Roddy was allowed incidental contact in public spaces, but no direct contact, nor indirect contact through third parties.

Roddy expressed concern that he might be cited for violating the terms of his probation if he were at his mailbox when, at the same time, his neighbors might be checking their mail next door.

cwilliams@sunjournal.com

Copy the Story Link