WINTHROP — A teenage boy has been charged with killing his parents at their Winthrop home late Sunday or early Monday.
Police said the bodies of Antonio and Alice Balcer, both 47, were found in their home at 10 Pine Knoll Road early Monday. Their son, Andrew Balcer, 17, has been charged in the killings, said Augusta attorney Walt McKee, who is scheduled to represent the teen in court.
Maine Department of Public Safety spokesman Steve McCausland said police had charged a teenage boy with two counts of murder, but he would not identify the boy because he’s a juvenile. McCausland also would not describe the boy’s relationship to the victims or confirm his age. He did say two sons lived at the home with their parents, and that the sons were there Sunday night.
The suspect was taken to Long Creek Youth Development Center in South Portland pending a court appearance in Augusta at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday.
McKee identified the boy as Andrew Balcer. He said he had been contacted by the boy’s family and he expects to represent him at the hearing.
Under Maine law, the state can ask that a juvenile charged with murder be bound over for prosecution as an adult.
McCausland would not say how the couple died because of the ongoing investigation by Maine State Police, but indicated their bodies were brought to the state Medical Examiner’s Office and would undergo autopsies Tuesday morning.
State police detectives and evidence technicians searched the home Monday and will return Tuesday, McCausland said.
Records at the Kennebec County Registry of Deeds indicate the Balcers purchased the home 16 years ago.
Winthrop police first responded to the home after receiving 911 calls at 1:45 a.m., McCausland said. By late Monday morning, the state police Major Crimes Unit was at the home and being assisted by members of the Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office.
Police blocked off a section of the road in front of the home, and yellow police tape was hung across the front of the driveway.
Normand Dubreuil lives several houses away on Pine Knoll Road, but said he does not know the Balcer family. He said his grown daughter, who lives with him and his wife, called police shortly before 2 a.m. after a woman the family did not recognize knocked on their door, Dubreuil said. The woman did not introduce herself and said she felt her life was in danger, Dubreuil said, and the family offered to call the police.
The woman seemed to have come from the direction of the Balcer household, Dubreuil said, and continued on to another house after speaking to them.
The Balcers’ next-door neighbor, Roxanne Sylvia, said by phone Monday that she only became aware that something had happened at the home when police knocked on her door early in the morning. She said she knew the family, but she was not able to speak further because she was on her lunch break and had to return to work.
Alice Balcer worked at Winthrop Veterinary Hospital, and Antonio Balcer was a retired member of the Coast Guard, McCausland said.
Within hours of their deaths, friends began posting tributes to the couple on Facebook, sharing photos and expressing their shock and dismay.
“So sorry for this terrible, sad time, many prayers and love to all,” one woman wrote on Antonio Balcer’s page, which describes him as a road captain for the Exiles Motorcycle Club, which has a clubhouse in Pittston.
Dustin Nadeau, a club member, confirmed that Antonio Balcer also was a member and said both Antonio and Alice, whom he called Ali, were great people.
“He was a great brother, great husband and a great father, the kind of guy you could always turn to,” Nadeau said of Antonio Balcer, whose club name was Rev. “Ali was a huge-hearted person. A humanitarian, one of the best people you could know.”
Nadeau said Antonio Balcer was a reverend, but Nadeau didn’t think Balcer was associated directly with a specific denomination. He said Antonio Balcer “was all about God and his club and his family.”
The Facebook page of Nealley’s Corner Church, a nondenominational church in Hampden, includes a post paying tribute to the Balcers. The post said Antonio Balcer was a member of the church and he taught a Wednesday evening study. The church, its Facebook page says, has a biker Bible study on Wednesday evenings.
The couple had multiple pets, and police removed several pet transport cages from the property during the investigation.
Nadeau said Alice Balcer loved animals.
Before going to work for the Winthrop Veterinary Hospital, Alice Balcer worked at Kennebec Valley Humane Society from 2008 to 2013, said Hillary Roberts, executive director of the Augusta animal shelter.
“Her passion for animals was unmatched; she worked tirelessly for them,” Roberts said. “She had a soft spot for orange tabby cats and spent hours socializing frightened and timid dogs. Animals in our community were better because of her commitment. We are all so deeply sad.”
A worker at the Winthrop hospital, reached by phone Monday, said they weren’t making any comments.
“This can’t be real,” one man wrote on Alice Balcer’s page. “My heart is hurting. I pray for peace for you and the boys.”
Kennebec Journal Staff Writers Betty Adams and Keith Edwards contributed to this report.
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