‘I THOUGHT SHE WAS AN INTRUDER!’
Husband’s claim after he shoots wife dead on the stairs Noah Gaston’s story didn’t seem to add up… and what he claimed was an accident was a brutal murder
Whatever it took to provide for her family, Alicia Gaston was willing to do it. The devoted mum lived in Windham, Maine, with her husband Noah and their three young children – and family was everything to her. Alicia, 34, had chosen to homeschool their two older children, aged eight and nine, and she planned to do the same with their youngest when the time came.
Gaston, 33, had just left his job as a chef and was struggling to find another role, so it was getting hard to make ends meet. Alicia was naturally creative, so she turned her hand to making extra money by knitting scarves and selling them. She was also the one who family went to for homemade birthday cakes, so it came as no surprise that she could use her talents to support her family financially.
It was January 2016 and times were hard for the Gaston family in other areas, too. Alicia’s sister had been helping out by paying their phone bills and Alicia had confided in her that she had considered divorcing Gaston. Had their money worries proved too much of a strain? Their loved ones started to wonder whether the young couple were going to make it. But Alicia simply knuckled down and did all she could to make a life for her children.
EMERGENCY CALL
Then on January 14, Noah Gaston made a 911 call at 6.17am. ‘I just shot my wife in the stomach,’ he cried. ‘I thought she was an intruder.’
The dispatcher sent help immediately while they talked him through lifesaving CPR. He could be heard counting the chest compressions as he tried to kickstart his wife’s heart.
When the emergency services arrived they took over. Alicia was slumped in the stairwell in a pool of her own blood. But despite the best efforts of the paramedics, Alicia couldn’t be saved. Gaston had killed his wife.
Investigators looking at the evidence pieced together Alicia’s movements that morning. She’d woken up before dawn and had gone downstairs. The busy mum had started the laundry and had written a to-do list. Alicia had made an iced coffee and placed it on the table in their living room. Then, as she was climbing up the stairs back to her children, Gaston had shot her in the stomach.
At no point did Gaston deny pulling the trigger, but he insisted that it was an accident. He said that he’d woken to hear noises coming from downstairs that sounded like walkie-talkies. He told investigators that he thought there were two intruders communicating and he had panicked. After checking on the children, Gaston said he’d grabbed his shotgun because he believed his family was in danger. When he reached the stairs, he could see a figure climbing up them, but because it was dark he couldn’t make out who it was. He explained that he pulled the trigger, without realising it was his wife. Alicia had fallen back with a fatal bullet to the stomach, tumbling into the stairwell – and it was only then that he’d realised what he’d done.
He said he could hear noises coming from downstairs ‘like walkietalkies’
SUSPICIONS ARISE
It was hard to fathom the tragedy and Gaston received a rush of sympathy. But, straightaway, a few things didn’t add up. First responders noted that when they arrived, Gaston showed little emotion when he was spoken to in the kitchen. They said he had a blank expression and he didn’t behave like a grieving widower. When paramedics stopped efforts to revive Alicia, he didn’t ask about her condition, which was