MACHIAS — The man who raised his gun and shot a man in the chest while driving on a Machias roadway cried when told his action killed someone, the police report says.
Accused shooter Dylan Picard, 22 of Lake Stevens, was caught within 24 hours through a traffic stop. When a deputy asked him why he was being detained, the man replied “I shot someone” the night before.
Picard was charged with second-degree murder in an Everett District courtroom Monday, Sept. 11. Bail was set at $500,000.
Dan Spaeth was who Picard shot. The scene in the twilight hours of Sept. 7 was that Spaeth and his wife were attempting to slow down or block traffic on S. Machias Road near their home because deer were crossing the road.
He was following a Jeep SUV which Spaeth apparently yelled at for passing by.
Picard told police that Spaeth “came running” up to his car, got in front of it, and then came up to his passenger’s window, the detective’s report reads. The situation frightened him, he told police, and he retrieved his loaded pistol and fired.
Picard acknowledged he could have driven around Spaeth and his wife instead of firing a gun, he told sheriff’s detectives.
Spaeth, 37, was a corrections officer at the Twin Rivers Unit of the Monroe prison, a colleague confirmed. He was a new dad who was off work.
People jumped to save his life, but he died within 20 minutes of being shot.
Picard had used a .45-caliber pistol.
The two men didn’t know each other.
Second-degree murder is a class A felony. If convicted on that, Picard would face at least 14 years in prison, and could face up to a little less than 30 years in prison, under standard sentencing guidelines for the level of seriousness the state classifies second-degree murder. State law says the charge requires prosecutors show Picard intended to shoot to kill.
His arrest came when a sharp-eyed off-duty police officer recognized Picard’s damaged Lexus driving around Lake Stevens and called it in to dispatch. Police made the traffic stop on Lundeen Parkway near state Route 9.
