Father of slain man outraged

DOVER — The father of 34-year-old Raymond Eldridge II, who was killed outside Castaways Boathouse in December, is outraged after the state attorney general and Strafford County attorney decided not to bring charges against the person who shot his son.

The AG announced Thursday that its prosecutors could not disprove the self-defense claim made by 46-year-old Justin Sabattis, who said Eldridge II had threatened his life before he shot him outside Castaways on Dec. 18 around 10 p.m. The county attorney’s office also did not bring charges against Sabattis for events leading up to Eldridge II’s death, which included Sabattis pulling out a firearm inside the bar, authorities said.

“If you saw the video I saw, and if it were your child, you would have been irate,” said Ray Eldridge, a Farmington resident and father of Eldridge II, who was living in Dover at the time of his death.

Eldridge and other family members met with staff at the AG’s office and lead detectives from the Dover Police Department on the case Thursday morning, and the AG released its decision to the media shortly after thereafter. Eldridge said during the two-hour meeting the family reviewed surveillance footage taken from inside and outside of the bar and other information that detectives and prosecutors gathered during the investigation.

“I don’t understand how this guy wasn’t charged with anything whatsoever,” Eldridge said.

He said he is requesting the video and other police reports to post on social media of the interactions between his son and Sabattis that night so people know what happened. He believes that if he showed the video to 100 people, 99 of them would agree with him that it was not self-defense because Sabattis was the aggressor.

Attempts to locate contact information for Sabattis to request his comment for this story were unsuccessful.

According to the AG, Sabattis and Eldridge II, who didn’t know each other, were at Castaways Boathouse bar and restaurant on Cochecho Street in Dover on Dec. 18 when they got into an argument. Soon after, Sabattis left Castaways and returned about 10 minutes later to his truck and then reentered the bar and brandished a handgun, which prompted the initial call to police, authorities said.

Sabattis began to argue again with Eldridge II, who also pulled out his gun, though neither pointed their firearm at the other, according to the AG. Sabattis left Castaways again and got into his pickup truck. Eldridge II and his friend left the establishment within seconds after Sabattis left. Outside, Eldridge II went to the passenger side of the truck while his friend went to the driver’s side, where Sabattis sat, authorities said.

Sabattis claimed Eldridge II entered the truck and threatened to kill him, at which point he fired a single-shot in self-defense and wounded Eldridge II in the chest, according to the AG. Eldridge II’s friend, who was at the driver’s side door when the shooting occurred and was the only eyewitness to the shooting, was unable to refute those claims, authorities said. The video surveillance evidence likewise does not contradict the claims made by Sabattis regarding his encounter with Eldridge II inside his pickup truck, the AG stated.

Police arrived soon after Eldridge II was shot. Despite attempts to revive him, Eldridge II died from the single gunshot. Police found Eldridge II’s firearm in the holster he was wearing. While Sabattis admitted to shooting Eldridge when officers arrived, he initially denied brandishing his gun inside Castaways, which the AG said, put his credibility in question.

Senior Assistant Attorney General Peter Hinckley, who reviewed the case for potential homicide charges, said the decision to not charge Sabattis was made after reviewing all the evidence gathered in the case and applying the state law evidence to the facts.

Hinckley said the family made it clear that they did not agree with the AG’s decision, noting the family’s disagreement was made in a “respectful and dignified manner," adding of Eldridge II, "He was clearly beloved by family members and friends."

Assistant Strafford County Attorney Emily Garod, who reviewed evidence inside the bar for potential charges, said there wasn’t conclusive evidence for Sabattis to be charged with criminal threatening or reckless conduct. While the video footage showed Sabattis brandishing a weapon, Garod said, the video evidence did not show him holding the weapon in a way that would have put Eldridge II or others at the bar in danger of serious bodily injury.

Sabattis brandishing the gun also did not rise to the level of attempting to put one in fear of bodily injury for a criminal threatening charge that county’s office felt they could prove beyond a reasonable doubt. “We didn’t think we could disprove self-defense,” she said, noting some of the witness statements contradicted each other.

Eldridge believes the prosecutors are blind to the facts. “They can’t see past the words on the page,” he said, referring to the statutory laws. After viewing the video evidence, he believes Sabattis was the aggressor.

“This was orchestrated by him, but he’s free to walk around with a loaded gun after killing someone. He should have been charged with something,” Eldridge said.

Eldridge said he knows his son made a bad choice that night by following Sabattis outside. “I wish he never left the bar. I wish he swallowed his pride and let him go. But he didn’t.”

Eldridge said Thursday was the worst day of his life, and he can’t get the image of seeing his son shot and killed. “The two images that are now stuck in my head are the day I delivered him and the day he fell to the ground dead,” he wrote in a Facebook post.

He said he’s dealt with a lot of death in recent past, including his in-laws, a brother and a niece. “The pain that I’ve felt didn’t even compare to losing a child. It’s a pain that doesn’t have a description,” he said. “The pain of losing a child… I wouldn’t even wish that on Sabattis. It’s a pain that will never let up.”