By GREGORY D. KESICH
MaineToday Media, Inc. Sunday, December 10, 2006

But for people who grew up with Curry, 39, there's more to the story.

First, there was an almost idyllic childhood on Scarborough's Pine Point, spent sailing and surfing surrounded by a big circle of friends.

Then, a horrific car accident a week after high school graduation, which left him in a coma for seven days, and with a brain injury from which he never really recovered.

His adult years were mixed with success and troubles, including a degree from the Maine Maritime Academy and career as a merchant mariner. But at the same time, family and friends say, he fell victim to bouts of mental illness, leading to repeated hospitalizations and a growing sense of paranoia and delusion.

Curry's mental health history has already become a factor in his murder case. The Attorney General's Office has called for a complete psychological examination, saying in court records that there is a question of whether Curry knew what he was doing or if he could understand that it was wrong.

Curry's lawyer, Janet Mills, said it was too early to say what course the case will take, but said, "His mental state at the time of the crime is an issue."

But advocates for victims of domestic violence however, say nothing should distract from Anthony Tucker's death.

"I'm sorry that he had brain trauma, but the issue is what happened subsequently," said Lois Reckitt, executive director of Portland's Family Crisis Services. "There was a history going on in that house, and something clearly should have happened. There were repeated calls to the police, where does the responsibility start?"

Anthony Tucker's death has been described by authorities as a straightforward case of domestic violence, where an abuser used deadly force at the moment he lost control. But people who know Curry say there is nothing straightforward about his life and the tragic events in Palmyra.

"He's not the type of person who would intentionally hurt anyone," said Curry's sister, Cynthia Anastasoff. "Everyone who knows him and knows this family is aware of that."

It seems that Curry's troubles started on June 9, 1986, when a week after graduating from Cheverus High School, he drove through a stop sign on Simpson Road in Saco, and slammed his Porsche into crossing traffic.

Curry was taken to Maine Medical Center in Portland, and spent a week in a coma. He needed two surgeries to remove glass fragments from his skull. He learned to walk and talk again through months of rehabilitation.

Before the accident, Curry, the son of Gordon Curry, a prominent Scarborough real estate broker and golfer, was a fun-loving and athletic boy. Afterwords, classmates say he was never the same.

"He was a lively, friendly kid in high school," said Frank Amoroso, a classmate. "I saw him again after high school, maybe 10 years later. From his speech and his mannerisms you could tell that he'd had a serious injury."

Peter Pompeo, another classmate, agreed. "He was a friend, but he changed after we graduated," Pompeo said. "He was very distant."

Curry recovered enough to attend Maine Maritime Academy, and graduated in 1991 with a degree in power engineering operations.

He began shipping out with the Merchant Marine, and developed a comedy act he performed in Portland area comedy clubs when he was home between voyages.

But his sister said that Curry's life was always complicated.

Either as a result of the car accident or a family history of bipolar disorder, Curry began a series of hospitalizations, his sister said. His work schedule became even more sporadic than typical for a merchant mariner, and Curry spent more and more time on shore.

"It was because of his mental state," Anastasoff said. "He's had a lot of conflict in his life. Lately it's taken over his life."

Curry moved to Palmyra, a Somerset County town of 2,000 near Pittsfield, to a home he inherited from his grandparents about five years ago.

In 2004, Cathy Fox, a former girlfriend who had lived with Curry, filed for a protection order against him, describing increasingly paranoid behavior. Fox said she was not allowed to burn candles or use night lights because they could cause a fire. She said he forbade her from using his wood stove, or from setting up her clothes dryer for the same reason.

After she moved out, Fox wrote in her request for a restraining order, Curry drove down her road at night, shining lights in her new home.

"Please," Fox wrote to the court. "Todd is unstable and I am unsure what he is capable of."

After a hearing, Curry agreed to have no contact with Fox.

Curry began a border dispute with his neighbors in Palmyra. In court papers they charged that he drove slowly down a road near their house and fired a gun near their property at night.

Mike Burnham, a childhood friend, said Curry was losing touch with reality. "He thought and saw things that weren't there," he said.

The land dispute was a good example, Burnham said. "He thought the other property owners were trying to take over his land," Burnham said. "He thought people were growing marijuana on his land, and he was driving around at night looking for them."

Curry was arrested in January and charged with domestic assault, after April Cooley, his new live-in girlfriend, called police and said he had thrown chunks of wood at her. According to a transcript of the 911 call, Cooley said Curry was "smacking me in the face and head, almost biting me, spitting in my face. This has happened too many times before."

At the same time, Curry filed for protection from Cooley, claiming that she was stalking him and confronting him in public, even though he was ordered to have no contact with her while out on bail. In court papers filed in Skowhegan, Curry claimed that she spit in his face and punched him. A judge granted the order.

But at Cooley's request, the charge against Curry was later reduced to disorderly conduct. Because the assault charge against Curry was dropped, police did not seize his firearms, which federal law would have required had he been convicted of domestic violence. Curry asked that the protection order against Cooley also be dropped.

Police were again called to Curry's house on Nov. 28.

When they arrived at the scene, they found Cooley's son, Anthony Tucker, dead with multiple gunshot wounds to his head. Curry was arrested and taken to the Somerset County Jail. Sheriff Barry DeLong said Curry did not stay long in his facility.

"He just seemed kind of disoriented." DeLong said. "He didn't know who he was and why he was there. He was acting very odd."

Curry was admitted to Riverview Psychiatric Center in Augusta. On Wednesday, he was transferred to the Maine State Prison in Warren.

How, or if, any of this will become part of the criminal case remains to be seen.

Assistant Attorney General Andrew Benson filed a motion requesting a psychiatric evaluation, but it will not be acted on until Curry appears in court again. That is unlikely to happen before he is indicted by a grand jury, which could happen by the end of this month.

Mills, his lawyer, would not indicate whether she would oppose the evaluation.

Reckitt, of Family Crisis Services, said that too often, people look for excuses for domestic violence offenders.

She said just as alcohol or drug abuse is used to explain behavior, mental health issues are often presented by defense lawyers as a cause of domestic abuse. She said there should be a distinction made between "cause" and "excuse."

"We want to believe that these are not normal people who do this behavior, so you have to believe the guy is sick," she said.

"In the end, (Curry) might have a mental health problem, but most people who do this don't."

Dr. Richard Sullivan, of Maine Neurology in Scarborough, has never examined Curry, but said some people are permanently altered by brain injuries like the one he suffered. In addition to physical symptoms, it can also affect behavior.

"It would be possible if you had a frontal lobe injury," Sullivan said. "It can affect the personality, especially areas like impulse control and issues of being able to plan."

That type of brain injury would be apparent soon after the event and would not change much over time, he said.

"You would not see a sudden change in personality (years later)," he said. "It shouldn't go up and down."

Mills said her client's history is very different from most people she has seen in her work, both as a defense attorney and as a prosecutor. Curry has an almost clean criminal record. He has no documented problems with drugs or alcohol. Before his arrest this year, his only previous conviction was for misdemeanor tax evasion.

Mills said there are no easy explanations for what happened to Anthony Tucker.

"He was very fond of that boy. There was no rational reason behind this," she said. "It was a tragic event for everyone in that family É he feels as remorseful about it as anybody could."