On the evening of June 24, 1997, a confrontation that began inside a Portland, Maine bar moved outside and ended in a triple slaying. Twenty-four-year-old Dana G. Matthews, identified as White / Caucasian, was shot in the head and killed along with Nicholas Patenaude and Kevin Pinette in the street in front of the bar owner’s apartment building.

Bar owner Sabato Raia, who had been involved in an earlier argument with the three men, fired the shots. Raia was arrested and tried on murder charges; he did not deny firing but said he acted in self-defense, claiming he believed his life was in danger. A jury acquitted him of the criminal charges. In later civil proceedings over Raia’s homeowner’s insurance, a court found that although Raia may have subjectively believed he was threatened, that belief was not reasonable.

If anyone remembers Dana Matthews, his movements that night, or witnessed the street confrontation, please share what you know.