Hey, welcome to the neighborhood!
I guess I'm the new guy on the block.
[narrator] In a small town,
a new neighbor can be a big deal.
-That's where I'm building. -Building?
[Penne] Yeah, initially, they were interested
and like, this is gonna raise my property value.
-[drilling] -[narrator] But when business booms too loud...
Large tractors and trucks
and heavy equipment going right past his home.
[Gary] I can't have this every day,
not across my land.
This is not your road.
[narrator] More than just contracts
will be terminated.
Come on!
I've had enough of it.
You think I'm going to have a bunch of rednecks stand in my way.
He was like a madman.
Over my dead body.
I would beat that man to death.
He's been harassing us.
This isn't over.
All of a sudden he whips out this gun.
I'm so tired of this, you little bitch!
Where are you?
Sometimes you just piss off the wrong people.
-[thuds] -Somebody's gonna get hurt.
[gunshot]
[woman] Miss you.
[glass breaking]
-[hits hard] -[man] I know what you did.
-[gunshot] -[glass breaks]
[woman] Stay out of my neighborhood!
[man] Stay away from my wife!
On the ground now!
[woman wailing]
[gun fires]
[opening theme music playing]
[narrator] This sleepy enclave near Sacramento
works hard to protect its small town values.
[Penne] Loomis is just a teeny tiny rural area.
There's roughly less than 7000 people there to this day.
[Donnie] It's really a small community
and everybody knew everybody.
And it's a great place to live,
a great place to grow up.
It's a very nice town.
Nothing ever really happens in Loomis.
[nailing]
[narrator] MaryAnne Stein and Gary Bortis
have been living on this quiet, dead end street
for some time now.
I think that's about it.
It's about time we got this garden done.
They've been there quite a few years,
and so everyone got along with them really... real fine.
None of our neighbors had any problems with each other at all.
[narrator] MaryAnne and Gary are school bus drivers
who believe that if you work hard,
good things will come your way.
If something happened,
they always try to help pitch in
and everything like that.
You know, trying to help out.
Good day for yard work, isn't it?
[narrator] Joe Karr and his son, Donnie
are also long settled fixtures of the block.
Is any day a good day for yard work?
-Good point. -[thuds]
[Donnie] Need a hand, Keith?
No, I've done this before. But thanks.
[Joe] Most of the people had been around here for years,
and so they pretty well know each other.
[engine whirring]
[narrator] And now this friendly hub is getting a new resident.
Lawrence Ficarra just purchased the large property
at the end of the street.
Lawrence is a contractor who has built
and developed homes all over Northern California.
[Penne] He's a builder from the Bay Area
that's buying land in a small community.
Hey, welcome to the neighborhood. [chuckles]
I'm MaryAnne.
This is Gary, and we live right there.
Joe. I live just across the way.
[Joe] Every time someone new comes into the neighborhood,
we try to get acquainted with them
and see if we can get along and everything.
Lawrence, but my friends call me Cutter.
Well, I guess we'll call you Cutter.
I guess I'm the new guy on the block.
[Joe] When I first met him,
he had a real friendly side to him.
[narrator] But first impressions can be deceiving.
[Lawrence] I've had enough of you, you stupid bitch!
[Gary] Come on!
[birds chirping]
[narrator] Lawrence is excited to set up his new home.
Yet he has much bigger plans for his sprawling property,
which runs behind the other houses on the street.
It was beautiful property.
Covered with trees, uh... it was beautiful property.
Hi, Cutter.
How are you settling in?
[grunts] No rest for the wicked.
What's this?
The future.
Let me show you.
This is your house.
And this little gravel road cuts across your yard.
-Boone Lane, yeah. -Oh yeah, that's us.
[Lawrence] Mm-hmm.
This...
is my place.
Hmm?
All this space here...
is where I'm building.
Building?
Five houses.
Permits will go through in no time.
[Joe] And it's what he was wanting to do.
He was wanting to build five houses
on about an acre and three quarters,
a subdivision, basically
right in the middle of us.
Five houses!
That's a lot, isn't it?
In these small towns,
you know, we don't want all these apartments
or big subdivisions or anything like that.
They like their country atmosphere.
They like you know, living on that back road.
These houses... will be beautiful!
Trust me.
I only build the best for the best.
Really?
Plus, it should help our property values
if we upscale the area a little bit.
True.
[Penne] Initially, Gary was interested and like, well, maybe
this is gonna raise my property values.
Maybe this can be a good thing.
I'm gonna give it a chance and see what happens.
Every neighborhood I've been in
has been better when I left it.
[Penne] I guess he was hoping that
that would be appealing to the neighbors.
[narrator] The increase in property value may be attractive,
but the reality of construction
proves to be something quite different.
-[banging] -[excavator beeping]
[gasps] What was that?
I don't know.
-[banging] -Okay, okay.
[excavator whirring]
[Penne] That's gonna create dust.
It's going to create a tremendous amount of noise.
I mean, there'd be hammering
and all kinds of noise
at all hours.
[excavator beeping]
[narrator] But the noise isn't the only problem...
[Joe] He was bringing in semis and stuff
up the private road, Boone Lane where Gary lived.
Ten foot of Gary's property was part of that private road.
[Penne] There's these large tractors and trucks
and heavy equipment
going right past his home on the little gravel road.
[Gary] Hey, Lawrence.
-[Lawrence] Hold on a second. -[Gary] Lawrence.
Call me Cutter.
You're up early.
You think?
What is all this?
I told I'll be starting to work soon.
You didn't say anything about cutting across
-my property. -Whoa, whoa.
This is not your road, okay?
This is public access.
No, uh-uh. I can't have this every day.
Not across my land.
[Deborah] Just having all the construction people there
and just the dust and the dirt
and the noise.
I'm sorry, but it's the only way in.
Remember what we talked about?
This will all be worth it.
We didn't talk about this.
It'll be over before you know it.
So...
What'd he say?
He said we're just gonna have to put up with it.
For how long?
[MaryAnne] Oh my God!
[Joe] They didn't want the development.
It was like, you put a subdivision
in the middle of a racetrack.
So I think that's where Gary kind of changed his mind
and said, "I don't think this is a good idea".
And MaryAnne didn't think it was a good idea from the beginning.
[Lawrence] This is asinine!
It's unbelievable. No, no, there's no math
that supports what you're saying right now.
It does not take time.
What you're describing is not taking time.
It's taking money. Money that we don't have.
[narrator] It's all much more than Gary and MaryAnne bargained for.
We are a month behind schedule!
Do I have to find someone else who could do this job?
[Deborah] He definitely had some issues.
He just didn't seem like he was very kind.
[sighs in exasperation] What a bunch of... idiots!
[sighs]
How are you guys doing?
[Penne] Gary and MaryAnne worked hard to, you know,
save up enough money for their home.
It's not a palatial mansion,
it's you know, it's a modest home.
Literally, their way of life would have been disrupted.
-You know, the construction is one thing but... -[truck whirring]
The construction is one thing,
but the trucks running through our yard every five minutes...
It's driving me crazy.
[truck whirring]
[Joe] Cutter didn't have no right to use
part of that private road,
but he kept using it anyway.
Like I could do what I want to do.
You know, tough.
And that's what his big problem was.
That's basically what created the whole problem.
Was access to the property.
He's got all this room on his property
why doesn't he take the trucks through that way
and stop cutting through our yard?
Why are you asking me?
Ask him.
[narrator] Gary hopes his idea will ease the disruption,
which will then ease the tension between the neighbors.
[birds chirping]
Hey, I bought you a cup of coffee.
Ooh. That's the ticket.
Thanks.
Hey, listen, can we talk?
Mmm. What's on your mind?
So... [clears throat]
We're gonna need you to take your trucks
through a different route to the construction site.
Excuse me?
Yeah. I mean,
can't you build a track through your property
so you don't have to cut across mine?
Do you have any idea how much that would cost me?
No, but--
Listen, it's not gonna happen, okay?
This is a public road because I have access to it.
Doesn't matter that it cuts across your yard.
I think this shows a bit of arrogance on Cutter's part.
That I'm gonna do what I want, regardless of how you feel.
Don't you care about all the inconvenience
and noise this is causing us?
Frankly, no.
This is how houses get built.
[Penne] It didn't matter to Cutter.
Gary and MaryAnne were small potatoes.
You know, I don't think I was gonna have an issue with you two.
But if you want a problem, I'll give you one.
Seriously?
I eat people like you for breakfast.
Thanks for the coffee.
Who the hell do you think you are?
You don't wanna find out.
[Deborah] I guess we just don't know
until we're in a situation like that.
What would you do?
-[drilling] -[Gary] He's been harassing us!
What are you gonna do?
Hit me?
[trucks whirring]
[Joe] Cutter figured he could use Boone Lane.
He told everybody to come down Boone Lane,
where you pull your trucks and cats and stuff.
That's where the main problem started.
[narrator] This once idyllic small town neighborhood has been turned on its head.
Gary Bortis and MaryAnne Stein
bear the brunt of the disruption.
He just thought he could just roll over everybody.
[intense music playing]
[sawing]
[nailing]
[drilling]
[rumbling]
[drilling continues]
I think that would have definitely been a major issue
with her, having any kind of construction going on.
She wouldn't have liked it.
[sighs] Now he's just doing it on purpose.
[drilling]
My head is killing me.
[Penne] To have that way of life
and all of that just
set aside, you know, like it didn't matter to Cutter.
[narrator] MaryAnne and Gary feel powerless to stop their neighbor's domineering ways.
[Deborah] Well, from what I recall,
MaryAnne would tell me
that this Lawrence definitely is escalating.
He's just off the chart, you know?
He just wanted what he wanted.
You know, I can't take much more of this.
How would he feel if we did it to him?
Maybe we should find out.
[narrator] They decide to give Lawrence
a taste of his own medicine.
[intense music playing]
If their neighbor is going to drive across
their property with impunity...
[horn honking]
Then Gary is going to do the same.
Sort of, I mean, you could say it might be in retaliation
for Cutter and his crew using Boone Lane,
[horn honking]
[Lawrence] What are you doing?
How do you like it?
Trying to make a point?
You're trying to take me on?
You're not so tough.
That's what the squabble ended up in
right out in the middle of the property one day.
They were kind of nose and nose.
What are you gonna do?
Hit me?
I'll own your house.
You know, if he's threatening to do something,
maybe he will follow through on it one day.
You know? And he was full of, plenty of threats.
[narrator] Gary's attempt to prove a point
has only made things worse.
You don't have it in you, Gary.
You have to bring a lot more than
that little car to get rid of me.
[narrator] Lawrence isn't going to let anyone
get between him and what he wants.
I'm of the opinion he would fight.
He would do anything he needed to get his way.
[narrator] Gary and MaryAnne won't stand by
and watch their peaceful life be destroyed.
Even with the squabbles he had with with Cutter all the time
everything was supposed to be nice and calm.
[narrator] The couple turns to the authorities for help.
Boone Lane is a public access road.
I have every right to use it.
Except this idiot,
he has no right to drive around my land just to tick me off.
[MaryAnne] He's driving us nuts.
He's been harassing us.
You made your points.
Now you need to learn how to get along.
[Deborah] The police were out there
and you know, they pretty much calmed everybody down.
Let everybody go and uh...
they proceeded their own way.
[Penne] They said, "Everybody go your separate ways.
Take a breath and calm down."
[intense music playing]
[narrator] If law enforcement
can't help restore tranquility,
Gary decides to take matters into his own hands.
[Deborah] He's trying to show
MaryAnne that you know, he's all badass.
[Penne] Gary decided at some point that
he needed to impede
the construction traffic.
[hammering]
[intense music playing]
What the hell is going on?
Take a look for yourself.
[Deborah] There were poles that went into the ground,
You know, the fence poles
just kind of like slid in the ground, you know?
[Penne] You know, Gary takes the fence post,
pounds it into the ground.
There is still room for passage of a vehicle
like a car.
But the heavy equipment would not be able
to fit through that space.
Ah, hell, no.
[narrator] The crew doesn't want to destroy Gary's fence post
as they may have been legally erected.
But Lawrence has no such reservations.
Cutter decides he's had enough of this nonsense from Gary
and he's gonna remove the fence post.
[breaking]
And the guy was so out of control,
he was like a madman.
[thuds]
[narrator] Gary and MaryAnne have no idea
who they are dealing with.
Broke the hammer.
It was a nightmare.
[Lawrence] Clean this mess up and get back to work!
He did a pretty good job of acting
like he was a really, you know,
"Normal kind of a person," but he wasn't.
He just he was not.
[Lawrence] I'll take this.
Go get Gary, you dumb hick!
Don't talk to me like that!
You're costing me money!
Get off my property!
[Donnie] I'm sure he didn't like her
standing up to him at all.
But apparently, she had no problem doing it.
You're just a piece of white trash.
No one would miss you if--
If what?
[Deborah] He was really very furious.
He was not a happy camper at all.
[Lawrence] Nobody messes with me!
Nobody!
[Deborah] She doesn't deserve to have anybody disrespect her with
the way that this Lawrence person treated her.
It was very frightening.
'Cause you never know what this guy is gonna do.
[narrator] Once again, MaryAnne turns
to the authorities for help.
[siren wailing]
[Penne] This is another incident
where the police were notified
and came out to the property.
And he started shouting profanities at me,
asking for Gary.
And then he threatened my life.
[Penne] Again there were no witnesses.
So not much can be done about it.
[narrator] Lawrence denies all accusations,
claiming MaryAnne made the whole thing up.
You know, I just--
I don't know what these guys have against me.
It's... [sighs]
[Joe] But when the cops showed up,
everyone was picking on him.
You know, all I'm trying to do is develop my property
and they're picking on me.
They're creating problems for me.
Poor me.
[Donnie] He pushed and pushed.
You know, he pushed every day.
You know, and apparently
he found where the breaking point was.
Somebody's gonna get hurt.
This isn't over.
Screw you.
[gun cocks]
[tense music playing]
This kept escalating
back and forth, back and forth.
[narrator] An all-out war is brewing on Boone Lane...
[sawing]
...and the construction has no end in sight.
[Joe] You get something like Cutter coming in,
I mean throwing a monkey wrench
in the middle of everything.
[narrator] Lawrence Ficarra presses ahead
with his housing development
unbothered by his neighbor's ire.
While Gary Bortis and MaryAnne Stein
are reaching their breaking point.
[Deborah] I think that MaryAnne and Gary
got to the point where it's like, you know what?
Enough is enough.
You know, we can't deal with this anymore
of this harassment every single day.
[sawing]
[narrator] In addition to the endless noise,
Lawrence's project is destroying the green allure
of the neighborhood
[Donnie] This beautiful property, covered with trees.
Next thing you know,
you know, these guys come in,
they destroyed the property completely,
Cut down all the trees.
You know, turned it into a moonscape.
[engine whirring]
[Gary] Can he do this?
Has he got the right?
[Joe] I used to work for Sacramento County and Engineering.
So Gary would ask me, "Can he do this?
Can he do that?"
If he's got a permit, you're out of luck.
[Joe] As long as the zoning is there
and the city goes along with it,
hey, you can't do nothing.
That's as far as him using the easement,
file a complaint.
Sue him.
Trespassing.
Take him to court.
Let's do it.
[narrator] Gary follows Joe's advice and lands Lawrence in court
to stop him from using Boone Lane.
It's not long before Gary and MaryAnne get some good news.
[gasps]
The judge ruled in our favor.
No more trucks on Boone Lane?
-Nope. [laughs] -Oh. [laughs]
And the judge said No, you don't have an easement
on Boone Lane
and told, from what I understand,
uh, told Cutter to stay off of Boone Lane.
[narrator] Although Boone Lane remains a public access road,
the court rules that heavy construction vehicles are not allowed.
[tense music playing]
The news doesn't go over well with Lawrence.
[Penne] That pitbull, that tenacity that he has,
Lawrence would fight.
He would do anything he needed to get his way.
[narrator] If he can't cut across Gary and MaryAnne's
property to finish the job,
he's going to have to carve a different path.
[instrumental music playing]
[Lawrence] It's a nice shed.
Shame it's got to come down.
[laughs] What are you talking about?
I'm putting a road right through here.
What?
He started in trying to bully people
over the property lines.
Do you know how long I've lived here?
I know what's mine.
Not this.
I've got a lot invested in this.
So either you take it down or I will.
He'd fluff up and try to be threatening,
you know, and whatnot like that.
You can't tell me what to do.
I'm not one of your workers.
[Joe] When he wanted to do something,
he didn't get his way,
he started getting frustrated.
And when he start getting frustrated,
then he'd start getting threatening.
I'm not someone you want to mess with.
You're a little man with a big mouth
is what you are.
Now get off my land.
[Donnie] My dad really did good.
Played it cool for a guy that can be hotheaded.
You know, I was really concerned that
my dad would, you know,
actually wind up knocking him out.
This isn't over.
You hear me?
This isn't over!
[scoffs]
[Joe] I got upset with it.
If this was 20 years ago,
I would have tried my best to beat that man to death.
But I learned with age that... to be more calm.
[narrator] It's a lesson lost on Lawrence.
He's going after all of his neighbor's property
to build his access road.
And the more vulnerable they are, the better.
Hey, Craig, we've got to talk.
It's Keith!
Keith. These bushes, they're in my way.
-I gotta take 'em down. -No, you don't.
[Joe] Everybody in the neighborhood knew Keith
and he's in a wheelchair.
I need to get my trucks in here.
I need to build a road.
I have access. I have a right.
Yeah, you have a right to walk.
But this is not a road.
And you can't make it one either.
Well, too bad 'cause I'm gonna do it.
So either you take 'em down or I will!
He was a bully. You know, he really, really bullied everybody.
He threatened everybody,
like every day for months on end.
Because I'm old you think I'm a pushover, huh?
Screw you!
Listen to me, old man.
Oh, to hell with you.
Over my dead body.
Yeah, well, that won't take long.
Hey, enough!
[Joe] Whenever he threatened Keith,
a quadriplegic,
we almost had a fight in the middle of driveway right there.
So what? Now you guys want to take me on, too?
[Keith] Oh, you need to calm down.
Don't tell me what to do!
-Cutter... -Don't Cutter me, hick.
You think I'm gonna let bunch of rednecks stand in my way?
I will own you!
[Joe] When that man got mad.
My God, he got mad.
And he started... [imitating barking]
almost foaming at the mouth, you know?
And he told Keith, he says, "I'll see you dead.
I'll have your property."
I will own all of you.
I'll put you in the ground if I have to.
Do you understand me?
Mark my words!
[instrumental music playing]
[narrator] Lawrence believes the whole neighborhood has united against him.
And is working to sink his home building venture.
He decides to turn up the pressure on the couple
that started it all.
[Joe] In his mind, he figured
he could dominate all and get what he wanted.
[engine whirring]
[narrator] Construction doesn't stop,
but Lawrence's crew now has to travel much further
to get to their job site.
The businessman knows that lost time is money out of his pocket.
[thuds]
What was that?
[thuds]
[narrator] He shifts tactics
now hoping to goad his neighbors
-into rash action -[hammers]
to give himself the upper hand.
What is it?
Stay here.
What are you gonna do?
[hammering]
[Donnie] I think he was trying to get Gary to react,
that Gary maybe would assault him
and he could sue him
or you know something like that.
[narrator] Gary is ready to protect himself and his property.
[Joe] A lot of the people in our area do carry guns,
but you don't know who
'cause nobody says anything.
[narrator] But the bus driver doesn't own just one gun.
He has a full arsenal of firearms.
[Penne] Gary had a cache of weapons.
I think there was at least two machine guns
and just countless assault rifles and weapons.
[loads gun]
Everybody has a breaking point.
[hammering]
Gary, what are you doing?
You know, obviously the guy had enough.
Gary, get back here!
[engine screeching]
Come out here and face me!
[Gary] That's it!
[hammering]
[Donnie] If you're being harassed daily by this bully,
you're gonna be awake at night
thinking of how do I stop this?
How do I get this guy to stop?
Where are you, you son of a bitch?
Where are you?
[Donnie] It did escalate.
It just kept escalating.
It seemed like on a daily basis.
Gary was being harassed constantly,
you know, with no gain.
Cutter had nothing to gain by harassing him.
That's right, run away.
Coward.
[narrator] With his housing development in purgatory,
Lawrence takes on a new strategy to rile his neighbors.
There was always something threatening.
There was always something terrorizing.
She was very afraid of this Lawrence.
[engine whirring]
[sighs] Now what?
-[honking] -[engine whirring]
[Donnie] So he was going back down Boone Lane
and harassing Gary.
And I guess he's spinning his tires a lot
and stirring up dust
and just harassing him.
[Deborah] Obviously, he was a man that
when he wanted something,
he was just gonna harass you until he got it.
[narrator] And if what Lawrence wants is a fight,
he's going to get one.
That's it!
Gary, get back here!
[Gary] Stay right there, you jackass.
[Deborah] You know, putting yourself in front of a vehicle...
-[MaryAnne] Gary! -Come on!
...just seems like you're storing temper tantrums, you know?
[Gary] Come on!
He was like a madman.
Gary, stop it!
[engine revving]
[panting]
He could have killed you.
But he didn't.
Are you nuts?
Why would you do a thing like that?
'Cause now we've got him.
[siren wailing]
[narrator] Gary calls the police
claiming his neighbor attempted to kill him.
He tried to run me over with his truck!
I forgot something at the site so I turned around
and this moron jumped in front of my car.
[Gary] He's been harassing us!
Listen up! 'Cause we're not gonna say this again.
You guys need to to figure your issues out.
The only thing I heard the cops say
is telling-- tell Gary,
you go around the other way
and told Cutter you go the other way,
and we're getting tired of coming out here.
Go home
and calm down.
[sighs]
[woman officer] You too.
Was it worth it?
What do you mean?
You're not making things easier, you know?
You need to calm down.
You're just making things worse.
Seriously!
I've had enough of it!
[narrator] The escalating tension is taking a toll
on Gary and MaryAnne's relationship.
[Deborah] It always had something to do
with...uh, anger issues.
Basic anger issues.
[narrator] Lawrence doesn't care about Gary's anger.
He just wants to get his housing development back on schedule.
I'm gonna do what I want to do,
and I don't care about you people.
That was his attitude.
[narrator] As summer comes to a close,
the feud is about to hit its peak.
[exhales]
[sighs] Come on!
[Deborah] That particular day,
MaryAnne wanted me to come over
and I hadn't been over to her house before.
Something wrong?
[MaryAnne] Everything.
I think I've had it.
I've reached my limit.
You want some company?
You want to come over for a cup of tea?
Sure!
Thanks.
So I followed her home.
Yeah.
[narrator] Amidst the chaos of their lives,
MaryAnne hopes for a calm afternoon with a friend.
[intense music playing]
Gary isn't so level headed.
[honking]
What are you doing?
[Gary] This is gonna slow him down.
Gary decided he wanted to once again
kind of impede Lawrence's ability
to access the property he purchased,
so he put down some orange cones.
[Gary] Hey!
[MaryAnne] What is wrong with you?
And all of a sudden he whips out this gun.
I'm not gonna let him win.
Whoa! Oh! Is that thing loaded?
It wouldn't be much good if it wasn't.
[Deborah] So I was like,
"Well, if you don't mind, could you put the gun away?"
[laughs nervously] Okay. Not around me.
Why would you even bring it out here?
Because I've had enough of him!
I've had enough of both of you!
I thought you were on my side.
I was... [crying] Until you lost your mind.
I don't know what to do.
-[narrator] MaryAnne's bad day is about to get a lot worse. -[tires screeching]
[Deborah] All of a sudden, I hear some ruckus going on
and it's that Lawrence dude.
Lawrence drives in, sees the orange cones...
[Deborah] And he just picked 'em up and just threw 'em.
Do you really think this was gonna stop me?
[grunts]
[Donnie] And he was just mad.
He was just spitting mad, you know?
Oh!
I'm so tired of this, you little bitch!
Can't you just leave us alone?
You want me to call the police?
You think that's gonna make a difference?
I will own your ass.
And he's like, "Good call 'em in."
He's just every word.
I mean, he just was just being out of control.
I think you should go.
Just... you should go.
-Just go. It'll be okay. -If you say so.
I got in my car because I'm feeling threatened
and he's just calling Gary, you know,
"Come on out, you white trash."
Gary, come out here and face me!
Get lost!
Go get him right now,
you stupid whore.
[Deborah] He was just calling her names.
Everything is just filthy ass language coming out of his mouth.
Go get that jackass out here!
That's far enough.
You've made our lives a living hell, you bastard!
I will bankrupt you, you hillbilly moron!
[MaryAnne] You've been nothing but trouble
-ever since you moved in here! -I am so tired of this white trash--
[Gary] Stop!
One more step and I'll--
[narrator] Gary realizes he left his pistol in the house.
You what?
-Uh... -[Lawrence] That's what I thought.
You're worthless, the both of you.
[spits]
[Penne] After the altercation with Gary,
Lawrence takes off
and tries to just leave the situation.
[engine starts]
Don't let him leave!
MaryAnne steps in front of his vehicle.
Don't...
Sometimes you just piss off the wrong people.
[engine accelerating]
[hits]
-Just go. It'll be okay. -If you say so.
[Deborah] I just kept thinking to myself, God, I'm so lucky
because I don't know what could have happened.
Gary, come on and face me!
[Deborah] I don't know what happened.
Get lost!
[Deborah] But I do know that shooting somebody
11 times is a little bit more than just self-defense.
[gunshots]
[narrator] The conflict between Lawrence Ficarra,
Gary Bortis and MaryAnne Stein
has ended in bloodshed.
[Joe] We went to dinner, and came back home.
Next I know, the cops show up.
[Donnie] There was, you know, a lot of law enforcement,
you know, a lot of commotion going on
and I'm like, "Wow, what's going on here?"
-Everything happened so fast. [crying hysterically] -Take it easy.
Relax.
-Just relax. -Why did this have to happen?
[Joe] So we heard over the police scanner
Gary shot Cutter.
Wow!
[narrator] Lawrence lies dead, his body riddled with bullets.
[Donnie] I went and talked to my dad,
and he says, Gary shot Cutter.
I go, "He did?" I go, "Did he kill him?"
He goes, "Oh yeah".
[MaryAnne] And the truck was revving
and it all happened so fast.
[narrator] When police interview Gary,
he explains he had no other option.
He had to shoot his neighbor.
[Gary] He was going to kill her.
[narrator] He claims the fight between Lawrence and MaryAnne got out of hand.
I didn't want to kill him, but he left me no choice.
[gunshot]
[narrator] He tells the deputies
that Lawrence attacked them
first verbally, then physically,
[Penne] The accounts vary of what occurred
-between Lawrence, Gary and MaryAnne -[engine revving]
once MaryAnne stepped in front of Lawrence's vehicle.
[narrator] Gary contends Lawrence hit her
-with his truck. -[engine revving]
-[hits] -[tires screeching]
[Penne] Lawrence gets out of the vehicle...
-[Lawrence] I'll kill you! -[MaryAnne screams]
[Penne] MaryAnne claims that he choked her.
[choking]
And Gary was supposedly protecting her.
[Gary] Get away from her!
[gunshots]
[narrator] When it comes to defending his partner, one bullet isn't enough.
[continues shooting]
[Penne] He fired 11 shots.
Two of those were in the heart.
Wait. Here, take this. Take this!
Call 911. Yeah, take it in.
[breathing heavily]
[Gary] He was going to kill her.
[narrator] But Gary's story isn't adding up for detectives.
For one thing, 11 shots is excessive
for a claim of self-defense.
I think it would have probably only taken one shot...
[laughs]
to get the person down on the ground,
you know, just to to save somebody,
but not 11 shots.
[crying] I think that Gary did what he had to do.
[narrator] And authorities questioned why MaryAnne
took the gun back into the house?
I panicked.
And... [sniffles]
and then I didn't know what I was doing.
I can...I can show you where I put the gun.
[Deborah] I don't think she was really thinking.
I think she was just being the protector,
and it ended up just getting her in more trouble.
[narrator] Another problem with the couple's version of events
is that MaryAnne doesn't appear to be injured.
[Penne] Their story could not be verified.
It just didn't make sense.
It wasn't really plausible.
[narrator] Gary is arrested and taken to jail
until an investigation is complete
and charges can be laid.
MaryAnne remains free but subject to watchful eyes.
[plane whirring]
Keeping both partners under surveillance
Law enforcement soon gets information
that proves the couple is lying.
Gary.
[narrator] When Gary calls MaryAnne from prison,
they inadvertently tip their hand to authorities.
[Penne] There's a secret conversation,
recorded conversation
between Gary and MaryAnne,
as if they were trying to come up
with a plausible explanation.
A plausible story.
[Gary speaking]
[MaryAnne speaking]
[Penne] That tape was used in court against Gary.
[narrator] It's clear, the story they told is pure invention.
[gunshots]
[intense music playing]
It's now believed MaryAnne kept Lawrence from leaving.
So that Gary could run inside to retrieve his gun
and get rid of his neighbor for good.
[Gary] Hey!
[gunshots]
[Deborah] When they told me how many shots, I was like,
that's a little out of control.
[gunshots]
[Penne] Gary ended up being charged
with first degree murder along with
a host of weapons violations.
And Gary was sentenced to 56 years to life in prison.
[Joe] I think they should have gave him manslaughter,
not murder, manslaughter.
So I would say that he didn't plan it.
But they say, yeah, he planned it
when he got his gun and came back out.
[narrator] For her role in the fatal events,
MaryAnne Stein is arrested and faces charges of her own.
MaryAnne was charged with accessory after the fact
in relation to the murder.
[narrator] She is found guilty and sent to prison.
MaryAnne was sent to 16 months for her part.
[narrator] After serving 12 years of his sentence,
Gary Bortis dies behind bars at the age of 61.
[Joe] Gary had a bad heart for one
and was under a lot of stress
after he shot Cutter.
[Deborah] MaryAnne did her time in jail.
She pretty much disappeared face of the earth
after she was released.
[narrator] All the fighting only served to bring tragedy
to a once peaceful neighborhood.
If Cutter would have been more of a human being,
the neighbors would have worked with him.
They really would have worked with him
to try to make everything work out.
I was raised to be respectful and honor.
"Honor thy neighbor", basically, you know. [laughs]
[Joe] But he didn't wanna work with him.
He wanted what he wanted,
and to hell with everybody else.
That was the problem.
[Deborah] Nobody deserves to be murdered.
It's too bad that he couldn't have just been, you know,
eventually just put in jail
for being the threatening man that he was.
I mean, that's why we're here in the first place, isn't it?
To be a good person.
Next time on Fear Thy Neighbor...
I'm your neighbor just to the left
with my husband Michael.
Nice to meet you.
The neighborhood was very nice.
We don't like that kind of music here!
What kind of music?
They got off on the wrong foot immediately.
Everyone hates us here.
He didn't want to look at us.
[glass breaking]
...kick your ass!
This was old callous murder.
[gun shot blast]