In a tidy subdivision, bad feelings between an 80-year-old man and his 50-year-old next-door neighbor come to a decidedly untidy end.
By ALEX LEARY
Published October 19, 2004
NEW PORT RICHEY - An apparent long-running feud between neighbors in Greenbrook Estates took on a darker edge Monday with a beating that left an 80-year-old man dead and another man arrested on a charge of second-degree murder.
The Pasco County Sheriff's Office arrested Phillip Kramer, 50, in the death of John Page. Both lived on Montclair Drive in a quiet, well-kept subdivision off Old State Road 54.
Sheriff's spokesman Kevin Doll said Page was standing in his driveway at 3615 Montclair shortly after noon when Kramer walked by. An argument ensued and Kramer beat the older man with his hands and feet, Doll said.
It was not revealed Monday what caused the fight.
"The particulars about the incident - the motive, what triggered this - is still under investigation," Doll said.
Investigators at the scene did not discuss the injuries Page sustained. Kramer, who is 6 feet 2 and weighs 270 pounds, was not injured.
"I knew they argued, but I didn't expect this," said Debbie Robinson, who lives across the street. She said the men had long quarreled and the authorities were called several weeks ago.
Doll, however, said the Sheriff's Office did not have recent incident reports for calls to either Kramer's or Page's home. The homeowners association president, Larry Cheole, said he did not have reports either.
But other residents insisted the next-door neighbors were frequently at odds.
"They were like a cat and a rat, always fighting," said John Silva Jr., who lives down the street. He said there was once an argument about fungus that invaded Kramer's lawn but was unsure about the details.
Silva said he had a run-in with Kramer himself a few years ago when Silva called him a bully. "He showed up at my house and was ready to get out of his car and fight," 55-year-old Silva said.
State records show Kramer was arrested in 1984 on a charge of driving under the influence and listed his occupation as a truck driver. He once lived in Redington Beach, records show, but had moved in with his father, Bruno, in New Port Richey.
Another neighbor, 93-year-old Vera Sievers, also had unkind words for the younger Kramer. "I'm not surprised this happened," she said. "Sooner or later he had to be that rotten." She said a woman who lives on the other side of Kramer had considered moving after he complained about her children. Sievers also said Kramer once shone floodlights on Page's house.
The Kramer family bought the house at 3611 Montclair Drive in 1987, two years after Page bought his, according to county property records. Homes in the subdivision are valued at between $135,000 and $205,000.
Bruno Kramer was reached by telephone Monday evening but declined to comment for this story.
Page's white and blue home was sealed off Monday afternoon with yellow tape as crime scene investigators took measurements and photographs. Blood covered a walkway just off the driveway.
