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Billiard Dispute May Have Led to Bartender's Death

A confrontation between bartender Christopher Hall and Doran’s bar patron Mary Ames over a dispute during a billiard match appears to have precipitated Ames’s May 24 fatal knife assault on Hall, according to North Haven Police (see related stories to the right).

With help from eye-witnesses, responding officers determined that Mary Ames’s son, Michael Ames, drove them both away from the bar after the incident occurred at approximately 1 a.m. that morning.

Following Hall’s May 25 autopsy, pathologists from the Office of the Connecticut Chief Medical Examiner have certified the manner of death as a homicide. The cause of death was determined to be a single stab wound to the chest that perforated the heart.

Both Mary and Michael Ames remain in custody under bond while police from North Haven, the Connecticut State Police-Central District Major Crime Squad, and the State’s Attorney, New Haven County Judicial District continue to investigate.

At yesterday’s arraignment of both Mary and Michael Ames, Mary Ames’s bail was held at $1 million due to her past record, which included two arrests by North Haven Police—one month apart—in 2004 for driving under the influence and one arrest in Berlin for a class A misdemeanor. Michael Ames’s bail was reduced from $100,000 to $75,000.