Schroeppel, NY - When Deanna Candee and her son, Adam, returned from a shopping trip Saturday to their Schroeppel home, they suspected something was wrong when they saw the garage door open.

Candee’s home had been ransacked. An intruder was still inside.

As her 25-year-old son moved toward the cellar to check out a noise, Deanna, 48, started into the house, said Wilson Candee, Deanna’s father-in-law.

The intruder confronted her and grabbed her by the hair, Wilson Candee said. Adam heard his mother scream, went to her aid and pulled the intruder off. He and the stranger began to struggle.

The fight ended, Oswego County Sheriff's officials said, when Deanna grabbed her pistol and shot the man.

Phoenix police found Timothy Hartigan, 39, dead in a bedroom when they arrived shortly after 8:30 p.m. Saturday.

Sunday, Wilson Candee provided details about the struggle based on his conversations with Candee, his grandson, and investigators.

Candee legally owned the gun with which she shot Hartigan, sheriff’s department officials said.

The sheriff’s office, which identified Hartigan, said his permanent address is unknown. They did not say from where in the home Deanna Candee got her pistol.

Oswego County First Assistant District Attorney Donald E. Todd said Sunday night the investigation is ongoing and that it would be premature to comment on whether charges may be filed.

Deputies asked anyone with information to call 349-3411.

Deanna Candee returned home Sunday after being treated at Crouse Hospital for injuries suffered during the confrontation. Adam Candee was treated for injuries at the scene, sheriff’s officials said.

“We are not going to talk at this time. We’re going to let the police finish their investigation,” said Neal Candee, Deanna’s husband, Adam’s father, and Wilson’s son. “This is still very traumatizing.”

Wilson Candee said the intruder’s motive did not appear to be theft. Money left in a wallet was untouched and no articles appeared to have been gathered for removal, he said.

But he said he was told the house had been thoroughly vandalized with doors broken, glass smashed, and pictures and knick knacks knocked from the walls. Cutlery was strewn along the hallway leading to the bedroom. There also were signs that the intruder had cooked bacon and eggs, he said.

Hartigan had a history of mental illness, according to his former wife, Denise L. Cunningham, and a man answering the phone at Hartigan’s mother’s home who identified himself as Hartigan’s brother-in-law.

When Hartigan was taking his medications he was a great guy, a good father to his two children and a good friend to many, Cunningham said. He was artistic and enjoyed drawing and woodcarving, although he did less after he was diagnosed, she said.

“When he was on his medicine he was a good person,” Cunningham said. “He would never have dreamt of doing this.”

Cunningham said her former husband was diagnosed a decade or so ago and recently had been treated at University Hospital.

“His son and I had just gone to visit him ... we actually saw him a week ago today,” Cunningham said.

The hospital released Hartigan on Tuesday, she said. Hartigan’s illness could not be learned Sunday.

A spokeswoman for the hospital declined to comment, citing privacy regulations.

Hartigan was no longer living at the downtown Syracuse YMCA, where he had resided about eight years, Cunningham said, and she didn’t know where he was living after his discharge.

She said she had no idea why he had gone to Schroeppel but speculated that his illness may have led him there.

“I don’t believe that he meant to do any stealing and I know he wouldn’t have done any harm to anyone if he was on his medicine,” Cunningham said. “I know he wouldn’t. He wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

Krystal Wagner wonders if Hartigan tried to break into her house before going to the house of the Candees, her Hilltop Drive neighbors.

“My dogs were barking and really freaking out,” she said. “It was just me and the baby at home — it was a little before 8.”

Wagner, 22, and her boyfriend, Michael Collier, were housesitting for her parents. She said her boyfriend was out at the time. He came home about 40 minutes later and the two decided to take the dogs for a walk.

“All our pumpkins had been thrown all across the yard,” she said. “Then I found out what had happened at the Candees.”

Wagner said this isn’t the first time there’s been a burglary in her quiet town of Schroeppel neighborhood. About five years ago, “our house was broken into. Two guys had the window open but the German shepherd chased them away. They ran up over the hill.”

Wagner said she has lived next door to the Candees all her life and described them as a “nice family.” She attended J.C. Birdlebough High School with the Candee sons and said Deanna Candee “walks a lot” in the neighborhood.

Contact John Mariani at jmariani@syracuse.com or 470-3105.

