We may never know what Donald Axthelm was doing in Wallace Finlay’s apartment in the wee hours of last Sunday morning in South Kitsap.

But we do know being there led directly to his death, which means his motives will certainly be scrutinized when Finlay comes to trial on manslaughter charges for shooting Axthelm in the back as he fled.

Finlay’s attorneys will almost certainly argue his actions were in self-defense, and considering he confronted a stranger in his living room in the middle of the night, he deserves the benefit of the doubt as to how great a threat he was facing.

“We arrested (Finlay) because there was no credible reason to believe he was in danger from someone who was running away at the time,” explained Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office Spokesman Scott Wilson.

Maybe. On the other hand, there was no credible reason for Finlay to believe Axthelm wasn’t running away to get reinforcements — or a gun of his own.

Nor was there any reason for Axthelm to believe Finlay was trained in the use of deadly force and would adhere to the same rules of engagement a law enforcement officer would.

In short, Finlay didn’t create the situation. He only reacted to it.

You can argue that he over-reacted, and if it can be shown that Axthelm — who lived elsewhere in the same complex — had simply wandered into the wrong apartment by mistake rather than breaking in to commit a burglary, Finlay will be a much less sympathetic figure in many people’s eyes.

But when assigning guilt, it’s always best to keep the circumstances in perspective.

In the cold light of day, it’s easy to say that Finlay, a 72-year-old living alone, should have held his fire. But unless you’ve ever confronted an intruder in the middle of the night yourself, who’s to say you wouldn’t have felt just as threatened as he did — and reacted accordingly?