The rumor of "why" the Lucerne Inn is haunted goes back to a caretaker named "Nathan". It would appear as though Nathan walked in on his wife and a guest of the Inn - catching them in a "compromising" position. He took the news pretty badly and one thing led to another, leaving his wife and the guest murdered, and their blood on Sam's hands. The story continues that after Nathan committed the heinous murders of his 2 victims in room 8 of the Lucerne Inn, he took himself into room 5 and committed
The haunting of the Lucerne Inn has been figured, for the most part, to be "intelligent". The building is quite old, having been built in 1812 and opened for business in 1814. It's location is what made it a Maine landmark back in those days because it was one of the only places long-haul travelers could stop for room, food, and spirits (no pun intended) between Bangor and cities "down east" like Machias and Ellsworth.