In the summer of 2014, the life of 37-year-old White male Jeffrey Lude was tragically cut short in a violent encounter. On the evening of July 6th, in the city of Biddeford, Maine, Lude and another man, 42-year-old Russell Lavoie of Old Orchard Beach, were shot multiple times inside an apartment on Western Avenue. The sounds of gunfire were initially mistaken for fireworks by neighbors.
When they emerged from their homes, they discovered a grim scene with two men having come out of the building and collapsed to the ground.
Emergency services were called to the scene around 7 p.m. Lude was transported in an ambulance but did not survive his injuries, while Lavoie was taken to Maine Medical Center, where he also died. The Maine State Medical Examiner's Office later confirmed that both men had died as a result of multiple gunshot wounds in what was ruled a double homicide. Investigators determined that neither Lude nor Lavoie lived in the apartment building where the shooting occurred.
In the immediate aftermath, police began searching for four individuals two men and two women who were seen fleeing the apartment after the shootings. State police assured the public that they did not believe there was a general risk, as the incident was not considered a random act. They believed the victims had a connection to the people in the apartment and that there was a specific reason for the confrontation. The investigation into the double homicide continued for well over a year.
Eventually, an arrest was made in connection with the deaths of Jeffrey Lude and Russell Lavoie. Fuquan Prince Wilson, of the Bronx, New York, was apprehended in March 2016 by the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force. Wilson, who went by the street name "P," was initially charged with murder. In March 2017, he pleaded guilty to two counts of manslaughter. The shootings were described by police as a drug-related confrontation. Wilson was subsequently sentenced to 10 years in prison, with an additional four years of probation.
