The man who police say pulled the trigger on the gun that killed Willard Beach resident Fred Wilson is a 50-year-old Skowhegan organic vegetable farmer who allegedly played a deadly game with Wilson at the time of the shooting last month.
Bruce Lavallee-Davidson was indicted last week by a grand jury on a charge of manslaughter connected with the shooting death of Wilson, a computer programmer. Wilson died from a single gunshot to the head. His body was found in the basement of his Henry Street home, where he lived alone.
“It was along the lines of Russian Roulette,” said Deputy Attorney General William Stokes. “Mr. Wilson was shot in the head. The allegation is that Mr. Lavallee was holding the gun when it discharged.”
Lavallee-Davidson, who could face up to 30 years in prison for a manslaughter conviction, has not been charged with murder because prosecutors are satisfied that the shooting was accidental. The .22-caliber gun was legally owned and registered by Lavallee-Davidson, Stokes said.
“Evidence shows in this case that (Lavallee-Davidson) pointed a gun and pulled the trigger, believing the gun was not loaded,” Stokes said.
Stokes declined to comment further on the circumstances that led to the shooting, other than to say that the gun “had been passed around” during the evening as part of a game. He said the details would come out in the manslaughter trial.
Stokes said drug and alcohol tests were done on Wilson’s body and those results would be made public at the trial.
Lavallee-Davidson has been in California this week, where he lived before moving to Maine more than a decade ago. He has been cooperative with police and was expected to return to Maine Tuesday to be booked and processed at the Cumberland County Jail.
Stokes said that if Lavallee-Davidson is able to post bail, he would be freed, pending a court date and trial. He said the bail amount is based on several factors, including the type of crime and whether the suspect poses a flight risk.
When reached for comment Monday, Lavallee-Davidson referred all questions to his attorney, Katherine Lynch of Portland.
Lynch declined to talk about the case, saying she had just started representing Lavallee-Davidson and was unprepared to discuss it.
Richard Nacaula, Wilson’s close friend of several years, said the indictment came sooner than he and family members had anticipated. “We were told that it might take a little longer,” Nacaula said.
“I have no reason not to believe” Lavallee-Davidson’s explanation,
said Nacaula, who said he does not know Lavallee-Davidson.
“The police explained what they thought had happened, and I believe them,” Nacaula said. “I further believe that police have done an excellent job with the case and we’re happy with that.”
As far as the circumstances that led to the shooting, Nacaula said he
is surprised that any kind of a handgun would be present in Wilson’s
home. “He had no interest in guns.”
Wilson’s shooting in the quiet South Portland waterfront neighborhood, with tightly packed homes, has unnerved neighbors, who described Wilson as an ideal neighbor – helpful, friendly and quiet.
Police said Lavallee-Davidson and Wilson were friends, but hadn’t known each other for a long time. Both men were openly gay, had worked in computer technology and moved to Maine from California.
There also was a third person in Wilson’s home at the time of the shooting. He has not been charged in the case, but is a witness, Stokes said. Police have not identified him.
Stokes said the third man is not Lavallee-Davidson’s longtime partner, Buck Lavallee-Davidson. The two men own and operate Stonewall Farm and Gardens in Skowhegan, which sells organic vegetables, herbs and fruit through a CSA (community supported agriculture) program.
According to their Web site, the couple moved to Maine in 1992 from California, where they had a farm in the Sierra Nevada foothills.
Lavallee-Davidson was a computer consultant before devoting himself full time to the farm. He was a technology director at Maine Central Institute in Pittsfield and earlier had been the systems specialist at School Administrative District 48.
Both Lavallee-Davidson and his partner testified in favor of the gay marriage law during debate earlier this month. Their testimony was on April 22, just four days after the shooting.
According to Stokes, Bruce Lavallee-Davidson and the second, unidentified man “socialized” with Wilson at his home overnight on April 17.
Police say Lavallee-Davidson admitted to pulling the trigger and shooting Wilson sometime just before dawn on April 18.
Lavallee-Davidson waited to report the shooting to South Portland police for more than 12 hours. Police found Wilson dead in the basement, with a single gunshot wound to the head. No one else was in the house when police arrived.
Stokes said Lavallee-Davidson said he delayed reporting the shooting because he feared the consequences.
“He was scared,” Stokes said. It was evident by the nature of the wound that Wilson died almost immediately after being shot, Stokes said.
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