Second suspect sought in Bangor triple homicide; victims were shot

BANGOR, Maine — Fugitive from justice warrants have been issued for two out-of-state suspects police say shot three local people — two men and a woman — in a drug-related homicide, then set their bodies on fire in a car seven weeks ago in Bangor.

Police are searching for Nicholas J. Sexton, 31, of Warwick, R.I., and Randall “Ricky” Daluz, 34, of Brockton, Mass., who have been charged with three counts of knowing or intentional murder and one count of arson, Bangor police Lt. Tim Reid said.

“We consider them armed and extremely dangerous,” Reid, who leads the department’s detective division, said at a press conference Monday afternoon.

Sexton and Daluz, who is also nicknamed “Money,” are wanted in connection to the deaths of Daniel T. Borders, 26, of Hermon; Nicolle A. Lugdon, 24, of Eddington; and Lucas A. Tuscano, 28, of Bradford, whose bodies were found burned beyond recognition inside a white Pontiac sedan with Rhode Island plates that was discovered on fire early on Aug. 13.

“The cause of death [for all three victims] was determined to be by gunshot, and the case has been classified as homicide,” Reid said. “We view this as a drug-related homicide.”

The fire was deemed arson by the state fire marshal’s office, he said.

Sexton and Daluz were secretly indicted by the Penobscot County grand jury on Sept. 26, after which the fugitive from justice warrants were issued.

Assistant Attorney General William Stokes, head of the criminal division in the Maine attorney general’s office, successfully petitioned a judge on Monday to release the information about the suspects and the case.

Police don’t believe that Sexton and Daluz are in Maine, Reid said. Maine investigators have worked with several police agencies in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, he said.

Both men have stabbed people in the past in the Bangor region and have spent time in prison, according to court listings printed in the Bangor Daily News.

The white Pontiac was found ablaze about 3:30 a.m. on Aug. 13 in the back parking lot of Automatic Distributors, at 22 Target Industrial Circle, by a woman on her way to work.

A person was recorded by Automatic Distributors video surveillance cameras walking away from the burning car, which was discovered by a woman on her way to work.

Video surveillance evidence collected from across the street at Stratham Tire shows more than one vehicle in the area when the car was set ablaze, manager Jeff Gordon said the day the bodies were discovered.

“You just see the lights [from vehicles] going in, two or three sets, and then the blaze,” Gordon said. “They were going past, and one went in and another went in, and then you see the blaze. The next thing you see is the fire department arriving.”

Sexton knew Lugdon and Borders, their friends have said, and reportedly knocked on the front door of a Bangor apartment about 1 a.m. on Aug. 13 and left with the three homicide victims, possibly to go smoke marijuana.

“We don’t know what the hell happened after they left,” the man who hosted the small gathering has said.

While the Bangor Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Division continues to be the lead investigative agency in the slayings, the Maine attorney general’s office took over the case shortly after the state medical examiner’s office determined that the deaths were homicides.

Investigators with the state fire marshal’s office, Maine State Police and Maine Drug Enforcement Agency have assisted in the investigation since the beginning, Reid said.

Sexton and Daluz are no strangers to violence or drugs, according to the BDN archives.

Sexton stabbed a 35-year-old Bangor man in the neck early on July 31, 2005, in the parking lot of the Leadbetters Mini Stop on Hammond Street in Bangor. The victim was treated at Eastern Maine Medical Center and released the next day.

Sexton was indicted by the Penobscot County grand jury for elevated aggravated assault in September 2005 and was on the lam until December 2005, when he was picked up on seven outstanding warrants for violating conditions of release.

In March 2006, he was convicted in Penobscot County Superior Court of elevated aggravated assault in connection with the stabbing and sentenced to prison for eight years, with all but two years suspended. He was placed on probation for two years after he left prison and was ordered to pay $3,213 in restitution.

He also was convicted of three counts of violating his conditions of release and ordered to prison for one year for each count, to run concurrently with the assault sentence.

Sexton was arrested again in Bangor and charged with drug possession in early 2008, apparently shortly after he was discharged from prison. He was sentenced for that offense in April 2008 in Penobscot County Superior Court to 90 days in jail and a $400 fine.

Daluz was arrested at gunpoint by Orono police officers on June 6, 2006, for stabbing a 30-year-old Swanville man at the Irving station in Orono. He was charged with aggravated assault and criminal threatening and in 2007 was sentenced to a year in prison for the crimes, the BDN listings state.

He also was arrested in March for illegal importation of scheduled drugs and sentenced to 90 days in jail and a fine of $400.

“We’re asking for the public’s help in locating these men,” Reid said.

Anyone with information about the whereabouts of Sexton or Daluz is asked to call the Bangor Police Department at 947-7382. The department’s anonymous tip line can be reached by pressing ext. 6.