BANGOR, Maine — A second man pleaded not guilty Monday at the Penobscot Judicial Center to slaying three people this summer, then setting them ablaze in a rental car in what police have called a grisly, drug-related triple homicide.

Superior Court Justice E. Allen Hunter ordered that Nicholas J. Sexton, 31, of Warwick, R.I., be held without bail at the Penobscot County Jail until a bail hearing can be scheduled.

Sexton appeared in a second-floor courtroom dressed in a red jail-issued jumpsuit. His feet were shackled. Sexton’s wrists were handcuffed and secured to a chain around his waist.

The red outfit indicated he is being held in the maximum security section of the jail.

Hunter filled in Monday for Superior Court Justice William Anderson, who has been assigned to preside over the case.

Sexton and Randall “Ricky” Daluz, 34, of Brockton, Mass., are charged in connection with the deaths of Daniel T. Borders, 26, of Hermon; Nicolle A. Lugdon, 24, of Eddington; and Lucas A. Tuscano, 28, of Bradford on Aug. 13 in Bangor.

Daluz and Sexton were indicted in September by a Penobscot County grand jury on three counts each of intentional or knowing murder and one count each of arson.

The judge asked Sexton how he pleaded to all charges.

“Not guilty,” said the defendant, flanked by his court-appointed attorneys, Jeffrey Toothaker of Ellsworth and David Bate of Bangor.

Hunter said he would leave it up to Anderson to schedule a bail hearing. Toothaker did not object to continuing the hearing, but said that Sexton most likely would be unable to make the high bail typically set in murder cases.

Relatives of the victims attended Monday’s brief hearing but declined to be interviewed by reporters.

A trial date has not been set. The Maine attorney general’s office, which is prosecuting the cases, has asked that the two men be tried together. The judge has not issued his decision on that motion.

Sexton’s attorneys and Jeffrey Silverstein, who represents Daluz, have said they would oppose a motion for a joint trial.

“We would be opposed to a dual trial,” Bate said Monday at an impromptu press conference outside the courthouse. “We are in the very early stages of this case. We have not received one single police report.”

Bate declined to discuss Sexton’s state of mind.

Assistant Attorney General Leane Zainea handled Monday’s hearing for her colleagues Andrew Benson and Lisa Marchese, who have been assigned to prosecute the case. Because she is not prosecuting Sexton and Daluz, Zainea declined to be interviewed about the case.

Sexton was arrested at gunpoint on Oct. 4 in Brockton, Mass., and initially said he would fight extradition but waived his rights in Brockton District Court on Wednesday, according to a previous report. He was returned to Maine on Thursday by two Bangor police detectives and has been held at Penobscot County Jail since then.

Daluz denied his role in the killings when he pleaded not guilty Oct. 4 to the charges against him at the Penobscot Judicial Center. He was denied bail by Anderson.

When arrested on Oct. 2 in New Bedford, Mass., Daluz told police there that he didn’t kill anyone and blamed Sexton for pulling the trigger on Borders, Lugdon and Tuscano, according to a previous report.

A bail hearing for Daluz has not been scheduled.

Bangor police Detective Paul Kenison declined Monday to say whether Sexton had spoken with investigators in Massachusetts or Maine about the killings.

“It is a good feeling to have both suspects back in Maine and in custody,” he told reporters outside the courtroom.

The three victims died of gunshot wounds, police have said, and their charred bodies were found by firefighters on Aug. 13 inside a white Pontiac sedan, rented by Sexton, that had been set ablaze in the back parking lot of Automatic Distributors at 22 Target Industrial Circle, according to a previous report.

BDN writer Nok-Noi Ricker contributed to this report.

Join the Conversation

159 Comments

  1. Pleading Not Guilty is standard operating procedure. Unless there is a plea bargain, this is how it is.

    1. The death penalty has proved time and time again it is no deterrent to crime.
      I’m happy we don’t have the DP here, it’s too expensive and I don’t believe in exterminations.

      1. Really? doesn’t deter crime?
        so, explain that to the families of the victims of convicted murderers that were released from prison, who then murdered again.

        here’s some examples:

        http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16095797/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/t/released-kill-again/#.UJfi2rHO1y0

        http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/may/02/man-jailed-life-killing-again

        http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/7147662/Killers-freed-to-kill-again.html

        there’s countless more, 
        so keep believing that it doesn’t deter crime, but you’re horribly wrong.

        1. I can post just as many and more links to support my argument that is doesn’t.
          Killing people is wrong in general.

          1. You must be a liberal

            “killing people is wrong”
            ya don’t say?
            when people do break the law, they get punished. the punishment for murder should be death.

          2. So, I have a question, 
            In the particular instances i posted above, would the death penalty have saved innocent lives?

          3. Seems to me if you fry the one doing the killing, that’s one less to worry about once he’s back on the streets again; plus the millions spent by taxpayers housing these animals……………….

          4. so, keep an innocent guy in prison for 80 years until he dies there?

            and you have yet to respond to my question:

            “In the particular instances i posted above, would the death penalty have saved innocent lives?”

          5. you still didn’t answer my question.

            “In the particular instances i posted above, would the death penalty have saved innocent lives?”

            crickets…

          6. Yeah, in those specific instances (two of which are from UK sources, which is hardly relevant to Maine and Mr.Sexton), you are right. But, they are dead anyway. Humans exist to die. You really aren’t saving anyone from anything.

            Violence begets violence. Cultures around the world with the harshest laws are also the most violent. Case in point middle east and Muslim countries. Pretty harsh and strict and pretty violent. Norway has some of the lowest crime rates in the world. 21 years is the max sentence for any crime, including terrorism and mass murder. Using your logic, Norway should be super violent. There should be mass killing daily. There are not. They are one of the most well to do, peaceful countries on the planet.

            You don’t teach lessons in violence by being violent, pal.

            Typical American, addicted to blood and guts. Lets kill the killers, and become killers ourselves, but lets delude ourselves into thinking that the lives we take are justified because they are the lives of “bad” people. Well, those “bad” people thought they were taking the lives of someone “bad” too. Funny thing about morals…

          7. then you can house the criminal murderers at your place when they serve their time or get out on parole.

          8. If you are so determined that this guy is worthy of living; why don’t you go to court and advocate for this guy………………  Maybe in the interest of saving the State the millions to house him, you could volunteer to keep him at your home……………… 

      1. Both of these guys have already done time in the Maine State Prison and survived.  Triple homocides on their crime resume along with their previous convictions for stabbing people will put them high in the pecking order of misfits in there.  They will do just fine living out their life sentences on our tax dollars.

    2. Other than getting even and possibly killing the wrong person now and then, what good would it do?  Maine instituted the death penalty at the time of statehood, and within a decade it had become the subject of serious debate, as it had in other states where  humane social and legal reforms had become regular fare. Very few hangings occurred because of the growing disgust with the practice, and in many cases, juries and judges settled on lesser punishment rather than kill.  Governors were not allowed to give assent for at least a year, and when able often chose to commute sentences  or refused to sign death warrants, rather then let the hangings happen. Between statehood and the Civil War, only three were hanged, one in 1833 and in 1858 when two mutinous sailors were hanged on decree by the federal government. Also, over the years, laws were passed extending the appeal periods for capital sentences, and the time in prison before execution was lengthened. By 1874, the Republican-led legislature abolished the death penalty, but when prison managers began to complain about the number of life-time prisoners – even though murder convictions declined after abolition – the legislature reinstated the death penalty in 1883, only to abolish it again in 1887. Since then, it has never gotten much support, as it was never that effective in preventing murder, reforming the guilty or bringing back the victims. Since then, it seems only to have an appeal for those who would gain revenge for one outrage by committing another. 

      1. with technology today, dna evidence, and the incredible advancements in foresics, there is no reason to think that a convicted murderer is innocent.

          1. in one of my posts below i cited actual articles about violent murderers that served time in prison, then were released, then killed again.

            IF the death penalty was still in effect, then the second round of victims would still be alive.
            do you deny that?
            if not, then you admit that by executing murderers you stop future murders from happening.

          2. 1 article, written by liberals, as opposed to the multiple studies and examples as to why the death penalty works.
            grasping at straws much?

          3. I read the articles. 
            interesting, but times have changed.

            the advancements in forensic analysis and technology has made it better than ever before to solve crimes and convict criminals.
            I would highly doubt any guilty conviction to be false in todays age of technology.

            the “executions” mentioned in your antique articles were from crimes in the 70’s, 80’s, and early 90’s.
            the system has come leaps and bounds.
            bring back the death penalty. 
            protect the innocent.

          1. “with technology today, dna evidence, and the incredible advancements in foresics, ”

            where in there did I state “witnesses” ?

            witnesses are by far the least reliable sort of evidence in any trial.
            hence, dna, technology, forensic advancements.

          2. That you did not say . You are implying all convicted murders are Guilty . I would say most never say all . It would be easy to fake some evidence DNA etc. I agree with your basic point . Just saying the real world is not a show of CSI.  

          3.  So with all the advancements today, why do innocent people still get convicted on a regular basis?

            Or do you think EVERY person that gets convicted is actually guilty?

    3. There is no convincing evidence that the death penalty works. 

      >In the last 5 years five states have eliminated it and more are considering the possibility of removing it.

      >Capital punishment is based in antiquity, along with slavery and other barbaric practices. 
      Executions do not belong in civilized society.

      >It is arbitrary and irrevocable.
       A person who is sentenced to death cannot benefit from new evidence that may prove his/her innocence or new laws that may grant a reversal or setting aside of the sentence.

      >The death penalty is a violation of our constitutional guarantee of equal protection.

      It is most often imposed when the victim of the crime is white, onto those offenders of ‘color’, poor and uneducated, or reside in certain areas of the country.

      (red states)

      >The death penalty wastes resources.

      Use the funds to curb crime not to prosecute, incarcerate and kill people.

      > It’s simply not a form of control.
       

      Curbing crime, longer sentences for violent crimes and more officers out on patrol are the best ways of curbing crime, not the death penalty.

      1. common misconceptions and false arguments against the death penalty.

        the cold truth is that the death penalty saves lives.
        and it also punishes those who deserve it.

          1. big deal, there have been far more innocent people killed by murderers who re-offend than by capital punishment after conviction.

        1.  Has the fear of the death penalty ever kept you from killing someone when you were in a death-penalty state?

          People know they can go to jail for the rest of their life for committing murder. Yet we still have murders.

          In short, people that will kill someone do not take stock of the legal consequences before they actually kill someone.

  2. Of course he’s not quilty; he’s a victim of his childhood. Probably his mother made him sit at the kitchen table until he ate his carrots. Pure and simple child abuse in my book………………

      1. i dont think so. some mothers are good mothers . you cant always blame the parents. it is the person themselves that do it 

    1. i dont think so. he made the choice. he was probably a decent kid at one time. under peer pressure that is when he made the choice. the friends he had 

    2. Obviously you know nothing of abuse and chose to express yourself in such a way that it is implying people aren’t a product of their early lives.
      Our formative years do indeed “make us” what we become in many instances.

      1. everyone has choices in life.
        you can choose to assume to be a “product of your up bringing” or to be a productive, independent member of society.

        1. True enough, though the part of the brain making the choice can cut the options in a hurry.The “fight or flight” response poured on by the piece of hardwire known as the reptile brain when things get nasty is often the first, sometimes the last, bit of “thinking.” We know little of what actually happened among the people involved in this case, but it’s fair to guess it didn’t trigger cool, rational, decision-making on anyone’s part. 

    3. Despite your sarcasm, isn’t it possible both were seriously damaged earlier on. In no way, though, does let them off the hook if they are found guilty as charged. Finding an explanation of what makes them tick isn’t the same as finding an excuse, but, added to the research, it might help build a better system for early intervention. Maybe not, but trying is better than simply getting even a la the Old Testament isn’t it? 

      1. Let’s just say a pitbull attacks and kills a person, 

        do you care what caused a dog to attack the person?no.
        you eliminate the dog, so that it doesn’t happen again

        same thing here.
        and these cowards are the same as dogs. animals.
        execute them.

        1.  If you never try and understand WHY people do bad things, you can never PREVENT them from doing those things.

          You yourself are advocating the death penalty as a way to modify people’s behaviors before they do something. Yet your last comment indicates you don’t really care about cause and effect.

          You can’t have it both ways, homie.

          1. I don’t need to understand WHY people do bad things.
            criminals need to understand that there are consequences to actions.
            the consequence for murder should be execution.

          2. Exactly you have no need to understand therefore you advocate killing.
            If you don’t have the why to a problem you will always have the problem.

          3. you seem to love criminals so much,
            I think that you should house convicted murderers at your house after they are paroled or do their time.
            sounds good?

          4. There is no parole in this state, chief. Hasnt been for decades. I thought someone who is clearly as knowledgeable as you would know this.

            I said previously that “you dont teach people lessons in violence by being violent” and you told me to do the same thing, put them up in my house. How does suggesting that killing people might not be the way to teach people to not kill equate to letting these people live with you? Stretching it a bit, aren’t you? Just because some of us don’t agree with your “The reason doesn’t matter, ignorance is bliss, kill them all” policy doesn’t mean we’d put them up. Its not even close to the same. At all. Not one bit.

            You seem to love the idea of killing people so much,
            I think you should finance and handle the executions in your house and you then can dispose of the corpses on your property.

            Suffering is a punishment worse than Death. Keep them in a box eating crap food for the rest of their lives. They are going to die anyway. Why speed it up?

            And before you accuse me of being a soft liberal or some garbage, consider this; the true nature of Sadism:

            My girl asked me real nicely to beat her once. I said no.

      2. Of course they were damaged; it doesn’t take a brain surgeon to figure that out………………  But they have proven by their actions that they have depraved indifference to the value of human life; therefore responsible for their actions and shouldn’t be allowed to function in society……………  Making excuses for the reasons people do things wrong is not an excuse; it’s a copout……………

  3. Boy, that would stir up controversy, wouldn’t it…………. I bet the tree huggers would even be against  that.  They are opposed to killing trees; so imagine their outrage over the death penalty.

    Sorry about the foul-up… This was supposed to be a reply to AncientLegacy……………

    1. Your foul-up also includes the assumption that “tree huggers” oppose the death penalty.

      There are plenty of hunters and outdoorsmen and hikers and campers etc who would favor saving environment and who would also support exterminating these two if they are found guilty.

      1. perhaps he meant liberals and hippies in general.
        all stereotypes are based in truth.

        and from the “feel good” liberals and hippies that i’ve had the unpleasant opportunity to converse with, they oppose the death penalty, stating that everyone has the right to life, even murderers.

          1. Crickets.

            I can’t say I don’t blame you for not responding though it would be interesting to hear your explanation.

          2. I don’t think i need to explain stereotypes to you, i’m hoping you’re intelligent enough to understand what they mean.
            And hopefully you understand that they are based in truth, which is why they exist to begin with.

          3. I think stereotypes are based in fear and ignorance, but now that I’ve replied this way, you’ll label me a liberal, and so convince yourself of your superior worth and intelligence.  You are simply a bigot.

        1. All? Really? 

          I’m mostly liberal – and yet I would LOVE to see these to meet the death penalty. Huh. 

          There goes your broad, inaccurate assumption. 

    2. Hey! I am a tree hugger and guess why I like trees? To hang stupid idiots like this guy and his friend. Don’t assume all tree huggers are against abortion and against the death penalty.

  4. Rarely do I judge someone who has been accused, but I look into the eyes of this punk and all I see is pure evil. I sickens me that we have to waste taxpayer money on him.

    1. It may sicken some, but it makes perfect sense to me. Who, other than the citizenry  should pay the for public prosecutor, the judge, jury costs and court related expenses and, if need be, the defense of the accused? We should delight in our willingness to put up what’s necessary to see they get a fair trial and, if the state makes the case as it should, a conviction.  

      1. Our right to a fair trial no matter the charge is precious.
        If you ever find yourself on the other end (I know this can’t happen to those who read here) you will be glad you have that right.

    2.  Pure evil? I wonder if you’d see the same thing if you didn’t suspect he had murdered 3 people.

      Personally, I look at him an I see a mug. A dull mug who has no idea what he is doing. Look at how he bobs and shuffles across the floor.  I don’t see evil in his eyes (firstly cant really see them that well period). They are just the eyes of some guy. He isn’t special.

      I love it how people around here call murderers and rather violent people punks… pretty comical, always gives me a good laugh. What do you do, tough guy? Run the mob?

    1.  Hell? I assume you think he is evil. I assume you think the Christian Devil is evil. Thus, Sexton will be enjoying hell, as, its completely nonsensical to believe the evil devil would punish evil men.

  5. Let’s just hope they go to trial soon so the family and friends of the victims can see justice. My heart goes out to all effected by this tragedy.

          1. Life imprisonment.  Any further contact with you would simply be a pissing contest here, and I’m not into that.

          2. just another guy against the death penalty… bet you would feel differently if it was your daughter in the vehicle

  6. Welcome back to Maine gentlemen.  FYI: Life in prison for murder actually means life….no parole, no getting out early for time served or good behavior, no early release for overcrowding….in Maine life means life.

        1.  Oh, maybe, maybe not!

          The court systems love to run sentences concurrently.  Don’t know if they can do that with a murder rap, though.

    1. Doubt he will walk but I can’t see the evil eye thing. I have read similar comments so others do I just can’t see it. If he did the crime I hope he does the time.

        1. advocating benevolence for murderers is disgusting.
          they don’t deserve to take another breathe of life for the crimes they committed.

          1. Would you be happy to be the one raping them as a way to punish them? After all, they deserve it, and it would be nothing more than a way to a punish them.

          2. really, so you’re advocating “redemption”
            how about these examples:

            —————————————————————————-
            John McRae — Michigan/Florida.
            Life for murder of 8-year-old boy. Pedophile. Paroled 1971. Convicted of another murder of a boy after parole, in Michigan 1998. Charges pending on 2 other counts in Florida.

            —————————————
            John Miller — California.
            Killed an infant 1957, convicted of murder, 1958. Paroled 1975. Killed his parents 1975. Life term 1975.

             —————————————
            Michael Lawrence — Florida.
            Killed robbery victim. Life term, 1976. Paroled 1985. Killed robbery victim. Condemned 1990.

             —————————————
            Donald Dillbeck — Florida.
            Killed policeman in 1979. Escaped from prison in 1990, kidnapped and killed female motorist after escape. Condemned 1991.

            —————————————
            Edward Kennedy — Florida.
            Killed motel clerk. Sentenced to Life. Escaped 1981. Killed policeman and male civilian after prison break. Executed 1992.

            —————————————
            Dawud Mu’Min — Virginia.
            Killed cab driver in holdup. Sentenced 1973. Escaped 1988. Raped/killed woman 1988. Condemned 1989. Executed 1997.

            —————————————
            Viva Nash — Utah/Arizona.
            Two terms of life for murder in Utah, 1978. Escaped in 1982. Murdered again. Condemned in Arizona, 1983.

            —————————————
            Randy Greenawalt — Escaped from Prison in 1978, while serving a life sentence for a 1974 murder. He then murdered a family of 4 people, shotgunning them to death, including a toddler.

             —————————————
            Norman Parker — Florida/D.C.
            Life term in Florida for murder, 1966. Escaped 1978. Life on another count of murder in 1979.

            —————————————
            Winford Stokes — Missouri.
            Ruled insane on two counts of murder 1969. Escaped from asylum, 1978. Murdered again. Executed for this murder, 1990.

            —————————————
            Charles Crawford — Missouri.
            Life term in 1965 for murder. Paroled 1990. Convicted of murder again in 1994.

             —————————————
            Jack Ferrell — Florida.
            Committed Murder 1981. 15 years to life, 1982. Paroled 1987. Murdered again 1992. Condemned 1993.

            —————————————
            Timothy Buss — Murdered five-year-old girl. Sentenced to 25 years in 1981. Paroled 1993. Murdered 10-year-old boy. Condemned 1996.

             —————————————
            Martsay Bolder — Missouri.
            Serving a sentence of life for first-degree murder in 1973. Murdered prison cellmate 1979.
             —————————————
            Henry Brisbon, Illinois.
            Murdered 2 in robbery. Sentenced to 1000- 3000 years. Killed inmate in prison 1982. Sentenced to DP. Commuted by Governor Ryan.

             —————————————
            Randolph Dial — Oklahoma.
            Life for murder 1986. Escaped from prison with deputy warden’s wife as kidnap victim. 1989. Still at large. Warden’s wife never found. 

            —————————————
            Arthur J. Bomar, Jr. — released from prison in Nevada on parole in 1990. Bomar had served 11 years of a murder sentence for killing a man over an argument about a parking space. Six years later in Pennsylvania, Bomar brutally kidnapped, raped and murdered George Mason University star athlete Aimee Willard. 

            ———————————————————————————————

            no answer me this, 
            if these monsters had been put to death after their first conviction, their second victims would still be alive.
            what do you say about this?
            what would you tell the victims families?
            “they can be better, they just need to spend more time in prison”

            ??
            your foolish liberal logic is astoundingly idiotic.

  7. Is it just me or do these killers all seem to have lifeless eyes?? By lifeless I am meaning to say that there is no humanity left to them. How can anyone let themselves go away from their own humanity so very far??

  8. Welcome back to Maine coward.  Hope you enjoy your time.  Came here on vacation — stayed for the duration.

  9. I clicked on the video and yes, the eyes do get to you. Only problem it was the eyes of Angus King doing an ad. I hope they try these two together and see how their attorneys fight it out. Then hang them both.

    1. It’s called due process. If you ever find yourself in need of it, you will be grateful you have the right to it.

    2. Well all of there money is cash and not claimed as income so it would appear that they are poor and will be receiving free legal counsel compliments of us……

  10. What makes me afraid of that article if read it closely 9.9% raped by inmates not counting staff the rate is 5.9%  ?? so 4% are raped by staff?? Seems like many more inmates than staff . I guess ones odds are that any one inmate is less likely to rape you than any one staff member??? Who are the real criminals?  If I read that wrong please tell me . 

  11. If they even get convicted, they will probably get a slap on the hand and only 5 years or so. Like Barton up North that killed Nathan York, he will have his own life back in 5, but Nate is gone. There are to0 many CROOKED lawyers looking to make a buck and protect the guilty.

  12. The best part of this story is the headline that was right next to this story on the front page of BDN a few days ago. Prison rape in Maine is twice the national average. Welcome to Maine, boys.

    1. how about throw away the key permanently or execute them.
      they should never be able to be out of prison alive.

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *