Suspect in triple homicide blames accomplice for deaths, says he’s ‘afraid of him’

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — One of two men accused of shooting to death three Bangor-area residents in August told police after his arrest in New Bedford on Tuesday that he didn’t kill anybody but that the other man did.

Randall “Ricky” Daluz, 34, of Brockton, Mass., waived extradition in court Wednesday and was returned to Maine to face three counts of murder and an arson charge, Bangor police Sgt. Paul Edwards said. Escorted by Bangor police detectives, he arrived at the Penobscot County Jail shortly before 7 p.m.

The manhunt continues for Nicholas J. Sexton, 31, of Warwick, R.I., who along with Daluz has been charged with three counts of knowing or intentional murder and one count of arson in the slayings of Daniel T. Borders, 26, of Hermon; Nicolle A. Lugdon, 24, of Eddington; and Lucas A. Tuscano, 28, of Bradford on Aug. 13. The victims’ charred bodies were found inside a car that had been set ablaze in the back parking lot of a Bangor business.

Daluz was arrested about 1 p.m. Tuesday in New Bedford by detectives acting on a tip from a nearby police department, New Bedford police Detective Capt. Steven Vicente said in a telephone interview Wednesday.

After police placed Daluz in an unmarked cruiser to take him to New Bedford police headquarters, he started talking about Sexton, according to Sgt. Dean Fredericks of New Bedford Police Department.

“While en route, Daluz began talking spontaneously and told me, ‘I’m lucky to be alive, and … if he didn’t run out of bullets I’d be dead too,’” Fredericks said in court documents released Wednesday.

“I didn’t kill anybody. Nick did it, not me,” Daluz told the sergeant. “I’m afraid of him and I’m afraid he’s going to go after my family,” he added.

Fall River police first learned of Daluz’s whereabouts from an informant, according to Fredericks.

The informant said Daluz was “hiding from police” at the Reed Street residence of a mutual friend. The informant later led police to the apartment after calling the mutual friend and arranging for Daluz to come outside and lie on the sidewalk to wait for police, according to documents filed in New Bedford District Court.

“We received information from the Fall River Police Department — it’s about 20 minutes away — that he was at 319 Reed St. here in the city,” Vicente said. “Through contacting friends of his, we made arrangements for him to surrender. When we went to the house, we found him prone on the ground. He was in the prone position, giving himself up.”

Daluz told the informant earlier in the day that he wanted to commit suicide by cop, according to police.

“Daluz made mention to the [informant] he was thinking of doing something to make the cops have to kill him,” Fredericks said.

When police arrived, they found Daluz lying on the ground as the informant had arranged.

Daluz did not have any weapons or drugs on him and Bangor police immediately were notified of the arrest, Vicente said.

Daluz told Fredericks that Sexton and his brother were involved in the 2005 Brockton, Mass., shooting death of a man who allegedly molested Sexton’s brother’s child, according to court records.

“The murder that he did with his brother was killing a molester, but [the Bangor homicides] were just over f—-ing money, and that’s f—-ed up,” Daluz was quoted as saying.

The New Bedford police sergeant said he didn’t ask Daluz any questions during the drive, and that Daluz initiated the conversation, saying he wanted to “lay it all out, and tell the truth about what happened.”

Daluz told the sergeant he wanted to talk to “the feds” about the case and that he would seek “a deal” and be willing to testify.

When Daluz arrived at police headquarters around 2:10 p.m. Tuesday, he was brought into an office where he waited for Bangor police investigators, who arrived several hours later.

Bangor police Detectives David Bushey and Joel Nadeau made the trip to New Bedford, Edwards said. They interviewed Daluz from 9:50 p.m. Tuesday to 1:50 a.m. Wednesday.

While Daluz, who is nicknamed “Money,” waited, he was given peanut butter crackers, several cups of water, a small cheese pizza and several cigarettes. He also was allowed to meet with his sister and make “dozens of phone calls,” Fredericks said.

He never asked to speak with an attorney, but “was eager to speak with investigators,” according to New Bedford police.

“Daluz was cooperative with [the] detectives and was interviewed for several hours,” Edwards said.

Because of his earlier alleged suicide threat, police took Daluz to the New Bedford Crisis Center for evaluation of his mental state after the interview ended, Fredericks said.

“Daluz made no threats of suicide while in custody and has no known history of attempting suicide,” the sergeant added.

Daluz appeared in New Bedford District Court on Wednesday on a fugitive-from-justice warrant from the state of Maine.

In an affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Bangor, James P. Herbert, a special agent with the FBI, said he has been assisting Nadeau and Bushey in the investigation.

“According to Detective Nadeau, he and other detectives have interviewed witnesses who place Randall ‘Ricky’ Daluz in Bangor and the greater Bangor area on August 12 and 13, 2012,” Herbert wrote. “This information is corroborated by cell phone records that have been obtained in connection with the investigation.”

Herbert said that beginning on Aug. 14, Bangor police detectives tried to locate Daluz. They learned that he had a girlfriend in Taunton, Mass., and went to her apartment on Aug. 18 and again on Sept. 2. They did not find Daluz there on either occasion, according to Herbert.

Daluz is expected to be arraigned Thursday at the Penobscot Judicial Center in Bangor, but the hearing could be scheduled for Friday.

“We’re waiting to hear from the court [about the time of the arraignment],” Assistant Attorney General William Stokes, head of the criminal division in the Maine attorney general’s office, said Wednesday afternoon.

Superior Court Justice William Anderson has been assigned to the case, Stokes said.

The triple homicide is drug-related, and police believe Sexton is armed and dangerous, Bangor police Lt. Tim Reid said earlier this week.

Sexton and Daluz were secretly indicted by the Penobscot County grand jury Sept. 26, after which fugitive-from-justice warrants for them were issued. The impounded murder charges and the warrant were unsealed Monday at the request of Stokes.

Sexton is described as a white male, 5 feet 10 inches tall, weighing 180 pounds, with blond or brown hair and blue eyes.

Bangor Mayor Cary Weston on Wednesday praised “the focus, commitment and professionalism” the Bangor Police Department has displayed in the case.

“The swift action and follow-through not only helps to bring closure to the families and friends of the victims but for the community as a whole,” he said in a statement.