By Rick Wright

Staff Writer

Twenty five minutes. That’s how long it took a jury to convict Bruce Lavallee-Davidson of manslaughter in the death of South Portland resident Fred Wilson. The decision was handed down in Cumberland County Superior Court in Portland Wednesday afternoon.

Bruce Lavalle-Davidson, 50, was charged with killing Wilson April 18, 2009, in Wilson’s basement. Wilson, 50, lived at 25 Henry St. in South Portland’s Willard Beach neighborhood. 

Lavallee-Davidson will be sentenced by Justice Robert E. Crowley at 8:30 a.m., March 26. Following the verdict, Lavallee-Davidson was released on bail. His post-conviction bail will remain as previously set at $10,000 cash.

The trial lasted nearly three full days. The jury got the case about noon Wednesday. 

Lavallee-Davidson showed little emotion when he heard the verdict. He was soon led from the courtroom by his attorneys Mike Whipple and Tom Hallett.

Wilson’s sister, Kim Wilson, and Assistant Attorney General Lisa Marchese, said they were pleased by the verdict. Marchese prosecuted the case for the state. 

Kim Wilson said her brother got justice Wednesday and she would return to Maine from her home in California to make a victim’s statement at Lavallee-Davidson’s sentencing hearing.

“This case is not about who loaded that gun. This case is about whether or not it is criminally negligent to point a loaded gun at someone’s head.” 

That’s what Marchese told the Portland jury Monday during her opening argument in the manslaughter trial of Lavallee-Davidson.

Wilson was found dead in the basement of his home. 

“The cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head,” said Dr. Marguerite Dewitt, Maine deputy chief medical examiner.

Wilson was killed by a .44-caliber Smith & Wesson double-action revolver owned by the defendant. Lavallee-Davidson also brought a 12-gauge pump shotgun and a derringer to Wilson’s home the night of April 17.

“There’s no question this defendant shot Fred Wilson. There’s no question Fred Wilson is dead. Good common sense will tell you when a person shoots a gun at a person’s head twice, that is reckless conduct,” Marchese said.

“This is akin to an accident, an unplanned, unintentional accident,” defense attorney Mike Whipple told the jury of eight men and six women including, two alternates.

Whipple suggested Wilson loaded the gun when Lavallee-Davidson left the room. 

“Fred invited Bruce to place the firearm against his head. The gun was unloaded when he [Lavallee-Davidson] left the room. It was loaded when he [Lavalle-Davidson] returned,” Whipple said during opening arguments.

He said Wilson wanted to play roulette to intensify his pleasure while engaging in sex games with the defendant and a man named James Pombriant.

“The most important thing is not to punish Bruce simply because there was a death,” Whipple told the jury.

“The law presumes, as shall you, that Bruce is innocent. That is the highest standard of the law. It’s designed to protect all of us.” 

Marchese rested the state’s case against Lavallee-Davidson Tuesday afternoon after calling 10 witnesses, presenting evidence collected from the scene and playing a 90-minute video of Lavallee-Davidson meeting with police detectives one day after the shooting.

As Marchese’s case unfolded, the jury heard how three openly gay men, all with HIV, met in the “dungeon” of Wilson’s basement to take drugs, engage in sex games and play with guns from Friday night to early Saturday morning last April.

“The point of that get-together was for sex play and drugs. Guns and drugs can be a very lethal combination,” Marchese told the jury.

The men took a variety of drugs including marijuana; inhaled a product called Maximum Impact, which they doused on cloths and put in their mouths and over their noses, causing a high lasting 15 to 20 seconds; and a chemical called GBL, an industrial wheel cleaner they mixed with orange  juice and Gatorade. 

Marchese’s witnesses included police detectives, a medical examiner, forensic scientists, Wilson’s sister, Kim Wilson, and Pombriant – her star witness.

Pombriant, 65, of Auburn, described how all three men were engaged in a sex act as he was in a sling facing away from the other two men near dawn Saturday, April 18, when the gun was fired. “All of a sudden, I saw the gun go off. I saw a flash of light from left to right,” Pombriant said.

At first, he thought it was joke being played on him by Wilson and the accused, he said.

“I thought they cooked this up,” Pombriant said. “It blew my mind. It freaked me out.”

Then, he heard Lavallee-Davidson say, “I think I killed him. Dude, I think I killed him.”

“At that moment, I knew it was real,” Pombriant said.

“I told Bruce it needed to be reported as an accident but Bruce was not ready to accept that,” Pombriant said. Around 5:45 a.m., he said he drove home without calling the police and Lavallee-Davidson also left the scene without notifying the authorities.

The two communicated several times that day said Pombriant, including an Internet chat early in the afternoon when Lavallee-Davidson suggested they tell the police Wilson committed suicide.

“I said that would not be supported by the evidence. I could not and would not support that it was suicide by Fred. I said I would support the truth – it was an accident,” Pombriant told the court.

Shortly after 7 p.m., Pombriant called the South Portland Police Department to report an accidental shooting had occurred that morning. Later that evening, he met with detectives in South Portland.

Lavallee-Davidson met with detectives at the South Portland Police Department early the next morning, Sunday, April 19. In a video of that meeting, the defendant said Wilson asked him if he wanted to play roulette. Lavallee-Davidson admitted to pulling the trigger twice before the gun discharged.

The defendant also insisted in the video he unloaded the gun before falling asleep sometime during the night. 

“I think the gun got loaded while I was asleep,” he said.

Rick Wright can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 237 or news@inthesentry.com.