Authorities continue to investigate a double homicide at a Biddeford apartment, and they said Thursday they have made steady progress, though no one has been charged.

“We have a pretty good idea of what transpired last Sunday evening,” said Deputy Attorney General William Stokes, head of the criminal division. The Attorney General’s Office prosecutes homicides and is working with Maine State Police detectives, who are investigating the circumstances of the shooting.

Police were called to 19 Western Ave. in response to a report about a shooting and found two men had been shot multiple times inside an apartment there. One of them had fallen on the grass outside as some of the people who were inside the building scattered.

Russell Lavoie, 42, of Old Orchard Beach, and Jeffrey Lude, 37, of Biddeford were killed. Neither men lived at the apartment.

Police have said the men had gone to the apartment for a purpose and that the shooting was not a random crime of violence.

Police have not said whether a gun was recovered, how many guns were used or whether they found evidence of criminal activity in the apartment.

Police initially were seeking two men and two women. After locating those people, police announced they were looking for two other men, Lance Palmer, 44, of Auburn and Christopher Dube, 28, of Dover, N.H., both of whom have extensive criminal histories. Police say both those men have also been interviewed.

No arrests have been made in the shooting, though Dube is being held in jail on a probation violation for allegedly failing to report to his probation officer and testing positive for drugs.


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