Fatal sex game leads to trial

Portland, Maine – A gun collector who introduced several weapons into sex play with two other men contends they were to fulfill a sexual fantasy. Instead, the combination of drugs, extreme sex and Russian roulette led to a manslaughter trial.
Both the defense and prosecutors say there was no intent to kill. But prosecutors say Bruce Lavallee-Davidson, 50, was responsible for ensuring his gun wasn’t loaded.
“You never point a loaded gun at someone’s head,” Assistant Attorney General Lisa Marchese said after resting her case Tuesday. “You don’t point a gun and pull the trigger unless you’re 100 percent sure.”
Fred Wilson, 50, was shot after the three men had been smoking pot, drinking beer, huffing aerosol inhalants and having sex during a 12-hour period in the basement of Wilson’s home.
The third man, James Pombriant, 65, says he thought the others were playing a sick joke when he saw the flash of a handgun early on April 18, 2009.
Pombriant, who was engaged in a sex act with the victim when the shot rang out, says there was a moment of silence before Lavallee-Davidson said, “I think I killed him.”
One of his lawyers, Mike Whipple, said his client checked three times during the course of the night to make sure the revolver wasn’t loaded.
Wilson asked Lavallee-Davidson to put the gun to his head and pull the trigger to intensify his pleasure, the defense contends. After only hearing a click the first time, Wilson asked him to do it again, and there was a flash, the defense says.
After the shooting, Pombriant and Lavallee-Davidson left Wilson’s body behind in the home during the course of the day before Pombriant called police that night. Police recovered the handgun used in the killing and a shotgun Lavallee-Davidson had taken to Wilson’s home.
The legal definition of manslaughter is to cause death through recklessness or criminal negligence. Manslaughter carries a penalty of up 30 years in prison.