Sorry guys,but I have no actual newslink to this story.But I live in the Lowell area,and read this in the Lowell sun.Im sure it will officially be reported sometime today.For now,you will have to take my word on it.Anyways,Micky Wards half-brother and former trainer Dicky Ecklund is currently being questioned in the beating death of a man outside a local Lowell area bar called Captain Jacks.He was arrested on an unrelated assault charge and questioned in the aforementioned beating.He has been released,but this is serious stuff.Sorry that is all I know.If anyone can find a link it would be appreciated.
Does anyone have the HBO Undercover episode they did with Ecklund several years ago? I remember watching it and that it was pretty good. If anyone has it, PM me.
You're kidding me...you never got the one I sent you?? I sent it twice!
Does anyone have the HBO Undercover episode they did with Ecklund several years ago? I remember watching it and that it was pretty good. If anyone has it, PM me.
OK NOW, :confused: DID SOMEONE CALL FOR A NINJA ?.....Article Launched: 05/23/2006 11:38:47 AM EDT
Former pro boxer is questioned in suspicious death
By JACK MINCH and ROBERT MILLS, Sun Staff
LOWELL -- Former standout boxer Dicky Eklund is among several people who were questioned Sunday about the apparent beating death of 28-year-old Dennis Bilodeau, who was found unconscious outside a Cupples Square bar early Saturday, police said.
Police Superintendent Edward Davis would not say why Eklund was questioned, but confirmed that Eklund was among those investigators have talked to.
"I would say he may be a witness, he may be a suspect," Davis said. "We'll let the grand jury figure it out."
Eklund was arrested Sunday at his Wilder Street home for an unrelated warrant charging domestic assault and battery, and detectives decided to question him about the killing a couple of hours later, Davis said.
After being questioned, Eklund was released on bail connected to the domestic-assault charge.
Nobody has been arrested in connection with the killing.
A police source said investigators know there were several people outside the bar at the time the incident occurred, and that detectives would like to talk to anyone who saw what happened.
Eklund is the brother and former trainer of retired champion boxer Micky Ward of Lowell. Eklund currently trains other boxers in the city.
A former professional welterweight, Eklund lost a 10-round decision to Sugar Ray Leonard on July 18, 1978.
Last summer, Ward sued movie production company Scout Productions, claiming Eklund had helped mislead him into signing a contract with that company for his life story.
Ward later reached an out-of-court settlement with the production company, but the terms of that settlement were confidential.
The medical examiner's office is expected to perform an autopsy on Bilodeau today, said District Attorney Martha Coakley's spokesman Melissa Sherman.
Nick Kozombolis, who owns Captain John's, the Cupples Square bar where Bilodeau was found, said he left Bilodeau on the sidewalk smoking a cigarette about 1:10 a.m., and returned a few minutes later to find him lying in the street unconscious, suffering from severe wounds to his head.
A medical helicopter flew Bilodeau to Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston,
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where he later died.
A woman who answered the telephone at the address where Bilodeau's father is listed as living declined to talk about the incident last night.
Jason Greska, a Chelmsford native who was a close friend of Bilodeau said the news of his friend's death was heartbreaking.
Greska moved to Virginia with his wife several years ago and has not seen Bilodeau lately, but he said Bilodeau was always friendly, willing to do anything for a friend, and not a guy who had ever been into fighting.
"Dennis was not the kind of guy to start a fight, I can tell you that," Greska said. "If someone was gonnna start with him, he just wouldn't be into it."
Greska said he and Bilodeau spent a lot of time working on cars, Greska due to his interest in the mechanical aspects of the work, and Bilodeau because of interest in auto-body work.
"We were always working on cars together and breaking stuff, trying to make our cars go faster -- typical teenage stuff," Greska said. "He's always been into cars. That was one thing we had in common."
Greska said he and his wife have been praying for Bilodeau's family and may travel back to Lowell to attend funeral services once they are announced.
Bilodeau's death was the fifth killing in the city this year and the third in two weeks.
Police are asking anyone with information on the case to call them at (978) 937-3242, or to call Crimestoppers at (978) 459-TIPS (8477). Callers to Crimestoppers may remain anonymous, and can still receive up to $1,000 for information leading to an arrest.
Jack Minch's e-mail address is jminch@lowellsun.com. Robert Mills' e-mail address is rmills@lowellsun.com.
:confused: DID SOMEONE CALL A NINJA ? .......Article Launched: 05/24/2006 11:32:10 AM EDT
Arrest in '94 killing gives Lowell family hope
By ROBERT MILLS, Sun Staff
LOWELL -- Mark Jones looked around the Shaughnessy Terrace housing project and wanted something better for his life. He thought drugs were the way to get there.
They weren't. The 21-year-old was shot twice in the head and left to die behind a snowbank on March 18, 1994.
Many in Lowell wrote the murder off as the end of a violent criminal. It went unsolved for 12 years while a brother and sister pushed for justice, and a mother patiently waited for God's will.
That mother, Mandy Jones, finally got what she was waiting for yesterday.
That's when Nolyn Surprenant, 30, of Methuen, walked into the Lowell police station and turned himself in on a warrant charging accessory before the fact of murder -- the murder of Mark Jones.
The warrant was obtained just hours earlier.
Tyler Jones and Meekelia Walker, Mark's siblings, broke into tears when they got the news.
Capt. Robert DeMoura said the siblings prompted a new look at the case when they met with him a year ago.
A break in the case came several months ago when a new witness came forward, though DeMoura would not say more.
Police accuse Surprenant of knowingly driving Jones' killer to 1910 Skyline Drive, where Jones was found dying hours after the shooting.
That killer is in police cross-hairs, though neither DeMoura nor District Attorney Martha Coakley's office would identify him. He's behind bars in California, awaiting trial on other charges.
"We know who the shooter is and we know what happened that night," DeMoura said. "He's not out on the street."
The case against that man is active, and could be taken to a grand jury.
Mandy Jones moved here from Virginia when her boys and two girls were just kids, escaping an abusive ex-husband, Tyler Jones said.
Mark was intelligent and athletic, enjoying basketball and football. He protected his friends,