joyce pellino crane

Community Gathers to Memorialize Olivia Marchand, 17, Domestic Violence Victim

Mass Memorializes Olivia Marchand, 17, Fatally Shot by her Father, Police Say

by Joyce Pellino Crane

WESTFORD, Mass. – A high school senior beseeched the community to “Live for Liv,” this morning, inside an overflowing church where her fellow classmates, their families, and friends gathered to memorialize a student who died violently this week.

The early morning Mass at St. Catherine of Alexandria Church brought together a community seeking solace over the death of a popular high school senior and the critical wounding of her mother who, police say, were shot Monday by the student’s father, before he turned the gun on himself.

Olivia Marchand, 17, died at her Makepeace Road home from a 9 mm gunshot wound. Her mother, Jody Marchand, 50, was med-flighted to the University of Massachusetts Memorial Medical Center in Worcester where a hospital representative, today, said he had “no information on that patient.”

Brian Marchand, 59, Olivia’s father and Jody’s husband, died at the scene, according to Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone.

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Serene Community Again Rocked by Apparent Violence

Westford, MA – Two people in a Makepeace Road home died tonight and a third was airlifted to the University of Massachusetts Memorial Medical Center in Worcester, according to Westford Police Captain Joseph Roy. The incident occurred at 8:37 p.m. Roy did not identify the victims pending notification of next of kin and would not specify a cause of death.

Regional broadcast media reported that the fatalities were due to gunshot wounds.

The incident remains under investigation, Roy said.

Until recently, violent crimes in this pastoral community were rare. But on January 9, Frederick Leduc of Forge Village Road allegedly shot his wife Karen and sustained a gunshot wound under his chin. Karen Leduc died a few days later and Leduc was charged with first degree murder while recuperating at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

JOYCE PELLINO CRANE

THE COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS

MIDDLESEX DISTRICT ATTORNEY

15 COMMONWEALTH AVE WOBURN MA 01801

For Immediate Release                       Contact: Jessica Venezia

January 11, 2010                                  781-897-8325  

WOBURN– Charges have been filed in connection with a shooting that occurred Saturday night in Westford, Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone informed the public today.

Frederick Luduc, 45, of 48 Forge Village Road in Westford, has been arrested and charged with armed assault to murder, illegal possession of a firearm, and illegal possession of ammunition.  Luduc remains hospitalized and an arraignment on these charges has not yet been scheduled.

According to authorities, at approximately 7:30 p.m. Saturday evening, Westford Police and State Police assigned to the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office responded to reports of a shooting at 48 Forge Village Road in Westford.  Upon arrival, authorities located a male, the defendant, and a female, the victim, evidencing obvious gun shot wounds.

“This is a troubling case where we allege that Frederick Luduc shot the victim, who remains in very critical condition,” District Attorney Leone said.  “We continue to develop the facts of the investigation and additional details will be released at the time of the defendant’s arraignment.”

The defendant was life-flighted to Massachusetts General Hospital where he remains in stable condition.  The female victim, identified as Karen Luduc, 43, was life-flighted to UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester and remains in critical condition.

Westford Police and State Police assigned to the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office conducted an immediate investigation into the circumstances of the shooting.  It is alleged that the defendant shot the victim and then shot himself.

The investigation remains ongoing.

The Assistant District Attorney assigned to the case is Suzanne Kontz.  The Victim Witness Advocate is Dora Quiroz.

TWO PEOPLE HURT IN WESTFORD SHOOTING, The Boston Globe, January 10, 2010
WESTFORD – Two people were shot in a home in this quiet suburb northwest of Boston yesterday, authorities said.

Westford authorities responded around 7:30 p.m. to a Forge Village Road address, where they found an adult man and an adult woman shot.