James Pak, Biddeford landlord convicted of murdering 2 teenage tenants, dies in prison

A Biddeford landlord who was serving a life sentence for the murders of two teenage tenants has died in prison.

James Earl Pak, 86, died shortly before 5 a.m. Saturday at Mountain View Correctional Facility in Charleston, according to the Maine Department of Corrections.

The department said Pak was being treated by medical personnel when he died, but released no other details about his death.

Pak began serving a life sentence in 2016 for two counts of murder for the 2012 killings of Derrick Thompson, 19, and Alivia Welch, 18. Pak shot the young couple after they argued over how many cars they could park in the driveway of the apartment they rented from him.

Pak was angry and evicting the victims because Welch had moved in with Thompson and his mother, Susan Johnson.

Pak also shot Thompson's mother in the back and arm. She survived the attack and eventually recovered from her injuries, but only after lying under their Christmas tree pretending to be dead while Pak used a .357 Magnum to kill her son and his wife. girlfriend.

Thompson's mother, now Susan Stevens, and Welch's mother, Jocelyn Welch, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Biddeford, its police department and one of its officers for their response to a 911 call Thompson made to complain about Pak's threats. . That lawsuit has been dismissed several times, most recently in February by a federal appeals court.

Thompson told a 911 dispatcher that Pak made threatening gun-shaped hand gestures at him.

When the officer, Edward Dexter, arrived and spoke with Pak, the landlord made a number of violent threats against his tenants, all of which were recorded via police-worn body cameras, according to court records. At one point, Pak told Dexter that there was going to be a “bloody mess.”

The officer urged the young couple to stay away from Pak, but told them it was ultimately a civil dispute over which he had no control. Minutes later, Pak entered the Thompsons' apartment and shot them.

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