Re “Gang Member Charged with Killing Bilodeau, January of ’09, at Fire Station Site”
Re “Bilodeau Murder: Stolen Cell Phone Led Cops to Their Man”
For one still stunned family, the solemnity of this season will reach its tragic zenith early Sunday evening.
Their grieving hearts will recall this was the estimated hour, exactly two years ago, that their devoted son, 45-year-old Paul Bilodeau, was senselessly murdered, seemingly by random choice.
A native of the Ventura area, the center of his personal life, Mr. Bilodeau was the City Hall-hired project manager at the Fox Hills construction site of proposed Fire Station No. 3 on Friday night, Jan. 2, 2009.
Formerly married and intensely committed to his family, he was single-focused on his job during working hours and strictly a caretaking family man, the rock of the house, otherwise, relatives said.
After a typical early evening dinner with his favorite uncle, Mr. Bilodeau, married to his work, returned about 8 o’clock to the construction trailer at the south end of the desolate lot.
His assailant is believed to have struck shortly afterward, shooting him multiple times, leaving him for dead lying in the doorway, where his riddled body was found early the next day.
Friends say that many nights Mr. Bilodeau returned to his mobile office after dinner, although it was not widely known.
Access to the darkened, vacant-appearing lot was not casual, sources say. Only a strong-willed person could have gained entry.
This is the first anniversary on which there has been a trace of solace for Mr. Bilodeau’s parents, Conrad and Margaret. For the last half-year, the suspected killer, 26-year-old Myron DeShun Grant, no stranger to a rap sheet, has been in custody. He returns to court on Wednesday, Jan. 19.
After 18 months of dead-end leads, Culver City police, through Mr. Bilodeau’s stolen cell phone, tracked down Mr. Grant, who already was behind bars on an unrelated charge. He has previously done time for three felonies.
Mr. Bilodeau’s mother, Margaret, said at the time of the homicide:
“I don’t want to know who killed Paul. I just want to know why.”
That answer appears at least months away from being disclosed.
Police have declined to describe the theorized fatal scenario. But other sources say all arrows point toward randomness.
Was the killer merely riding through the neighborhood with hardbitten pals when the lighted construction trailer hovered into view as a temptation for high-stakes mischief?
It Never Ends
Suffering has not abated for Mr. Bilodeau’s parents, in their 70s, and his twin sister Paula, relatives say.
“I know how painful it is for his parents to get through each day,” said one person. “Though they are a very forgiving family, this is very tough, especially when someone like Paul leaves the way he did.
“He was the cohesive glue who kept everyone thankful and loving. His family is very much in pain. I am not sure some of them will never recover. They were very close. Being that their birthday was just last month, it's like the punches keep on coming.”
