Fight Crime in the World: James Massey Murder - No Need for This

5/13/12

James Massey Murder - No Need for This

I had taken a break from writing on any topic for the past while, but now I am back, and it feels good to put words to blog, again.

It has to do with motivation for writing and now that I have seen yet another murder of someone that I knew, I am puzzled over how many people that are dying by the hands of insane people.  When I went to High School in Toronto I became acquaintances with James Massey, who no matter, always greeted me with a smile.  He seemed like one of those guys that would always be there for his friends and was a person that clearly had respect as a child, which was clearly learned from his family.  

Two days ago I heard about a murder that happened at Oriole Park, in the Davisville and Yonge area, yet I had not heard a name.  But then yesterday I saw that it was in fact James Massey, and I knew that when I did a Google search for the name, that it would be his image associated to the story.  What a sad moment in time.  I never knew David Ludwig, but supposedly there was an altercation amongst the two of them. The sad thing is premeditation is clearly involved because you do not carry a shotgun around with you when going too meet someone at a park.  There are some oddities about this case though, as I do not understand how the neighbours were able to identify the person as being David Ludwig, when they most likely did not know the man.  The only way they could do so in my eyes is by seeing him, then the friends of the victim knowing that they met, being able to have the cops then show a picture of the suspect to the neighbours for identification.  

Without a doubt this is a strange story, but most notably a sad one.  It makes no sense for someone to have a shotgun in Toronto, and for someone to meet up with someone having a shotgun in their possession, you would think the victim would see that they had a shotgun, as it is not the easiest weapon to conceal.  

In a moment like this I send my deepest thoughts to the family and friends of James Massey, the latter of which I know of.  This is the third person that I know who has been murdered, and it seems like this is the only one that has someone being held accountable.  

We can only shake our head at people who are willing to throw their life away over a feud.  If James Massey ever did something for you, or you have something to say about him as a person, please post your comments as  it will be a nice gesture to show the true colours of a good man.

Alex Christoff, Oliver Martin, Dylan Ellis, and James Massey - RIP - Your hearts live on in the lives that you touched.

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

I knew James and loved him as well, happiest, frienliest, outgoing man ever to walk the earth. I'm a friend of Morgan's and was with them often over 16 years.
Dave went to Northern, he and James and Morgan were all hanging out at Dave's 2 nights before Dave shot James, there was no problems at that time between them.
James probably did see the shotgun, articles said neighbors heard a one sided argument, James was already held at gun point and obviously made his decision to face Dave.
I knew Dave as well, he was very close with Morgan and James.
I don't think anyone will ever know what happened, Dave will spin a storey.
I believe friends told police that Dave fit the description then neighbors id'd him but I don't know for certain.

Toronto Crime said...

Thank you for sharing. The scary thing is that someone was able to own a shotgun, and then kill a person they had known for a very long time. It will be difficult to actually prove he actually shot James, as it was dark, and the residue would have washed off. If they were able to retrieve the shotgun, being in Dave's possession, it would be a closed case. Without that, he could clearly spin the story as someone who came across James after he had left. Hopefully you can smile with the friendship you had and that all of his close pals are able to live their lives in his honour, aspiring to be their best with his spirit pushing them forward.

Best

Anonymous said...

I hope they do live their lives in James honour too and aspire to be the best. Great thoughts, thank you for sharing.

I hope dave never gets out! He had that shot gun for many years too.

Anonymous said...

The gun was found in his apartment... no spinning a story out of this one.

Anonymous said...

Horrible. James was such an amazing guy

Anonymous said...

My son was friends with James. I keep looking for updates regarding trial and sentencing, but I can't find anything. Does anyone out there know what is going on?

Anonymous said...

Is there any info on what happened with the trial if anything yet?

Anonymous said...

Dave went to Forest Hill for a couple years--never Northern.

At any rate, it's truly a tragedy, and curious that nothing has been reported for almost 2 years now. How far out is a court date typically scheduled?

Anonymous said...

I also have been searching for a trial date...or ANY kind of update regarding this. There has been NO media coverage since the arrest. Surely there must be some news by now.

Anonymous said...

2 more years and nothing...

Anonymous said...

James lived in my apartment building. I too have been searching online to find anything about a trial, a guilty plea, sentencing, dismissal...anything. But there is nothing.

Anonymous said...

Almost 6 years now?
What are the guidelines around this....doesn’t something HAVE to happen?

Anonymous said...

He's at Beaver Creek Pen....and looking for pen pals:
http://www.canadianinmatesconnect.com/male_inmates_3.html

Anonymous said...

according to his dating profile he's to be released in 2022.

Anonymous said...

convicted of 2nd degree murder. expected release date 2022. wants female pen pals.

Anonymous said...

the fact there is nothing in the news regarding a trial leads me to believe he took a plea deal and pleaded guilty to 2nd degree murder. perhaps to avoid facing a trial for 1st degree murder. expected release date is 2022 so sounds like he got 10 years or at least eligible for parole after 10 years.

Anonymous said...

The info in this article and in comments is not entirely accurate.

As someone who was intentionally not friends with Dave but was also very good friends with James in the last few years of his life, I have a unique perspective. Keep in mind almost all of James's friends were friends with Ludwig and encouraged Ludwig being part of their crew. I may have been the only person close to James that was warning him to not spend time with Dave. I'm only sorry I didn't make more of an effort but I kind of didn't think it was my business to constantly tell my friends who they should associate with.

James was a great guy - fact
Ludwig was a violent psychopath since before high school - fact

you have to remember that Dave and James were very close friends
James didn't "learn respect" from his family - in fact he left home at a very early age for good reasons. If James was resurrected he'd probably be friends with Dave again sooner than move back home.

James had the issue of going alpha on people, including friends. James had a serious drinking problem over the years. James rarely worked legitimate jobs.
Ludwig had the issue of uncontrolled rage when he was put down or made to look weak (ironic that I take the risk of making this comment then)

Ludwig had weapons to protect his drug business - a business James and the rest of us knew all about.

James was a great musical talent and he probably never would have learned to stop going alpha on people but it may not have caused him to fail in life if he had started to get things turned around. In fact, he was really starting to get organized with his music near the end. He had been hired to make a remix track using a Whitney Houston classic. I was closely connected to James through his music.

On the other hand, Dave's grimy underground Nekro-inspired rape rap was trash. Dave's obsession with knowing NYC OGs was pathetic. I don't think that video games make people violent but Call of Duty definitely fed Dave's ego about guns and violence in a very negative and destructive way.

The OP lists people that were definitely cool guys and nice people, but they were also career criminals or at least caught up in crime when they were murdered (usually drug trafficking). I don't think that elevating James to an innocent saint status is appropriate. James was an amazing man with a stellar personality. He was worth infinitely more than Dave Ludwig. But, James was also a troubled guy with serious problems that he often worked through on his own. He made tons of bad choices. Being friends with Dave was his worst bad choice.

PART 1/2

Anonymous said...


For the first two years after James's death I thought about him every day. Since then, I think about him less and less but I will never forget him. I think I blame James's other friends more than I blame James for what happened. If I knew not to hang out with a guy like Dave... why did everyone else ignore the warning signs? One of my closest friends often bought weed from Dave and picked it up from Dave's apartment (near the site of the murder). I stayed in the car every time we grabbed from Dave! Dave asked me for a favor once and I had to get very creative in excusing myself. He was a very dangerous dude because any smart, rational person could recognize that he was capable of exactly what he did. Why didn't his other friends recognize this?

Amazingly, I don't blame Dave... because all of us who had a brain in their head knew to stay the hell away from him. When people who keep dangerous predators as pets die to savage attacks I don't blame the pet. People shouldn't keep animals like that as pets. People shouldn't keep psychos like Dave as friends. Most of all, friends should have recognized that James's personality and Dave's personality was a disaster waiting to happen - a guy who won't let you get on top, and a guy who can't handle being put down. That's the senseless part... that friends didn't work harder to separate them through choosing one over the other. Easy for me to stay I suppose given that I was never friends with both.

PART 2/2

Anonymous said...

Ludwig was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2013 with parole eligibility 13 years. I had this info directly from a law enforcement officer.

Anonymous said...

I can't believe I didn't know any of this until now. I was 4 when he died, my sister was a newborn. He was my uncle. What hurts even more is that nobody told me he was murdered, I always thought he was in a car accident. He had a family, I didn't get enough time with him. Nobody talks about him, I miss him very much. I have no memories with him all i have is pictures. The murderer should be in prison for life, in solitary confinement. He better be sorry although sorry won't cut it, for causing me so much emotional pain and depression. For hurting an amazing person, uncle, son, friend, and brother.

Anonymous said...

Sorry you didn’t get the chance to know him personally :(
I was friends with him in high school, we had lost contact and hadn’t seen him since 1999. I was watching the news one day and seen his photo with the headline saying he was killed! I was so shocked and devastated. He was a great person and was always a happy person to be around. One of his favourite albums was Atliens by Outkast and it reminds me of him whenever I listen to it. I hope that guy stays where he is for the rest of his life.