The man responsible for the murders of a Delta Force soldier and an Army veteran, whose bodies were discovered in a wooded training area at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, will now spend the rest of his life behind bars. Kenneth Maurice Quick Jr., 26, received a sentence of three consecutive life terms plus an additional 83 years in federal prison for the 2020 killings. According to the Stars and Stripes and the Military Times, the legal proceedings concluded following a conviction in May on eight federal counts, including first-degree murder, drug conspiracy, firearms offenses, and obstruction of justice. The Justice Department announced the final sentencing, with the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, Ellis Boyle, stating, “This cold-blooded murderer will never see the light of day again.” The victims were reportedly identified as Master Sgt. William “Billy” Lavigne III, 37, and Army veteran Timothy Dumas Sr., 44. Lavigne was an active-duty Delta Force soldier with 19 years of service, including 12 years within special operations units. Dumas was a retired Army chief warrant officer 3 who had completed four deployments to Afghanistan and was working as a civilian employee supporting special operations units at the time of his death. Their bodies were found on December 2, 2020. A deal gone wrong Per the Stars and Stripes, federal prosecutors claimed that the violence was triggered by a drug deal gone wrong. Lavigne had reportedly purchased drugs from Dumas and intended to resell them to Quick. However, Quick never planned to pay for the narcotics. Prosecutors detailed that Quick shot Lavigne five times in the back at a location referred to as a trap house in Laurinburg, North Carolina. The man convicted in the drug-related killings of a special operations soldier and an Army veteran whose bodies were dumped in a Fort Bragg training area was recently sentenced to three consecutive life terms in federal prison. (from @Lydia_Stripes) https://t.co/t8tBPwbMXY— Stars and Stripes (@starsandstripes) September 10, 2026 In an attempt to avoid a similar fate, the outlet reported that Dumas helped Quick transport Lavigne’s body to the Fort Bragg training area. The situation took a lethal turn when the truck became stuck in the sand. Quick then shot Dumas in the head and back before fleeing the scene. The following day, Quick and his co-conspirators returned to the area to recover the truck, which they subsequently ransacked and burned in a neighboring county. The Military Times reported that the case gained enough notoriety to become the focus of a book titled The Fort Bragg Cartel, authored by Seth Harp. The book explores allegations of drug trafficking and criminal activity linked to the special operations community at the base. Before their deaths, both Lavigne and Dumas were under investigation for drug use and trafficking on the installation. The outlet also noted that Lavigne had previously been involved in a 2018 incident in which he shot and killed his friend, Sgt. 1st Class Mark Leshikar. That death was ruled a justifiable homicide after Lavigne claimed self-defense involving a screwdriver. Recently, a military couple was indicted on charges of starving their daughter to death at Fort Stewart in Georgia. In 2020, a Delta Force soldier and an Army veteran were found shot in the woods of a North Carolina base. https://t.co/9LXCfscykV— Military Times (@MilitaryTimes) September 8, 2026 Leshikar’s sister, Nicole Rick, told Military Times, “William shot and killed my brother in front of my niece. William had called me a month after my brother died to tell me his story, and he said my brother came at him with a screwdriver but there was not one found near my brother’s body or in the house.” The investigation into the 2020 murders also uncovered efforts by Quick to influence the proceedings from behind bars, per the Stars and Stripes. The Justice Department reported that Quick passed names of potential witnesses through jail calls. One of those individuals was killed by a fellow gang member in March 2025. Upon being informed of the witness’s death by his mother, Quick responded, “Damn, you don’t know how happy that makes me feel.” The judicial process has been long and arduous, involving multiple layers of criminal activity that extended well beyond the initial double homicide. As the case finally closes, officials have emphasized the gravity of the crimes committed on federal property. There is another long-standing case that is finally closed when US Marshals finally captured a soldier on the run from a sentence for indecent assault after 23 years. “Understand this, if you commit depraved violence on federal property: we will hunt you down, we will prosecute you, and we will lock you away for a very long time, you get life for taking a life,” Boyle said. With Quick’s sentence, the federal government has effectively ended a case that highlighted the complex and dangerous intersections of drug trafficking and military life.