Matthew Sudds killed

Matthew Sudds was a loyal friend and “a big jokester,” his half-brother and close friend Jesse Boddy says. Everyone called Sudds by his last name. “There are lots of Matthews but there’s only one Sudds,” Boddy says over the phone from Alberta.

Sudds’ 24-year-old body was found along Africville Road on October 14. A woman walking along the road spotted his body in a ditch and checked his pulse. Police say Sudds was shot to death.

His brother was deep into gang life, Boddy says. At the time of Sudds’ death, he had four assault charges and two weapon charges pending. Police will not comment on whether the homicide was gang-related, but do say it was not random. Investigators are following up on several tips, says police spokesperson Pierre Bourdages.

Sudds was mentioned on a website called The Dirty, and the site is now part of the investigation. “Just saw on the news they found his body in a ditch on Africville [Road] tonight dead,” one commenter wrote on the site. The comment was posted on October 14 at 6:17pm---about four hours before police released the victim’s name. Bourdages confirms the comment was within the scope of the investigation. The comment could indicate knowledge about the murder, Boddy says.

If Sudds wasn’t a drug dealer he could have been a businessman, but it’s hard to leave a gang, Boddy says. “There’s no turning back. Once you’re in, you’re in. Once you know those people, they’re always going to have your back, they’re always going to ask for favours.”

Sudds’ half-brother moved to Alberta for the money, and to do more with his life than deal marijuana. Boddy last saw Sudds three weeks ago when Boddy was visiting his hometown.

“Everyone has enemies but everyone has family, too, that love and care about them,” says Boddy. “No matter how good or bad a person is, no one deserves to die or go out like that.”