More than a year ago, police and court records identified a man named Shawn Lessieur as the suspected shooter in the 1994 murder of Mark Jones, who was found shot to death in Pawtucketville, Mass.

Lessieur was behind bars on federal drug charges in California, so there was no rush to file charges even as a co-conspirator was arrested.

Earlier this week, prosecutors finally made their move.

Lessieur, 35, was arrested on May 16 in Alameda and charged with first-degree murder for Jones' death.

He refused rendition, so the Lowell, Mass. District Attorney Gerard Leone's Office is now going through the process of getting a governor's warrant to have him returned.

Police have already charged the alleged getaway driver, Nolyn Suprenant, with first-degree murder as a co-conspirator in the killing.

While prosecutors say Lessieur is the actual shooter, Suprenant allegedly provided the murder weapon, knew of the murder plot, and drove Lessieur to and from the scene.

Lowell Police Superintendent Kenneth Lavallee said this arrest should finally bring a bit more closure to Jones' family.

It was the family that asked police to take another look at the cold case in early 2006, prompting an investigation that led to Suprenant's arrest in April of 2006.

"We're always going to try to solve these unsolved cases and move toward a resolution because we know families have been affected," Lavallee said. "Families need closure, and that's what we want

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to work on. We hope justice will be served at trial."

Fitchburg Police Chief Robert A. DeMoura, who was in charge of the Lowell'ss criminal division when this cold case was unthawed, said Detectives Crosby Bracket and Joe Zanoli "reinterviewed people, and as a result, the case was broken."

He added that sometimes it just takes a fresh set of eyes.

Jones was shot twice in the head and left to die in a snowbank behind a trash receptacle near 1910 Skyline Drive in Pawtucketville about midnight March 18, 1994. A resident found Jones still alive and called police about 12:25 a.m. but he was pronounced dead at Lowell General Hospital about 30 minutes later, according to new accounts at the time.

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled that Jones died of multiple gunshot wounds to the head. The death was ruled a homicide.

Despite months of investigation, police were unable to make an arrest at the time and the case went cold.

Tyler Jones said in an earlier interview that he believes Lessieur got his brother high on drugs so that he'd be docile when he was killed.

"They were cowards. Nothing but a coward would shoot a man in the back of the head," he said.

For more than 12 years, Jones' murder went unsolved until about two years ago when the family asked police to take another look at the case.

A new witness came forward. Tyler Jones said he doesn't know the identity of the witness.

Suprenant was arrested in April of 2006. His most recent court date was last month for a status hearing. No further dates have been scheduled.

Tyler Jones said his brother, who was a drug addict, believed Lessieur was his friend.

"I always told him his drug friends weren't his real friends," he said. "His downfall was he trusted everybody. He had a good nature and believed in everybody."

In a prepared statement announcing the latest arrest, Leone said his office will "not forget the victims of unsolved homicides."

"Mark Jones was shot and killed more than 14 years ago, and the Lowell Police Department and our office continued to work this case together until we had the evidence to charge the people responsible for his murder," Leone said.

Staff Writer Robert Mills contributed to this report.