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Old Time Crime: ASU football player shoots, kills former player in 2005

ASU football player kills former player in 2005
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A tailback on the Arizona State University football team shot and killed a former player outside a Scottsdale nightclub in 2005. 

They found 25-year-old Brandon Faulkner fatally shot in the head

Scottsdale police officers were called to a nightclub parking lot near Scottsdale and McDowell roads in the early morning hours of March 26, 2005. 

Inside the driver's seat of a BMW, they found 25-year-old Brandon Faulkner fatally shot in the head. 

Maricopa County Sheriff's Deputies, working off-duty as security personnel, took Loren Luther Wade, 21, into custody. 

Investigators would later conclude that Wade, who was a tailback for the ASU Football team at the time, came to the nightclub to pick up his girlfriend. 

When he arrived, he saw her talking with Faulkner. He confronted Faulkner and then shot him, while he was still sitting in his car. The car went around a building and collided with another vehicle and tree, before stopping. 

Witnesses said Faulkner knew of the girl from his time at ASU years before. 

Faulkner was returning to ASU to get a Master's degree

Family members said Falkner graduated with two undergraduate degrees and attended ASU on a football scholarship. He was returning to ASU to get a Master's degree, after playing semi-professional football in Germany. 

While admitting his actions were careless, Wade denied intentionally shooting Falkner, saying he hit him in the head and the gun discharged. 

Wade was convicted of second-degree murder and given a 20-year prison sentence

Other people, that knew Wade, told investigators that he had violent outbursts with at least four other people before the night of the shooting. 

Wade was convicted of second-degree murder on June 7, 2007, and sentenced to 20 years in prison. 

He is scheduled to be released from prison in March 2025.

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