ALFRED — Dylan Collins was sentenced to 50 years in prison on Monday for starting a fatal fire at a Biddeford apartment building in 2014, which killed two young men and rattled the local community.

Collins, 20, of Biddeford was sentenced to two consecutive 25-year prison sentences for murder charges and an additional 25 years — all suspended — for arson, in addition to four years’ probation at York County Superior Court in Alfred on Monday.

He pleaded guilty to two counts of felony murder and one count of felony arson earlier this month for starting a fire at a multi-unit apartment building at 35 Main St. on Sept. 18, 2014, when he was 18 years old.

The blaze, which was started in the unit’s only exit stairway, killed third-floor tenants James Ford, 21, and Michael Moore, 23, who both died of smoke inhalation. Moore died Sept. 19, 2014, the day after the fire, while Ford died after 26 days in the hospital on Oct. 14, 2014.

Collins allegedly told a police investigator he set the fatal fire to scare his ex-girlfriend who lived in the same apartment complex as Ford and Moore. He said he saw the girl, with whom he apparently had a two-month relationship in 2013, kissing another person the day before the blaze occurred.

Collins was detained at his place of employment, Monkey Trunks in Saco, on Nov. 5, 2014. He later confessed to the crime and wrote an apology letter to the victims’ families, although he pleaded not guilty to two counts of depraved indifference murder and two counts of arson in December of that year.

Collins’ mother, Donna Pitcher, reportedly contacted police in July 2014, saying she obtained a digital diary kept by her son on an iPod Touch outlining his desire to harm himself and others.

In his diary, Collins admitted he started the fire and that two people had died, whom he described as “collateral damage.”

Details about Collins’ mental health — which had been questioned during the investigation into the fire — were revealed in court Monday.

Assistant Attorney General Jon Alsop said at Collins’ sentencing that Collins had a long history of behavioral and mental issues beginning in elementary school, including diagnoses of antisocial personality disorder and narcissistic personality disorder, among others.

Alsop said that in the time leading up to the fire, Collins had been abusing alcohol, purchasing firearms and bomb-making materials, and becoming fixated on details of the Columbine High School Massacre, in which two students at the Colorado school murdered 12 students and a teacher before committing suicide in April 1999.

In late November 2014, following his arrest, Collins jumped from a landing off the second floor of the York County Jail in Alfred in an apparent suicide attempt. At the time, he had been waiting for space to free up at the Riverview Psychiatric Center in Augusta, where he was ordered to undergo a 60-day psychiatric observation.

Family and friends of the victims spoke before the court Monday, condemning Collins’ actions while remembering Moore and Ford as two friends who did everything together, from playing video games to watching movies and holding endless conversations about their favorite comic books.

“They knew each other for many, many years … they were like two peas in a pod,” Paul Dehetre, a family friend to Moore, said of the victims. “It’s a tragedy these two men lost their lives to a fire set by someone not knowing who they are. Their lives had just begun and now they’re gone.”

James Ford Sr., Ford’s father, described his son and Moore as people who would “give the shirts off their backs” to just about anybody.

“The Biddeford community loved those boys … what they gave for the community (Collins) took from the community,” he said. “If Maine had a death sentence, I would ask for it.”

Emotions swelled in the courtroom as Justine DiPietro, Ford’s sister, recounted her experience visiting her brother in the hospital before his death.

“Over 24 days, I watched my brother go through surgeries, infections … I had to watch nurses drug my brother for him to be comfortable to visit him,” she said as defense attorney Amy Fairfield became visibly emotional. “It was the most painful thing I’ve ever seen.”

Collins hung his head low for much of the morning and did not speak to the court during the 1 1/2 hour-long sentencing, though his attorney, William Ashe, read a statement on his behalf.

“Words cannot even describe how sorry I am for the pain that I have caused,” Ashe read aloud. “Looking back, now I see I was dealing with serious mental health issues and I was a very scared and confused young man. All I can do now is express … how truly sorry I am for this tragedy and hope that my words can offer some benefit at this time.”

Superior Court Judge Lance Walker, considering the aggravating factors surrounding Moore’s and Ford’s deaths, said no sentence Collins could receive would be enough for the victims’ families.

“It’s obvious to me first of all that the impact on the victims is nothing short of profound and it will be lasting,” he said. “The sentence the court is going to impose may seem to some of you to not be nearly adequate enough.”

He did say he hopes Collins’ sentence brings peace, grace and closure to the victims’ families, who for 2 1/2 years waited for their day in court. Some family members said they were at least relieved to see Collins sentenced.

But others said they know Collins’ sentence won’t bring their loved ones back.

“I lost my other half,” DiPietro said. “And I think there’s no justice for that.”

— Staff Writer Alan Bennett can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 329 or abennett@journaltribune.com.