In early February, his friend helped him move into his apartment at 204 Hemenway St. after the last of the Northeastern students were moved out of Hostelling International. In May, another friend helped him move out of the same apartment after his roommate, James H. Cassidy of Worcester, was shot while he lay duct taped in the next room.

Both females are friends of Cassidy’s roommate, a political science transfer student who was present at the time of the shooting. Though quoted in the Boston Globe and Herald, he told The News that he has “no comment” for fear of the safety of himself and his family, as no suspects have been arrested in connection with Boston’s 14th homicide of 2003. He said he is currently working in cooperation with the Suffolk District Attorney.

His friend, a freshman communications major who wished to remain anonymous to protect herself, said Cassidy’s roommate had reason to believe that the shooting last Monday night was related to Cassidy’s own illegal practices.

At a press conference last Monday, the Deputy Superintendent of the Homicide Unit of Boston Police Paul Farrahar said, “We have every reason to believe that this is not a random act of violence.”

The Boston Police Department told residents of the building later that night that the incident was not random.

Marisa Pedro, a junior business major and a resident of 204 Hemenway St., said the police told the residents it was “a homicide related to his actions.”

Cassidy’s roommate told his friend that he had no way of knowing who was at the door that night when he opened it.

“When I opened the door, there was a gun in my face,” the roommate told the Boston Globe on May 15. “They told us to cooperate and no one would get hurt.”

He also told the Globe that as one gunman went into Cassidy’s room, he began shouting at Cassidy, “Where’s the weed?” over and over, becoming more incessant each time.

His friend said that from the next room, he could hear a scuffle for under a minute before three shots were fired.

She said the roommate believed that “Jimmy tried to pull a knife on the guys. Then they shot him three times in the legs.”

According to the roomate’s friend, the roommate believes that the men “didn’t go in planning on shooting at all.”

“They wanted the drugs and possibly the drug money,” she said. “We’re not actually sure if he did drugs, [but] he always did have a good sum of money on him and he didn’t hold a job.”

A close friend of Cassidy interviewed a few hours after he was pronounced dead at Brigham and Women’s Hospital said “Jimmy” was not involved in drugs whatsoever.

“He didn’t do drugs; that is totally wrong,” said Cassidy’s friend, who wanted to be identified only as Brian. “I don’t know why they would bring up drugs. I don’t know.”

The female student, however, who said that Cassidy “kind of kept to himself and did his own thing,” found other reasons to believe he could possibly be dealing drugs.

“I believe [my friend] saw a few people that would come in to see Jimmy and leave after five minutes,” she said. “I think he kept most of that out of the apartment. I’m sure some deals have been done in there.”

She said that no one is sure whether the perpetrators had any direct affiliation with Cassidy.

Philipp Klingmann, the other roommate present at the time of the shooting, said he was unsure why Cassidy had been targeted.

“I saw the good part of Jimmy, not the bad. Why shoot him? I would never expect it,” he said.

“[Cassidy] was just an ordinary student. You could not distinguish him from any other Northeastern student or any other college student,” Klingmann said. “I think this had nothing to do with him being a Northeastern student, it might be because of another thing.”

However, Cassidy’s other roommate and his friend still believe the victim may have been involved in illegal activities, as she cited that “he’s been involved in some scuffles before.”

One such incident was a New Year’s Eve scuffle, for which Cassidy was scheduled to appear in Roxbury District Court the morning of his death.

While she was staying at the Hemenway apartment over spring break, she said Cassidy “came back at like probably 2:30 or 3 in the morning with a bloody nose and a cut up lip. He had been in a fight.”

Two other people were present at the time of the shooting. The unnamed roommate’s girlfriend and Cassidy’s girlfriend were also bound with duct tape and forced to the floor.

No arrests have been made and, according to the Boston Police, the investigation is still open.