The man found murdered in Montague Gold Mines on Sunday night had a history of drug-dealing dating back to 1991.

Autopsy results revealed Tuesday that 55-year-old James Alexander (Sandy) Lyle of Dartmouth died from a gunshot wound.

Lyle’s body was found at 10:45 p.m. Sunday on the side of Montague Road. On Monday, police searched Lyle’s home at 14 Cannon Terrace.

“A firearm has been recovered and we’ll be treating that as a piece of evidence to see if it was used in the commission of this crime,” said RCMP spokeswoman Const. Tammy Lobb, who said she could not reveal where the weapon was found.

Lobb added that no drugs were found in the Cannon Terrace home.

In 1991, Judge Felix Cacchione sentenced Lyle to five years in prison for trafficking cocaine.

Lyle was also convicted of possession of a restricted weapon after police found a loaded .45 calibre semi-automatic among the drug paraphernalia in his Maple Street home in Dartmouth.

His younger brother, Martin Ellsworth Lyle, was sent to jail for three years for his role in the operation. Cacchione warned Lyle that he had involved himself “in a business that brings nothing but hardship.”

In a 2001 raid on the Hells Angels clubhouse in Halifax, police arrested 20 people ‘ including Lyle ‘ and seized drugs, weapons and motorcycles at several Nova Scotia properties.

Although Lyle lived in a home valued at $473,000, it had few windows and was protected by a high-tech security system.

Now, police are investigating an execution-style hit in which it appears he was shot and dumped at the side of deserted road.