The Case of Leory Strachan

Posted by Yuka as Hot Cities

A 62-years-old New york resident has been arrested for a murder that took place 45 years ago in Miami,Florida.

Mr.Strachan, who pronounces his name”Strawn”,was arrested outside a building in SoHo in New York City, wher he had been working as an elevator operator for 21 years. He is accused of being part of a group of young men responsible for the death of John Milledge, a Miami Policeman.

Officer Milledge was chasing a group of young men out of a park 45 years agowhen he was killed by a single rifle shot. Prosecutors in Miami said that Leroy Strachan was a suspect at the time of the killing, but that they did not have enough evidence to charge him at that time. Just recently, however, a Miami woman who claims she saw the crime came forward to say that Strachan had fired the shot. The woman said her guilty conscience finally made her go to the police.

Friends and neighbors of Strachan, even officials who investigated the case, all agree that he led a quiet, churchgoing life since he moved to New York the day after the shooting. According to Strachan’s defense lawyer, William Kunstler, Strachan raised three sons, held a steady job, and never got so much as a traffic ticket or had any brush with the law before his arrest. Mr.Kunstler also said that strachan has never considered himself a fugitive from justice because he went back to Florida up to six times every year since the incident to visit his mother. Mr.Strachan’s niece, Deborah Clear, made the following statement:”We feel the courts lack compassion. If these people knew my uncle, they would let him go. If there is a perfect person, it is Leory Strachan.”

Although many people in Florida expressed sympathy for Mr.Strachan and would like state officials to drop the charges, police groups and Officer Milledge’s family want Mr.Strachan to be brought to trial. Even though Florida has the death penalty, prosecutors are unlikely to seek it in this cas, primarily because the victim’s family has asked them not to do so.