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Marlon
LEGERE
Classification: Murderer
Characteristics: To
avoid arrest
Number of victims: 2
Date of murders:
September 10,
2004
Date of arrest:
Same day
Date of birth:
October 10,
1975
Victims profile: Robert Parker and Patrick
Rafferty(NYPD detectives)
Method of murder: Shooting
(9mm Glock)
Location: Brooklyn, New York, USA
Status:
Sentenced to two life sentences without
parole on
February 27, 2006
(born October 10, 1975), a Trinidadian-American from New York, is the
convicted murderer of NYPD detectives Robert Parker and Patrick
Rafferty.
The murder
On September 10, 2004, Marlon Legere's mother Melva
placed a call to the 67th precinct in East Flatbush, Brooklyn. She was
seeking the help of detectives Robert Parker and Patrick Rafferty, whom
she knew from earlier incidents with her abusive son.
Melva Legere said she feared her son--an unemployed
ex-convict who had previously done time in Greene and Sing Sing prisons
for sexual assault, attempted criminal sale of a controlled substance,
and attempted assault--might try to take her car from her.
Seeing Marlon Legere on East 49th Street sitting in
his mother's Mazda 626, the two detectives drove the wrong way down the
street and boxed in Legere with their car so he could not drive off.
Neither detective was wearing a bulletproof vest.
The detectives exited their vehicle and approached
Legere from both sides of his mother's car. Legere somehow obtained
Parker's 9mm Glock and shot both officers four times each, mortally
wounding them. Legere would later tell police: "When they tried to grab
me, I wouldn't let them. I grabbed their gun and I shot them."
Before passing out, Rafferty managed to shoot Legere
in the foot and the ankle. At the same time Parker dialed 911 on his
cell phone and was able to calmly describe the situation and identify
his attacker to the operator. "I have a photo of the guy who shot me on
my dashboard," he said. Both detectives were still alive when ambulances
showed up, but did not survive the trip to the hospital.
Flight and capture
After being shot by Rafferty, Marlon Legere, still
bearing Parker's service weapon, hobbled into the street and carjacked
Omar Harvey out of his Mercury Villager minivan. Legere drove twelve
blocks to the apartment of a female acquaintance, where he tried to get
rid of Parker's gun.
Police took him into custody two hours later, when a
neighbor saw Legere lying down and bleeding on the apartment's fire
escape. Parker's gun was recovered from a lot behind the building.
Trial and afterwards
On September 13, 2004, prosecutors filed first degree
murder charges against Legere. When the case went to trial, Legere
pleaded not guilty but declined to take the stand in his defense. His
attorneys' strategy was to portray the crime as an attempt at self-defense,
arguing that Legere thought he was being robbed. The detectives were in
plainclothes and driving an unmarked car at the time.
According to defense attorney Ivan Vogel: "It's a
combination of self defense and just a tragic situation where the
circumstances unraveled ... Mr. Legere was fighting for his life."
The jury deliberated only one day. Legere was
convicted and on February 27, 2006, received two life sentences without
parole for the first-degree murder charges, 25 years for a first-degree
robbery charge, and one year for a fourth-degree criminal mischief
charge.
Many New Yorkers, especially police officers, were
bitterly disappointed that Legere was not eligible for the death penalty
(New York's capital punishment statute had been overturned just three
months before).
As of February 2006, Legere is incarcerated in
Clinton Correctional Facility, in Dannemora, New York.
Remaining question
No one is entirely sure how Legere was able to take
Parker's Glock 19 from him. If the detective had his gun already drawn,
Legere may simply have wrestled it away. If not, he might have pulled it
from Parker's holster himself.
Though the NYPD typically issues its officers with
retention holsters, it is unknown if Parker was wearing one.
In Front of Friends and Relatives of Victims,
Killer of 2 Detectives Gets Life Without Parole
By Michael Brick - The New York Times
February 23, 2006
For the murders of two detectives answering a call
from his mother, Marlon Legere was sentenced yesterday to life in prison
without the possibility of parole.
Stuttering and slouching, Mr. Legere blamed his
lawyers for his conviction. Justice Anne G. Feldman rebuked him and
ordered the maximum penalty.
The sentencing punctuated a monthlong trial attended
at times by scores of police officers and at nearly all times by the
detectives' friends and relatives, a loyal front-row audience for dry
procedural details, gruesome forensic accountings and uncomfortable
witness-stand moments alike.
Mr. Legere, 30, was convicted of first-degree murder
this month for killing the detectives, Patrick H. Rafferty and Robert L.
Parker, on a street in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, on Sept. 10, 2004. The
detectives were responding to a call from Mr. Legere's mother, who had
complained to the police for months that her son was taking her car
without permission.
Mr. Legere was sitting in his mother's car when the
detectives approached. He took Detective Parker's gun and shot each man
four times, then ran away and stole a van. As he escaped, the mortally
wounded detectives put a bullet through his foot and told an emergency
officer where to find his photograph.
At trial, Mr. Legere's lawyers suggested that he was
unaware that his mother had called the police and instead thought he was
being robbed. Prosecution witnesses included dozens of crime scene
investigators, the wife of Detective Rafferty, the mother of Detective
Parker's child, Mr. Legere's mother, his former girlfriend and a teenage
boy who admired him. A jury convicted him in less than a day.
The sentencing was held in one of two ceremonial
courtrooms in State Supreme Court in Brooklyn. The room was filled to
its capacity of 164 by rows of detectives in suits and uniformed
officers wearing the metallic lapel pins of the 67th Precinct in East
Flatbush. The other ceremonial courtroom next door, where the trial had
taken place, was being used for a rape and murder case that Detective
Rafferty had helped bring to court.
Mr. Legere limped in on a wooden cane, dressed in a
brown shirt, a pale tie and the outsize black glasses he had worn
throughout the trial. His handcuffs were removed, and he slowly sank
into a wooden chair.
The lead prosecutor, Mitchell C. Benson, sounded
somber tones, gesturing woodenly, glancing at notes, the anger gone from
his voice and replaced by melancholy. He spoke of loss. He did not use
the defendant's name. He called him "the defendant."
"The defendant would not be alive if they had meant
to harm him," Mr. Benson said. "They approached him carefully, not with
guns. They got up close to try to protect the mother."
Mr. Benson mentioned Mr. Legere's prior felony
convictions and said: "They were giving him a chance. One last chance he
shouldn't have had."
The families of the detectives were given a chance to
summarize their losses. Mr. Legere, who stared forward through much of
the trial, even during his mother's testimony, turned to face them
halfway.
Dawn Stewart-Riles, a friend of Detective Parker's
since childhood, spoke of long-ago games of superhero and detective,
saying, "I was always his damsel in distress."
"Mr. Legere, life is a gift from God," Ms. Stewart-Riles
said. "It is very precious, and no man has the right to take a life."
Mr. Legere rubbed his eyes and removed his glasses.
Brian Rafferty, a brother of Detective Rafferty, said
his family had received its sentence on the night of the shooting: "We
were sentenced to life without Patrick."
He turned and addressed Mr. Legere directly: "The
very air you breathe is rightfully the property of my brother, Detective
Patrick Rafferty, and his partner, Detective Robert Parker. You will
remember that until you have taken your last breath."
A lawyer for Mr. Legere, Wayne C. Bodden, told
Justice Feldman that his client had privately and repeatedly expressed
remorse. Then Mr. Legere stood. Five of the 15 court officers in the
room gathered around him.
"I want to send my deepest sympathies and condolences
to the family of the slain officers," Mr. Legere said. He added that he
had wanted to testify but was advised against it by his lawyers, who "didn't
properly represent me."
"I'm not an angel," Mr. Legere said, "but I'm not a
killer either."
Justice Feldman reminded Mr. Legere that she had
given him a chance to testify and said his lawyers had represented him
perfectly well. She said blaming the lawyers was similar to blaming his
mother for the shooting, which Mr. Legere did in one of his statements
to the police.
As Justice Feldman spoke, Mr. Legere covered his eyes
with his hands. When she was done, he stood up and put his hands on the
defense table. A leather restraint was placed around his waist. His
right hand was cuffed, then his left. He was offered his glasses, but he
waved them away. He was led out a side door, and then he was gone.
Outside the courtroom, Detective Rafferty's mother
said she hoped never to see Mr. Legere again. Detective Rafferty's
children, Kara, Kevin and Emma Rose, were nowhere around. It was their
father's 41st birthday this week, and their mother, Eileen, took the
children skiing to celebrate.
Mr. Legere's mother did not attend either.
Police Killed With Their Own Guns
by Jaime Adame - GothamGazette.com
September 2004
New York City Police Detectives Robert Parker and
Patrick Rafferty were shot and killed in East Flatbush on September
10th, allegedly after a suspect, Marlon Legere, 28, grabbed Parker’s gun
and used it to shoot both detectives several times at close range.
It is a scenario that, while not commonplace, happens
with enough frequency to alarm law enforcement professionals nationwide.
Last year, 10 police officers were shot and killed in the United States
after a suspect managed to get control of an officer’s weapon. Nearly
one in five officers killed as part of a crime last year were shot with
their own (or a partner’s) weapon, according to the National Center for
Law Enforcement Technology - the highest number of such deaths in 18
years.
New York has been fortunate to have few of these
incidents. Before this month’s shooting, the last incident of an officer
being killed with his own weapon occurred in the city in 1998. Still,
the recent deaths reinforce the danger of being a cop in New York and
raise questions about how to best protect officers in the future.
Training and Equipment
So far this year five officers in the U.S. have been
shot and killed with their own weapons, including Parker and Rafferty.
One way to address the issue is through regular
training. All New York police officers attend mandatory defensive
tactics training sessions twice a year that help officers prepare for a
variety of violent encounters with suspects. The sessions, which usually
last about a day, focus in part on weapon retention.
Even with substantial training, however, the danger
is always present. To further protect officers, safety holsters – gun
holders with a variety of mechanisms to help “lock” a gun in place –
began to be developed in the 1970s. However there are trade-offs:
Features that make it more difficult to disarm an officer can also slow
down an officer’s ability to draw.
And while uniformed patrol officers in New York
routinely wear such safety holsters, plain-clothes detectives wear
holsters that are easier to conceal. Police say Parker was wearing an
off-duty hip holster, which typically does not have safety features.
Neither Parker nor Rafferty were wearing bulletproof vests when they
were shot.
New Gun Technology
Recognizing the need to protect officers from being
shot with their own weapons, the federal government has spent millions
of dollars in research on personalized weapons that can only be fired by
their owner.
Ideas range from a ring worn by the user that unlocks
the weapon to sophisticated biometric sensors designed to recognize a
gun owner's grip. But the reliable technology still remains years away.
Even if “safer” guns are ever mass-produced and sold,
they may not meet the demands of law enforcement. New Jersey passed a
law in 2002 that will make user-recognition technology mandatory once
it’s developed, but law enforcement officers were specifically excluded
from the law. Police are understandably unwilling to carry a weapon they
believe may not fire when they need it.
Not A Capital Case
Under New York's death penalty law, anyone who
murders a police officer can face the death penalty.
But in June, New York highest court ruled that the
state's death penalty law was flawed and could not be imposed. Until the
State Legislature adopts an amended law, prosecutors and defense lawyers
argue that there is effectively a moratorium on capital cases.
Police union officials are angered that the death
penalty will not be sought for Marlon Legere, who has entered a “not
guilty” plea in the shooting of the two officers last week.
In 1989, Jay “Stoney” Harrison, the last person to
shoot two officers in New York, also used an officer’s handgun. Harrison
took a gun from an unlocked locker at a District Attorney’s office and
shot Detectives Richard Guerzon and Keith Williams. The death penalty
was not in effect at the time.
Unanswered Questions
The deaths of the two officers Parker, 43, and
Rafferty, 39, are tragic, and colleagues have been effusive in their
praise of the detectives.
In the online tribute page to fallen law enforcement
officers, some colleagues have left poignant and heartfelt tributes for
both officers.
“Their reputation preceded them in the area, in the
neighborhood,” Michael J. Palladino, the president of the Detectives
Endowment Association told The New York Times. “They were well-known,
well-respected guys.”
Police say they may never know exactly how the
suspect was able to get Parker’s gun; Parker may have even had his gun
already drawn and the suspect somehow wrestled it away, or he may have
grabbed it from Parker’s holster.
What is known is that Parker showed enough presence
of mind after being mortally wounded to call 911 and describe the
shooter.
Police Say Suspect in the Killing of Two
Detectives Fired Seven Times at Close Range
By
Shaila K. Dewan - The New York Times
September 14, 2004
As the wounded suspect in the killing of two police
detectives was brought into a courtroom in a wheelchair to be arraigned
on murder charges, details emerged yesterday that painted the fatal
shootings in Brooklyn on Friday as an intense, sudden burst of
aggression.
All seven rounds that were fired by the suspect,
Marlon Legere, 28, hit the detectives at close range, the police said.
One, Detective Robert Parker, was hit twice in the chest and twice in
the right leg. The other, Detective Patrick Rafferty, was also hit twice
in the chest. A third bullet pierced his right leg and entered his left
thigh.
Detective Rafferty squeezed off one round, hitting Mr.
Legere in the left foot and right ankle.
The bullets that hit the two detectives were fired
from Detective Parker's 9-millimeter Glock pistol, which the police say
Mr. Legere wrested away from him. But it was still not clear precisely
how Mr. Legere had gotten hold of the gun, and with the two closest
witnesses dead, the police said yesterday that they might never find
out.
Detective Parker, who worked in a suit and tie, was
wearing an off-duty holster, a police official said. The holsters worn
by uniformed police officers have safety release buttons that must be
pressed to remove a gun. But off-duty holsters can be of many types,
including a common one that fits inside the waistband and clips onto a
belt, and is popular because it is somewhat concealed yet easy to access.
It normally does not have a safety release button.
Police officials have not said exactly what kind of
holster Detective Parker was wearing, but they have noted that Mr.
Legere was seated in a car when Detective Parker approached him, which
would have put Mr. Legere at about waist level. It is also possible that
the detective had already drawn his gun when Mr. Legere went for it.
The two detectives were responding to a call from Mr.
Legere's mother, who had filed a complaint against him months earlier.
When they approached Mr. Legere, he was in his mother's car, which she
had accused him of taking without her permission. He refused their
requests to turn off the ignition and get out of the car, the police
have said, and a struggle ensued that ended with Mr. Legere shooting the
two detectives.
Mr. Legere was arraigned yesterday in Criminal Court
in Brooklyn on charges of first- and second-degree murder, first-degree
robbery, and criminal possession of a weapon. He pleaded not guilty. The
judge, William L. McGuire Jr., denied him bail.
In a courtroom packed with police officers in uniform,
the prosecutor, Kenneth Taub, said he knew both victims - Detective
Parker for 15 years. Detectives and prosecutors often work together on
cases. Asked by reporters if his acquaintance with the victims would
affect his prosecution of the case, Mr. Taub said, "It has an impact."
The case will be presented to a grand jury.
Wayne C. Bodden, Mr. Legere's lawyer, said his client
was "not in any condition to aid me in his defense" and it was too soon
to make further comment.
"He hasn't eaten and his handcuffs were extremely
tight, to the extent that they were cutting off his circulation," Mr.
Bodden said. He said his client had told him that he had not been fed
and was sleep-deprived from a combination of physical discomfort and
questioning by investigators.
He said any statements his client may have made to
the police could be challenged because of Mr. Legere's physical
condition.
For Police Officers, Two Deaths Compound the Pain
By
Shaila K. Dewan - The New York Times
September 12, 2004
Detective Bobby Parker followed his calling to the
end. As he lay dying on a Brooklyn street on Friday night, he managed to
call 911 and tell the operator that the man who had shot him and his
fellow detective, Patrick Rafferty, was pictured in a mug shot on the
dashboard of their car.
That same mug shot was soon being distributed by
police officers in their exhaustive manhunt for the suspect, who was
apprehended shortly after the shooting.
Detective Parker, a teddy-bearish 6-foot-4 former
wrestler, and Detective Rafferty, a Long Islander who took his three
children on camping trips - were killed in a confrontation with a
suspect whose mother had come to the precinct because she was frightened
of her sometimes violent son. In the ensuing struggle, the son, Marlon
Legere, took Detective Parker's gun and used it to shoot them both, a
law enforcement official said.
Mr. Legere, 28, was shot in his left foot and right
ankle, the police said.
A repeat felon, he could face two counts of first-degree
murder, said Jerry Schmetterer, a spokesman for the Brooklyn district
attorney, Charles J. Hynes.
The deaths meant that the city's police officers woke
to a morning of compounded grief: the third anniversary of the death of
23 officers at the World Trade Center and the fresher wound of the loss
of two more.
After staying at Kings County Hospital Center, where
the two detectives had been taken after the shooting, until after 3 a.m.
yesterday, Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly appeared before 8 a.m.
at ground zero, where he stood near the podium listening to the names of
the World Trade Center terrorism victims read aloud by family members.
Commissioner Kelly did not answer questions from
reporters, but issued a written statement that said, "In honoring our
officers killed in the extraordinary attack on the World Trade Center
three years ago, we are reminded by the deaths of Detective Robert
Parker and Detective Patrick Rafferty that our police officers are
prepared to give their lives in the day-to-day protection of the people
of New York."
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who spoke at the Sept. 11
memorial service, said that just as the city was tested on Sept. 11,
2001, it was tested again on Friday night in the streets of Brooklyn. "This
is a war against the bad people of the world,'' the mayor said.
Detective Parker was a 22-year veteran described as a
"fixture" in East Flatbush, where he had served at the 67th Precinct for
some 15 years. Detective Rafferty was an up-and-comer with 15 years on
the force. He was sort of an understated "Clark Kent with Superman
underneath," said one of his superior officers in Brooklyn South, Deputy
Inspector Vincent Di Donato. Together, the two men had made about 900
arrests - Detective Parker almost 500 and Detective Rafferty about 400,
the police said. Detective Parker, 43, had reached the coveted rank of
second-grade detective.
"Their reputation preceded them in the area, in the
neighborhood," said Michael J. Palladino, the president of the
detectives' union. "They were well-known, well-respected guys."
Detective Rafferty, 39, lived in Bay Shore with his
wife, Eileen, and children: Kara, 12, Kevin, 8, and Emma, 5. "He was one
of those guys who was just proud as hell to be a cop," said a close
friend, John Triandafils, a retired police officer and neighbor. "You
knew he was behind you."
Friends said Detective Rafferty had been able to
insulate his family from the dangers and stresses of his job - until
Friday night. When neighbors heard his son scream and saw police
officers in the driveway, many knew what had happened.
"He was like a lot of cops," Mr. Triandafils said. "They
tend to others while they're bleeding to death."
Detective Parker, who friends said was divorced, was
remembered as a consummate interrogator who once bonded with a suspect
who was a "Star Trek" fan. Deputy Inspector Di Donato recalled how the
detective had put his hand to the young man's temple and said he was
doing a "Vulcan mind meld." He then told the suspect that he had read
his mind and knew he was guilty. The suspect confessed to murder.
Detective Parker lived in the Brownsville section of
Brooklyn with several cats, the inspector said. Yesterday, three sisters
of a woman who had dated Detective Parker for 12 years came to lay
flowers at the scene of the crime. The fourth sister was out of town,
they said.
"He was like a big teddy bear," said Diane Olatunde,
49, one of the sisters. "The kids called him 'Uncle Robert.' " She said
that even though he and her sister had stopped dating, Detective Parker
would still drop by her mother's house to have a cup of tea and chat.
The events leading up to the shooting began in May,
when Mr. Legere's mother, Melvere, complained that her son had broken a
mirror in her house, threatened her and demanded the keys to her car,
which she surrendered. Detective Parker was assigned to the case. Over
the summer, he worked with Ms. Legere, of 519 East 49 Street, trying to
apprehend her son.
On Friday, the police said, Ms. Legere came to the
precinct and left word that her son had come home. When Detective Parker
arrived for the 4 p.m. shift, he went to the house, but Mr. Legere was
gone. Detective Parker and Detective Rafferty began to search the
neighborhood, and at about 8:30 p.m. Ms. Legere told them by phone that
he was home again, in her car, a blue Mazda with tinted windows, in
front of the house, according to a senior police official.
The two detectives blocked the Mazda with their car.
Detective Rafferty approached the passenger side, and Detective Parker
the driver's side, where he told Mr. Legere to turn off the ignition and
get out of the car, the official said. Mr. Legere refused, and an
argument followed that soon escalated into a physical struggle, the
official said, stressing that investigators are still trying to
determine exactly what happened.
At some point, Detective Rafferty went around the car
to join his partner, the police said. The door to the car was open.
Gunfire rang out.
Investigators believe at least eight bullets were
fired - seven from Detective Parker's gun and one from Detective
Rafferty's. It was not clear if Detective Parker had drawn his own gun,
a 9-millimeter Glock that he wore in a hip holster, before Mr. Legere
wrestled it away.
Mr. Legere's wounds could have been caused by a
single bullet that passed through his left foot and right ankle, the
police said. Autopsies on the two officers were not completed as of
yesterday afternoon, but the police official said each had been hit more
than once.
The detectives were not wearing bulletproof vests
when they were shot. Police officers in uniform are required to wear
vests, but detectives, who usually are in street clothes, have
discretion, the official said.
Mr. Legere has a history of violence. He has been
arrested nine times and has served prison time for first-degree sex
abuse, attempted assault and an attempted drug sale. He was last
released from prison in March, according to state prison records.
New York State law allows for the death penalty when
a law-enforcement officer is murdered. But in June, New York's highest
court ruled unconstitutional a certain provision of the death penalty
that requires a judge to tell a jury that if it does not choose the
death penalty the defendant could be eligible for parole after 25 years.
Mr. Schmetterer, the spokesman for District Attorney
Hynes, said the case would be reviewed by a committee that makes
recommendations on seeking the death penalty. But, he added, "It's the
district attorney's opinion that right now the most serious punishment
available is life without parole. There is no viable death penalty
statue in effect today."
After the shooting, witnesses told the police, Mr.
Legere left the car screaming in pain and staggered to the corner. Using
Detective Parker's gun, investigators believe, he hijacked a minivan and
fled, dumping the van at 622 Brooklyn Avenue, where he had acquaintances.
But when his friends sensed he was in trouble, they turned him away, the
police official said. Another resident called 911, and the police
arrested him and took him to Brookdale University Hospital and Medical
Center.
Detective Parker's gun was later found behind the
Brooklyn Avenue building.
