BRONX MAN IS FOUND GUILTY OF MURDER

Bronx District Attorney Robert T. Johnson announced today that 37 year-old Kevin Alston, has been convicted of murdering a 63 year-old armored car guard in January 1996.

Following a jury trial, Alston, of 3259 Tierney Place, Bronx, originally charged with Murder in the 1st degree, was convicted of one count of Murder in the 2nd degree in the death of Harry Palm. Alston, a predicate felon, faces a maximum term of 25 years to life imprisonment when he appears before State Supreme Court Justice Caesar Cirigliano for sentencing on Friday, November 21, 2003 in Part T5.

The murder occurred on January 25, 1996, as the victim and his partner, armored car guards for Dyre Check Cashing Corporation, exited their truck, and began to walk towards Westchester Square Hospital to make a payroll delivery. Alston and an accomplice approached Palm and his partner and demanded that they surrender the payroll. Witnesses testified that they saw Alston and Palm struggle, before the defendant shot the victim once in the chest. The defendant and his accomplice fled and remained un-apprehended for six years. Alston was then identified in a line up.

Co-defendant Patrick Smith, 35, currently incarcerated at the Valhalla Correctional Facility on an unrelated matter, has been charged with 2 counts of Murder in the 2nd degree under two different theories. Smith is charged with intentional murder in causing the death of the victim, and murder during the commission of a felony. Smith, who is currently awaiting trial, could face a maximum sentence of 25 years to life imprisonment if convicted.

Senior Trial Assistant District Attorney Christine Scaccia, and Assistant District Attorney Maureen Gorman-Phelan of the Trial Division are prosecuting this case.