BALTIMORE MAN CONVICTED OF MURDERING PARKCHESTER COUPLE "EXECUTION STYLE" IN DRUG RELATED DISPUTE

Bronx District Attorney Robert T. Johnson announced today that a 30 year old Baltimore man has been convicted of murdering a Parkchester couple who allegedly had sold drugs to a friend of his on numerous occasions.

Kevin Washington was found guilty of four counts of Murder in the 2^nd degree, under two different legal theories, and two counts of Robbery in the 1^st degree, in the deaths of Esteban Martinez, 29, and Linda Leone, 23, on December 15, 1996. The jury convicted Washington of "intentionally" causing the deaths of the victims and also found him guilty of murder which occurred during the commission of a felony offense, the robbery.

Acting State Supreme Court Justice Megan Tallmer set sentencing for Wednesday, April 14, 2004 in Part T 22. Washington is facing a maximum sentence of 50 years to life imprisonment for the murders, if the terms are consecutive, and a concurrent sentence of up to 25 years imprisonment for the robbery conviction.

Washington went to the murdered couple’s apartment with three other people, including alleged accomplice Robert Mitchell, 33, who is awaiting extradition to the Bronx. Mitchell is in custody in Baltimore, Maryland on a probation violation. Two other accomplices, Keisha Washington, 30, the defendant’s twin sister, and Denise Henderson, 36, pled guilty to Robbery in the 1^st degree and are awaiting sentencing.

The jury heard testimony that Washington and the two women came to the Bronx from Baltimore with a fourth accomplice who believed that the murdered couple had cheated him on several occasions during drug transactions. The defendants used handcuffs and duct tape to restrain Martinez and Leone while they were tortured with serrated knives before being shot in head at close range. Martinez was killed first in order to persuade Leone to disclose where in the apartment the drugs and cash were hidden. Leone was killed after directing the defendants to a closet in the master bedroom where the two female accomplices were holding the couple’s young children who at the time were four, five and six years old. Neither victim was shot in front of the children who were not harmed. The couple’s six year old son called 911 after the defendants left the apartment to return to Baltimore with approximately $45,000 in cash and more than a kilo of cocaine.

The case is being prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Nancy Borko and Assistant District Attorney Licet Tineo.