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British Man 'Framed' by Pablo Escobar Loses Bid to Overturn Double Murder Conviction

A Florida judge ruled on Friday that there was "not enough doubt" to overturn conviction of Krishna Maharaj, who has spent nearly 30 years in prison for a double murder charges.
Photo by Reuters

Krishna Maharaj was not present at a hearing this morning when Miami Judge William Thomas declined to overturn his double murder conviction, for which he has spent almost three decades in a Florida prison.

The 75-year-old Maharaj, who has spent 28 years in prison, including 10 on death row, is in poor health and had been confident that the wealth of evidence presented by his lawyers would be more than sufficient for a retrial. Judge Thomas, however, ruled that there was "not enough doubt" to repeal the conviction for the 1986 murders of Jamaican businessman Derrick Moo Young and his son Duane in a Miami hotel room.

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"The newly-discovered evidence is not of such a nature that it weakens the state's case against Mr Maharaj so as to give rise to reasonable doubt," he said."The court fully weighed the evidence and concluded it lacks any foundation that would possibly

British man imprisoned for Florida murders 'framed' by drug lord Pablo Escobar, ex-hitman claims. Read more here.

"This is a body blow, enormously dispiriting," Maharaj, who has always maintained his innocence, said in a statement. "More than anything, it is dreadful for my wonderful wife Marita, who has stood by me all this time. I would have given up and just died if it were not for her.

"But I will not stop fighting for justice until they do carry me out of this terrible place in a coffin."

Clive Stafford Smith, Maharaj's lawyer and the director of the legal non-profit Reprieve, said that the decision was "devastating" and that he would appeal it.

"There are plenty of mistakes in the judgement. He doesn't consider some of the evidence. He doesn't consider things that are newly discovered. it gets terribly legally technical, but various things like that," Stafford Smith told VICE News. He explained that this would take at least a year and with Maharaj turning 76 at the end of January, he said his client is "going to be in terrible health."

According to the lawyer, Maharaj decided not to attend the ruling in part due to his health.

"He was very confident, as I think we all were, that it was going to come out the right way," Stafford Smith said.

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Today's ruling comes after a four-day evidentiary hearing in November. The judge heard from witnesses who said Maharaj had been framed, pointing the finger at one man: the infamous drug kingpin Pablo Escobar.

The roll call of witnesses who provided testimonies included several convicted criminals, such as notorious hitman Jhon Jairo Velásquez Vásquez, who committed hundreds of murders on behalf of Escobar throughout the 1980s and 1990s. A former US Drug Enforcement Administration Agent relayed the confession from Velásquez that Escobar had arranged the hit on the Moo Youngs.

Velásquez was released from a Colombian prison last August after 30 years behind bars for multiple murders. A trusted lieutenant formerly known as 'Popeye', he was Escobar's preferred assassin in the Medellin cartel. He had killed some 250 people by the time of his arrest in 1992, and ordered the death of 3,000 more.

Velásquez claimed he wanted to clear his conscience and had asked Cuervo to testify on his behalf.

The real killer, the judge heard, was a hitman called Cuchilla ('the blade'). Cuchilla was given one million dollars for the double hit, according to former cartel member Jorge Maya, who testified by taped deposition.

The witnesses said Escobar had arranged the hit because he believed the Moo Youngs were pocketing a cut of billions of dollars of cocaine revenues they were supposed to launder.

Maharaj was involved in an unrelated business dispute with the Moo Youngs, according to Stafford Smith, making him the perfect fall guy. He was allegedly lured to the victims' hotel room where the crime took place. Police found his fingerprints at the scene of the crime.

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A former Miami police officer also testified that he believed Maharaj had been framed in a bid to hide the real killers.

British man may have Florida double murder conviction overturned after 28 years in prison. Read more here.

Stafford Smith has spent more than 3,000 hours on the case, which he has pursued pro bono for more than 21 years.

His last attempt to appeal the decision was in 1997. He told VICE News that on that occasion he had presented "more evidence than I ever had in a case for an unfair trial."

Speaking to VICE News in November, Maharaj's wife Marita, said she had anticipated her husband's release many times over the years, and had been repeatedly disappointed.

"It's like they're knocking you over the head," she said. "You say how can this be - they have witnesses, they have proof, and they still don't release him, you know? So it is very painful.

"I try not to think about it because if you start to put your hopes too high and then things go wrong, it's devastating."

She said she had remained "optimistic" that Maharaj would be released this time.

Follow Ben Bryant on Twitter: @benbryant