Krishna “Kris” Maharaj, 75, was not in court when Judge William Thomas said, “This court fully weighed the materiality, relevance and inconsistencies of the newly discovered evidence, and concludes that such evidence falls dramatically short of establishing that the murders were committed by anyone other than Mr. Maharaj.”
The convicted killer’s family sat in the front row of the courtroom, and held each other as the judge uttered those words. Just a couple of rows behind them, the wife and mother of the victims, Derrick and Duane Moo Young, shed tears of happiness.
Maharaj’s attorneys have 30 days to appeal the decision. They did not say whether they would do so.
From luxury living to prison bars
It was October 1986, when police arrested Maharaj — an international food importer and newspaper owner — in the shooting deaths of his business partners, Derrick Moo Young and his 23-year-old son.
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The restaurant manager, Ron Kisch, told “Death Row Stories,” he remembered seeing Maharaj having lunch that day.
“It doesn’t seem like there’s any way possible that he could have killed people at 12 o’clock and then been in for lunch sometime between 12 and 2,” Kisch said.
Five other witnesses came forward saying Maharaj was with them on the day of the murders, “Death Row Stories” reported.
Today, Maharaj sits in a medium-security correctional facility outside Miami. He had been in poor health, according to his lawyer, although he seems to have improved.
CNN’s Javier De Diego reported from Miami.
