Krishna Nanan Maharaj (; born 26 January 1939) is a British Trinidadian businessman. In 1987 he was convicted by a

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

court for the double murders of

Chinese Jamaican Chinese Jamaicans are Jamaicans of Chinese people, Chinese ancestry, which include descendants of migrants from China to Jamaica. Early migrants came in the 19th century; there was another moment of migration in the 1980s and 1990s. Many of the d ...

businessmen Derrick Moo Young and Duane Moo Young, and was sentenced to death. Maharaj has always denied committing the murders, and according to the human rights organisation Reprieve, the case of Krishna Maharaj is "an epic miscarriage of justice"."Kris Maharaj, an innocent Briton imprisoned in the US for 22 years: plea for clemency denied by Governor Crist"
Reprieve, 5 June 2008. Retrieved 9 July 2012. On 13 September 2019, Federal Magistrate Judge Alicia M. Otazo-Reyes made a legal finding that Maharaj had proven his innocence by "clear and convincing evidence" and that "no reasonable juror could convict him", but ruled that this was not sufficient for Maharaj to be set free.

Family

Maharaj is of

Indo-Trinidadian Indo-Trinidadians and Tobagonians or Indian-Trinidadians and Tobagonians, are people of Indian origin who are nationals of Trinidad and Tobago whose ancestors came from India and the wider subcontinent beginning in 1845. Indo-Trinidadians and ...

descent and is the brother of

Ramesh Maharaj Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj SC (; born 16 September 1945) is a Trinidadian and Tobagonian politician. Early life Ramesh Maharaj was born to Hindu Indo-Trinidadians, Dolly and Nanan Maharaj, on the 16th of September 1945 in Diamond Village, Trinidad ...

, former Attorney General of Trinidad and Tobago. He is also the brother of Indra Rambachan (née Maharaj), who is the wife of National Award-winner lawyer Roopnarine Rambachan.

Charge and detention

According to the prosecution, in December 1986 Maharaj arranged a false meeting with Derrick Moo Young in the DuPont Plaza Hotel, in order to demand of Moo Young to repay money that he had fraudulently taken from Maharaj's relatives in Trinidad. Derrick Moo Young turned up at room 1215 together with his son Duane. Once inside the room, Maharaj is said to have appeared with a gun from behind a door. An argument resulted, and the father, Derrick Moo Young, was allegedly shot to death by Maharaj. The prosecution stated that the son, Duane, was then taken upstairs in the suite and shot by Maharaj. In 1997, a Florida court overturned the death sentence."Mercy plea by innocent Brit imprisoned for 20 years in U.S."
Reprieve, 13 October 2006. Retrieved 9 July 2012. In 2001, almost 300 British politicians, church leaders and judges wrote a letter to the then

Governor of Florida A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Jeb Bush John Ellis "Jeb" Bush (born February 11, 1953) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 43rd governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007. Bush, who grew up in Houston, was the second son of former President George H. W. Bush ...

, asking for a retrial. The letter stated that there were "astonishing flaws" in the case against Maharaj. Among those signing the letter were Lord Goldsmith, then

Attorney General for England and Wales His Majesty's Attorney General for England and Wales is one of the law officers of the Crown and the principal legal adviser to sovereign and Government in affairs pertaining to England and Wales. The attorney general maintains the Attorney G ...

and

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

, Lynda Clark, then Advocate General for Scotland,

Charles Kennedy Charles Peter Kennedy (25 November 1959 – 1 June 2015) was a British Liberal Democrat politician who served as Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 1999 to 2006, and was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ross, Skye and Lochaber from 1983 ...

, then Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Ken Livingstone, then

Mayor of London The mayor of London is the chief executive of the Greater London Authority. The role was created in 2000 after the Greater London devolution referendum in 1998, and was the first directly elected mayor in the United Kingdom. The current m ...

, and

Nicholas Lyell Nicholas Walter Lyell, Baron Lyell of Markyate, PC, QC (6 December 1938 – 30 August 2010) was an English Conservative politician, known for much of his active political career as Sir Nicholas Lyell. Early life Born in London, he was the son ...

, former Attorney General for England and Wales and Northern Ireland. The governor denied him a retrial; Maharaj was instead re-sentenced to life imprisonment in 2002. In 2006, the British human rights organisation Reprieve made an appeal to Governor

for clemency on Maharaj's behalf, pointing out that the jury had heard from none of Maharaj's alibi witnesses, who would have put him 25 miles away at the time of the murder; that the prosecution's star witness had changed his story several times; and that evidence had emerged since the trial that the murder victims were involved in money laundering and had links to drug traffickers, and that there were a number of alternative suspects with strong motives, which had not been considered at the time. The appeal was denied. In 2008, Reprieve made a second appeal for clemency to the then Governor of Florida, Charlie Crist, but this appeal was also denied. On 24 April 2014, Judge William Thomas, from the 11th Judicial Circuit Court of Florida, Miami, allowed Maharaj's lawyer to present witnesses during an evidentiary hearing.Patterson, Thom
"Ex-millionaire: I was framed for murders ordered by Escobar"
CNN, 13 December 2014. Retrieved 11 December 2014.Ovalle, David

''Miami Herald'', 24 April 2014. Retrieved 11 December 2014. On 14 November 2014, Henry Cuervo, a former US Drug Enforcement Administration Agent, told a court that ex-hitman Jhon Jairo Velásquez Vásquez had confessed to him that Pablo Escobar had arranged the hit on the Moo Youngs. Cuervo said that Velásquez wanted to clear his conscience and had asked Cuervo to testify on his behalf. He also submitted an affidavit from Velásquez – a cartel assassin known as "Popeye" who was recently released from prison in Colombia, where he is reviled as one of the country's most infamous killers. On 4 April 2017 the US 11th Circuit Court of Appeals granted a hearing based on evidence pointing to the involvement of Pablo Escobar's

Medellín Cartel The Medellín Cartel ( es, Cartel de Medellín) was a powerful and highly organized Colombian drug cartel and terrorist organization originating in the city of Medellín, Colombia that was founded and led by Pablo Escobar. It is often considered ...

in the killings of which Maharaj has been convicted. The court said that the additional witnesses had presented "compelling" accounts that "independently corroborate one another's" and that " l five individuals' stories reflect that the Moo Youngs were killed by the cartel."

References

External links

Lester Holloway Lester John Holloway (born 22 July 1970) is a British journalist and editor, as well as a campaigner and local politician. Career Born in Shepherd's Bush, London, Holloway began his media career as a reporter for '' Eastern Eye'', a weekly ne ...

, 3 June 2012
"25 years on, Krishna Maharaj’s extraordinary case will not be forgotten"
Retrieved 9 July 2012
"Millionaire Briton's 15 years on Death Row"
BBC News 28 March 2002: Retrieved 9 July 2012.
"Miami Briton 'should be freed'"
BBC Newsnight 9 August 2007. Retrieved 9 July 2012 *Ben Bryant
"British Man Imprisoned for Florida Murders ‘Framed’ by Drug Lord Pablo Escobar, Ex-Hitman Claims"
''Vice'', 14 November 2014
"Kris Maharaj"
''Reprieve'' case study {{DEFAULTSORT:Maharaj, Krishna 1939 births Living people 20th-century British businesspeople British people convicted of murder British people imprisoned abroad British people of Indo-Trinidadian descent British prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment British prisoners sentenced to death Kidnappers People convicted of murder by Florida Prisoners sentenced to death by Florida Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Florida 20th-century Trinidad and Tobago businesspeople Trinidad and Tobago emigrants to the United Kingdom Trinidad and Tobago people convicted of murder Trinidad and Tobago people of Indian descent Trinidad and Tobago people imprisoned abroad Trinidad and Tobago prisoners sentenced to death Trinidad and Tobago prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment