Convicted British man tries to pin 1986 killings on cartel

Someone gunned down businessman Derrick Moo Young and his adult son in room 1215 of the Dupont Plaza Hotel in October 1986 during the height of Miami's cocaine wars.

But the man convicted of those slayings, 79-year-old British businessman Krishna Maharaj, has maintained his innocence throughout his three decades in prison.

In a matter of months, Maharaj may get one last shot at convincing a federal judge he is innocent. And he will try to clear his name by pinning the crime on Pablo Escobar's Medellin cartel.

Maharaj, who made a fortune in Britain with a fruit and vegetable import business, had relocated to South Florida in the early 1980s to invest in real estate.

Young, who had met Maharaj in London, had offered to oversee the investments when Maharaj was out of town.

At Maharaj's trial, prosecutors sought to show that Maharaj killed the Moo Youngs, who were Jamaican-Chinese associates, because of a vendetta involving a business dispute.

They had testimony from a man who said he witnessed the killings and was kidnapped, as well as evidence that included the murder weapon, a 9mm Smith & Wesson, with a serial number somewhat consistent with a gun Maharaj had owned.

However, an appeals court found that the serial number could apply to thousands of similar guns, "which was not strong evidence of guilt."
"This guy is patently, patently innocent," said Clive Stafford Smith, a London-based attorney with the human rights group Reprieve. "I don't know how long the justice system can put up with that."