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Lucero Defended Himself With Belt, Didn’t Chase Attackers, Det. Says

Posted April 6, 2010 by Ted Hesson
Categories: Hate Watch

For the second straight day, Suffolk County police detective John McLeer testified at the murder trial of Jeffrey Conroy, who is accused of stabbing and killing Ecuadorian immigrant Marcelo Lucero. McLeer was the lead detective assigned to the Lucero case.

Defense attorney William Keahon continued his cross-examination of McLeer today, focusing on the written statement that Conroy gave to McLeer while in custody after the alleged murder. In the statement (which you can read here), Conroy confesses to stabbing Lucero after he and his friends drove to Patchogue looking for “Spanish people” to fight.

Just before court recessed for lunch, Keahon grilled McLeer about whether Lucero, who began swinging his belt at the teens after he had been punched, had “chased” the teens from Rail Road Avenue into the Patchogue train station parking lot, a distance that might have been 70 or 80 feet, according to McLeer.

McLeer steadfastly asserted that he believed Lucero was defending himself as he wielded his belt in the direction of the teens around him. “Again, I’m not going to use the word “chase,” I think he’s trying to get rid of them or have them move on,” McLeer told the jury.

Keahon continued to question McLeer about how the group moved from Rail Road Avenue to the parking lot , but McLeer would not say that the teens were chased:

“Lucero’s swinging that belt at them, pushing them to the West,” McLeer said.

“So you say ‘pushed,’ I say ‘chased,’ correct?” Keahon asked.

“I’d say that’s where we’d agree to disagree, sir,” McLeer replied.

Under questioning from Keahon., McLeer said that, aside from the stab wound, the blunt trauma injuries described by the medical examiner reflected that Lucero was punched one time, and not kicked. “Could he have been kicked and not injured?” McLeer said. “It’s possible.”

During the cross-examination, Keahon also tried to establish that Conroy had intended to sleep over at the house of Nicky and Brendon Cleary, friends of Conroy’s, that night. Keahon referenced text messages received by Conroy on the night of the murder, but McLeer didn’t speak to Conroy’s intentions.

McLeer did, however, testify that the Cleary’s house was along the route to Patchogue from Southaven Park, where Conroy and the other defendants were hanging out before the alleged attack. “It would be towards that direction, not out of the way,” McLeer said.

The prosecution will likely rest after McLeer finishes testifying, meaning that Keahon will have the opportunity to call defense witnesses to the stand. If Keahon chooses not to call witnesses, which is possible, then the trial may conclude in a day or two, after closing statements.

Tags : det. john mcleer, hate crimes, jeffrey conroy, marcelo lucero, patchogue, suffolk, william keahon

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