In the face of shocking disclosures that two witnesses have committed perjury, Virginia Beach prosecutors have dropped the death penalty in the case against a man charged with robbing and killing an off-duty police officer near a go-go bar.
The perjury also caused prosecutors to withdraw murder charges against Kareem Turner last week. Turner and Raymond Lewis Perry were both charged in 2012 for the murder of Victor Decker.
Decker was killed in a parking lot near Oceana go-go bar. The murder took place in 2010 but went unsolved for two years.
After two years of investigation, police arrested Perry and Turner. Their arrest was due to disclosure from several snitches in jail. The snitches now admit they are trading their cooperation for the possibility of reduced sentences.
On Monday, March 24, Perry’s defense attorneys told the judge that there are 17 “snitch witnesses” in this case. They requested additional funds to investigate other potential instances of perjured testimony from jailhouse snitches. The defense attorneys’ revelation led to the release of Turner and the abandonment of the death penalty for Perry.
Perry’s attorney is fighting for his charges to be dropped. He stated that there are no eyewitnesses, no DNA, no forensics, and no murder weapon.
Perry’s defense attorney believes that the motivation for the murder could be caused by Deker’s repeated unfaithfulness to his wife.
Perry’s conviction in this case can bring a maximum of life in prison. Any conviction will extend Perry’s current sentence; he was sentenced to over 90 years for federal robbery charges.
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