Larme Price

Case overview

Larme Price, 30, was accused of carrying out four unprovoked killings of shopkeepers in Brooklyn and Queens earlier in 2003 and was later convicted based on a guilty plea. He admitted in court that he was a "serial killer" who killed people who appeared to be of Middle Eastern descent to avenge the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center on 9/11/01.

Timeline

• February 8, 2003 — John Freddy, a 43-year-old store owner, was killed in his grocery in Ozone Park, Queens.
• February 8, 2003 (two hours later) — Sujit (Sammny) Khajala, 50, owner of Around-The-Clock Mini Market at 5803 Avenue N, was gunned down.
• March 10, 2003 — Albert Kotlyar, 32, was killed in his laundromat in Bedford Stuyvesant.
• March 20, 2003 — Mohammed Abdul Nasser Ali, 54, was shot and killed while standing in the doorway to his store at the corner of Eastern Parkway and Buffalo Avenue; Ali’s cousin was critically wounded.
• March 29, 2003 — Larme Price was arrested in Crown Heights and confessed to the four killings.
• March 31, 2003 — Larme Price was arraigned on charges including first-degree murder, second-degree attempted murder, and criminal possession of a weapon.
• April 1, 2003 — Larme Price was arraigned on six counts of murder and one of attempted murder; he was ordered held without bail under a suicide watch.
• November 27, 2003 — Larme Price pleaded guilty and was scheduled to receive life in prison.
• February 2004 — Sentence of life in prison was to be formally pronounced.

Background

Larme Price lived at 1225 Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. His mother, Leatha Price, said he had a history of mental problems and drug abuse, and that Sept. 11, 2001, had been particularly hard on him. She said she tried unsuccessfully to have him admitted to Woodhull Hospital in Brooklyn because he appeared to be mentally unbalanced, and described him raving that the Central Intelligence Agency was after him and that the hospital had put a tracking device in his hand.

Leatha Price also said:

"he walked around scared all the time, he couldn't sit still"

She further said:

"I'm going to join the war"

She stated that after the most recent trip to the hospital he was scared to come out of the car, saying:

" 'They're following me, Ma, they're following me,' "

Hospital records were described as showing that Price was treated at Kings County Hospital Center on Oct. 6, 2001, and at Woodhull Medical and Mental Health Center on March 9, 2003.

Price had a record of arrests dating back to 1989. Police described his prior arrests as including robbery, burglary, assault, and criminal possession of a weapon. Police said he had been unemployed and had sold textbooks that were believed to have been stolen near campuses of New York City colleges. Prosecutors and police also described that he had been taking PCP, and they said the effects could include delusions and paranoia.

A representative described Price’s confession as coming after he identified a man called "Dog" as the killer, but later broke down and said: "I'm the guy you're looking for," according to Lieutenant Cornicello.

The offence

Larme Price was accused of four killings of shopkeepers in Brooklyn and Queens, described as unprovoked slayings. Police said he shot the victims in the head, usually without demanding money.

Victims and locations

• John Freddy, 43, was killed in his grocery in Ozone Park, Queens on a Sunday morning. Police described a surveillance camera showing a man in a dark coat, baseball cap, and hooded sweat shirt shooting Freddy behind the ear.
• Sujit (Sammny) Khajala, 50, was gunned down two hours after Freddy on February 8. Police described him as the owner of Around-The-Clock Mini-Market at 5803 Avenue N; he was fatally shot in the face with the same .40-caliber revolver used in Freddy’s killing. Police said $169 was taken from the cash register by a man who shot Khajala after a brief conversation, then walked away slowly.
• Albert Kotlyar, 32, was killed in his laundromat in Bedford Stuyvesant on March 10. Police described him as a Russian-born laundry manager and said he was killed March 10.
• Mohammed Abdul Nasser Ali, 54, was shot and killed as he stood in the doorway to his store at the corner of Eastern Parkway and Buffalo Avenue about 10:30 a.m. Ten days earlier, police said Albert Kotlyar was killed; Ali was described as the last killing. Ali’s cousin, Yakoob Abdul Aldailam, 22 (described in one account as critically wounded), was behind the counter and was critically wounded. Another account said Price shot Yakoob Aldailam three times, seriously wounding him, who was still recovering at the Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center.

Investigation

Police said Price confessed to the four killings, and that investigators believed he was motivated by a desire to kill people of Middle Eastern descent after the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Police also said that only one of the four victims was from the Middle East, but Price apparently believed the victims all were.

Police described a task force of 20 detectives forming to track down the killer after the first two slayings. Investigators sought the .40-caliber pistol used in three shootings, which Price claimed to have sold.

Detectives described how Price traveled between Crown Heights, Ozone Park, Mill Basin, and Bedford-Stuyvesant, where the slayings took place. Police said they found a baseball cap, the one the suspect had been wearing in surveillance videos, in the trunk of his father’s Lexus.

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said after Price gave himself up at the 75th Precinct that he had killed the shopkeepers, all immigrants, out of hatred for Arabs. Another account stated that two victims were immigrants of Indian descent, one was from the Ukraine, and one was from Yemen.

Police described that the first two slayings took place on Feb. 8. They also stated that the last killing took place on March 20 and involved shooting at a food market less than a block from Price’s home in Crown Heights, where one employee was killed and another seriously wounded.

Police also said they recovered evidence including:

• the 9-millimeter Intertech handgun used in the most recent killing, recovered on March 20 at the Stop I Food Market in Crown Heights
• a distinctive hat, gloves, and other clothing seen in surveillance videotape from other scenes
• a pistol recovered from the home of Price’s girlfriend, which police matched to the shooting of Nassir

Police said the gun and clothing were found at the home of Price’s girlfriend, who was pregnant with his child. They said she was not the mother of Price’s two other children, who had different mothers.

Police said Price discarded the .40-caliber handgun used in the first three killings because he was out of ammunition and knew police were looking for it; police said the gun had not been recovered.

Arrest and confession

Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly announced that Larme Price, 30, was the suspect and said he confessed on Saturday to the four slayings. Kelly said Price was arrested in Crown Heights on March 29.

Police described Price’s surrender: he walked into the 75 Precinct stationhouse and offered to help police find the killer, saying the killer went by the nickname "Dog" and appeared eager to help the investigation. Police said Price initially told detectives the person behind the shooting was "Dog" and left his cellphone number. Investigators said they had a hunch there was no such person as "Dog." Detective Viggiani called Price and Price eventually broke down, according to Lieutenant Cornicello:

"I'm the guy you're looking for"

Police said Price told investigators he had been reading the Bible, particularly the commandment "Thou shalt not kill," and that he was concerned about his two daughters. Police also reported that Price said he had been confessing because he had been reading the Bible and was concerned about his two daughters.

During the press conference, Commissioner Kelly said:

"One man’s twisted view led to the murder of four innocent people. This department will not tolerate crimes against immigrants or crimes born of bias."

Charges and court proceedings

A spokesman for District Attorney Charles Hynes described the case as involving four counts of first-degree murder, with three counts of first-degree murder relating to the four killings and one count described as murder committed during the course of a robbery in two of the counts. Price originally faced the death penalty in two out of the four counts of murder because they took place during the commission of a robbery.

Another account stated Price was indicted on three counts of first-degree murder, and said he faced possible death penalty. It also stated that a third count charged him as a serial killer. The indictment was announced on April 11 in a hearing before Criminal Court Judge William Garnett; Price was not present and was expected to be arraigned in State Supreme Court in Brooklyn before the end of the month.

Price also faced other charges in connection with the killings, including multiple counts of second-degree murder.

Police and prosecutors described additional charges including criminal possession of a weapon and attempted murder. One account said Price was arraigned on six counts of murder and one of attempted murder and ordered held without bail under suicide watch. Another account said he was being charged with four counts of criminal possession of a weapon and two counts of attempted murder.

A criminal complaint was described as stating that Price told a detective he shot three victims because he believed each was of Middle Eastern descent, and that he said he shot a Russian-born man because he "felt bad vibes."

Defense counsel was identified as John Youngblood, who told reporters:

"Our first concern is for Mr. Price's physical well-being"

Price’s relatives refused to comment as they left the courthouse, according to the accounts.

Sentencing

Larme Price pleaded guilty and was scheduled to receive life without parole as part of a deal struck with the D.A.’s office and Supreme Court Judge Neil Firetog, with sentencing formally pronounced in February. Another account stated that the sentence was life in prison and that it was formally pronounced in February 2004.

Outcome

Larme Price pleaded guilty to killing a Mill Basin mini-market owner and three other merchants during a killing spree in February and March. He received a life sentence, with formal sentencing pronounced in February 2004.

Other details

Police said Price claimed he wanted to kill Arabs in revenge for the Sept. 11 attacks, but that only one of the men he shot was of Middle Eastern origin. Lieutenant Cornicello stated:

"As much as he says he had something against Middle Eastern people, he actually -- he hated everybody"

Cornicello said Price expressed feelings against many different people during the interview and said:

"He was a patriotic killer. He wanted to enlist in the Army."

Investigators also said Price did not seem to have planned his killings, and said he went in to buy a pack of gum and got "bad vibes." Cornicello said:

"He went in to buy a pack of gum, and he got 'bad vibes.' He mentioned that he was in several stores that he got bad vibes, but he didn't have the gun. He would go back but the store would be closed, or he wouldn't be able to get in."

A person who said he grew up in Crown Heights with Mr. Price, Prince Cooper, said:

"Maybe whatever demons that were in his head, making him kill, maybe he tried to get away from them by turning himself in,"
"Maybe that way he knew he could get help."

Leatha Price said:

"We kept trying to get help for him, but they kept letting him go"

In describing the killings, police said they did not believe Price was involved in a fifth fatal shooting that took place at an auto parts store in East New York, Brooklyn, on March 1. Police also said they detained a man with Price during the first killing at a food market in Ozone Park, Queens, on Feb. 8, and said the unnamed man was being considered a witness.