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Police make arrest in 1984 murder
By adamg on Tue, 12/02/2008 - 5:30pm
Boston Police today charged an Atlanta resident with beating and strangling a Roxbury woman to death almost 24 years ago.
Sultan Omar Chezulu, now 60, was arrested in Georgia today and will be transported back to Boston to face a charge of murdering Elsie "Yolanda" Hernandez sometime between the time she left work on Washington Street in Roxbury on Dec. 28, 1984 and the time her body was found amidst garbage between Shawmut Avenue and Washington Street the next day.
Police Commissioner Ed Davis says Chezulu, who actually lived in Boston - and Boston-area jails - until 2004, was tracked down by his department's Unsolved Case Squad and investigators from the Suffolk County District Attorney's office - who used DNA to track him down.
Davis said that Chezulu, then known as Robert L. Scott, gave a DNA sample on being released from prison in 2004, after serving 14 years on a conviction of robbery and assault with a dangerous weapon in Boston. He then changed his name to Chezulu and eventually wound up in Georgia (he also spent time in Florida):
The Unsolved Case Squad took existing evidence from the crime scene and submitted it into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS). A CODIS hit was confirmed to be Chezulu also known as Robert L. Scott.
Hernandez, a Charlestown High School graduate, was working at Robells Department Store in Roxbury, was due to enroll at Northeastern University and dreamed of being a veterinarian, officials say.
DA Dan Conley:
Members of my Victim Witness Assistance Program spoke today with Yolanda's surviving sister, who was reportedly very happy to hear of today's arrest. But today is not the end of the road – the investigation remains very active, and there are many questions we simply cannot answer at this point in time.
Innocent, etc.
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Comments
DA Dan Conley: Members
Thanks for patting yourself on the back, Dano.
Emphasis Not in Original
There are several victim/witness programs out there run by a variety of different agencies. BPD has one, as do public health agencies and non-profit organizations.
When budget cuts threaten the one that works most closely with most victims and witnesses in the part of the state most affected by violent crime, you bet it's going to be highlighted -- though not in the manner you suggest. I'm sorry you interpreted it that way, and I hope some of the televised coverage does away with the implication.
Yes, it's my emphasis. The
Yes, it's my emphasis. The program wasn't what I took issue with, it was the "my." Unless he owns he own company there, I think it's the taxpayer's program. Pols of all persuasion claim credit for work they do on the people's dime, like Tim Cahill's lost property department.
Let me repeat - the office has a program, not the man. Making brownie points for yourself under those conditions is offensive. If you need to take personal credit for your work, go into the dreaded private sector and start your own company. It's not Tom Menino's police department or Deval Patrick's mental health department.
Fair Enough
All true, all accurate, and all points taken. At the end of the day, it is the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office, though, and even from the perspective of simple economy of words I think it makes sense for the Suffolk County District Attorney to use the pronoun rather than repeat a five-word phrase in the possessive for both the VWAP and the Homicide Unit (as distinct from the BPD's victim advocates and BPD's Homicide Unit) within moments of each other. Fortunately, Adam has kindly linked to the full text, which shows an effort to share credit across agencies and across the board while recognizing the individual contributions of all the various parts.
Again, though, your points are taken -- and taken seriously.
He could have said "our" instead of "my"
not that I think this is a big deal to begin with.
Property of Tom Menino, Mayor
Let me repeat - the office has a program, not the man. Making brownie points for yourself under those conditions is offensive. If you need to take personal credit for your work, go into the dreaded private sector and start your own company. It's not Tom Menino's police department or Deval Patrick's mental health department.
Uh, if you hadn't noticed: every piece of city property has Menino's name either chiseled, painted, or stickered to it.
Conley's entire statement
Here (I didn't link initially because I was rushing out the door, basically).
Chezulu ordered held without bail
After pleading innocent in Roxbury District Court. Next court appearance is Jan. 5.
Chezulu denied bail again
Chezulu was arraigned today in Suffolk Superior Court, pleaded innocent, then got to go back to jail after Clerk Magistrate Connie Wong agreed with prosecutors that his extensive record of violent crime makes him a threat to society.
Jury empaneled
The jury for this trial was selected today.
I know because I came very close to being on it until the prosecutor decided to use an unqualified exception on me. They still needed 2 jurors and I was one of the last 4 in the room.
If he did commit this brutal murder, I wish I could have helped put him away.
Unqualified exception? Do
Unqualified exception? Do you perchance have an advanced degree? Card-carrying member of the ACLU? Prosecutors hate those people.
Yes and No
Advanced degree: Yes, PhD.
Card-carrying member of ACLU? No, but I might as well be.
Nothing about civil liberties came up in the questioning. They just wanted to know that I wouldn't be biased due to race or religion (defendant is Black Muslim male, victim is female Hispanic).
I figured it was the degree, since the degree is in science and they are accusing the guy primarily on a 26-year old DNA match from what I can tell in the media.
Sultan Omar Chezulu found guilty
Chezulu was found guilty but maintains he is innocent. The evidence said otherwise and the jury found him guilty of first-degree murder with a mandatory sentence of life without parole.