Alleged South End murderer, convicted flaming-cat tosser among those up for Dookhan drug hearings today

A man who allegedly fled to Texas after gunning a man down in the South End last year and a man convicted of torturing a cat and then tossing its flaming carcass into an East Boston apartment building have hearings today on requests to overturn their separate drug convictions because of possible evidence tampering by ex-state chemist Annie Dookhan.

The Suffolk County District Attorneys' office reports that Anthony Thames, charged with the August, 2011 South End murder of Raymond Lemar, will not be going anywhere even if a judge does agree to set aside his five-year conviction for possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, because he is being held without bail pending his trial for Lemar's murder.

Also up for a Dookhan hearing is Luigi Epifania of East Boston, currently serving a five-year term for his 2011 conviction for possession of 150 OxyContin pills in his car. His arrest came not long after he got out of prison on unrelated convictions for beating a man with a frying pan in another drug deal and for killing a former friend's cat and putting it in a bag that he set on fire before throwing it in the other man's window.

The DA's office reports a Suffolk Superior Court judge heard more than 100 Dookhan requests - and that prosecutors agreed with defense lawyers to stay sentences pending more in-depth hearings.

Innocent, etc.