Donald Nash

Donald Nash (born Donald J. Bowers; December 9, 1935 – June 2, 2016) was an American criminal, who in 1982 committed two murders for hire and also killed three bystanders, and later killed a fellow prison inmate.

Early life Nash lived in Keansburg, New Jersey. He was born as Donald J. Bowers, and legally changed his name to Donald Nash in 1978. He held several odd jobs, including taxi driver and construction worker. Between 1952 and 1982, he was arrested seven times in New York and New Jersey. In 1981, he was convicted in New York of using forged documents to obtain a taxi medallion, but failed to appear for sentencing, resulting in a fugitive warrant for his arrest.

Crimes Background Irwin Margolies was co-owner (with his wife Madeleine) and CEO of Candor Diamond Corporation, which traded in diamonds. In 1981, Candor Diamond went bankrupt, owing $5.7 million to financing house John P. Maguire and Co. The US Department of Justice investigated, suspecting fraud by Margolies. Margaret Barbera was the comptroller of Candor Diamond, and was involved in Margolies' fraud. She made a deal with prosecutors, pleading guilty to one count of fraud, with a recommendation of no prison time, in return for her cooperation against Margolies. Prosecutors allegedly told Margolies that Barbera and another woman employed by Candor would testify against him.

Margolies then hired Nash to eliminate the potential witnesses, paying him $8,000 for each killing.

Murder of Jenny Soo Chin Jenny Soo Chin was a former Candor bookkeeper and friend of Margaret Barbera. On 5 January 1982, she visited Barbera in Ridgewood, Queens. When she left, a man in a ski mask forced her into her own car and then drove away. Chin was never seen again; the bloodstained car was found nine days later.

Murder of Margaret Barbera On April 12, 1982, Margaret Barbera, a federal witness of Irwin Margulies's trial, lived at an apartment on Grandview Avenue in Ridgewood, Queens. She was murdered that day at a parking garage where she had leased a space, unaware that Nash had rented a neighboring space. While Nash was dragging her body to the car, three CBS Broadcasting technicians— Leo Kuranuki, Robert Schulze, and Edward Benford — had agreed to meet a colleague after work and happened to see Nash forcibly dragging Barbera's limp body toward a van. They tried to intervene and were each shot in the head by Nash, who then fled from the place. The next morning Barbera’s body was found in Manhattan. This was recognized as one of the most terrifying murder cases that occurred in the New York City during the 1980s.

Nash was arrested a week later by Kentucky State Police near Frankfort, Kentucky, driving the getaway van, which had been repainted black. He was held on the fugitive warrant from the forgery conviction.

Trial Nash was charged in state court with the murders of Barbera and the three CBS employees, and conspiracy to murder Chin and Barbera.

The prosecution presented 136 witnesses, including Thomas Dane, who testified under immunity. They showed that Margolies had paid Nash $16,000 for killing Chin and Barbera, and an additional $5,000 because of the killings of the CBS employees.

Murder of Roy Tucker Nash was held at Auburn Correctional Facility, and worked in the kitchen there. Roy Tucker, a murderer serving 25 years, was transferred to Auburn from Attica Correctional Facility in May 1994, and also worked in the kitchen. On 17 October 1994, as Tucker and Nash were preparing meals for other prisoners, Nash slashed Tucker to death "with a 12-inch board spiked with razor blades".

Later developments According to New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision records, Donald Nash, (Department Identification Number 83A4150) was marked as deceased from a heart attack on June 2, 2016.

An American author, Richard Hammer, wrote a book titled The CBS Murders which was originally published by the New American Library (NAL) in 1988. The book covers the story of the murders of the CBS employees.

Books