Marlon Legere

Marlon Legere (born October 10, 1975), a Trinidadian-American from New York, is the convicted murderer of NYPD detectives Robert Parker and Patrick Rafferty.

The murder On September 10, 2004, Marlon Legere's mother Melva placed a call to the 67th precinct in East Flatbush, Brooklyn. She was seeking the help of detectives Robert Parker and Patrick Rafferty, whom she knew from earlier incidents with her abusive son. Melva Legere said she feared her son--an unemployed ex-convict who had previously done time in Greene and Sing Sing prisons for sexual assault, attempted criminal sale of a controlled substance, and attempted assault--might try to take her car from her.

Seeing Marlon Legere on East 49th Street sitting in his mother's Mazda 626, the two detectives drove the wrong way down the street and boxed in Legere with their car so he could not drive off. Neither detective was wearing a bulletproof vest. At the same time Parker dialed 911 on his cell phone and was able to calmly describe the situation and identify his attacker to the operator. "I have a photo of the guy who shot me on my dashboard," he said. Both detectives were still alive when ambulances showed up, but did not survive the trip to the hospital.

Flight and capture After being shot by Rafferty, Marlon Legere, still bearing Parker's service weapon, hobbled into the street and carjacked Omar Harvey out of his Mercury Villager minivan. Legere drove twelve blocks to the apartment of a female acquaintance, where he tried to get rid of Parker's gun. Police took him into custody two hours later, when a neighbor saw Legere lying down and bleeding on the apartment's fire escape. Parker's gun was recovered from a lot behind the building.

Many New Yorkers, especially police officers, were bitterly disappointed that Legere was not eligible for the death penalty (New York's capital punishment statute had been overturned just three months before).

As of February 2006, Legere is incarcerated in Clinton Correctional Facility, in Dannemora, New York.

Remaining question No one is entirely sure how Legere was able to take Parker's Glock 19 from him. If the detective had his gun already drawn, Legere may simply have wrestled it away. If not, he might have pulled it from Parker's holster himself. Though the NYPD typically issues its officers retention holsters, it is unknown if Parker was wearing one.