By Patrick Donachie
JAMAICA — A Jamaica man was sentenced to 24 years in prison for conspiring to murder a witness to two home invasions he committed in March 2015, the Queens DA said.
Edward Leasure, 37, was arrested that month and pleaded guilty to burglary and conspiracy in August 2016, according to DA Richard Brown.
“Prospective witnesses in criminal cases must be protected at all times from outside interference, intimidation and threats of violence in order to insure the fair administration of justice,” Brown said about the sentencing. “In this case, the defendant admitted his guilt and the sentence imposed reflects the seriousness of his crimes.”
Brown said Leasure knocked on the front door of a Queens home on the morning of March 16, 2015. Clad in a ski mask and black jacket, he entered the house and pulled a firearm on a woman and her husband, demanding to see a “safe.”
“You had a big party Saturday night. I know you have a safe,’” Leasure allegedly said in sum and substance, according to the DA. “Show me the safe or I’ll shoot your wife in the foot!”
The woman gave him $300 and he fled, entering a nearby home reportedly to evade police capture. He held a woman and a man hostage at gunpoint, according to the DA. Brown said the phone rang at one point, with Leasure directing the man to pick up the phone and speak only English. A man speaking in Bengali asked on the other end of the line if there was a man with a gun in the house, telling the man held hostage to respond that he would see him for dinner if that was the case.
“‘OK, OK, OK, yes, dinner,” the man said, according to the DA’s office.
Leasure later conspired with his father, Eddie Marcus, 53, and his girlfriend, Latisha Larrymore, 31, to hire a hitman who would murder the witnesses in the home invasion trial, the DA said. Both Larrymore and Marcus were charged and are awaiting trial. Larrymore told authorities that Leasure told her to meet with Marcus, saying Marcus had found a “lawyer” who could handle the situation. The DA’s office said “lawyer” was a code for “hitman.”
Leasure was sentenced to 24 years for the home invasion burglaries as well as a concurrent 12-year term for the charge of conspiracy.
Reach reporter Patrick Donachie by e-mail at pdona
