Perpetrator Shot Liuzza Essay

On December 5, 1984, in the heart of New Orleans, the lives of two men made a wrong turn towards death. Ray Liuzza, a 34-year-old businessman, was recently promoted to Vice President of a hotel. To celebrate, he enjoyed the night on Bourbon Street. After a night of celebration, Liuzza returned to his apartment and robbed at gunpoint. He begged not to shoot, but the perpetrator shot Liuzza five times. Before being hauled off to the hospital, he asked,“ Why did they have to shoot me?” and passed later that night. Weeks after the death of Ray Liuzza, his family continued to search for his killer. After a month without any leads, Richard Perkins, a fence in the New Orleans neighbor, contacted the family. He was known to buy stolen goods and resale, as a middle man, to buyers in the community. In

His father was considered a career criminal and not present in John’s life. Even though his upbringing was unstable, he did not get into much trouble with the law. At the age of 22, John Thompson was apprehended by the New Orleans police at his home. Everything became a nightmare for John leaving his two kids, fatherless, and unaware of the seriousness of his accused crime. The police took him to the homicide division, where he listened to a cassette tape accusing him of murder. In the tapes, Perkins also names Kevin Freeman as an accomplice in the killing. Kevin Freeman claimed, he and Thompson were driving together the night of the encounter, and they ran out of gas near Liuzza’s home. Then Thompson gave the idea to rob Liuzza and Kevin got cold feet before running away. In addition, other people in the neighborhood began to come forward, with unrelated information, further incriminating John. He became a suspect in another armed robbery incident when a neighbor claimed he looked like the man who robbed his children weeks earlier. John has never been convicted of a violent crime until