December 3, 1998

JAMES ALLEN GORDON FOUND GUILTY OF FIRST-DEGREE MURDER IN BRUTAL SLAYING OF THREE WOMEN AND ATTEMPTED MURDER OF TWO OTHERS; FACES DEATH PENALTY

Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown today announced the conviction of James Allen Gordon on first-degree murder charges stemming from the murder of three women and the attempted murder of two other women during a burglary and robbery which took place during the summer of 1996. Two of the dead women were sexually assaulted before they were killed and one of the two was found to have been tortured.

District Attorney Brown said that Gordon, of 105-14 177th St., Jamaica, has been found guilty after a 13 week jury trial presided over by Supreme Court Justice Thomas A. Demakos of having murdered Darlene Johnson, 28, Hadiyah Holliman, 18, and Mary Mouzon, 33. Ms. Johnson and Ms. Mouzon were residents of a building at 106-03 177th St. where the murders occurred. Ms. Holliman lived in Brooklyn and was visiting Ms. Mouzon at the time of the murders. The surviving women are 21 and 20 years old respectively.

According to the trial testimony, during the early morning hours of July 10, 1996, the defendant entered the building at 106-03 177th St. and went to Ms. Johnson's first-floor apartment where he raped and sodomized her and then shot her in the head. He then went to Ms. Mouzon's second-floor apartment where she, Ms. Holliman and the two surviving women were and, at gunpoint, demanded property from Ms. Mouzon and the other victims. He then shot Ms. Holliman in the head and then repeatedly threatened the others and forced them to disrobe. He then attempted to sexually abuse and torture Ms. Mouzon and ultimately caused her death by beating, stabbing and cutting her and shooting her in the mouth. Thereafter, it was testified, the defendant struck one of the surviving women repeatedly in the head with a hammer and attempted to strangle the second survivor who managed to escape from a second-floor window and alert police.

The defendant was arrested in Memphis, Tennessee on August 20, 1996 after a nationwide manhunt by detectives assigned to the Queens Homicide Task Force and the 103rd Precinct Detective Unit.

District Attorney Brown said, "The guilty verdict rendered today by the jury in the capital prosecution of James Allen Gordon is more than justified. The evidence of the defendant's guilt, presented at trial over the last several weeks, is clearly overwhelming.

We now approach the second phase of the trial -- the penalty phase -- after which the jury will decide whether the defendant should be sentenced to death for his crimes. In view of the ongoing nature of the proceedings, I will refrain from any further comment on the verdict at this time. The penalty phase will begin next Monday, December 14th before Judge Demakos and the jury that convicted the defendant."

The case was tried by a team of prosecutors headed by EADA James C. Quinn and including Major Crimes Bureau Chief, Charles A. Testagrossa and Gary S. Fidel, Director of Special Litigation.