In a surprise move, a federal judge in Brooklyn has News Archives – YonneTours out the murder conviction of Karl Jordan Jr.
This is connected to the decade-and-a-half-long case stemming from the 2002 killing of Jam Master Jay, the legendary DJ of Run-DMC.
That ruling came nearly two years after a jury convicted Jordan in 2012.
On Friday, U.S. District Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall said prosecutors didn’t prove he had a clear motive for the crime.
The government argued that Jordan’s killing was linked to a dispute over drugs, but the judge ordered that the theory was too speculative and the proof was thin.
Jay, born Jason Mizell, was shot and killed inside his Run-D.M.C. studio in Queens in October 2002.
The killing sent shockwaves through the music world and remained unsolved for almost 20 years, becoming one of hip-hop’s most painful mysteries.
The lawyers of Jordan have debated that the case depended upon the eyewitness accounts and on assumptions rather than hard evidence.
With this conviction, Jordan’s federal murder charges have been acquitted, but he remains in custody on unrelated drug charges.
The judge also rejected a motion by Jordan’s co-defendant for acquittal or a new trial, so that the case will go ahead.
The ruling is reopening old wounds and raising new questions for both the fans and the family of Jay.
Though the search for justice continues, his position as a pioneer of hip hop remains uncontested.
