Jamaica Woman Jailed For Plot To Kill Witnesses In Beau's Trial

JAMAICA, QUEENS -- A Jamaica woman will serve up to 15 years behind bars for conspiring to hire a "hitman" to kill off several witnesses slated to testify in her boyfriend's burglary trials.

Latisha Larrymore, 33, was sentenced on Thursday for her part in the murder plot she and her boyfriend's father concocted while her beau awaited trial behind bars on Rikers Island, said Queens District Attorney Richard Brown. She pled guilty to the murder conspiracy in January.

“In an attempt to help her boyfriend avoid punishment by intimidating or eliminating potential witnesses against him, this defendant risked her own freedom and it was a gamble that did not pay off,” Brown said.

Larrymore's boyfriend, 38-year-old Edward Leasure, of Jamaica, was charged with committing two armed home invasions that caused residents to fear for their lives on March 16, 2015, Brown said. He was jailed in lieu of a $200,000 bail after his arraignment.

While Leasure sat behind bars, Larrymore and his 55-year-old father, Eddie Marcus, of South Ozone Park, plotted to have the witnesses for his upcoming trial murdered, according to the charges. The three conspired between April and May of 2016 to hire a hitman.

Marcus specifically asked a person known to the investigation to kill multiple witnesses in exchange for money, the charges state. He even provided the witnesses' names, addresses and a time frame in which they needed to be killed.

For her part, Larrymore was recorded on phone conversations discussing payment for the hitman's services, how the murders should be carried out and saying she knew someone who could sell him a gun with a silencer, prosecutors said.

When Larrymore was arrested, she allegedly told police her boyfriend had called her worried about the witnesses and told her to meet with his father, who'd found a "lawyer" - code for hitman - to take care of the situation. She also told cops the hitman wanted $4,000 up front for the job, court records state.

Leasure pled guilty to second-degree conspiracy charges and first-degree burglary for the home invasions on Aug. 22, 2016. He was sentenced to 12-14 years for the conspiracy and 24 years for the burglary.

His father, Marcus, pleaded guilty to second degree conspiracy in January 2018 and was sentenced to 3-9 years in prison on February 14.

Larrymore pleaded guilty to second-degree conspiracy and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

"Witness protection is a top priority for law enforcement, and when we learn of plans like the one the defendant participated in we do everything in our power to stop them," Brown said.

(Lead image via Shutterstock)