The Murder of Eugenio DeLeon Vega (Connecticut)

Summary

Dark Downeast: "The Murder of Eugenio DeLeon Vega (Connecticut)" – Episode Summary
Podcast Host: Kylie Lowe | Date: October 30, 2025 | Podcast: Dark Downeast – Maine and New England's True Crime Podcast

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Overview: A 30-Year Legal Odyssey

This episode delves into the 1993 murder of Eugenio DeLeon Vega, a beloved grocer from New Haven, Connecticut. Host Kylie Lowe unfolds a complex, decades-spanning wrongful conviction case that exposed failings in the state’s criminal justice system. With a focus on narrative depth, community context, and the enduring search for answers, Kylie explores the impact of the crime on the Fairhaven neighborhood, the trials and tribulations of George Gould and Ronald Taylor, and the evolving legal, forensic, and personal revelations that have kept the case alive for over thirty years.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Crime & Its Impact ([02:07] – [08:41])

• Eugenio’s Role in the Community:

  • Eugenio was more than a store owner; he was central to the Fairhaven neighborhood, often extending credit, aiding families, and acting as a stabilizing presence.
  • Quote: “To say Eugenio was beloved by his community feels like an understatement.” ([03:31], Kylie Lowe)

• Discovery of the Crime:

  • On July 4, 1993, Eugenio was found murdered in the back freezer of his store, La Casa Green. His hands were bound, and he’d been shot in the head.
  • Odd details confounded police: large sums of cash were left behind; valuables still on the body; no sign of forced entry.

• Community Reaction:

  • The event shocked Fairhaven, fueling fears over rising crime and the loss of a symbol of safety.
  • Hundreds gathered outside the store, reflecting the depth of community grief.

2. The Investigation & Arrests ([08:41] – [15:17])

• Early Suspects:

  • After weeks without leads, police questioned Doreen Stiles, a woman arrested for unrelated charges who claimed to have witnessed two men leaving the scene.
  • Doreen identified George Gould and Ronald Taylor, both known in the neighborhood, although theirs was a recent acquaintance.
  • Another witness, Mary Boyd, provided an unreliable account, citing "movement of people of color" in the store—adding to investigators’ focus on Gould and Taylor.

• Circumstantial Evidence:

  • No physical evidence linked the men to the crime; the murder weapon was never recovered.
  • Both men had committed minor crimes the night before but denied involvement in the murder. Their timelines nearly—but not entirely—excluded them.

3. Trial and Convictions ([15:17] – [18:14])

• The Case Against Gould & Taylor:

  • The prosecution relied almost exclusively on Doreen Styles’ identification; her trial testimony was recorded from her hospital room due to illness.
  • Defense highlighted her compromised state and inconsistent memory due to substance use.
  • Quote, Prosecution’s Standpoint: “The case rises and falls with Doreen Stiles. If you believe her, you'll convict. If you think she's lying, you'll acquit.” ([15:57], Prosecutor James Clark)
  • Quote, Defense’s Critique: “If Doreen Stiles is all the state needs to convict someone of murder, then God help us all.” ([16:19], Defense Attorney Chris DiMarco)

• Outcome:

  • Both men were convicted of felony murder and robbery, sentenced to 80 years each, and maintained their innocence.

4. Appeals, Recantations, & Revelations ([18:14] – [28:57])

• Habeas Corpus and PI Investigation:

  • Private Investigator Gerald O’Donnell, hired by the defense, found major discrepancies in Doreen’s timeline. Doreen confessed she’d lied due to police pressure and withdrawal symptoms, corroborated by later DNA testing which excluded both men from evidence found on the binding cord.

• Witness Changes:

  • Doreen Stiles and Mary Boyd both recanted their trial testimonies, alleging coercion and threats from the police.

• Judge’s Decision:

  • In 2010, Judge Stanley T. Fugier Jr. called the convictions a “manifest injustice,” ordering the men’s release after 16 years behind bars.

5. Legal Reversals & Years of Turmoil ([28:57] – [36:49])

• Supreme Court Reinstates Convictions:

  • In 2011, Connecticut’s highest court ruled that discrediting evidence was not enough for exoneration—affirmative proof of actual innocence was needed. Both men’s convictions were reinstated.
  • Quote from ruling: “Actual innocence requires affirmative evidence that the petitioners did not commit the crimes...not simply the discrediting of evidence on which the conviction rested.” ([28:57], Kylie Lowe)

• Further Legal Battles:

  • Ronald Taylor, terminally ill, died shortly after release; George Gould remained imprisoned.
  • Subsequent habeas corpus attempts failed; O’Donnell was convicted of bribery and tampering after controversial interactions with Doreen Stiles.

6. New Evidence and Final Exoneration ([36:49] – [46:49])

• Conviction Integrity Unit Findings:

  • In 2021, George Gould was released after a sentence reduction, but remained a convicted killer.
  • Connecticut’s Conviction Integrity Unit (CIU) reinvestigated and found no forensic evidence tying George or Ronald to the crime. They highlighted overlooked alternative suspects, especially Eugenio’s own son, Carlos DeLeon, whom family alleged had motive and confessed privately to the murder.
  • Quote from CIU report via family member: “I feel so ashamed of my father being a murderer, killing his own father.” ([37:59], Kylie Lowe cites daughter of Carlos)

• Legal Endgame:

  • In February 2024, George Gould’s conviction was vacated; he was finally fully exonerated.

• Ongoing Lawsuit:

  • George Gould is now suing the city and police for their role in the wrongful conviction and is seeking both compensatory and punitive damages.
  • Connecticut’s state claims commissioner awarded Gould $6.7 million in compensation.
  • Quote about the true cost: “The case isn't just about money for George, it's about holding people accountable for a system that took nearly 30 years to admit it got it wrong.” ([45:27], Kylie Lowe)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Kylie Lowe on Eugenio’s reputation:
  “To say Eugenio was beloved by his community feels like an understatement.” ([03:31])

• Prosecutor James Clark:
  “The case rises and falls with Doreen Stiles. If you believe her, you'll convict. If you think she's lying, you'll acquit.” ([15:57])

• Defense Attorney Chris DiMarco:
  “If Doreen Stiles is all the state needs to convict someone of murder, then God help us all.” ([16:19])

• Ronald Taylor, on his innocence:
  “Someone said I killed someone. That's not my style. I was involved in one little robbery in a hallway the night before, and that wasn't even a robbery. He gave me the money.” ([16:57])

• Kylie Lowe, on the lasting question:
  “If George and Ronald were innocent, as they steadfastly claimed, who really killed Eugenio De Leon Vega?” ([33:19])

• Carlos DeLeon, on suspicions against him:
  “How the hell am I going to do something to my own father? It's stupid. It's a nightmare. I loved my father so much.” ([42:05])

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [02:07] - Introduction to the crime and Eugenio’s background
• [05:42] - Discovery of the body & initial investigation
• [13:30] - Police focus shifts to Ronald Taylor & George Gould
• [15:17] - The 1995 trial and reliance on Doreen Stiles’ testimony
• [18:14] - Post-conviction appeals and recantations begin
• [23:40] - Judge Fugier overturns convictions, men released
• [28:57] - Connecticut Supreme Court reverses exoneration
• [32:45] - Second habeas proceedings, confusion and legal turmoil
• [36:49] - CIU re-opens the case; new evidence, suspicion on Carlos
• [42:00] - Legal exoneration of George Gould; ongoing lawsuit

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Tone & Language

Throughout the episode, Kylie maintains her hallmark heart-centered, conscientious tone—centered on compassion for victims and careful skepticism of legal institutions. She uses plainspoken, engaging language, giving room for both personal anguish and systemic critique:

“What began as a 1993 murder case had turned into a decades long debate of unreliable memories, shaky truths and the doubts that never quite went away.” ([34:40])

“Every conversation about this case, every appeal, every new test, every court filing, it all still traces back to Eugenio… who trusted people even when he shouldn't have, and who left behind a family and a community still trying to reconcile his loss.” ([45:39])

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Conclusion

Kylie Lowe’s narrative underscores the human cost of miscarried justice, shining a light on the loss experienced by Eugenio’s family and the legal system’s long path to (partial) redemption. Although George Gould is now free and exonerated, the circumstances of Eugenio DeLeon Vega’s murder remain clouded—and the podcast leaves listeners with the haunting central question: Who really killed the grocer, and what lessons have we learned in our pursuit of justice?

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For further reading and sources, visit: darkdowneast.com

Transcript

[Kylie Lowe]

Here on the east coast, history runs deep. And as the autumn nights grow long and the wind rattles through the pines, I tell stories that still chill the bones across New England and beyond. Every week, my friends Rasha and Yvette from so Supernatural bring you stories of hauntings, unexplained encounters, and mysteries that refuse to be solved. Listen to so Supernatural every Friday wherever you get your podcasts.

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[Kylie Lowe]

The murder of Eugenio de Leon Vega marked the beginning of a three decade legal odyssey that exposed flaws in Connecticut's criminal justice system and raised enduring questions about who who really killed the popular grocer. Police initially suspected robbery as the motive, and two suspects were arrested, charged and convicted based on the state's highly circumstantial case against them. Despite the glaring inconsistencies at the scene and witnesses who couldn't stick to their story, the case still has not seen a true ending, and it continues to develop as we speak. I'm Kylie Lowe, and this is the case of Eugenio de Leon Vega on Dark down East. It was 6:05 on the morning of July 4th, 1993 when New Haven police responded to a call at La Casa Green, a small grocery store on Grand Avenue in the city's Fairhaven neighborhood. According to court records, one of the store's regular customers, Mary Boyd, walked in a little after 5:40am Expecting to see the store owner, 51 year old Eugenio De Leon Vega. But he wasn't at his usual post. Mary looked for Eugenio inside and out, but there was no sign of him. Eugenio wasn't just the owner of a neighborhood store. He and La Casa Green were at the center of the Fairhaven community. You could stop in to grab a soda or ingredients for dinner and find yourself in conversation with friends long after you'd checked out. Eugenio had been a fixture of grand avenue for over 25 years and he was as reliable as the sunrise, which is also when he showed up to the store every day. It was routine for Eugenio to arrive around 5am and stay until near midnight. So the fact that he wasn't at the register or puttering around the shop that morning was extremely unusual. At 5:42am Mary used the phone behind the counter to place a 911 call to New Haven police with a report of suspicious activity at 330 Grand Ave. Two New Haven officers arrived at 6:05am Everything at the front of the store looked pretty much as it should. La Casa Green was described by some as slightly cluttered, but other than that nothing seemed like it had been scattered or disturbed. But the back of the shop told a different story. The officers found the store's large floor safe sitting open and a wallet lying in plain view. And if there was ever any cash inside, it was gone now. Officer Keith Wirtz turned to the walk in freezer and opened the door. Eugenio's lifeless body was slumped in a semi seated position and his hands were bound in front of him, wrapped with an extension cord. There was a single gunshot wound to his left temple and an exit wound on the right side of his head. Already the theory of what happened inside Eugenio's shop was assembling inside the minds of police. It looked as if Eugenio's death started as a robbery and turned into a brazen homicide. But as investigators worked through the holiday weekend in pursuit of answers, Eugenio's murder became not only a homicide inquiry but but the beginning of one of Connecticut's longest and most controversial wrongful conviction sagas the state has ever seen. Eugenio De Leon Vega was born in Puerto Rico and he came to the continental United States to raise a family and start his grocery business. Neighbors described him as a generous, soft spoken man who often extended credit to struggling customers and donated food to local families. To say Eugenio was beloved by his community feels like an understatement. Josh Kovner reports for the New Haven Register that Eugenio's wake lasted four days. That's how many people wish to pay their respects and say a final goodbye. Fairhaven was already on edge that Independence day weekend. Pan McLaughlin reports for the New Haven Register that in addition to Eugenios slaying, the city recorded at least two other unrelated violent incidents that left police scrambling. But the murder of the mild mannered grocer cut deepest. Residents saw it not only as a tragedy, but as a grim reflection of how their neighborhood had changed in recent years since drug culture and other crime began eroding the sense of safety along Grand Avenue. Eugenio had provided a sort of antidote to that turmoil. His shop was a safe haven in the neighborhood and Eugenio himself was a helping hand to those who needed one. Community stood in wait outside La Casa Green as investigators worked inside the store. Alan Drury, Michael Foley and John Mungio Jr report for the New Haven Register that hundreds of people waited on the street for hours together in mourning until police asked the crowd to clear out. Investigators concluded that the fatal round likely came from a.38 caliber firearm. The though they had not recovered the actual murder weapon. Dave Altomari reports for the Hartford Courant that the fatal bullet was found lodged in a block of cheese inside the cooler. According to Frida Moon's reporting for the New Haven Advocate, the coroner's report noted only a few injuries besides the gunshot wound. Eugenio had a, quote, barely recognizable contusion on his forehead as well as a faint contusion and slight impression on his wrists where the cord was tightly bound. The store showed no signs of forced entry. Records from the security company showed that the security system at Eugenio store had been deactivated at 5:08am so whatever happened inside that store occurred between 5:08 and the 911 call at 5:42. That's a 34 minute window to confront, overpower, bind Eugenio's hands, kill him and then apparently ransack his wallet and the safe in unknown order. Eugenio's family claimed there was anywhere from a few thousand up to $30,000 in cash and food stamps taken from the safe. But whoever killed Eugenio apparently left significant amounts of money behind. There was money in the cash register, at least eighteen hundred dollars in Eugenio's pockets. And some sources state that he was still wearing a gold necklace and a gold watch was still on his wrist beneath the restraints. So if this was a robbery turned murder, it wasn't a very complete robbery. In the days following the murder, detectives canvassed Grand Avenue and nearby side streets, interviewing store owners, neighbors, early morning pedestrians, as well as Eugenio's family members. Eugenio's son, 28 year old Carlos Deleon, said he showed up at the store on the morning of the murder to find police cars everywhere. He was tormented by the thought that if he'd gotten there earlier, he might have encountered his father's killer himself or maybe none of this ever would have happened. According to Tim Stello and Frida Moon's 2015 four part series covering this case for Buzzfeed, Carlos also told police that his father was known to keep valuables in the safe. The jewelry he expected to see inside wasn't there. Several weeks passed without any answers. But by the end of July, there was a major break in the case. Police arrested a woman named Doreen Stiles on charges related to sex work. And because Doreen often worked in the Fairhaven neighborhood, police decided to question her about Eugenio's murder. Did she see anything that day? Did she know anything about who might have killed him? After several hours in the interrogation room, Doreen finally spilled her story. She said that on the morning of July 3, 1993, she was in an alley near La Casa Green when she overheard an argument and yelling and then a gunshot. She saw two men coming out of La Casa Green. Shortly after, police presented Doreen with a photo array, two photos at a time. After a few sets, Doreen stopped them, pointing to two faces. Those were the guys, she said. Their names were Ronald Taylor and George Gould. It wasn't the first time in the investigation that detectives had heard those names. According to the series, A Murder at La Casa Green by Frida Moon and Tim Stello, residents in the area were suspicious of Ronald and George. They seem to have recently come into a lot of money with no real explanation for the sudden influx of cash. But now with Doreen's identification, investigators wondered if Ronald and George's high roller behavior was fueled by blood money. An interview with Mary Boyd, the customer who called 911, only deepened suspicion. Mary claimed she saw, quote, movement of people of color in the store as she looked through the store's windows from across the street. George and Ronald are black. Mary said that one man was tall and the other was shorter. That description also matched George and Ronald. George Gould had a criminal history, including more than one robbery conviction. And he'd just been released from jail a few days before the murder. After his release, he stayed with a friend across the street from Eugenio's store. But Ronald Taylor did not have a criminal record at the time. And George and Ronald didn't know each other very well. They only met a few days earlier. So investigators tracked down Ronald and George for interviews. George said that on the night before the murder, he and Ronald had bounced around a few places together. They started at someone's apartment and left around 11:30pm to try to get some money to buy drugs, which they did. They also spent time at another location about a half mile away from La Casa green until 3am on the 4th. After that, they went to another friend's house until about 6:15am Ronald's story of his whereabouts that night was similar with a slight variation of the timeline. Police believed the murder occurred at or around 5:30am which means if they were telling the truth, George and Ronald couldn't have done it. They denied ever going to La Casa Green to rob and murder the owner. But their alibis were not great. Ronald and George admitted to committing, quote, unquote, strong arm street robberies that night to get money for cocaine, and witnesses placed them at the scene. For investigators, that was enough to support charges. On August 11, 1993, a little over a month after New Haven lost a beloved member of their community, police arrested Ronald Taylor and George Gould on charges of felony murder, robbery, attempted robbery and conspiracy. They each entered not guilty pleas. If convicted, they each faced a maximum sentence of 120 years in prison. The trial of George Gould and Ronald Taylor opened in 1995 in New Haven Superior Court to intense local interest. For many residents of Fairhaven, the proceedings represented long awaited justice for Eugenio. But for others, it especially defense attorneys who had studied the file, the state's evidence raised troubling questions. From the outset, the prosecution's case was almost entirely circumstantial. They presented the defendants as desperate drug users who targeted one of the only stores open at that time of the morning to continue their overnight partying when they ran out of money. There was no physical or forensic evidence connecting either man to the crime. The presumed murder weapon was never recovered. But at the center of the prosecution's case was the testimony of Doreen Stiles, the only person who positively identified the defendants near La Casa Green on the morning of the killing. Doreen was too Sick to appear in court for the trial. Reporting by Lynn Tuohy indicates Doreen was battling an infection of her heart valves. Instead, she recorded her statement from her hospital room and the tape was played for the jury during the proceeding. The judge, Ronald and George and all the lawyers were present when the video statement was recorded. Doreen explained how she heard arguing in English and Spanish as she stood outside La Casa Green before a gunshot rang out and how she watched as the defendants ran out of the store. The prosecution acknowledged the weight of Doreen's account in closing statements. Prosecutor James Clark told the jury, the case rises and falls with Doreen Stiles. If you believe her, you'll convict. If you think she's lying, you'll acquit. End quote. Defense attorneys argued that the prosecution's case rested entirely on a woman's compromised memory. She admitted to her substance use at the time and that police had overlooked other possible suspects. Defense attorney Chris DiMarco told the jury, quote, if Doreen Stiles is all the state needs to convict someone of murder, then God help us all, End quote. Despite those concerns, the prosecution's narrative that two desperate men robbed and killed a generous neighborhood krocher proved persuasive. In February of 1995, after hours of deliberation, the jury found Ronald Taylor and George Gould guilty of felony murder, first degree robbery and attempted robbery. Each received an 80 year prison sentence. The men were in their 30s at the time of the convictions. They'd be eligible for parole sometime after their 80th birthdays. Ronald and George have always maintained their innocence. Ronald told the New Haven register, someone said I killed someone. That's not my style. I was involved in one little robbery in a hallway the night before, and that wasn't even a robbery. He gave me the money, end quote. Ronald commented, quote, in all my history, in all my time, I never put anyone in the hospital. There was never a time when the person couldn't walk. Tomorrow, if I carried a gun, it was only for show. End quote. By the end of 1995, as George and Ronald began serving their sentences, the case was closed. As far as the state was concerned, in reality, it was only just beginning.

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[Kylie Lowe]

Ronald and George appealed their convictions, exhausting every effort in the process for a chance to prove that they were wrongfully convicted of Eugenio's murder. When their appeals ran out, they turned to a writ of habeas corpus. The phrase literally means you have the body, reflecting the court's demand that the detained person be brought before a judge for review. It's a powerful legal remedy that requires the government to prove the legality of a person's detention, and it's often used as a final attempt to overturn a wrongful conviction or unconstitutional imprisonment. As part of the process, George Gould's defense team from the Public Defender's office hired a private investigator to dig into the case. The PI was Gerald o', Donnell, a former police officer and inspector with the office of New Haven State's Attorney Michael Derrington. Gerald had actually worked at the State's Attorney's office during the time of the original investigation into a murder, but he wasn't heavily involved in the case. Now, as an investigator for the defense, he'd spend several years reinvestigating everything from the ground up. What Gerald found convinced him that Ronald and George were actually innocent. According to the PI's findings, there were pieces of Doreen Stiles account that did not add up. For starters, her timeline was nearly impossible to recreate. She'd originally stated that she walked from a Nearby bank around 5:30am over to LA Casa Green and witnessed Ronald and George run out of the store not long after. But each time, Gerald himself tried to make the trip from the bank in the same amount of time Doreen claimed it took her. He failed. He decided that there was no way that Doreen could have made it from point A to point B in time to witness two men fleeing the scene of the murder, let alone hearing the murder take place. According to Tim stello and Frida Moon's reporting for Buzzfeed in December of 2006, the PI tracked Doreen down in an assisted living facility. He wasted no time sharing his doubt of her story. And Doreen wasted no time confessing that what she told police in 1993 was all a lie. Doreen explained that she'd been arrested back in July of 1993 in a sting operation targeting sex workers. But it felt like all the cops wanted to talk about was Eugenio's murder. Every time police officers asked if she saw anything on the morning of the murder, she told them no. But the interrogators kept asking. After six or seven hours, Doreen said she made the choice to tell the cops what they wanted to hear. She was experiencing the symptoms of withdrawal from heroin and was willing to do anything to get out of the room. Through the PI's own interviews with Doreen, more than a decade after her testimony that helped to seal the fates of George and Ronald, Doreen Stiles recanted her testimony. The whole story about seeing Ronald and George run from the store after hearing gunshots wasn't true, she now claimed. According to the PI's findings, the prostitution charge Doreen faced was dropped after she cooperated with the investigation into Eugenio's case. She also alleged that the cops took her to buy drugs after she gave her statement. But that wasn't the only earth shattering discovery from the PI's investigation for the defense. In 2007, the private investigator and Ronald's defense team pushed for DNA testing on the extension cord that was used to bind Eugenio's wrists. Through that process, Gerald had learned that there was never any testing performed on the court itself during the original investigation. And turns out there was DNA on the cord, but it did not belong to the two men who were accused of using it to tie the victim's hands. And it didn't come from Eugenio himself. In Early November of 2007, the defense team turned over a several hundred page binder with findings from Gerald o' Donnell to support their claim that George and Ronald were wrongfully convicted. And then they waited. In mid December of that same year, the State's Attorney's office announced that the case was officially reopened. In the late summer of 2009, the Habeas Trial finally opened in Rockville Superior Court. Before Judge Stanley T. Fugier Jr. The defense introduced all the new evidence that undermined the 1995 verdicts. There was no forensic proof connecting George or Ronald to the crime. The alleged robbery motive conflicted with money left behind, and the sole eyewitness had now recanted under sworn testimony during the habeas proceedings and protected by an expired statute of limitations for perjury, Doreen Stiles admitted that her 1995 testimony was false. She said detectives had coerced her with threats, money and drugs to secure her cooperation. She explained that officers warned she would be jailed if she refused. Doreen testified that she identified Ronald and George because when they got to their photos in the array, the cops shared a knowing smile. Doreen testified that she took it as a sign. Those were the guys they wanted, quote, I just said what they wanted to hear, end quote. Doreen wasn't the only witness to change her story and recant earlier testimony. It was revealed during the habeas proceedings that back in 1993, in two interviews over a four day period, the woman who initially called 911 changed her story. The final version of Mary Boyd's account placed Ronald and George inside the store around the time of the murder. But her statements were also allegedly given under duress and threats. According to Mary, she went to La Casa Green on the morning of the murder to get some toilet paper. Mary explained that when she went behind the counter to call 911, she found a bag of food stamps. And after placing the 911 call, she stole the food stamps along with some cigarettes and quarters and then left. Mary already had warrants and didn't want to cross paths with police. Mary claimed that when police picked her up for questioning, they told her she was under suspicion for the murder. With four children at home, Mary didn't want to go to jail. So like Doreen, she just told police what she believed they wanted to hear, that she saw two men who matched the descriptions of Ronald and George. She'd only been shown two photos, that of Robert and George, and so that's who she identified. But at the habeas hearing, Mary testified that she didn't actually see two men inside the store around the time of the murder. It would have been challenging for her to see anybody inside the store from across the street. She was visually impaired and didn't wear her glasses that morning. When it came time for the state to defend their original case, the prosecutor called former New Haven detectives to testify about Doreen's demeanor during her 1993 interrogation. The former officers negated her claims of experiencing withdrawal symptoms and being anything other than happy during the interview. Interestingly, the assistant state's attorney did not call Sergeant Brian Sullivan, who led the interrogation and who Doreen accused of essentially bribing her with drugs and money. To give him what she believed was a story that fit the case. Testimony in the habeas corpus case concluded in early December of 2009. The ruling took several months, but in March of 2010, Judge Fugerer announced his decision, and he did not mince words. Judge fugher called the case a manifest injustice, Writing that no reasonable juror could convict. In light of the new evidence against Ronald Taylor and George gould and that the men are, quote, actually innocent. The judge ordered the arrest warrants thrown out and both men immediately released, Declaring from the bench that the state imprisoned two innocent men for 16 years. Ronald Taylor was handcuffed to a hospital bed at yukon medical center when he heard the news about the judge's ruling from his attorney. He had been battling terminal colon cancer while incarcerated. Both Ronald and George were relieved, grateful, in awe. But the fight for full exoneration was far from over. Despite the order for Ronald and George to be released, John kristofferson reports for the associated press that prosecutors were granted an emergency stay to allow them to consider appealing the ruling. The men remained in custody, and their release date was pushed out, at first by a few days and then a few weeks. George continued his days at mcdougal walker correctional institution, while Ronald underwent chemotherapy treatments at the hospital. The attorney general's office and chief state's attorney did appeal the ruling, filing paperwork in late March of 2010 insisting that the judge had overreached and that the witness's recantation could not be trusted. But on April 1, 2010, while the appeal was pending, Ronald and George were finally released two weeks after the judge gave the order. They were ordered to wear ankle monitors as part of the conditions of their release. In 2011, the state's appeal reached the Connecticut supreme court. Prosecutors argued that a habeas judge lacked authority to declare a defendant actually innocent based solely on new testimonial evidence. But the defense countered that Doreen's recanted testimony, combined with the absence of physical evidence and the contradictions in the original record, left no credible basis for the convictions. They urged the justices to uphold the habeas decision as a necessary correction of a, quote, unquote, manifest injustice. On July 8, 2011, the state supreme court issued its decision, leaving Ronald investigation and George, their supporters and advocates, and everyone following the case absolutely stunned.

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[Kylie Lowe]

Connecticut's highest court ruled that the earlier judge's ruling was wrong because George and Ronald didn't prove their innocence. From the ruling, quote, the trial court improperly failed to recognize that actual innocence requires affirmative evidence that the petitioners did not commit the crimes of which they were convicted, not simply the discrediting of evidence on which the conviction rested, end quote. The reversal reinstated the murder convictions. The ruling sent shockwaves through the legal community. Commentators debated whether the court had favored procedure over truth. Civil rights advocates called it a travesty, while prosecutors maintained that the decision correctly upheld legal standards. For the men at the center of the proceedings, the reversal was devastating. Their brief taste of freedom ended swiftly. George was ordered back to prison to resume his 80 year sentence. Ronald was allowed to remain free on bond as a perceived kindness due to his advanced stage cancer. And though they dove right back into the appeals process, Ronald would never see the outcome. His cancer battle ended just a few months after the reversal decision was issued. He died in October of 2011. George remained committed to the fight to prove their innocence, defense attorneys filed a second habeas corpus petition determined to show that the original investigation was fatally flawed. Before the second habeas corpus petition went to trial before a different judge, New Haven police were back on Eugenio's case, doing their own reinvestigation of claims and evidence presented by the defense and private investigator Gerald o'. Donnell. Doreen Stiles sat for a video recorded interview where, get this, she actually took back her earlier recantation. She alleged that the private investigator had messed with her head, confused her, threatened her, even gave her gifts and promises of more to come. And that what she said in court the first time around back in 1995, that was the actual truth. But filtering fact from fiction was near impossible with Doreen. When the police brought her a written copy of that interview and asked her to sign it, she refused. She told them the video statement wasn't true and that her trial testimony wasn't either. Just when you think this case couldn't possibly get any more convoluted. In May of 2012, not long after Doreen's apparent recantation of her recantation that she refused to sign, private investigator Gerald o' Donnell himself was charged with bribery and witness tampering. He didn't deny doing favors or giving gifts to Doreen, though the motive behind that was up for debate. Gerald's trial would come after George's second habeas trial, which opened a few months later in 2012, before Judge Samuel J. Svarazza, witnesses who had spoken with certainty in 1995 had since recanted or reversed themselves. But Doreen Stiles refused to testify, invoking her right to avoid perjury charges. Gerald o' Donnell was called to testify, too, but when questioned about Doreen, he also invoked his Fifth Amendment right, no doubt due to the pending charges against him. Interestingly, despite her recantation in the first habeas trial, the judge was permitted to watch the tape of Doreen's 1995 testimony, the one where she identified Ronald and George from her hospital room. The 911 caller, Mary Boyd, another key witness whose story had shifted over the years. She told the court she now stood by her 2009 testimony, in which she denied seeing Ronald and George inside the store. On the final day, George Gould himself took the stand. For the first time ever, he declared that he had nothing to do with the murder. He testified in detail about his movements on July 4, 1993, and admitted that with the late Ronald Taylor, he had committed small street robberies the night before. However, he insisted he had no role in the killing at La CASA Green. After 16 days of testimony stretched across four months, George Gould's second habeas corpus trial came to a close. In September 2012, Judge Samuel J. Sforazza denied George Gould's habeas petition, ruling that the evidence was still insufficient to overturn the conviction. George remained in prison, a convicted killer. Meanwhile, the bribery and witness tampering trial of Gerald o' Donnell moved forward. Jurors heard conflicting testimony about years of manipulation and fear surrounding Doreen's role. Some witnesses had essentially called her a pawn in the battle between lawyers, while others insisted the private investigator had tried to buy her cooperation. Interestingly, Doreen tried to plead the Fifth again, but she was offered immunity from perjury charges in exchange for her testimony. In Gerald's case, she set the record straight. This time, her first recantation was the truth. She never saw Ronald and George at La Casa Green. Gerald was acquitted of two perjury charges and one witness tampering charge was dismissed, but he was ultimately convicted of bribery of a witness and tampering with a witness based on gifts. He was sentenced to four years in prison. The outcome deepened public confusion. The investigator once credited with exposing wrongful convictions was now branded corrupt. For George Gould, the habeas loss and the ruling in the bribery case both underscored just how far the case had strayed from where it had all started. What began as a 1993 murder case had turned into a decades long debate of unreliable memories, shaky truths and the doubts that never quite went away. George appealed the ruling of the second habeas case, but lost. The Connecticut Supreme Court did not take his appeal after that. But after years of denials and the reversal of a once overturned conviction, George eventually did see some success in Court. In 2021, at 59 years old, George filed a motion for a sentence reduction in an attempt to have his 80 year sentence reduced to time served for the 26 years he'd already been in prison. George won. He was released from prison the next day. But he was still a convicted killer and he was still on the journey to set the record straight. The biggest question still lingered. If George and Ronald were innocent, as they steadfastly claimed, who really killed Eugenio De Leon Vega? That question and the search for answers eventually fell to Connecticut's newly formed Conviction Integrity Unit. The report issued by the CIU revealed that the FBI had lended their resources to the case. And with that, the whispers of an alternate suspect that were dismissed earlier on in the case had resurfaced once again.

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[Kylie Lowe]

The Conviction Integrity Unit the CIU is a specialized arm of the Connecticut Division of Criminal justice. Established in 2021 and expanded in 2023 to review potential miscarriages of justice. George Gould submitted his formal letter requesting review of his case in March of 2022. And after considering the nearly three decades long history of the case, the CIU dove in. CIU attorneys and investigators reviewed thousands of pages of police files, court transcripts, an interview note spanning three decades. They re interviewed surviving witnesses and compared their statements with the 1990s police reports. The CIU then issued a 75 page report detailing the case synopsis and their findings. As the defense had argued for years, the CIU also found that there was no physical or forensic evidence that ever tied George or Ronald to the murder scene. The CIU investigators also found that that Doreen Stiles accounts shifted repeatedly under police pressure. The report also revealed substantial new evidence suggesting that other potential suspects were never fully investigated. One of those potential suspects allegedly had a strong motive to kill Eugenio and even owned a firearm that could have fired the fatal shot. According to the CiU's report, back in September of 2009, a local paper ran an article about the Gould and Taylor case. A woman, whose name is redacted in the report, left a comment on that article. She identified herself as the daughter of Carlos Deleon, Eugenio's son. In her comment, she wrote that she felt, quote, so ashamed of my father being a murderer, killing his own father, end quote. FBI agents later located the woman and her mother, Interviewing them for the first time in 2018. The woman gave startling statements about Carlos and his alleged involvement in Eugenio's murder. They alleged that Carlos admitted to them that he was involved and that he killed his dad because he found out Carlos had been embezzling money from his bank account. In a 2022 interview, the woman said that she didn't know for sure if Carlos was her biological father, but he dated her mother for a while, and Carlos was her brother's biological father. She also alleged that Carlos sexually assaulted her for an undisclosed period of time, but she did not report it to police. She told her mother about it when she was 12 or 13, and that was the last time they had contact with Carlos. In an unrelated incident, Carlos was convicted of sexually assaulting the daughter of one of Eugenio's former employees. Abuse that began before his father's death and continued up until 1993. The survivor reported the incident in 1996, and Carlos was convicted of risk of an injury to a child in 1998 and served almost five years in prison. The FBI interview was not the first time Carlos deleon had been under suspicion for his father's murder. In late January of 2007, before his conviction for bribery and other charges, Private investigator Gerald o' Donnell began talking to people connected to La Casa Green. He learned that just months before Eugenio's murder, he had been preparing to expand the shop. Eugenio had put down at least $70,000 to buy a new building across the street. But the deal fell apart when the down payment check bounced. That discovery led the PI to dig deeper. Eugenio reportedly couldn't read or write in English, so he relied on Carlos to handle the store's money. But a former bank manager claimed that allegedly, Carlos hadn't been depositing the business's checks. He'd been cashing them. When the bounced check exposed the missing funds, Eugenio realized tens of thousands of dollars were just gone. The bank said it could Reimburse him only if he reported his son to the police so the bank could file charges. But Eugenio never did. And not long after he was dead. As many sources have pointed out through the years, Carlos also owned several handguns, including one that could have fired the same caliber bullet used in the killing. However, it should be noted that according to the four part series from Frida Moon and Tim Stello, a state firearms expert, excluded as the murder weapon, Carlos semiautomatic pistol that could have fired a bullet similar to the one used to kill Eugenio. Carlos has never actually been treated as a suspect. He has never faced any charges as it relates to the murder of his father. It's noted in the CiU's report that Gerald O' Donnell speculated Carlos may have been a police informant. And that might explain why investigators never looked his way. There doesn't seem to be any confirmation that this speculation is rooted in truth. I was unable to locate Carlos for an interview. He has previously declined to be interviewed by other media. But in 2010, as the first allegations came, when the private investigators findings spilled out in court, Carlos told the New Haven Register, quote, how the hell am I going to do something to my own father? It's stupid. It's a nightmare. I loved my father so much. End quote. The Conviction Integrity Unit didn't come out and say George Gould is innocent. But what they did say was just as powerful. They didn't have confidence in his conviction. The CIU recommended the case be sent up to the state's Conviction Review Panel, the team that takes a second independent pass at questionable convictions to decide whether George should finally be cleared. In February of 2024, at the request of State's Attorney John Doyle, Judge Gerald Harmon officially vacated George Gould's conviction. George was already free, but now he is free and cleared of all charges. George is not finished with the legal system yet. After spending more than 26 years behind bars for a murder, he's always said he didn't commit a crime for which he has since been exonerated. George Gould is now suing the city of New Haven and the police officers who put him in prison. His lawsuit claims police suppressed evidence, manipulated witnesses and ignored facts that could have proven his innocence. The complaint names several former New Haven officers and estates of others who have since died. Most strikingly, the lawsuit contends that investigators ignored alternate suspects, including individuals known to Eugenio and members of his immediate family. It cites a possible financial dispute between Eugenio and his son Carlos, alleging that police never pursued the lead. In no uncertain terms, an amended complaint accuses Carlos of killing his father from the court filing directly. Factual allegation number 23 reads, quote, Mr. Vega's murder was planned and orchestrated by his son, Carlos de Leon, over money. Carlos de Leon has confessed to his father's murder to family members. Over the years, at least two family members reported those admissions to the FBI. End quote. George lost his career, his income and precious years with his children, wife, siblings and friends. He's asking for compensatory and punitive damages. Connecticut's claims commissioner has already awarded him $6.7 million. But as reported by Jesse Leavenworth for the New Haven Register, the case isn't just about money for George, it's about holding people accountable for a system that took nearly 30 years to admit it got it wrong. Before the headlines, before the trials and reversals, there was just a a man running a store in a converted house where the sidewalks out front, were cracked, but the people were close. To most of his neighbors, Eugenio wasn't just a grocer. He was the heartbeat of that block, the man who knew your kids names, who slipped an extra loaf of bread into your bag when times were hard, and who gave credit to those who needed it on the honor system. He had come to Connecticut chasing the same quiet dream that brought so many to the city's factory neighborhoods in the 70s and 80s. He built LA Casa Green from the ground up, serving a growing Hispanic community that often found a little bit of home at his store. When crime began creeping closer to the store in the early 90s, he stayed, believing that decency itself could hold back the tide. As the case turned into one of Connecticut's most tangled, wrongful conviction stories, Eugenio's name too often became shorthand for tragedy. The Vega murder, the grocer killing. But behind those headlines was a life defined not by how it ended, but by how it was lived. Quietly, kindly, in service to others. Every conversation about this case, every appeal, every new test, every court filing, it all still traces back to Eugenio, the man who opened his store early that July morning, who trusted people even when he shouldn't have, and who left behind a family and a community still trying to reconcile his loss. Thank you for listening to Dark Down East. You can find all source material for this [e-mail] Be sure to follow the show on Instagram arkdowneast. This platform is for the families and friends who have lost their loved ones and for those who are still searching for answers. I'm not about to let those names or their stories get lost with time. I'm Kylie Lowe and this is Dark Down East. Dark down east is a production of Kyle Kylie Media and Audio. Chuck. I think Chuck would approve.

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