Alain LeConte, 22, of Bertolf Road, Greenwich, was arraigned Wednesday in state Superior Court in Stamford on attempted murder and felony robbery charges, nearly a year after an attendant at the Mobil on the Run gas station on East Putnam Avenue was shot in the head and survived.
LeConte is expected to be formally charged with the brutal murder of Norwalk gas station clerk Jose Joaquin Morales on Thursday.
Norwalk police Chief Harry Rilling said LeConte, and another man, Mustafa Jacobs will be charged in the Norwalk robbery homicide on Thursday at state Superior Court in Norwalk.
Morales, 32, was behind the cash register of Miracle Shell on West Avenue, next to the northbound entrance of Interstate 95, at 2:15 a.m. on Oct. 10, 2009 when two men, police have identified as LeConte and Jacobs entered the convenience store and demanded money. Security video shows Morales complied with the demand and was on the ground when he was shot in the head by one of the masked robbers. A few days later, Morales was taken off life support and died at Yale-New Haven Hospital.
Jacobs is also facing felony murder and first-degree robbery charges for his role in the Morales murder.
Two other men, Taran Nelson, 23, of Waterbury and David Wash, 37, of Bridgeport are facing robbery and conspiracy charges for their role in the Greenwich shooting. Wash was also arraigned Wednesday and is being held on $500,000 bond.
Police are also looking to charge a fifth suspect who they have not yet identified in the incidents.
The Mobil on the Run shooting occurred just after 1 a.m. on Nov. 21, 2009 when a man, now identified as LeConte, entered the store wearing a mask and a hooded sweatshirt and demanded cash. The 37-year-old clerk complied with the request, but the suspect still shot him in what police have described as an unprovoked attack.
LeConte, who is already incarcerated after being charged in a Stamford bodega robbery, was held on $1 million bond. In the Stamford robbery, police caught LeConte while he was committing the act. Police said he held a gun to a the head of a female clerk at the Adams Avenue store.
LeConte appeared in court Wednesday wearing a bright orange prison-issue jumpsuit and scanned the gallery for friends and relatives before his arraignment began. Attorney Mark Phillips, who is representing him currently for the Stamford robbery was again appointed special public defender for LeConte, who is due back in court Jan. 5.
The arrests of LeConte and the the three other alleged conspirators after Greenwich and Norwalk detectives teamed up.
Greenwich Police began to focus on LeConte soon after he was arrested by Stamford Police on Dec. 12, 2009, while committing a robbery at a bodega, Chief David Ridberg said in a 1 p.m. press conference at police headquarters.
Because LeConte was held in custody after that robbery, it gave Greenwich Police time to develop their case, Ridberg said.
In that case, Stamford Police were tipped off about the robbery and arrested LeConte and accomplice David Hackney of Bridgeport as they walked out of Adams Grocery at 20 Adams Ave.
LeConte had pointed a revolver at the face of the cashier who handed over less than $250 to the robbers who had pulled pantyhose over their faces as a disguise.
Greenwich Police worked hard to solve the Mobil shooting, said the department's detective division head.
"It was an extremely violent crime," Capt. Mark Marino, head of the Greenwich Police Department's detective division said. "When you have a case of that severity you were going to put the resources into solving it."
Police declined to say whether a weapon was recovered.
Norwalk police Detective James O'Leary said authorities put the two cases together because it was the first execution-style robbery in the area in years.
Police wouldn't go into specifics of the case because the warrants are sealed due to court orders. Marino said police believe Wash and Nelson were in the area when LeConte is alleged to have shot the clerk.
Greenwich Police stopped and arrested Wash as he was driving northbound on Interstate 95 near Exit 4 Tuesday afternoon. Police "had been in communication" with Wash prior to the arrest Marino said, but he declined to say when or how that communication was done. He offered no resistance when he was arrested, police said. A male passenger was in Wash's vehicle but he had nothing to do with the case and was released, Marino said.
Nelson turned himself in to Greenwich Police Wednesday morning. He was released on a promise to appear in state Superior Court in Stamford on Dec. 22.
Detective Pasquale Iorfino, of the Greenwich Police Department, attributed the "successful outcome" of the case to his partner, lead investigator Detective David Wilson, and the work of neighboring police agencies.
"After a year-long investigation by Detective Dave Wilson, we are happy to see that justice is done and a man like this won't be walking the streets for a very long time," said Iorfino, as he walked out of the courtroom.
Wilson,said he spoke with the the former Mobil employee's wife Wednesday morning to inform her of the arrests.
"She was ecstatic," he said during the press conference. "She was very happy that these guys were arrested today."
The man had been shot in the back of the head during the armed robbery and although police didn't release details of his condition, they said it was a serious wound.
"Let's just say the Good Lord saved that man," Iorfino said.
The Norwalk store clerk was not as fortunate and the Morales family continues to grieve, said their attorney Alex Martinez.
Norwalk police met regularly with the Morales family updating them on the progress of the investigation and Martinez said they can now begin the process of healing now that suspects are behind bars.
"Now that the family has been notified that there appears to be some closure, as far as identifying the responsible person, that is extremely gratifying," Martinez said. "It is a beginning of the healing. It is a start. You could tell there was a weight coming off their shoulders when I told them that an arrest was imminent."
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