A Leon County jury convicted a man in a 1996 cold case involving the killing of a Virginia man in the old Prince Murat Motel off of Monroe Street, prosecutors said.
Alan J. Lefferts was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison, according to a news release from the 2nd Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office. Investigators had used genetic genealogy testing on old DNA evidence.
The victim, 44-year-old James Branner, was found dead in a motel room on July 2, 1996. Authorities said the case went unsolved for years; witnesses reported seeing Branner with another man who could not be identified.
According to prosecutors, the case was reopened the case in 2019 after investigators reviewed evidence that contained unidentified DNA. Advanced testing led investigators to Lefferts as a suspect, prosecutors said.
Authorities also said his fingerprints matched evidence collected at the scene and DNA testing linked him to items recovered from the motel room.
Branner was a day laborer who worked odd jobs around town, police said at the time. Lefferts denied ever being in Tallahassee or knowing Branner when he was interviewed by investigators.
The trial was held May 4-7 in Leon County. Court records show jurors returned a guilty verdict on the first-degree murder charge after a three-day trial in which the state called 11 witnesses.
Assistant State Attorney A. Callaway Scott prosecuted the case, and Assistant Public Defender Aimee C. Lim represented Lefferts. Chief Circuit Judge Francis Allman presided over the trial.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: DNA leads to conviction in 1996 Leon County cold case murder
Reporting by Staff report, Tallahassee Democrat / Tallahassee Democrat
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