Schenectady murder-for-hire case heads to trial

PHOTOGRAPHER: Photo Provided

Tarchand Lall

SCHENECTADY — Tarchand Lall, in custody on charges related to a murder-for-hire case, tried to kill a potential witness to his crimes by hiring a hit man, according to prosecutors.

Lall pitched his plan to a fellow inmate, giving him the intended victim’s name, description and address, “and told the inmate to find a way to kill the witness in a manner that would not arouse the suspicion of police,” prosecutors wrote in a court filing.

Lall, 54, of Schenectady, is set to stand trial starting Wednesday on charges related to both the original murder-for-hire case and the alleged follow-up plot.

Lall was initially charged with hiring two men from Delaware, one an ex-con, to travel to Schenectady and kill Charles Dembrosky, on whom Lall had taken out a $150,000 life insurance policy.

Lall faces first-degree murder charges in connection with Dembrosky’s death and second-degree criminal solicitation charges related to his alleged attempt to have the witness killed. He could get up to life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted on the murder charge. He has pleaded not guilty.

The second plot unraveled when the inmate Lall solicited rejected the request and later went to prosecutors, according to the earlier prosecution filing. The inmate was not named in the court documents.

Prosecutors have said Lall faced significant personal financial problems. Dembrosky had done work for Lall, and prosecutors believe Lall met ex-con Joevany Luna through a mutual acquaintance and hired him for the murder.

Luna, 43, and Kyshaan Moore, who drove Luna to and from Schenectady for the murder, were both convicted earlier this year of killing Dembrosky. Both received prison sentences.

Prosecutors proved their case through a blend of technology and more conventional police work. Cellphone tower records and data from license plate readers, street surveillance cameras and wire taps provided a digital record of the crime being planned and executed. The suspects’ actions as police closed in also helped convict them.

Other documents filed in the case outline early interviews police.

Detectives first interviewed Lall the day of Dembrosky’s murder, after learning Lall may have been with Dembrosky the night before, according to the judge’s recounting of arguments in an earlier ruling.

Previous:

Maximum sentences for Schenectady contract killing, July 30, 2018
Guilty verdicts in Schenectady murder-for-hire case, May 10, 2018
Prosecutors rely on tech in murder-for-hire case, April 26, 2018

Detectives asked Lall for a timeline of his interactions with Dembrosky. They also asked if Lall would allow them to search his phone.

Lall’s phone showed calls to Dembrosky the night before. Detectives also determined a recent call record on Lall’s phone featured a third phone number that was also found in Demborsky’s phone’s history.

According to details revealed during the trial of the hit men, the last three calls recorded to Dembrowsky’s phone were from a number investigators later tied to Luna.

Lall remains in custody. The trial is expected to last about three weeks. Judge Matthew Sypniewski is to preside.

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