Obama sticker led cops to shooting suspect
By Christine McConville | Thursday, September 15, 2011 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Local Coverage
Photo by Herald fileA paroled killer’s “Obama” bumper sticker was the break that helped cops nab the man accused of the cold-blooded murder of a Tedeschi’s convenience store clerk, jurors in Edward Corliss’ murder trial learned yesterday.
“It struck me as odd,” state parole officer Kevin Devlin testified yesterday in Suffolk Superior Court about the campaign sticker plastered on the back of parolee Corliss’ white Plymouth Acclaim.
“He’s a guy from Somerville, so I was surprised he was supporting Obama,” Devlin said.
“I made a joke about it. He said it was on the car when they bought it.”
Corliss is on trial for the murder of Surendra Dangol, a 39-year-old immigrant from Nepal and Jamaica Plain convenience store clerk who was gunned down on the day after Christmas in 2009.
At that time, Corliss, now 65, was on parole after serving part of a life sentence for killing a Salisbury store clerk in 1971.
After the shocking 2009 execution, Devlin learned police were looking for a car exactly like his parolee’s and dropped the dime that led cops to Corliss. Police said security video images of the robber’s getaway car show the same Obama-touting vehicle.
Police said Corliss donned a hat and a woman’s wig, entered the store on Centre Street in Jamaica Plain, took $746 in cash and shot Dangol.
Jurors almost didn’t hear Devlin’s testimony yesterday.
Corliss’ lawyer John C. Hayes argued that if jurors learned Corliss was on parole they might be prejudiced in the first-degree murder, armed robbery and unlawful possession of a firearm case.
But Judge Diane Kottmyer overruled him, advising jurors that Corliss is innocent until proven guilty.
“The fact that he was on parole has nothing to do with the facts of this case,” she said.
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