Texas prosecutor drops Ohio man’s cold case murder charge

Mistaken identity led to arrest

CLEVELAND — A Houston prosecutor dismissed last week a murder charge against an Ohio man for a 1979 slaying in a city and state in which he said he had never set foot until his extradition last summer.

Leon Dudley, 69, of South Euclid, and his attorney argued from the beginning that police had the wrong man.

“We looked at the evidence, and it was ridiculous,” said attorney Catherine Samaan. “There was no doubt.”

Cold case investigators had Dudley arrested in Ohio last June based on his Social Security number, which had been stolen along with his identity years before.

A spokesman for the Harris County District Attorney’s Office acknowledged Saturday that police got it wrong and that a man with a similar name and birthdate to Dudley’s was initially identified as the suspect. Charges were dismissed Wednesday.

While the Social Security number matched, nothing else did, district attorney spokesman Dane Schiller said. Dudley has none of the features identified by witnesses to the shooting, which also wounded a man. Dudley is not heavy set, isn’t right-handed and doesn’t have a distinctive scar on his face, Schiller said. The case was reexamined after a new district attorney took office in January, he said.

“It appeared on further, recent investigation that Mr. Dudley, who had been with his wife in Ohio for over 43 years, never visited Texas until he was arrested last year,” Schiller said.

It may have taken so long to clear Dudley because police needed to find witnesses from a 35-year-old murder, Samaan said, adding: “It should have been dismissed within a week.”

A message was left Saturday with Houston police. It’s unclear if they are looking for a another suspect.

What’s incontrovertible is that someone opened fire onto a crowd during an argument in Houston in November 1979, killing 23-year-old Stephan Chambers and wounding 25-year-old Charles Philleo. Dudley was also charged with attempted murder. He has been free on bond since his initial court appearance last year and wasn’t in Texas when his charges were officially dismissed.