Multiple murder suspects arrested for 2020 homicide

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POUGHKEEPSIE – Two murder suspects were arraigned on several felony charges, including murder, in Dutchess County Court on Wednesday.  A third suspect was arraigned on March 6th, and a fourth subject was arraigned on a felony conspiracy charge on March 3rd.  All four are suspected of playing a role in the March 2020 murder of Paul Thompson, a 64-year-old Poughkeepsie resident.

On February 12, 2023, detectives arrested Consuelo “Nicole” Leonard, 45, and 35-year-old Rodarius Smith, both of Poughkeepsie, and charged them with felony murder for the death of Thompson.  They were remanded to the Dutchess County Jail and held until the Grand Jury finished its investigation.  The Grand Jury indicted the two on the murder charge and also charged them with the felonies of robbery, kidnapping, and conspiracy.   They were arraigned in Dutchess County Court on March 8 and remanded to the Dutchess County Jail without bail.

On March 3, 2023, 40-year-old Poughkeepsie resident Darrell Carter was arraigned on felony conspiracy for his alleged role in the incident

On March 6, 2023, detectives arrested 22-year-old Anthony Ermo an inmate at the Coxsackie Correctional Facility for an unrelated conviction.*  Ermo was charged by city detectives with felonies of murder, kidnapping, robbery, and conspiracy related to the death of the victim.  After pleading not guilty at his arraignment, he was returned to his state prison cell.

All four defendants were arraigned in front of Dutchess County Court Judge Edward McLoughlin.

City police had responded to a call asking for a welfare check of a tenant in an apartment at 399 Main Street on March 2, 2020. Police responded to 399 Main Street at approximately 4:36 p.m. that day and discovered Thompson’s body in one of the apartments.   The building contains six apartments and one commercial unit.

At the time, City of Poughkeepsie Detective Lieutenant Matt Clark would not speculate on the cause of Thompson’s death until an autopsy was completed.  Official records indicate that Thompson was killed on February 28, 2020, and his body was discovered two days later when police arrived.

*Anthony Ermo is serving a one-to-three-year prison sentence after pleading guilty last July to unlawfully fleeing a police officer in May of 2021.  During the pursuit, Ermo crashed into a house resulting in his passenger being taken to the hospital in critical condition.  The Mid-Hudson News account of that incident can be found here.

 




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