Krishna Maharaj was one of the wealthiest men in Britain in the 1980s. Today, he sits in prison, sentenced to life on murder convictions, but he is making a push in a Miami-Dade court this week in the hopes of convincing the court that he is innocent and was framed for the murders.
“I went from living like a prince to existing like an animal,” Maharaj told NBC 6’s Laura Rodriguez in an exclusive interview.
Maharaj was a self-made millionaire who invested in real estate and horses and traded produce. He was in Miami in 1986 for his newspaper business and said that's what landed him inside room 1215 at the Dupont Plaza Hotel.
“The guy who was working for me said he arranged a meeting with Eddie Dames from the Bahamas to distribute the newspaper in the Bahamas,” Maharaj said.
However, according to Maharaj, Dames never showed up. He said he left the hotel to attend another meeting in Fort Lauderdale.
Prosecutors said at Maharaj's 1987 trial that Maharaj set up a false meeting with Derrick Moo Young.
They called up a witness who said Moo Young unexpectedly brought his son Duane, and once both were inside room 1215, Maharaj killed them. According to prosecutors, Maharaj killed the two men because the Moo Youngs owed him more than $400,000.
“If I was gonna kill them, I was gonna wait until I got my money first,” Maharaj said.
Maharaj was convicted of the two murders and sentenced to death, though his death sentence was later overturned. He is currently serving life in prison.
Maharaj and his attorney, Clive Stafford Smith, believe they have enough evidence to prove a Colombian drug cartel — and notorious drug lord Pablo Escobar — were responsible for the killings.
“The Moo Youngs were involved in some much darker things with Pablo Escobar,” Smith said. “And indeed owed money to Escobar, who unlike Kris is a homicidal maniac.”
Maharaj's convictions have been upheld on multiple occasions by appellate courts and the Florida Supreme Court.
Prosecutors rejected the claims during opening statements at the evidentiary hearing, calling them hear-say. The prosecution said all of the evidence is speculation and every witness “is inadmissible.”
“I think some of the evidence that will hit this week will involve corruption and will involve allegations that in face some of the police were also involved in the cover-up of this crime,” Smith said.
The Moo Young family was in court Monday but declined to comment.
The hearing is expected to run until Thursday or Friday at which time the judge has three options: maintain the sentence, reduce the sentence or order a retrial.
“I’m of course hoping that justice prevails and I am vindicated,” Maharaj said.
