Accused murdered walks as lone witness calls foul

In November 2004, a uniformed police officer walking alone at night was executed by a single gunshot to the head. In the days that followed the disturbing crime, his colleagues arrested a young man and charged him with the murder based on an eyewitness=s account of the incident. But when the case finally landed before Justice Troadio Gonzalez this week, the accused had to be set free because the witness changed his story. According to court reports, John Crawford, also known as Earl Young was detained by investigators as the suspected triggerman after another man, Bruce Willacey told them that he was with Crawford on Central American Boulevard when they spotted the officer on foot. In his initial statement to the cops, Willacey maintained that he heard two gunshots and then saw Crawford standing over the policeman with a gun in his hand. But when Willacey took the witness stand this morning, he changed his story entirely. The young man says he was beaten by police to give that version of the incident and went on record to deny seeing Crawford with the gun. As a result of his testimony, the charge against Crawford had to be withdrawn. And while he walked out of court a free man, Willacey was detained pending charges of perjury.