Text size:

Star Tankleff case witness misses hearing

By Zachary R. Dowdy | Staff Writer

July 24, 2004

The star witness in a hearing to determine whether Martin Tankleff's double-murder conviction should be overturned did not testify as scheduled Friday, fueling courthouse speculation that the witness got cold feet or is ready to recant his claims.

Glenn Harris, who has said he drove Joseph Creedon and Peter Kent to the Tankleff's Belle Terre home on Sept. 7, 1988, when the two men allegedly bludgeoned Arlene and Seymour Tankleff, did not take the witness stand. Suffolk County Court Judge Stephen L. Braslow in Riverhead adjourned the hearing until Monday.

Harris is being held at the Suffolk County jail in Riverhead on a parole violation for a 1999 burglary conviction. He has been there since June 16.

Some sources quickly said Harris wants to recant after having second thoughts about testifying in a case that could implicate him in one of Long Island's most sensational crimes. Harris is expected to testify that Jerry Steuerman, Seymour Tankleff's business partner, ordered Creedon to commit the murders. Steuerman, who now lives in Florida, has declined to comment on any aspect of the case, but during Tankleff's 1990 trial, he denied responsiblity for the murders.

Still, one of Tankleff's attorneys said he expects Harris to take the stand on Monday, and he flatly denied that Harris will recant.

"Sometimes things just get adjourned because they get adjourned," said Bruce Barket of Garden City. Neither Creedon nor Kent was ever charged with the killings. Martin Tankleff, then 17, was convicted of the murders in 1990 and is serving a prison sentence of 50 years to life.

Harris' testimony has been described as the "glue" in the defense case. His testimony would contradict the prosecution's theory that Tankleff was a spoiled brat and the lone killer who beat and stabbed his parents over petty matters.

Richard Barbuto of Mineola, Harris' attorney, declined to comment on the adjournment, as did Bob Clifford, a spokesman for Suffolk District Attorney Thomas Spota.

The judge announced the delay by saying simply, "This case has been adjourned until Monday." The unadorned statement ratcheted up the suspense in a case that has become a nail-biter for observers.

The weekend cliffhanger came after four days of testimony that Tankleff's attorneys believe has laid a foundation for Harris' testimony.

That testimony included mainly people who said they had heard Creedon brag about the night he allegedly hid in bushes at the Tankleff home before murdering the couple.

It also included testimony from Creedon's former girlfriend, who testified that she and Creedon were in a bagel shop with Jerry Steuerman, a business partner of Seymour Tankleff who owed Tankleff hundreds of thousands of dollars. Creedon testified he has not met or spoken to Steuerman.