People v. Burke

OPINION OF THE COURT

Memorandum.

The order of the Appellate Division should be affirmed.

On February 18, 1979, the body of Richard Eaton was found bound and gagged inside an abandoned trailer. More than four years later, defendant was indicted for Eaton’s murder. At defendant’s trial, the prosecution’s primary witness was Henry Hill, who testified that his friend, defendant, had told him that he had murdered Eaton because Eaton had not paid up on á cocaine deal and that this would be a lesson to two other drug purchasers who had not yet paid defendant. Hill, whose testimony was essential to the…