April 4, 2007: Police focus on career criminal in triple killing

By HERON MARQUEZ ESTRADA

Last update: August 11, 2008 - 11:49 AM

A 25-year-old man suspected of at least two murders is now also considered a person of interest in a triple homicide last month, the St. Paul Police Department reported today.

Tyvarus Lindsey, 25, is the Ramsey County jail in lieu of $500,000 bail after being charged on Monday with second-degree murder in the April 2005 death of Leon Brooks.

Lindsey, who was released in November after a prosecutors error on a federal gun possession charge, is the only suspect in the killing of William Washington two days after Christmas and a month after Lindsey was released.

Lindsey -- a career criminal with a history of theft and drug arrests is being looked at in connection with other early-morning shootings, including the triple homicide in the North End about 6:30 a.m. on March 23.

Police have said that the killings were not random, but investigators have not detailed what the relationship was between the victims and the group that invaded the home.

Maria McLay, Brittany Kekedakis and Otahl Saunders, who lived in the 200 block of Burgess Street, were shot in the head in their home when four or five men burst into the home, possibly looking for drugs and money.

No arrests have been made, but police spokesman Tom Walsh said investigators have identified and talked to three persons of interest possibly involved in the case.

He [Lindsey] would be one of them, Walsh said today.

He said police also are awaiting ballistics reports to see if the weapon used is connected to other crimes in the city.

Other cases

St. Paul police have said that Lindsey is the only suspect in the Washington case and is likely to be charged; Walsh said police are awaiting DNA test results on items from his home.

Police also suspect that Lindsey was involved in a shooting early last month at Costellos bar in the Cathedral Hill area, in which a man walked into the neighborhood establishment and shot a patron three times.

Walsh said charges in that case are not likely because the victim is refusing to cooperate with police and has, in fact, disappeared.

Lindsey, who was arrested last week on a 2006 warrant for fleeing police, is also a suspect in another major case, Walsh said. The incident took place in April 2006. Walsh would not elaborate.

Herón Márquez Estrada 651-298-1554

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