Man charged in 1988 Boston murders dies after NY restaurant freezer incident

BOSTON — The man who died after attacking people in New York City restaurant last week was recently charged with two murders in Boston 30 years ago.

Carlton Henderson, 54, was charged with the murders of two people in Roxbury in 1988 and was free on bail when police say he jumped out of an industrial freezer last week with a knife -- ranting about the devil.

The Arizona man was arrested in St. Louis in 2017 and brought back to Massachusetts to face murder charges in connection to the May 7, 1988 shooting deaths of 26-year-old William Medina and 22-year-old Antonio Dos Reis.

Prosecutors allege Medina and Reis had been sitting in a vehicle that night when Henderson gunned them down.

Police say bullets from the 1988 killings were matched to a gun recovered in a 1993 shooting death in Miami.

"It’s all bizarre," Roberto Crespo, Medina's brother, said. "It’s been bizarre from day one but I know he was one of my brother’s murderers.”

Suffolk District Attorney Daniel Conley's office said Henderson's motion to suppress evidence related to the homicides in 1988 was granted last week.

Prosecutors opposed the motion after an alleged proffer agreement that the motion was based on could not be produced by any law enforcement agencies or any of Henderson's defense teams.

A Suffolk Superior Court judge granted the motion on July 31, reducing his bail the next day, according to the district attorney's office.

“He walked right out the front door after a year held for murder," Crespo said.

The office said Henderson allegedly made statements in the 1990's to investigators, suggesting that he played a role in the double-murder, along with others involved.

"Away from me, Satan!" Henderson yelled as he grabbed a knife and threatened staff members at a New York city restaurant, according to the New York Post.

Henderson reportedly lost consciousness while struggling with workers at Sarabeth's in New York City and died at Mount Sinai St. Luke's Hospital.

“It’s a divine justice," Crespo said. "But the justice we wanted, the judge took it away from us"

MORE: Arizona man charged with murder in 1988 Boston shootings

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Cox Media Group