The tactics resulted in long prison terms for two Buffalo men, Darryl A. Boyd and John H. Walker, their attorneys said.

The lawsuits against Buffalo and Erie County, which seek $112 million for each man, came 10 months after a state judge overturned the 44-year-old murder convictions against Boyd and Walker in the death of William Crawford, 62.

The two men, now 63, were “wrongfully prosecuted, convicted and imprisoned for more than 28 years for a murder and robbery they did not commit,” attorney Joel B. Rudin and his co-counsels claim.

According to Rudin, detectives harassed and threatened two teenagers until they agreed to provide testimony that Crawford was beaten to death by their friends.

Walker, Boyd and a teenage friend, the late Darryn Gibson, were found guilty by juries and sentenced to lengthy prison terms.

The lawsuit also accuses prosecutors of failing to provide defense attorneys for more than four decades with evidence that pointed to another suspect – the murder victim’s neighbor.

Police said the inebriated Crawford was attacked outside his 2041 Fillmore Ave. home after he left the nearby Golden Nugget bar late on the night of Jan. 2, 1976.

Detectives had witness statements and other evidence pointing to Larry Watson, a neighbor of Crawford’s who left the bar with him that night, according to the lawsuit. 

According to court papers, a bartender from the Golden Nugget had told detectives she suspected Watson, Crawford’s neighbor and drinking companion, of “harming” Crawford.

The bartender, identified in court papers as Debbie Jeffrey, said Watson observed Crawford flashing a large wad of cash at the bar and buying several rounds of drinks for friends. Jeffrey said she advised Crawford around 11:30 p.m. that he had too much to drink and should go home. She told police that Watson quickly offered to walk Crawford home, and left with him.

Watson came back to the bar about 20 minutes later and then left with his wife, Julia, who had been drinking with him and Crawford, according to court papers.

The bartender told police Julia Watson later called the bar and said her husband’s keys were missing and asked if they had been found at the bar.

A set of keys were found next to Crawford’s body, but police never tried to find out whether the keys were Watson’s, Rudin said in court papers.

“Watson was the last person seen leaving the bar with Crawford. But the prosecution presented him as their witness, claiming he had left Crawford to rush to his own house because his front door was open,” Rudin said.

Attorneys for Boyd and Walker were not provided by prosecutors with police reports that contained evidence against Larry Watson until they filed a Freedom of Information Law request recently, Rudin said.  

Larry Watson, his wife Julia, and Jeffrey, the bartender who provided information to police, are all now deceased. The Buffalo News could not reach a stepson of Watson.  

Prosecutor denies wrongdoing

Timothy J. Drury, a former assistant district attorney who was involved in the prosecution, told The News that he is unaware of any wrongdoing in the case and remains convinced that the teenagers were guilty. He denied prosecutors withheld any evidence from defense attorneys. 

He would not take lightly prosecuting teenagers for murder and sending them to prison, Drury told The News this week.

“It was a good case ... legitimate convictions,” Drury said. “These kids ruined their own lives when they attacked that man.”

Edward C. Cosgrove, who was the district attorney when the murder trials were held, declined on Wednesday to comment on details of the case or the lawsuits.

“If, at any time during my eight years in office, we did not handle a homicide case properly, I would have known about it years ago,” Cosgrove said.

In addition to the city of Buffalo and Erie County, the lawsuit names as defendants retired homicide Detectives Michael Guadagno and John Montondo, and the estates of Detectives James Hunter and Robert Grabowski. Guadagno and Montondo did not respond to requests for comment. 

Key witness recants

The prime prosecution witness against Walker and Boyd – Tyrone Woodruff, now 64, told The News this week that homicide detectives threatened and scared him into implicating his friends by claiming they had other witnesses who linked him to the murder.

One of the tactics used by detectives was to let Woodruff listen to a “fake anonymous call” from a woman claiming Woodruff was in on the murder, according to court papers.

Woodruff told The News he was a “scared 17-year-old” who had been told by detectives that “if I didn’t point my finger at somebody, they would bring someone else in who would point their finger at me.”

He said he regrets testifying falsely against Boyd and Walker.

“I think about it every single day,” he said.

Woodruff said he was given immunity from prosecution in exchange for his testimony.

According to police records, Woodruff’s testimony identifying the suspected killers was key evidence that led to convictions against Walker and Boyd, both of whom were 16 when arrested.

Asked about Woodruff’s claim, Drury said: “Many witnesses, for many reasons, try to recant testimony years later. Some of them are afraid. Some of them feel guilty for helping put someone in prison.”

Imprisoned more than 20 years

Walker spent 22 years in state prison. Boyd served a total of 28 years for the murder and four parole violations.

Boyd and Walker held a press conference vowing to clear their names after they were released from prison in 2020.

Their friend, Gibson, served 32 years in prison and died a few months after his release in 2009.

Another teenager who was with them that night, Floyd Martin, also was charged with the murder, but he was acquitted after a trial.

Martin’s attorney, James A.W. McLeod, told The News he believes all five teenagers were innocent.

Supporters of Boyd, Walker, Gibson, Martin and Woodruff call them the “Buffalo 5” and have been campaigning over the past two years to clear their names.

Judge overturns convictions

Buffalo attorney Paul J. Cambria took on their criminal cases and filed an appeal last year. In September, State Supreme Court Judge Christopher J. Burns overturned the guilty verdicts against Walker and Boyd.

Defense attorneys representing the two men had made errors, Burns said.

The judge said that there are unanswered questions about a purported crime scene photo that – according to McLeod – indicated that only one person had attacked Crawford. That photo and other evidence are no longer in the court file, the judge said.

“This is not an exoneration of the defendants,” Burns said.

Current Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn said he has no intention to try the two cases again.

“It would be extremely difficult and impractical because of the passage of 46 years. Many of the witnesses are no longer alive,” Flynn said. “It would be a waste of taxpayer money for me to try and do that.”

DA defends prosecutions

Flynn also said that, from his review of the cases, “these were legitimate convictions. I found no wrongdoing by anyone.”

Flynn’s uncle – Edward C. Cosgrove – was the county DA at the time, and Drury, an assistant to Cosgrove, is married to a cousin of Flynn’s.

“I never try to hide from the fact that I am related to these two men, but I can tell you, both of them had reputations for integrity,” Flynn said this week. “I cannot imagine them railroading innocent teenagers and putting them into prison for murder.”

The late Leo J. Donovan, who retired in 1985 as the Buffalo police homicide squad commander, is repeatedly criticized in the court papers filed by attorneys for Boyd and Walker.

The lawsuits claim that Donovan was fully aware of improper tactics used by his detectives, and claim that he approved of the tactics.

During the 1970s and 1980s, Donovan often stated with pride that his homicide squad had a “90 percent solution rate” for murders . He headed the unit for 21 years and died in 1996.

Rudin is a civil rights attorney from New York City whose firm has won millions of dollars in settlements and verdicts in lawsuits charging police with wrongdoing. He is working on the cases with another New York City firm, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr.

The attorneys would not allow Boyd or Walker to speak to The News for this story .

In 2020, a reporter asked Boyd why he and Walker were still trying to clear their names when they had already been released from prison.

Boyd said he and Walker were small-time criminals as teenagers, involved in car theft, burglary, shoplifting and other unlawful activities.

“Yes, we did those things. But we want our kids and our families to know, we were not murderers,” Boyd said.