Robert Blakeslee
August 15, 1977
Arabi, Louisiana

The Times-Picayune
(New Orleans, Louisiana)
March 10, 2005

Pair held in 1977 slaying in Arabi
Cabbie's killing was in revenge, cops say

Thursday, March 10, 2005
By Steve Cannizaro
St. Bernard/Plaquemines bureau

A 28-year-old murder mystery surrounding the 1977 shooting 
death of a cab driver in Arabi has been solved with the arrest of 
two men involved in drug distribution in the 1970s, St. Bernard 
Parish authorities said Wednesday.

They said the probe, reopened last year when a witness began 
cooperating, showed the cabbie was ambushed and killed in 
retaliation for allegedly robbing a ring of drug dealers in the New 
Orleans area.

Robert Blakeslee, a United Cab driver from Poydras, was 
murdered in the early morning of Aug. 15, 1977, shot three times 
with a shotgun outside an Arabi bar as he was getting out of his 
cab. Despite his injuries, he managed to walk more than 500 feet 
up nearby West St. Bernard Highway before collapsing and 
dying.

Ramon Pecora, 70, of the Hammond area, who allegedly led a 
ring that specialized in distribution of the drug Dilaudid, and Jon 
Wyatt, 54, a plumber in Pearl River who allegedly dealt drugs for 
Pecora, were booked with first-degree murder. Both have served 
time in federal prison for drug distribution.

Pecora allegedly hired Wyatt to kill Blakeslee because the cab 
driver had been robbing people who were dealing drugs for 
Pecora, said Maj. John Doran, chief of detectives for the St. 
Bernard Parish Sheriff's Office. Doran said investigators were 
told Wyatt's payoff for killing Blakeslee was a large amount of 
powdered Dilaudid.

Blakeslee had served time in prison for armed robbery "and had 
a reputation of robbing dope dealers and users," Doran said. "By 
all accounts, (Blakeslee) was a rough hombre that even drug 
dealers were afraid of."

Pecora, who has several health problems, authorities said, was 
arrested at his home Tuesday by Tangipahoa Parish deputies 
and was transferred to St. Bernard Parish that night. He was 
being held in lieu of $500,000 bond set Wednesday.

Wyatt was arrested at his home early Wednesday. He was 
scheduled to go before a judge today to have his bond set.

Both men denied involvement in the 1977 killing, authorities 
said.

Arrest warrants were issued for the men by a judge in St. 
Bernard Parish.

Authorities declined to name the witness whose information 
helped lead to the arrests or elaborate on the circumstances of 
the witness coming forward after all these years.

"We were able to corroborate the information" supplied by the 
witness, Doran said. It took numerous hours of digging by 
several detectives, including Capt. John Gutierrez and Lt. Jeff 
Roderfeld, Doran said.

Some of the investigators who worked on the case in the 1970s 
have died, although some retired deputies assisted in the 
reopened probe, Doran said. "We basically had to re-create the 
(case) file," he said.

A 12-gauge shotgun used in the killing was recovered at the 
scene of the shooting outside a bar at Norton Avenue near West 
St. Bernard Highway, authorities said. The gun was traced to a 
New Orleans man, Don Dakin, now deceased, who was taken 
into custody as a material witness when he couldn't explain why 
his gun was found at the murder scene, Doran said. But he said 
Dakin later was released when investigators were not able to 
determine who the killer was.

The gun was sent to the State Police crime laboratory in the 
1970s, but there is no information available on what happened to 
it afterward, Doran said.

Pecora and Wyatt, along with several others, went to federal 
prison after their arrests on drug distribution charges in 1979, 
Doran said. Pecora was released from prison in 1984 and 
apparently has had no felony arrests since then.

Wyatt, who received a probation sentence on a manslaughter 
charge involving a knifing in a bar in 1970, served prison time on 
burglary charges after his release from federal prison on the 
drug charges.

St. Bernard Parish Sheriff Jack Stephens said, "I don't know of 
any other instances in the history of this department where a 
murder case so old has been cleared."

He said, "There is no statute of limitations on murder" and added 
that "sometimes the further away you get from a crime, the more 
likely a witness will talk" once they are no longer afraid of 
reprisals from the people involved.

Stephens said there are several unsolved murder cases that 
detectives are reviewing that may result in arrests. Anyone with 
information about unsolved murders can call detectives at (504) 
278-7655, he said.
. . . . . . .
Steve Cannizaro can be reached at 
scannizaro@timespicayune.com or (504) 826-3834.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The Times-Picayune
(New Orleans, Louisiana)
May 6, 2005

Grand jury indicts two in 28-year-old killing of cabbie

5/6/2005, 7:55 a.m. CT
The Associated Press 

CHALMETTE, La. (AP) - Two men have been indicted on first-
degree murder charges in the shotgun slaying of a cabdriver 
almost 28 years ago.

Ramon Pecora Sr., 70, of the Hammond area, and Jon Wyatt Jr., 
54, were arrested in March in the Aug. 15, 1977, shooting of 
Robert "Red" Blakeslee, 40. Police say Pecora led a drug-
distribution ring that specialized in the narcotic Dilaudid and 
Wyatt allegedly dealt drugs for him.

Pecora, who is said to suffer from medical problems, was later 
released after his bond was reduced to $379,000. However, the 
terms of his bond allow him to leave his house only for medical 
care and consultations with attorneys, District Attorney Jack 
Rowley said Thursday.

Wyatt remains jailed in lieu of $500,000 bond.

Both men have served time in federal prison for drug distribution, 
police said at the time of their arrests.

Blakeslee was shot outside an Arabi bar as he was getting out of 
his cab.

The investigation was reopened last year when a witness began 
cooperating, police said. Authorities said that Blakeslee was 
ambushed and killed in retaliation for robbing drug dealers in the 
New Orleans area.

St. Bernard Parish Sheriff Jack Stephens has said he thinks the 
case is the oldest unsolved slaying his department has cleared 
by an arrest.

Pecora and Wyatt have denied involvement in the killing.

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