PARIS, Texas — Four months after a grand jury indicted two white men for the dragging murder of a black man, key evidence against the pair appears to be evaporating.
Police had alleged Shannon Keith Finley and Charles Ryan Crostley, both 28, had used Finley’s pickup to run over and drag to death 24- year-old Brandon McClelland on a rural road Sept. 16. Local civil-rights activists denounced the case as a racially- inspired hate crime.
But an initial police claim that investigators had found blood on the underside of the pickup has not been confirmed. Special prosecutor Toby Shook noted there was evidence the suspects had washed the truck before it was impounded.
Moreover, a crucial prosecution witness — to whom police said Finley allegedly confessed — has been challenged on his credibility, which could undermine any testimony he might give against Finley.
Finley and Crostley, who claimed to have been friends of McClelland’s, have denied to police they were involved in his death.
