Bridgeport Man Involved In Double Murder Granted Clemency: Report

BRIDGEPORT, CT — Adrian Peeler, a Bridgeport man currently in federal prison in connection with drug trafficking and a double murder from 1999, was granted clemency by former President Joe Biden, CT Mirror and WFSB-TV reported.

Peeler was accused of murdering Karen Clarke and her 8-year-old son, LeRoy "BJ" Brown, Jr., though he was convicted of conspiracy to commit murder and was reportedly sentenced to 25 years in prison. He was additionally sentenced to 35 years on narcotics charges, which ran consecutively with the murder conspiracy sentence.

Now 48 years old, Peeler is set to be released from prison on Feb. 17.

Peeler was accused of killing Clarke and Brown at the behest of his brother, Russell Peeler, who was on trial for a separate murder for which Clarke and Brown reportedly were witnesses. Russell Peeler is serving a life sentence and is not eligible for parole.

The murders of Clarke and Brown led to the creation of Connecticut's LeRoy Brown, Jr. and Karen Clarke Witness Protection Program, designed to identify and protect witnesses who may be called to testify in dangerous criminal cases.

Biden's granting of clemency to Peeler has drawn sharp criticism from officials, even though Peeler has completed the 25-year sentence for the murder conspiracy.

The Connecticut Republican Party called Biden's move "shameful," and former deputy chief state’s attorney Christopher Morano said it was "disturbing."

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) called the murders "vicious" and said it led to the state changing its laws. Blumenthal was Connecticut's attorney general in 1999.

"It seems to me that someone dropped the ball here to let his person get released," Blumenthal told CT Mirror.

Read the CT Mirror story; read the WFSB-TV story.