Ex-cop a killer
Jury finds Harrison Largo guilty of first-degree murder

Copyright © 2009
Gallup Independent
By Phil Stake
Staff writer

GALLUP — Former Navajo Police Officer Harrison Largo, 46, is going to prison until he’s at least 76.

Seven men and five women finished hearing testimony Friday — and less than two hours later decided Largo’s fate. They took away his liberty for at least 31 1/2 years when they found him guilty of first-degree murder and tampering with evidence.

Largo’s attorney, Capital Crimes Public Defender Steve McIlwain, admitted during opening statements that Largo did in fact shoot and kill his ex-girlfriend, Frieda Smith, on May 20, 2008. The jury’s decision to convict Largo on either first- or second-degree murder, or involuntary manslaughter, boiled down to whether the jury believed McIlwain’s argument that Largo was too drunk, too lacking in wits that morning to intentionally shoot and kill Smith in cold blood.

The difference in sentencing for each crime is substantial. First-degree murder carries a mandatory 30-year sentence, while second-degree murder carries a maximum sentence of 18 years. The lesser penalty is not a mandatory sentence and allows for some leniency from the judge, as well as the accumulation of “good time.” Tampering with evidence is a third-degree felony, for which the penalty is three years in prison.

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