MAYS LANDING – An Atlantic City man was convicted of the double murder of two Atlantic City teens committed five years ago, Acting Atlantic County Prosecutor Jim McClain announced today.
On Thursday, Aug. 29, an Atlantic County jury convicted Kory McClary, now 27, of the murders of 15-year-old Michael Nelson and 19-year-old Phillip Fano, who were both fatally shot in the head by McClary.
On June 22, 2008, McClary drove by a group of teens standing outside of a residence located on the 1000 block of North Ohio firing several shots, striking both Nelson and Fano in the head.
The day before the homicides, the homes of Nelson and that of a friend of Nelson were shot at in drive-by shootings several minutes apart. McClary was also charged for those shootings.
Assistant Prosecutor Dave Ruffenach proffered during the two-week trial of McClary on 20 criminal counts that he had targeted Nelson and the friend in retaliation for McClary’s belief that they had previously robbed him.
Though not a target of McClary’s retaliation, Fano was shot and killed in McClary’s gunfire.
After killing the teens, McClary fled to Alabama where he was later arrested and jailed on unrelated charges. While in an Alabama jail, McClary confessed to the killings of the Atlantic City teens to two cellmates.
When McClary’s cellmates were questioned by detectives, they gave details about the murders that they could not have learned from a source other than McClary. Those former cellmates were called as witnesses during the trial and testified to McClary’s admissions.
After a day of deliberations, the jury found McClary guilty of two counts of murder, four counts of aggravated assault, conspiracy to commit aggravated assault, conspiracy to commit murder and weapons offenses, and two counts of possession of a weapon by a convicted felon.
McClary’s four counts of aggravated assault were for shooting at the Nelson home while two women stood on the porch.
McClary will be sentenced on Oct. 18 by Superior Court Judge Bernard E. DeLury.
Anyone with information involving serious crimes is asked to call the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office at 609-909-7800 or go to the Prosecutor’s Office Web site at http://www.acpo.org/tips.html and provide information by filling out the form anonymously on the Submit a Tip page. People can also call Crime Stoppers at 609-652-1234 or 1-800-658-8477 (TIPS) or visit the Crime Stoppers Website at http://www.crimestoppersatlantic.com/. Crime Stoppers offers cash rewards for information leading to the arrest and indictment of those who commit crimes in Atlantic County.
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