Cops: Brilliant Chemist Turned Racist Kills Neighbor In Cold Blood

Malaika Tamu Griffin is wanted for the murder of 25-year-old Jason Horsley. In the winter of 1999, Griffin was renting a room in a house next door to Jason Horsley and his girlfriend, Deborah Loiselle. On the evening of May 18, 1999, Jason was organizing his carpentry tools on the sidewalk in front of Griffin's house when she came outside and began screaming at him. Deborah heard the commotion and came out of her house to stick up for Jason. After a brief but intense argument, both women stormed back to their respective homes and Jason continued organizing his tools.

Argument Turned To Murder

Minutes later, police say Griffin came back out of her house armed with a laser-sighted 9mm pistol and shot Jason in the back at point-blank range. The bullet pierced his heart and killed him instantly. Then, detectives say Griffin ran to the home of an acquaintance, Monique Thomas, and carjacked her at gunpoint. Griffin abandoned the car in Iowa and hopped a bus to Chicago where her trail went cold.

Munitions Found In Quantity

When police searched Griffin's home in Denver, they were shocked to find a stockpile of ammunition, diffused hand grenades, a 9 mm assault rifle and books commonly associated with terrorists. They also found notebooks full of Griffin's secret writings about a coming race war and the killing of white people.  None of her colleagues at the pharmacy where she worked, or her closest friends from college had any idea that she held such radical and dangerous views. Griffin graduated from college in Mississippi magna cum laude with a degree in chemistry. After being profiled on AMW repeatedly, detectives had been baffled by a lack of solid tips on her possible whereabouts. Some believed that she fled the U.S. and may be living abroad.

AMW Capture #845

Suspected Murderer Behind Bars

In the winter of 1999 an argument between Malaika Griffin and her next door neighbor turned deadly. Police say Griffin shot and killed 25-year-old Jason Horsley. Griffin has managed to elude police for six years.

After AMW profiled her case on June 4, 2005, Griffin's luck ran out. After watching the show, several tipsters called their local California FBI and law enforcement agents. The tipsters thought they recognized the woman as Lake Griffin. Officials learned the tipsters were right, it was Malaika.

The El Cajon Police Department and the FBI located where Griffin was living with the information they received. In the afternoon of June 5, police went to Griffin's apartment. She was arrested without incident. Griffin was working as a lab assistant at a bio tech firm and working part time at a fast food restaurant and thrift store.

Griffin is now behind bars thanks to AMW viewers.

On March 6th, 2006, a jury in Denver found Malaika Griffin guilty of first degree murder for the shooting death of Jason Horsley.  She was also convicted of aggravated vehicle theft and aggravated robbery.  The auto theft charges stemmed from a carjacking Griffin committed minutes after she gunned down Jason Horsley to make her getaway.  The jury deliberated seven hours before reaching the verdict.  During the trial, the jury was read excerpts from Griffin's racist journal entries about her hatred of White people.  Also introduced as evidence at trail were weapons that were recovered from Griffin's apartment after she fled from Denver in 1999.

Griffin was immediately sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.  For Detective Rick Schnieder, Jason's family and Deborah Loiselle, the conviction ended a seven-year-long quest for justice. They sincerely want to thank AMW and the tipsters who made Griffin's arrest possible after she'd been on the run for six years.