Key suspect in 1991 unsolved homicide released from federal prison

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — On the streets of Charlotte, Louis Samuels went by the nickname “Big Lou.”

Samuels went to federal prison in 1991 on weapons charges and was the key suspect in the murder of Yulanda Hoey, who was killed 10 months earlier.

Samuels walked out of federal prison a free man Saturday with Hoey's murder still unsolved.

Samuels was sentenced to 45 years in prison, but a federal court reduced the sentence.

Before Hoey died, police said she told her sister that if anything happened to her, she was with Samuels.

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Yulanda

 Hoey)

Later that year, federal agents served a search warrant at Samuels' home and found blood that was proved to be Hoey's.

With Samuels in prison, police said that in July 2000, that biological evidence, along with a shotgun, pellets and some of Samuels' clothing, were destroyed by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

“It's something jurors are expecting to see in a murder case, and if it's destroyed, it's going to be a concern to many people, I think,” said legal analyst Mark Foster, a defense attorney.

A year ago, police went back to Samuels' old home, back to the bathroom where they found Hoey's blood and took part of the floor, the subfloor, wood frame and even pipes, hoping some of the evidence may still be there.

Sources told Channel 9 that a year later, police still haven't found anything.

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