Jon Lester’s family announced his death on Facebook two months ago. Only now is the New York media learning that the convicted ringleader in the 1986 Howard Beach racial attack took his own life in England at the age of 48.
Lester’s sister, Jayne, told the New York Times that her brother was haunted by “guilt dreams” but was not a cold-blooded killer. She said he was depressed that he could not return to the United States, where all of his family is located, because he was deported to Great Britain after serving 15 years in prison. Lester was born in Wales and his family moved to Howard Beach, Queens, when he was 14.