Tesfay Desta, a 45-year-old man of Ethiopian descent, was shot and killed on the evening of December 4, 1999, on a downtown Portland, Maine street. His death was recorded as one of 25 homicides in Maine that year and left a lasting impact on those who knew him.

Investigators quickly focused on a single individual. Authorities identified Musse Kasa, 40, as the person responsible for the shooting and charged him with murder. The charge signaled that law enforcement believed they had evidence tying Kasa to Desta’s death and set the case on a course through the legal system.

Were there witnesses or details from that night that could help clarify what led to the fatal encounter downtown?