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Queens Nurse Arrested in 1984 Cold-Case Murder of Louisiana Man

 Leila Mulla, 47, of Long Island City, has been charged in connection with the 28-year-old cold-case murder of a Louisana businessman.
Leila Mulla, 47, of Long Island City, has been charged in connection with the 28-year-old cold-case murder of a Louisana businessman.
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LONG ISLAND CITY —  A Queens nurse and former exotic dancer was arrested in connection with the nearly three-decade-old murder of a Louisiana man after new evidence linked her to the killing, the Queens District Attorney's Office said.

Leila Mulla, 47, of 33-78 11th St. in Long Island City, was taken into custody Monday and is facing extradition to Louisiana, where an arrest warrant has been issued charging her with second-degree murder, criminal conspiracy and simple robbery, the DA's office said.

Mulla is accused of murdering Louisiana businessman Gary Kergan in 1984. Kergan, then 29, was last seen with Mulla leaving a Baton Rouge nightclub where she worked as an exotic dancer at the time, the DA's office said.

Both Mulla and her then-boyfriend, Ronald Dalton Dunnagan, now 64, were arrested in 1984 in connection with Kergan's death but released due to a lack of evidence, according to the Baton Rouge Police Department. Blood found in the trunk of the victim's car was recently re-tested using DNA analysis, the department said.

Mulla has been working as a nurse in New York, the DA's office said. Dunnagan, of Bossier City, La., has also been arrested and charged.

Kergan’s body has never been found, but he was declared legally dead by the courts in 1986, Baton Rouge police said in a statement.