Government takes custody of notorious 'murder necklace' STORIED BLING: Coveted jewelry at center of slaying investigation.

Naron Celestine, the Anchorage man whose showy medallion necklace was, as police tell it, at the center of a 2009 disturbance that left a man dead, agreed to give up his prized jewelry as part of a federal plea deal.

Now the medallion is owned by the federal government and is evidence in a murder case.

Celestine, 40, was sentenced this week to 15 years and eight months in prison for his role in a cocaine conspiracy. U.S. District Judge Russel Holland also ordered Celestine, aka Cole or Cold and a couple of other names, to forfeit the medallion.

"One custom made 18 karat two-toned medallion pendant pavé set with round brilliant diamonds in an 18 karat white gold round disc plate," is how it was described on the forfeiture decree in September. Raised white gold letters spell out "3rd Wall ent," a reference to 3rd Wall Entertainment, a Kansas City-based recording studio. Celestine called himself a music promoter and appeared to be 3rd Wall's proprietor, prosecutors say.

It's known as "the murder necklace," an appraiser said.

On the afternoon of June 4, 2009, someone shot Joe Young Jr., 23, in the parking lot of the South Anchorage Sports Authority. As he lay dying, he told police "Cole" shot him, according to state court records.

Police heard reports that Young had stolen the necklace from Celestine in May 2009 near Club Elixir on Fifth Avenue and that Celestine had put a $10,000 hit on him over it.

"It was the center of the hostilities involved in the shooting at the Sports Authority parking lot," homicide detective Mark Huelskoetter said in an interview.

But whether there was really involvement by Celestine is a murky area, the detective said.

Three other men are in jail awaiting trial on murder charges in the death of Young. They are Dawud Azizi Johnson, 32, Ajamu McCoy, 34, and Jerry Lynn Taylor Jr., 21.

"Realistically we have the people incarcerated who are responsible for the murder itself," Huelskoetter said. "Right now we haven't gotten enough conclusive evidence to say that he (Celestine) ordered a hit or that he asked people to act on his behalf."

Because the murder case hasn't gone to trial yet, the detective said he couldn't say much more, including how the police recovered the necklace, which they are holding as evidence.

In the drug case, Celestine pleaded guilty in February to conspiring with two other men to distribute more than 10 pounds of cocaine. One of them, Steven Lamont Riley, was previously sentenced to five years in prison for his role. The other, Tillman Bradley III, is a fugitive, according to the U.S. attorney's office.

At his sentencing Tuesday, Celestine told Judge Holland that he has a serious medical condition. In a memo to the court, defense lawyer Allen Dayan said it was sarcoidosis, a debilitating lung disease. Celestine also has been a heavy marijuana smoker for years and needed treatment, his lawyer wrote.

Holland recommended that Celestine be sent to a medical center for federal prisoners in Missouri for evaluation and treatment. The judge also recommended that he undergo the prison system's 500-hour drug and alcohol class.

Celestine has been involved in the Anchorage drug trade since the early 1990s, said assistant U.S. Attorney Stephan Collins. Holland was the judge who sentenced him in 1992 in another drug conspiracy case, Collins said. Two other men in the conspiracy were accused of slitting the throat of a drug buyer outside the Long Branch Saloon in South Anchorage, Collins said.

As to the medallion, Collins said he didn't think much of it.

"By looking at it, you wouldn't pay $40 for it. But it's chock-full of diamonds." Hundreds of them.

Josh Jennett, who owns Jewelry Cache in Anchorage, appraised the necklace for law enforcement and put a retail value of $97,000 on it, based on the costs of the metal, gems and labor of the custom-made piece.

At some point, when the police are done with it, the U.S. Marshal's Office will sell it at a public auction, said Rochelle Liedike, a deputy U.S. marshal.

Because not many people are likely to want a medallion just like that, the murder necklace might not bring anything close to $100,000 at auction, Jennett said.

"The whole thing was so sad," he said. "Here these people are dead over this ridiculous thing. It makes no sense whatsoever."

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