A preliminary hearing has been set for Friday in Miami for Ben Kramer, who is seeking to clear his name in the murder of legendary powerboat builder Don Aronow, according to a report in The Miami Herald.

Attorneys for Kramer are asking Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Dava Tunis to toss out his no contest plea to manslaughter in the violent death of Aronow, the newspaper reported. The legal team claims that a deathbed confession by Robert Young, who died last year in prison, cleared him of involvement in the high-profile murder.

Young claims he told police and prosecutors in 1995—and reiterated to Kramer’s defense attorneys last year—that Colombian drug dealers ordered the hit. Aronow was gunned down in 1987 just down the street from his offices on 188th Street in Miami. Detectives claim Kramer ordered the murder because of a business dispute between he and Aronow.

Kramer is currently serving a life sentence in an Illinois federal prison for money laundering. He has already completed a 19-year sentence for his no contest plea in Aronow’s death. It’s unclear how a ruling would affect his federal conviction, but according to the newspaper, an attorney for Kramer claims, “it may materially impact other matters as well.”

Prosecutors are required to turn over all evidence to the defense but a former lead homicide detective disputes that Young never claimed he was hired by Colombian cocaine dealers.

“He never implicated anybody,” former Miami-Dade Homicide Detective Greg Smith told the paper. “He said he wasn’t a rat.”

Aronow was an accomplished offshore racer who founded several boat brands including Cigarette Racing, Donzi and Formula. Despite his death more than 20 years ago, the public continues to be fascinated by the murder that has spawned a documentary, a TV show and possibly a feature film.

For The Miami Herald story, click here.

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