A Suffolk County judge has denied a new trial Friday for a Belle Terre man convicted of killing his parents in 1988.

Thirty-four-year-old Martin Tankleff is serving a 50 years-to-life sentence after being convicted in 1990 of killing his mother and father in their home. Tankleff claims his father's business partner orchestrated the killings to escape from hundreds of thousands in debt he owed.

Tankleff, who was 17 at the time, had confessed to the killings. But he later took back his confession and has been trying to get a new trial for the last 17 years.

At a hearing last year, Tankleff's attorneys presented what they said was new evidence that proves his innocence. Suffolk prosecutors attacked the credibility of the new witnesses and say the conviction should stand.

Related Link The People of the State of New York vs. Martin H. Tankleff