A motion was filed today by the William Thomas Zeigler defense team with the approval of the Orange County State Attorney’s office for DNA testing. It still needs a judge’s approval however, these joint motions are seldom denied. But, as we have been asking for DNA testing since 1994, I will not be able to […]
Miscarriages of Justice
Wrongful Convictions
In January 2021 the ABA Journal published an article called ‘Reckoning with Wrongful Convictions: Lessons Learned from an Examination of 25 Wrongful Convictions in Brooklyn, New York‘ written by Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez. In the above-mentioned article, DA Gonzalez summarizes the report “426 Years: An Examination of 25 Wrongful Convictions in Brooklyn, New York.” That […]
She’s So Cold by Donald E. McInnis
The book She’s so cold by Donald E. McInnis describes the case of Stephanie Ann Crowe (April 12, 1985 – Jan 21, 1998) who was murdered inside her own bedroom in her parental home in an isolated suburb in Escondido, California. Her time of death was around 1230am at the latest but her death may have […]
Kristina S. Hickey (1969 – 1984)
Introduction Kristina S. Hickey (1969 – 1984) was murdered in Park Forest, Illinois, 1984. She was 15 years old and still in high school. On January 15, 1987, Christopher Abernathy was convicted for Kristina’s murder. On February 11, 2015, after 30 years of incarceration, Abernathy was exonerated by DNA and set free. But who killed […]
Hope for William Thomas Zeigler
The Tampa bay Times announced Jan 3, 2019 that the Florida State Attorney’s office is “taking a fresh look” at the 1975 case of William Thomas Zeigler. Whether that fresh look is indeed an official review does not become clear in the article. However, we finally have a Florida state representative who “wants to introduce […]
The Cadaver King and the Country Dentist
As I mentioned in Sum it Up! #57, I am reading up on forensic odontology. I came across this book “The Cadaver King and the Country Dentist.” A quick glance told me it was about the wrongful convictions of both Kennedy Brewer and Levon Brooks. They were wrongfully convicted when two girls (both three years […]
The Oberst Family Murders, Kansas 1928
The Oberst Family Murders, Kansas 1928 – A Case Study Update. Please welcome back guest blogger Sue Baillie. Sue is researching her family and wrote about it for us here. Her ancestry journey took her to Tremont Township, Illinois, 1860, That is where her Greta-Great-Great uncle Jesse Chainey settled with his family after travelling from Kent, UK. Sue stumbled […]
New trial for Daniel Dougherty
On October 31, the Pennsylvania Superior Court gave Daniel Dougherty what he has coveted: a new trial. For the third time. The defense and appellate courts agreed: Daniel Dougherty had two unfair trials. The three-judge panel of the Pennsylvania Superior Court ruled that Dougherty should get a new trial. They cited three crucial errors the […]
Retrial for Ayako Haraguchi
In 1980, Ayako Haraguchi was found guilty and sentenced to ten years in prison which she served in full. She was released in 1990. Haraguchi was accused of the 1979 killing of her then brother-in-law for insurance money. Her then brother-in-law, Kunio Nakamura (42) was a farmer. He was found collapsed beside a ditch after falling from […]
Three Wrongful Convictions in the news
Three wrongful convictions in the news. These men served between 13 and 36 years in prisons for crimes they did not commit. I hope that we will continue to investigate these murders. Someone else was responsible in all these cases. These victims should not become forgotten files in an archive. Kaj Linna, Sweden (single person […]
Pardon for Jens Soering
Albemarle County Sheriff J.E. “Chip” Harding wrote a 19-page report to support the release of Jens Soering. Soering was convicted of the 1985 Bedford County double murder of Derek & Nancy Haysom. He is serving life. Soering was dating the Haysoms’ daughter Elizabeth. She pled guilty and is serving 90 years in prison. Most likely, this […]
Nie Shubin exonerated 21 years after his execution
From KFDR: “China’s top court overturned Nie Shubin’s conviction Friday, in a landmark case that exposed deep flaws in China’s criminal justice system.” Nie Shubin was executed by firing squad in 1995 without notifying his parents. He was just 20 years old and had been detained for seven months. Nie Shubin was found guilty of the 1994 […]
Adam Gray denied new trial
From the Chicago Tribune: “Judge Angela Petrone remained unconvinced that lawyers for Adam Gray had produced enough evidence for a jury to acquit him at a new trial.” Adam Gray’s file was examined by arson experts John Lentini and Gerald Hurst. “At trial, prosecutors focused on two elements — the evidence that the fire had […]
Gun Alley by Kevin Morgan
Gun Alley by Kevin Morgan is about the murder of Alma Tirtschke (12) a.k.a. the “schoolgirl murder.” It is a cold case, a wrongful conviction, the rape-murder of a child, sloppy police work, jailhouse information, and a rush to judgment that led to the botched execution on April 24, 1922 of an innocent man. Collin Campbell […]
Adam Gray: a case to watch
In Adam Gray’s case we see the same flawed and overhauled technology that gave Cameron Todd Willingham a death sentence. Gray’s story has eerie similarities to Kenneth Richey’s case. We are talking about forensic arson detection, of course. From the Chicago Tribune: “Prosecutors in State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez’s Conviction Integrity Unit concluded in recently filed court papers […]
Controversial: the Zeigler case
Controversial: the Zeigler case has too many questions open despite the prosecution’s stand that there are none. The case of William Thomas Zeigler is covered in so many posts on my blog (60+) that he has has own category. Yesterday, attorney Dennis Tracey III explained in his opening statements that many of those open questions could […]
A retrial for Daniel Dougherty
A retrial for Daniel Dougherty starts coming Monday. In 1985, Daniel Dougherty was found guilty of deliberately igniting fires in his home that killed his two sons, Danny(4) and Johnny(3). Police arrested Dougherty 14 years later, when his estranged wife came forward and claimed he confessed. A jury found him guilty on capital murder charges in […]
Wrongfully convicted Lapointe cannot be retried
Wrongfully convicted Lapointe cannot be retried and was set free on International Wrongful Conviction Day! From the Hartford Courant: “A judge on Friday dismissed the notorious, quarter-century-old capital murder case against Richard Lapointe, a mentally impaired dishwasher who was released from prison when the state Supreme Court said he was wrongly convicted in the brutal death […]
International Wrongful Conviction Day
International Wrongful Conviction Day on October 2 is an initiative from the Canadian Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted. They launched the initiative in 2014. The AIDWYC is “a non-profit organization dedicated to identifying, advocating for, and exonerating individuals convicted of a crime that they did not commit and to preventing such injustices in the future […]
Richard Lapointe free on bail
Richard Lapointe free on bail as reported by CT Now: “On April 10, 2015, Superior Court Judge Joan Alexander ordered that Lapointe be released on $250,000 security bond. Alexander also ordered him not to have contact with any members of the victim’s family and that he be subject to intensive pre-trial supervision. Appeal lawyers at […]