The United States Supreme Court Justices put off a decision in the Hank Skinner case. It is from Texas, a state that executes more prisoners per year than any other state. Hank Skinner made an actual innocence claim, demanding DNA testing on other evidence gathered at the crime scene. The justices had issued a stay just before […]
DNA
Zeigler, Part VII: The Thompson Report
Vicki Harley Holland has a website about Tommy Zeigler. It is called “Prayers for Tommy.” She commented on my previous posting “This post will be written by you.” In it, she refers to “Fatal Flaw” by Phillip Finch, the book I also recommend. In the middle of her website, near the top, you see “Letters […]
Cold Case of Lysandra Marie Turpin Solved!
The remains of Lysandra Marie Turpin who went reported missing in 1988 have been found after a man who witnessed her murder as a teenager, contacted Northern California law enforcement, 22 years after the crime. In April of 1988, 27-year-old Lysandra Marie Turpin was reported missing in Humboldt County. She was never found and officials have […]
Riley Fox: still unsolved
An appeals court agreed with a federal jury’s 2007 finding that Will County Police framed Kevin Fox for the rape and murder of his 3-year-old daughter Riley Fox, but reduced the damages awarded to Fox and his wife from $12.2 million to $8 million. The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals chastised the investigators on the […]
Zeigler, Part V
Zeigler, Part V: The Bodies Mr. Charlie Mays was savagely beaten, his face disfigured with blood coming through his skull, and he had been shot twice in the abdomen (once from the front and once from the back). Judging from the blood splatters, Mays had been beaten to death where he was found. The killer […]
Hawley Harvey Crippen
I enjoyed reading Crippen by John Boyne about of course, Hawley Harvey Crippen. On October 18, 1910, almost 100 years ago, the murder trial of Dr. Hawley Harvey Crippen started at the Old Bailey, UK. It gripped the public, as had his flight with his mistress who was dressed as a boy, and the police chase across the […]
Hagy pleads no contest, sentenced to life
William R. Hagy Jr., convicted of first-degree murder for strangling a Roanoke woman in 1984, pleaded no contest today to the 1985 murder of another woman in her Old Southwest home and was sentenced to life imprisonment. Hagy, 49, was sentenced to two concurrent life terms by Roanoke Circuit Judge William Broadhurst. Under a plea […]
DNA: a civil right?
The Houston Chronicle has an interesting article related on DNA as related to the Skinner case. It discusses that the United States Supreme Court (USSC) must consider if inmates’ requests for DNA testing can be handled as civil rights claims — a question that has split the nation’s top federal courts. The USSC on Thursday […]
Update Ray Hagy trial
William Ray Hagy Jr., who was convicted this week of one 1980s murder and is accused of another, is to plead no contest Friday to resolve the remaining charges against him, said his attorney, Gary Lumsden. Ray Hagy, 49, also is to be sentenced Friday, the Roanoke Circuit Court Clerk’s office confirmed. Ray Hagy, who […]
Update Yolanda Baker Trial
Closing arguments have began in the Yolanda Baker trial. She went missing about 11 years ago and was legally declared dead in 2009. She was the mother to twins, a boy and a girl. This is only the third time that a “no body” murder case was tried in D.C. according to a U.S. attorney’s […]