Defrosting Cold Cases

Death on Hold: Zeigler In the documentary “Death on Hold” you can see the trial and appeals in the case of William Thomas Zeigler. It explains why for the past 37 years, we have been trying to show you that he never had a fair trial. Judge for yourself whether there is room for doubt.

Tags: Actual Innocence, Autopsy, Ballistics, Capital Punishment, Crime Labs, Crime Scene, Cruelty, Death Row, DNA, DNA Database, Evidence, Expert Testimony, Faulty Evidence, FBI, Finger Printing, Florida, Forensics, Gun Fire, Identification, Investigations Division, Miscarriage of Justice, Partial Finger Printing, Police, Prisons, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Unsolved Homicide, Victim, William Thomas Zeigler, Witnesses, Wrongful Convictions

Death on Hold; Zeigler Sunday March 31, 2013 This Sunday, WFLA airs a 30 minute special about William Thomas Zeigler. Announcing “Death on Hold” The second clip is here: Second clip announcing “Death on Hold” The clips show much that you already know if you have been reading my blog but it will add some [...]

Tags: Actual Innocence, Autopsy, Ballistics, Capital Punishment, Crime Labs, Crime Scene, Cruelty, Death Row, DNA, DNA Database, Evidence, Expert Testimony, Faulty Evidence, FBI, Finger Printing, Florida, Forensics, Gun Fire, Identification, Investigations Division, Miscarriage of Justice, Partial Finger Printing, Police, Prisons, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Unsolved Homicide, Victim, William Thomas Zeigler, Witnesses, Wrongful Convictions

Zeigler DNA Appeal denied From the Orlando Sentinel: “The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday denied an appellate motion by convicted killer Tommy Zeigler, the latest ruling in his three-plus-decade fight to get off death row.  Zeigler appealed to the state Supreme Court after a circuit judge denied his request to have DNA tests performed on [...]

Tags: Autopsy, Ballistics, Capital Punishment, cclivechat, Crime Scene, Cruelty, Death Row, DNA, DNA Database, Evidence, Expert Testimony, Faulty Evidence, FBI, Finger Printing, Florida, Forensics, Gun Fire, Identification, Investigations Division, Miscarriage of Justice, Partial Finger Printing, Police, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Unsolved Homicide, Victim, William Thomas Zeigler, Witnesses, Wrongful Convictions

Did Sture Bergwall kill the Stegehuis Family? That is THE question now in Sweden so they are reopening this case. The Dutch couple Marinus and Jannie Stegehuis were found murdered in their tent in July 1984 near Lake Vuolep Appojaure, Sweden. Sture Bergwall, convicted and sentenced in their case, is serving life for several crimes. However, [...]

Tags: Autopsy, compulsive liar, Crime Scene, DNA, Evidence, Expert Testimony, Forensics, Identification, Jannie & Marinus Stegehuis, Miscarriage of Justice, Police, Serial Killer, Sture Bergwall, Sweden, the Netherlands, Victim, Witnesses

King Richard III: Ruthless Ruler? Yes. Regicide? No. After I posted my take on the historical mystery of the Man in the Iron Mask, Suzie suggested that I look into the case of the Princes in the Tower. King Richard III is in general regarded as their murderer and the play by Shakespeare has done [...]

Tags: A. Weir, Autopsy, Book Reviews, Crime Labs, Crime Scene, Croyland Chronicles, Cruelty, DNA, Dr. Lawrence E. Tanner, Edward IV, Edward V, Elizabeth Woodville, Evidence, Faulty Evidence, fibre-optic camera, Forensics, Henry Tudor, Historical Mystery, Identification, J. Tey, Mary of York, Miscarriage of Justice, Missing Person, Plantagenet family, prejudice, Princes in the Tower, Professor William Wright, Queen Elizabeth, regicide, Richard III, Richard III Society, Richard of York, scoliosis, Shakespeare, Sir Robert Brackenbury, Sir Thomas More, the Battle of Bosworth, the Tower of London, the War of the Roses, UK, Witnesses

The case of Eddie Gilfoyle is anything but straightforward or clear cut. His pregnant wife’s estimated time of dead occurred hours before she was found. In that time period, Eddie was at work. Paula was portrait as a happily expecting first time mom while she had a history of a suicide attempt and on no [...]

Tags: Autopsy, Crime Scene, death by hanging, Eddie Gilfoyle, Evidence, Expert Testimony, Faulty Evidence, Forensics, Identification, Investigations Division, Miscarriage of Justice, Paula Gilfoyle, Police, UK, Victim, withheld evidence, Witnesses, Wrongful Convictions

Based on a fingerprint misidentification, Lana Canen spent eight years in prison for a murder she did not commit. But now, she has finally been exonerated of Helen Sailor’s 2002 murder. From the Wrongful Convictions Blog: “On Thanksgiving 2002, Helen Sailor, an elderly woman living in Elkhart, Indiana, was found dead in her apartment. Because her [...]

Tags: Crime Labs, Crime Scene, Evidence, Expert Testimony, Faulty Evidence, Finger Printing, Forensics, Identification, Indiana, Miscarriage of Justice, Partial Finger Printing, Police, post-conviction relief, Victim, Witnesses

On November 13, 2012, Judge Whitehead denied the motion to vacate judgment of conviction and sentence based on newly discovered evidence in the case of William Thomas Zeigler. Judge Whitehead’s decision is below.                                

Tags: Autopsy, Ballistics, Brady violations, Capital Punishment, Crime Labs, Crime Scene, Cruelty, Death Row, DNA, DNA Database, Evidence, Expert Testimony, Faulty Evidence, FBI, Finger Printing, Florida, Forensics, Gun Fire, Identification, Investigations Division, Miscarriage of Justice, Partial Finger Printing, Police, Prisons, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Unsolved Homicide, Victim, William Thomas Zeigler, withheld evidence, Witnesses, Wrongful Convictions

“All the Commissioner’s Men” by Chris Birt is a book about the cold cases of Jeanette and Harvey Crewe who feature on my blog. They have this prominent place not in the least because they are tied to the wrongful conviction of Arthur Allen Thomas or, to the call from their only child Rochelle Crewe to finally get [...]

Tags: Actual Innocence, arthur allen thomas, Autopsy, Ballistics, Book Reviews, Chris Birt, Crewe Murders, Crime Labs, Crime Scene, Cruelty, Evidence, Expert Testimony, Faulty Evidence, Forensics, Gun Fire, Identification, Investigations Division, Jeanette and Harvey Crewe, Miscarriage of Justice, Missing Person, New Zealand, Police, Prisons, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Rochelle Crewe, Unsolved Homicide, Victim, Vivien Harrison, Witnesses, Wrongful Convictions

The Connecticut Appellate Court ordered a new trial for Richard Lapointe! From the Hartford Courant: “In a stunning decision, the state Appellate Court Monday ordered a new trial for Richard Lapointe, a mentally disabled dishwasher convicted of a murder a quarter century ago, concluding that state prosecutors wrongly withheld a police report that tends to [...]

Tags: Actual Innocence, Arson Detection, Autopsy, Bernice Martin, Connecticut, Crime Labs, Crime Scene, Cruelty, DNA, Evidence, Expert Testimony, Faulty Evidence, Forensics, Identification, Miscarriage of Justice, Police, Police Misconduct, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Rape kits, Richard A. Lapointe, Unsolved Homicide, Victim, Wrongful Convictions