Defrosting Cold Cases

The hearing before Judge John J. Nazzaro is focusing on evidence that Lapointe’s lawyers argue was previously overlooked, including the length of time that Martin’s apartment was burning until the first firefighter came through the front door, a pair of gloves found at the crime scene that contained the DNA of someone other than Lapointe, [...]

Tags: Actual Innocence, Arson Detection, Autopsy, Crime Scene, DNA, Evidence, Expert Testimony, Faulty Evidence, Forensics, Identification, Investigations Division, Miscarriage of Justice, Police, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Richard A. Lapointe, Unsolved Homicide, Victim, Witnesses, Wrongful Convictions

Richard Lapointe could not have killed Bernice Martin. “None of the confessions fit the crime,” Andy Lefebvre, a retired Bloomfield police officer, told Rick Green. He has been following the case and doing his own detective work for years, after his parish priest asked him to look into it. “He should have been examined prior to [...]

Tags: Actual Innocence, Arson Detection, Crime Scene, DNA, Evidence, Expert Testimony, Faulty Evidence, Forensics, Investigations Division, Miscarriage of Justice, Police, Prisons, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Richard A. Lapointe, Unsolved Homicide, Victim, Witnesses, Wrongful Convictions

Superior Court Judge John J. Nazzaro began hearing evidence on Monday. The first witness was Michael Ludlow, a retired Manchester police detective who led the investigation into the killing of Bernice Martin. Martin, the grandmother of Lapointe’s wife, was raped and strangled in her apartment on North Main Street in Manchester the evening of March [...]

Tags: Actual Innocence, Arson Detection, Autopsy, Crime Scene, DNA, Evidence, Expert Testimony, Faulty Evidence, Forensics, Investigations Division, Miscarriage of Justice, Police, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Richard A. Lapointe, Unsolved Homicide, Victim, Wrongful Convictions

Donald Connery, another long time supporter of Richard Lapointe, wrote an article for the Hartford Courant. It is worth reading especially this part: “… the forthrightness of retired Manchester police captain Joseph Brooks. His detectives lured Lapointe to headquarters on false pretenses on July 4, 1989, and got him to agree that he must be guilty. [...]

Tags: Actual Innocence, Arson Detection, Autopsy, Crime Scene, DNA, DNA Database, Evidence, Expert Testimony, Forensics, Identification, Investigations Division, Miscarriage of Justice, Police, Prisons, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Richard A. Lapointe, Unsolved Homicide, Victim, Witnesses, Wrongful Convictions

On March 8, 1987, fire fighters were called to the Mayfair Gardens Elderly Housing Complex, Manchester, Connecticut. They found Mrs. Bernice Martin, 88 years old, barely breathing, and badly beaten. She died later that evening in the hospital. To many the case is closed. Convicted for her murder is her granddaughter’s former husband, Richard A. [...]

Tags: Bernice Martin, Capital Punishment, Connecticut, Crime Labs, Dandy Walker Syndrome, DNA, Evidence, Expert Testimony, FBI, Finger Printing, Forensics, Ineffective Assistance of Council, Mental Retardation, Miscarriage of Justice, Police, Police Misconduct, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Richard A. Lapointe, Victim, Wiretaps, Witnesses