I told you to watch the case of Adam Gray. The same flawed and overhauled technology used in forensic arson detection that resulted in Cameron Todd Willingham’s death sentence and that bears eerie similarities to Kenneth Richey’s case, moved a federal jury to award Adam Gray $27 million. Wrongfully convicted, Adam served 24 years in […]
Wrongful Convictions
Junk Science by M. Chris Fabricant
If you love to read about Forensic Sciences then this book by M. Chris Fabricant should be on your list. A variety of junk sciences are discussed and how they are slowly weeded out. The essence of Fabricant’s book is this: Can scientific evidence overturn legal precedent? It seemed insurmountable at one point and once the […]
Four Shots in Oskie by Justin Wingerter
From the moment I held the book ‘Four Shots in Oskie’ by Justin Wingerter in my hands, the word unassuming started to flutter around in my brain. Like the sound of rustling leaves on a windy fall day, the sound popped up in various degrees of loudness, often just a whisper, to never really leave. […]
Zeigler, at long last: DNA testing
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 […]
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 […]
Rest in Peace, Richard Lapointe
Richard Lapointe (Oct. 18, 1945 – Aug. 4, 2020) died of corona virus complications. “He eventually tested negative for the virus, but could not outlive its complications.” Richard was born with Dandy Walker syndrome. This syndrome causes a malformation of the head. Fluids build up and place pressure on the brain. It is a hereditary […]
Louise Raney Keko (Aug 18, 1938 – Aug 4, 1991)
The case of Louise Raney Keko (Aug 18, 1938 – Aug 4, 1991) is still unsolved. For obvious reasons, she is the case of the Month for August. UPDATE: I received the picture you see here on the left from the family with permission to use on this post. Thank you! ** I came across […]
Zeigler: moral right denied
The Tampa Bay Times reports that the Florida State Attorney Aramis Ayala has rejected the appeal made on behalf of William Thomas Zeigler to have his pre-trial evidence from the 70s tested with modern DNA technology. Ayala denied this request “even though her conviction integrity unit urged her in April to grant it, saying it […]
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 […]
Daniel Dougherty: third trial
On March 27, 2019, the third trial started for Daniel Dougherty. In 2000, Daniel Dougherty was found guilty of the 1985 arson that killed his two sons, Danny (4) and Johnny (3). Police arrested Dougherty in 1999 after his estranged wife and mother of the two children claimed he had confessed. A jury found him guilty […]
Lapointe seeks $13.5M in state compensation
In 1992, Richard A. Lapointe was sentenced to life plus 60 years for the 1987 rape-murder of Mrs. Bernice Martin who was found stabbed, raped, and strangled in her Manchester, Connecticut apartment that was set on fire. Lapointe has Dandy walker Syndrome, a congenital brain malformation that made him gullible and vulnerable to giving a false […]
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 […]
Sum it Up! #55
Sum it Up! #55 covers a lot of ground. Here we go: Wrongful Convictions 1: Lamonte McIntyre After being wrongly imprisoned for a double-murder for the past 23 years, Lamonte McIntyre walked out of Wyandotte County Courthouse a free man! Lamonte McIntyre was wrongly convicted in 1994 of a double murder he never committed. His conviction […]
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 […]
Sum it Up! #54
In this Sum it Up, we explore forensics and wrongful convictions. Identifying 9/11 victims On Aug 7, the Washington Post reported that “the remains of a man killed at the World Trade Center on 9/11 have been identified nearly 16 years after the terror attacks.” The article explains that 2’753 people were killed on September […]
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 […]
Zeigler deserves a rehearing
WARNING: crime scene photography below. On May 8th, 2017 the defense for William Thomas Zeigler filed a motion for a rehearing with the Florida Supreme Court. Click here to read the motion. The appeal starts with an explanation why the court misunderstood critical facts and misapplied the Florida estoppel laws. Let’s skip that for a […]
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 […]
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 […]