Did Laci Peterson walk the dog?

Part of Scott Peterson‘s habeas appeal is that Laci Peterson walked the family dog McKenzie AFTER Scott left home on the day Laci Peterson vanished.

Firstly there were multiple witnesses who believe they saw Laci walking the dog, who never testified at trial, notably Diana Campos, who states in a sworn declaration:

Sometime close to 10:45 a.m. — not long before my 11:00 a-m. start time — a barking dog caught my attention in the park below. I saw a very pregnant woman holding the barking dog’s leash. The dog looked like a golden retriever with a white marking down the front of his chest. I noticed two men who looked homeless near her who told her to “shut the fucking dog up.”…I am 99% certain that I saw Ms. Peterson walking a dog on December 24, 2002.

Frank Aguilar states in a sworn declaration

On December 24, 2002, my wife Martha and l were driving from our home up La Loma Avenue, away from Yosemite Blvd., and towards downtown Modesto. As we were driving, we saw a pregnant woman walking towards us with a dog on a leash. We passed her on the passenger side of the car. l was driving. it was cold out and the woman caught our attention because she was not wearing a jacket. She was only wearing a white blouse and black pants. ….. Based on the pictures l saw in the news, l am sure that the woman l saw walking a dog on December 24, 2002, was Laci Peterson.

Bill Mitchell states in a sworn declaration that his wife Vivian believed she saw Laci:

Vivian never doubted that she had seen Laci Peterson that morning. The dog that I saw also matched the description of Laci’s dog. Vivian and I both have good eye sight; we use glasses for reading but could see objects at a distance with no trouble.

Secondly, Russell Graybill, the mailman, states in a sworn declaration:

I testified at Scott Peterson’s trial in 2004. Neither the prosecutor nor the defense asked me whether or not the gate was open or McKenzie barked on the morning of December 24, 2002. If I had been asked, I would have testified in accord with my statements to police on December 27, 2002, and with this declaration. The side gate was open and McKenzie was not barking.

Since a neighbour testified she put the dog back in the yard at 10:18a.m., and Graybill was at the Peterson home sometime between 10:35 and 10:50 a.m., the only reasonable explanation for the gate being open and McKenzie not barking is that Laci took the dog for a walk and left the side gate open.

None of the witnesses who believe they saw Laci walking the dog testified at trial, Mark Geragos, Scott’s lead attorney has stated in a sworn declaration:

74. Had I been aware of the handwritten police report describing Graybill’s Observations —— which supported the theory that Laci left the house after 10:18 a.m. — I would have made a different evaluation of the credibility of the witnesses who claimed to have seen Laci walking the dog later than 10:18 am. I therefore would have called these witnesses to testify as promised in my opening statement.

Finally, there is evidence suggesting that the burglary of the Medinas, the house opposite Laci Peterson’s home started on the 24th of December and not the 26th of December as the burglars claimed, and that one of the burglars saw Laci alive ( this is known as the Aponte tip ).

(A) Trial testimony from Detective Grogan:

GERAGOS: Okay. And specifically it’s a sheet that was phoned in at, looks like 4:10, looks like from Sergeant Ed Steele; is that right?GROGAN: Yes.
GERAGOS: And who is he?
GROGAN: He’s a sergeant with the Modesto Police Department. He was assigned to go –JUDGE: Detective Grogan, you’re talking away from the microphone. I’m not sure they can hear you.
GROGAN: Assigned to go to the volunteer center after it was opened at the hotel.
GERAGOS: Okay. And he talked to Diane Jackson, who, the woman that we had pointed out, lived on this Edgebrook Street in that La Loma neighborhood; is that correct?
GROGAN: I’m not sure if he talked to her directly when, when she called in, or if he received that information and then just passed it on.
GERAGOS: Okay. And then he said that, what was on the call sheet was that she witnessed a burglary on Covena, correct? 459 is a Penal Code Section for burglary?
GROGAN: Yes.
GERAGOS: On 12:24 at 11:40 a.m.?
GROGAN: That’s what it says.
GERAGOS: Okay. And she said she saw the van and the safe being removed from the house, correct?
GROGAN: That’s what it says.

(B) A statement by Adam Tenbrink, from State’s response to the Habeas appeal, page 131:

Defense investigator Jensen located Adam Tenbrink who stated that he and Todd were close friends and that Todd approached Adam on the evening of December 24, 2002, about helping him with a burglary that “was already started.” (20CT 6255)”

(C) Todd was clearly lying in his statement to police when he stated he saw mail in the Medina’s mailbox on the 25th December, when in reality mailman Graybill collected the outgoing mail on the 24th December ( only outgoing mail could be seen ). From the testimony of Michael Hicks:

GERAGOS: And then he told you that on Christmas, 12/25, that he was riding from his mom’s house to his place at the airport district; is that right?
HICKS: Yes.
GERAGOS: And he says that at that point when he road by he noticed, and this is on Covena, he says I’m riding my bike on Covena, right?
HICKS: Yes.
GERAGOS: Okay. Then he says on Christmas day when he road by he noticed that 516 Covena appeared to be empty; is that right?
HICKS: That’s correct.
GERAGOS: And 516 Covena is the Medina’s house, right?
HICKS: Yes.
GERAGOS: Okay. And he says he noticed it because there was only one car in the driveway, right?
HICKS: Yes.
GERAGOS: Which he described as being either a Mercedes or a ne 4 BMW, right?
HICKS: Correct.
GERAGOS: Okay. And he said he also noticed that the mail in the mail box; is that right?
HICKS: Yes.
GERAGOS: And he could see when he’s riding his bike down the street, not only the car, but that he could see mail in the mail box, right?
HICKS: Yes.

In addition, there was a large toolbox that could not have been carried by bicycle, and Ted Rowlands has stated in a documentary that the safe that was stolen could not have been removed on the 26th, as he was outside Laci’s home early that morning with a TV crew reporting on the case. See here for more details.

(D) A sworn declaration by Shawn Tenbrink ( Adam Tenbrink’s brother ):

Adam said someone told him that Laci had seen Todd rob the house

(E) Lt. Aponte heard that Laci saw Todd breaking in, from a monitored telephone conversation. From the Habeas response:

the jury never heard from Officer Xavier Aponte, a correctional
officer at the California Rehabilitation Center in Norco, California. In January 2003 — only weeks after Laci disappeared — Officer Aponte monitored a telephone conversation between an inmate named Shawn Tenbrink and his brother Adam Tenbrink. Adam was a friend of burglar Steven Todd; during the conversation, Adam revealed that Todd confessed “Laci witnessed him breaking in.”

Conclusion

There is ample evidence that Laci Peterson walked the dog the day she vanished, after Scott left home, meaning that Scott could not have killed her, as his movements are accounted for.

Could Conner Have Washed Ashore?

On April 13, 2003, the body of Conner Peterson was found on a mud-flat about one mile North West of Brooks Island, the island Scott Peterson visited by boat on December 23, 2002.

The prosecution case is that Conner washed ashore, however a careful consideration of the tide levels proves that this is not possible.

First, it’s necessary to understand that not every high tide is equal, and in fact the highest high tides are about a foot higher than the average high tide.

The following chart shows the tide level around the discovery of Conner’s body:

The height of the high tide which might have washed Conner ashore is 5.88 feet. The following image shows the site when the high tide was slightly more than that ( 5.94 feet ):

Clearly, Conner could not have reached the position of the balloons, even with this slightly higher level.

However, the jury were shown this picture, taken on January 10, 2004, when the high tide was 6.39 feet, six inches higher:

It’s obvious that the additional six inches in the water depth makes a big difference. The whole area is nearly submerged, and it becomes plausible Conner could have floated to the position where he was found. But this is not the high tide level on the day Conner could have washed ashore!

Finally, Conner was found ABOVE the debris line which is formed each time the tide comes in. This is confirmation that Conner could not have floated to the location he was found. Instead, he was either moved after floating ashore ( which seems unlikely ) or someone placed his body where it was found, possibly using a boat to access the location.

Credit: the tide levels and images for this article have been taken from http://pwc-sii.com/Research/connerdidnotwashashore.htm which has a great deal of extra information on this subject.

New evidence connecting numerous wrongful convictions to serial killer Edward Wayne Edwards

The case of Elizabeth Short ( the “Black Dahlia” ) murdered in January 1947 turns out to be a key piece in a complex puzzle of evidence connecting serial killer Edward Wayne Edwards to seven wrongful convictions. This article gives an overview of ten related cases, and explains significant new evidence discovered since John Cameron’s book on Edwards was published in 2014.

The Ten Cases

1. Josephine Ross, Frances Brown and Suzanne Degnan ( William Heirens convicted )

On June 5, 1945, 43-year-old Josephine Ross was found dead in her apartment at 4108 North Kenmore Avenue, Chicago. She had been repeatedly stabbed, and her head was wrapped in a dress. She was presumed to have surprised an intruder, who then killed her. Dark hairs were found clutched in Ross’ hand, indicating that she had struggled with the intruder before she was killed. No valuables were taken from the apartment.

On December 10, 1945, Frances Brown, a divorced woman, was discovered with a knife lodged in her neck and bullet wound to the head in her apartment at 3941 North Pine Grove Avenue, Chicago, after a cleaning woman heard a radio playing loudly and noted Brown’s partly open door. Brown had been savagely stabbed, and authorities thought that a burglar had been discovered or interrupted. No valuables were taken, but a message in lipstick on the wall of Brown’s apartment was left:

On January 7, 1946, six-year-old Suzanne Degnan was discovered missing from her first-floor bedroom in Edgewater, Chicago. Police found a ladder outside the girl’s window, and a ransom note:

“GeI $20,000 Reddy & wAITe foR WoRd. do NoT NoTify FBI oR Police. Bills IN 5’s & 10’s. BuRN This FoR heR SAfTY.”

A man repeatedly called the Degnan residence demanding the ransom, but hung up before any meaningful conversation could take place.

William Heirens confessed to these three murders, and pleaded guilty, but there are numerous indications that the confessions were false.

2. Elizabeth Short

On the morning of January 15, 1947, Elizabeth Short’s naked body was found severed into two pieces, after being last seen alive on January 9, 1947.

On March 14, an apparent suicide note scrawled in pencil on a bit of foolscap was found tucked in a shoe in a pile of men’s clothing by the ocean’s edge at the foot of Breeze Ave. Venice. The note read: “To whom it may concern: I have waited for the police to capture me for the Black Dahlia killing, but have not. I am too much of a coward to turn myself in, so this is the best way out for me. I couldn’t help myself for that, or this. Sorry, Mary.” The pile of clothing was first seen by a beach caretaker, who reported the discovery to John Dillon, lifeguard captain. Dillon immediately notified Capt. L. E. Christensen of West Los Angeles Police Station. The clothes included a coat and trousers of blue herringbone tweed, a brown and white Y shirt, white jockey shorts, tan socks and tan moccasin leisure shoes, size about eight. The clothes gave no clue about the identity of their owner.

Crime authors such as Steve Hodel (son of George Hill Hodel) and William Rasmussen have suggested a link between the Short murder and the 1946 murder and dismemberment of six-year-old Suzanne Degnan in Chicago, Illinois. Captain Donahoe of the LAPD stated publicly that he believed the Black Dahlia and the Chicago Lipstick Murders were “likely connected”. Among the evidence cited is the fact that Short’s body was found on Norton Avenue, three blocks west of Degnan Boulevard, Degnan being the last name of the girl from Chicago. There were also striking similarities between the handwriting on the Degnan ransom note and that of the “Black Dahlia Avenger”. Both texts used a combination of capitals and small letters (the Degnan note read in part “BuRN This FoR heR SAfTY” [sic]), and both notes contain a similar misshapen letter P and have one word that matches exactly.

See here for more evidence on Elizabeth Short.

3. Marilyn Reese Sheppard ( Husband Sam Sheppard wrongly convicted )

Samuel Holmes “Sam” Sheppard (December 29, 1923 – April 6, 1970) was an American osteopathic physician and, toward the end of his life, a professional wrestler. He was convicted of the brutal murder of his pregnant wife, Marilyn Reese Sheppard on July 4, 1954, at their Bay Village, Ohio, home. He spent almost a decade in prison, mostly at the Ohio Penitentiary, before a retrial was ordered, where he was acquitted in 1966.

On June 6, 1966, the U.S. Supreme Court, by an 8-to-1 vote, struck down the murder conviction. The decision noted, among other factors, that a “carnival atmosphere” had permeated the trial, and that the trial judge Edward J. Blythin, was clearly biased against Sheppard because Judge Blythin had refused to sequester the jury, did not order the jury to ignore and disregard media reports of the case, and when speaking to newspaper columnist Dorothy Kilgallen shortly before the trial started said, “Well, he’s guilty as hell. There’s no question about it.”

See here for more evidence on Sheppard.

4. Stephanie Bryan ( Burton Abbott convicted )

Stephanie Bryan (age 14) was last seen on April 28, 1955, walking home from school where she went through the parking lot of the Claremont Hotel. A large-scale search failed to find her. In mid-July, Georgia Abbott, Burton Abbott’s wife, reported finding personal effects which had belonged to the girl, including a purse and an ID card, in the basement of the Abbotts’ home in Alameda. The basement was in the home she shared with her husband, their son Christopher, and Burton’s mother, Elsie Abbott (née Moore).

In interviewing the Abbotts, the police learned that Elsie Abbott had found the purse earlier, but said she did not connect it with the case. She would profess her son’s innocence until she died.

Police subsequently recovered Stephanie’s glasses, a brassiere, and other evidence in the basement. No one in the family could account for how the victim’s personal effects came to be in the basement.

Abbott stated he had been at the family’s cabin 285 miles away near Weaverville, California, in Trinity County, when Stephanie disappeared.

On July 20, 1955, the victim’s body was found by The San Francisco Examiner reporter Ed Montgomery, in a shallow grave, a few hundred feet from the cabin and Abbott was charged with her rape and murder.

Abbott was subsequently convicted, sentenced to death, and executed after a stay from the governor reached the execution chamber too late.

Edwards apparently led Montgomery to the body, using a false name:

Police report

5. The Robison Family Murders

On June 25, 1968, near Cross Village Michigan, a family of six were executed in their summer cabin. The bodies were not found until July 22.

John Cameron obtained the case file with a FOIA request.

The letters “EBE” are highlighted in two documents, see “It’s Me”, page. 254. Cameron suggests Edwards thought of himself as “Edward Burns Edwards”.

When the prime suspect Scolaro learned of the impending charges and arrest, he committed suicide on March 8, 1973.

6. The Zodiac Killings

The Zodiac killings started on December 20, 1968. The killer targeted four men and three women between the ages of 16 and 29, with two of the men surviving attempted murder. The Zodiac himself claimed to have killed up to 37 victims. The killer originated the name “Zodiac” in a series of taunting letters and postcards sent to the local Bay Area press. See here for more evidence that Edwards was the Zodiac killer.

7. Three boys ( West Memphis Three convicted )

On May 5, 1993, three eight-year-old boys—Steve Branch, Michael Moore, and Christopher Byers—were reported missing in West Memphis, Arkansas.
See here for more evidence that Edwards murdered the three boys.

8. Laci Peterson ( Husband Scott Peterson convicted )

Laci Peterson disappeared while 8 months pregnant with her first child around December 24, 2002. Her husband Scott Peterson was convicted of murder and sentenced to death. An anonymous message was sent to the press soon after Laci and her son Conner’s remains were discovered on the shore of San Francisco bay, hundreds of further messages posted by “I Killed Laci Peterson” were subsequently posted. A cryptic signature apparently encoding “Edward E” ends “1947”, apparently referring back to the murder of Elizabeth Short. See here for more evidence on Laci/Scott Peterson..

9. Teresa Halbach ( Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey convicted )

Sometime during the day on October 31, 2005, photographer Teresa Halbach was scheduled to meet with Steven Avery, one of the owners of Avery Auto Salvage, to photograph a maroon Plymouth Voyager minivan for Auto Trader Magazine.

On November 11, 2005, Steven Avery was charged and later convicted of the murder of Halbach. Avery protested that he had been framed. Brenda Dassey ( who was an alibi for Avery ) was also convicted after making a confession that has all the hallmarks of being false. Two anonymous notes were left. See here for more on Teresa Halbach.

10. Coleman Family ( Husband and father Chris Coleman convicted )

Chris Coleman was convicted of strangling his wife, Sherri, and their boys Garrett, 11, and Gavin, 9, on May 5, 2009.  Red, spray-painted graffiti messages were left inside the house. The messages apparently reference the 1947 murder of Elizabeth Short. See Opinion: New trial likely for murder of wife, two sons.

The Old Evidence

John Cameron connected the above murders ( with the exception of Teresa Halbach and Laci Peterson ) to Edwards in his 2014 book mostly using various anonymous writings – either discovered at a crime scene, sent to newspapers, or left on the internet, most notably in a website about the Black Dahlia case ( BlackDahliaSolution.org ).

The Peterson case is mentioned in appendices, but without any detail. John Cameron contacted me in 2015, sending me a copy of his book. I started to understand Edwards, and the evidence linking Edwards to the Peterson case, including the “Message from God” and the “I Killed Laci Peterson” messages, I also decoded the “Short Code” signature, see here. I already knew Scott Peterson was innocent on the basis of other evidence.

The New Evidence

In August 2019, I was contacted by Margot Burns ( first name changed ), who explained that she encountered Edwards in 1971, she had been forced to help him prepare one of the Zodiac cards, and he confessed to the murders of Elizabeth Short, Stephanie Bryan, Paul Lee Stine and to directing the planting of the remains of Laci Peterson on the shore of San Francisco Bay using a boat.

In addition, further clues have been discovered in the BlackDahliaSolution website related to the Laci Peterson case, and also in messages left on a message board under the name “I Killed Laci Peterson” which are not only a confession to the murder of Laci Peterson, but also hint that Edwards was involved in the murder of Teresa Halbach.

Finally there is evidence that Edwards and/or his associates was manipulating and mis-directing people who were studying the murders:

• The  “fratpack” forum on which the “I Killed Laci Peterson” messages were posted was apparently being run by Edwards and/or his associates. This was used to mis-lead people into thinking the author of the “I Killed Laci Peterson” messages was someone who was looking into the case.
• On April 11, 2003 Steve Hodel’s theory that his father murdered the Black Dahlia in 1947 was announced, on April 13 further rumours in the Black Dahlia case were announced, the very same day that Conner’s body was found. See here.
• The final page of the the BlackDahliaSolution website discussed Larry Harnisch, a Los Angeles Times copy editor and writer, who published books about the case.
• The author of the BlackDahliaSolution  website claimed he was 13 years old in January 1947, after being challenged about knowing an inordinate amount about the case in the  FAQ section ( It’s Me, page 303 ). If Edwards was born June 14, 1933, as he claimed in this autobiography that would be true, but in fact records show he was born May 30, 1928  ). Conclusion : Edwards was using his fake birth date as a cover story.

Conclusion

The evidence linking Edwards to the wrongful convictions of William Heirens, Sam Sheppard, Burton Abbott,  the West Memphis Three, Scott Peterson, Steven Avery, Brendan Dassey and Chris Coleman is extensive and compelling. Edwards committed murders and framed innocent people from 1945 to 2009. See here for more on Edwards.

Who killed Teresa Halbach?

This is an update of evidence that Edward Wayne Edwards, the serial killer, was involved in, and likely killed, Teresa Halbach ( leading to the wrongful conviction of Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey ). The earlier evidence linking Edwards to the murder was in the form of two anonymous messages ( anonymous taunting messages are part of Edwards’ MO, see for example Laci Peterson remains planted or Chris Coleman or the Zodiac Killer or Elizabeth Short ), see here.

The new evidence is messages contained in at least 150 messages left by “I Killed Laci Peterson” on the “Fratpack forum” ( which may well have been run by Edwards and/or his associates ), from October 11, 2005 to at least November 10, 2005.

[ Teresa Halbach disappeared on October 31, 2005 ]

Selected messages, with possible interpretations in brackets [ … ]

95. Tue Oct 11, 2005 6:05 am Thus in a matter of days. I will return to my old ways. Read the paper. It will happen sooner than later. [ Edwards gives notice there will be a high profile murder reported by newspapers. ]
96. Tue Oct 11, 2005 6:10 am
Fore if you may have my number. You will enter a permanent slumber. [ If someone has Edwards’ telephone number, they will be killed. ]
97. Tue Oct 11, 2005 6:15 am
Fore you and I should meet. Only once never to repeat. It is those as you.
Whom look best when turning blue.
98. Tue Oct 11, 2005 6:18 am
Not wise enough to figure my numbers.
Fore which you write proves your dumber.
99. Tue Oct 11, 2005 6:24 am
Fore now it is my time to leave.
Thus this is a time you should believe.
Now to prove what I say.
I return to my old ways. [ Edwards re-iterates he is leaving, returning to some previous MO ]
100. Tue Oct 11, 2005 6:27 am
As the waters become cool. I seek out someone new.

157. Sun Oct 30, 2005 1:25 pm [Annie has this as 12:25 p.m.]
Fore if you break the code. Then it is you who will know.
2334-342-23-4-5456-824-00-6-19054334-06-3-454-334445-9943-
99834511-94345=9953=986-555-666-9495-945422-07862-
993233-=348842-865-999-=666-922166-49-45495-0096-
3459-=99643+852343-9945-09923+=499388*4939/0045-29454-2-
09-003400-9345-+1195=44521-9835=99521=99544-594399094-
99543295+99659=992344-9399339-672395-99334=9604=168-
237=593-9634-678-1607-23456-4345=2005
Fore now we will see. If you are as smart as me.

218. Nov 13, 2005 7:25 pm
Fore thee who break ith thee code. Will be led to my humble la bode. [ The long code somehow points to Edwards’ home address ]

245. Posted: Sun Nov 27, 2005 4:27 pm
Fore thou say what I do shocks the world. I laugh at thee so seek a
woman with a man an earl. [ A reference to Steven Avery’s brother, Earl Avery. Steven accused his brothers, Earl and Charles, of possibly killing her. But Earl says that Steven apologized to him and that they’ve made up. ]

Conclusion

The timing and content of these messages suggest that Edwards was involved in the murder of Teresa Halbach, confirming the interpretation of the other anonymous messages.

Update February 9, 2021

Messages from Margaret Main ( a.k.a Margot Burns), relating to the case:

Margaret Main
Now that (Halbach) I do know Ed was involved in.
27 Sep 2017, 18:23

Margaret Main
Not the right video that shows the blue cars but this one does show where I was told the Rave4 was DRIVEN in to the salvage yard. The wheel cover is probably still up there unless someone was smart enough to get over their own theories and look at the other options. I believe Ed counted on people fixating on their own intelligence and not recognizing his. I’m sorry to be unloading this on you. I’m getting desperate to have people recognize who Ed was and his abilities to control people. I was fed information when I was in an altered state. I don’t know who will believe me really except maybe Margene and hopefully some of his other controls who begin to remember after his name gets more out into the public. Then again those people may all be in institutions or their memories could put them there when they do learn about Ed. I believe I was a lock box or a sort of time capsule for memories…someone he could brag to about his setups. I was not conscious but the information was fed into my subconscious. I had to find someone who knew Burton Abbott was innocent before I could begin to remember Ed. Boy did I find that person, 44 years after I started looking. I don’t know if Ed killed Teresa Halbach or just orchestrated the setup.
4 Oct 2017, 15:29

Margaret Main
Yes, Ed said something about Teresa Halbach. I’ve told you in the past. I don’t know where or how to find the search in conversation tool.
16 Oct 2019, 13:33

Margaret Main
I think someone has finally figured out that the 2 dark blue state police cars were involved in the coverup and that the hunting camp was too.
16 Oct 2019, 14:02

Margaret Main
Ed told me the car was parked under the big evergreen tree at the camp for a while. It couldn’t be seen from the air during a search because of the “green” color of the car. I might have told you about that before.
31 Oct 2020, 15:27

Margaret Main
On 2/19/2019 I messaged this to JC: “I finally remembered Ed talking about the red car in the Salvage yard and how the “idiot” thought he could move it over with the Rave4. He had to go around and enter the yard by where there was a single tree in the field behind the house with the half circle drive. You couldn’t get the car to the salvage yard from the quarry, or whatever that place was, on that side…way too steep. The stick figure looking thing in the middle of that quarry looked like a spaceman with a helmet that went way to one side to me. The person who drove the vehicle in didn’t follow instructions again and turned short by the wrong white vehicle. He hit that vehicle too or something on the way down to the pond. Anyway, on the 4th there were 2 people standing by a white station wagon signaling to the helicopter to show where to put the car…black or dark shirts and light brown or khaki pants. Something about a black car being backed too close or into the pond. I think that car was parked somewhere else afterward. He showed me in the video where the bones were found and the hunting camp where the Rave4 was parked under a large conifer tree behind a trailer or building…you wouldn’t know it was there if you flew over it because it was green and blended in. There may still be footage from at least the TV station. Ed also told me about the taillight on the car across from the Rave4. Someone almost got caught…maybe something to do with the Rave4’s battery.”
31 Oct 2020, 16:45

Margaret Main
Ed wouldn’t have moved the car. Unless you think he was calling himself an “idiot” when he was talking about the person who put the car in the salvage yard.
👍George Barwood
31 Oct 2020, 21:47

Laci Peterson remains planted

Serial killer Edward Wayne Edwards confessed that he planted Laci Peterson’s remains where they were discovered.

Margot: “He told me about parking the car and walking by the tree, going past the puddle, and taking the walk down to where he could direct how the body was positioned. The raft* floated between the two rocks and the body was lifted to the flat rock.”

* The “raft” was likely a Zodiac Nautic boat or similar.

This adds to the existing evidence that Edward Wayne Edwards was involved : two anonymous confessions, the “Message from God” and the “I Killed Laci Peterson” messages. See Who Killed Laci Peterson.

For an account of all the new evidence in the case, and a theory of what happened see here.

qreportDownload

12.20.22_order_on_writ_of_habeas_corpusDownload

Scott Peterson – the Bay Search

The prosecution theory in the Scott Peterson case is that Scott dumped the body of his wife in San Francisco bay, weighed down by concrete anchors.

An appeal brief summarises the search of the bay like this:

As discussed more fully below, the state searched the bay for weeks and weeks looking for the anchors but found nothing. (64 RT 12644-12645; 65 RT 12709-12710, 12779, 12786-12787; 66 RT 12813-12825, 12837.) Police used dive boats, sonar, a special underwater search vehicle and specialized dive teams from the FBI, Contra Costa County, Marin County and San Francisco County. (64 RT 12644-12645; 65 RT 12786-12787; 66 RT 12819-12820.) Because they found nothing at all, the state was left with pictures of concrete dust to prove that five anchors had been made.

To understand how unlikely it is that the search could have failed, it helps to examine the testimony in more detail. Full transcripts are available here ( Prosecution Witness #69: Rick Armendariz, MPD ) and here ( Prosecution Witness #75: Henry Dodge Hendee, MPD Detective ). but here are some extracts:

GERAGOS: Well, there were other searches. There is a lot of garbage down there. They brought the garbage up, correct? Back in September they brought up a number of items that were garbage, correct?

ARMENDARIZ: That,

GERAGOS: Beer bottles, tea glass bottles, small items of garbage were brought up repeatedly from the bay floor by the divers, correct?

ARMENDARIZ: Correct.

and

GERAGOS: The third location the divers found a wooden stick, right?

ARMENDARIZ: You are referring to F45. And that’s correct.

GERAGOS: How big was this wooden stick?

ARMENDARIZ: There is a photograph of it on 33096. And it was F45.

GERAGOS: How big would you estimate it to be?

ARMENDARIZ: There is a ruler in the photograph, which is a foot long. And looks like it’s approximately foot and half, possibly about two feet long.

GERAGOS: So apparently the, whatever, however you got these targets, the divers were able to find pieces of wood that were a foot and a half long, correct?

ARMENDARIZ: Correct. They went to the dive location. And in that general dive location was a piece of wood that they found.

and

GERAGOS: Okay. And they went down looking for a target, and after ten minutes they came up with a tea glass bottle?

ARMENDARIZ: Correct.

GERAGOS: How big is the tea glass bottle?

ARMENDARIZ: It’s photographed in 33026. And it’s a standard, this is an estimate, approximately twelve-ounce tea bottle, glass tea bottle.

GERAGOS: When you say standard, like a Snapple bottle?

ARMENDARIZ: No, it was a little larger than a Snapple bottle.

GERAGOS: And apparently they were able to, divers were able to find that on the bottom of the bay floor?

ARMENDARIZ: They recovered that from the bay.

and

GERAGOS: And so they found there was a target area, somebody was able to, either through side-scan, or through mapping, or something, to find something on the floor and they found a blue square bucket, right?

ARMENDARIZ: Blue square bucket was the item that was recovered by the dive team that brought that up to the boat, correct.

GERAGOS: How about the A15? What is that?

ARMENDARIZ: A15 was another bucket that was recovered from the dive team.

GERAGOS: Okay. A7?

ARMENDARIZ: A7 was a beer can that was located.

The second witness, Hendee, explained the scope of the search:

HENDEE: No. They’re far apart. What I started to say was that the operation that we set up, we tried to search a grid one and a quarter miles in length across and one and three quarters of a mile down. If you try to, in terms of trying to understand how big that area is, it’s 21 football fields across from end zone to end zone. If you lined one up after the other, that’s 21 football fields by 39 football fields down. You take that and you make that your perimeter, and that’s a huge area to cover. And that’s what these people were trying to do. We broke them down into quarter mile grids, and each agency that had a side-scan sonar operator searched those grids with their side-scan sonar device. And if they found an object, then we had dive teams standing by to go in and try and recover whatever object that they saw on the side-scan sonar.

and

HARRIS: How many divers would go out at any particular given time?

HENDEE: It all depended, on the, if we’re talking about the May 16th through May 23rd operation, I’d have to check each individual officer’s reports to find out how many were on their particular dive boat. The FBI dive team probably had six divers, maybe eight operating on an every day basis. The spot divers that would go down when a side-scan sonar operator found something, depending on how many were on that boat, and I don’t know for sure how many were on any particular dive boat at that time, but the entire operation that we were running over this eight days was averaging about 45 to 50 people a day, total, in the operation.

JUDGE: Does that include all the divers?

HENDEE: That included the divers, the boat operators, the Coast Guard personnel. Everybody.

and

GERAGOS: So that we all understand, when they are traversing this, what they are actually doing is going down on one side, and as far as you know, the REMUS device actually will take images so that they mapped the entire bottom of the bay floor that it covers; isn’t that correct?

HENDEE: Correct.

GERAGOS: Then the machine, as far as you understand, can piece together each of those little images so that you get a mosaic, that when you look at it all together, I suppose if they could do, that if you had a large enough screen, you could see, you would have a map of the entire area here; isn’t that correct?

HENDEE: I don’t know if they have that equipment. But if you could put it all together, you would he have a mosaic. Problem with that, though, is, it covers a hundred fifty percent coverage area. So you would have to put one picture on top of the other a little bit, because that’s what you are getting, a hundred fifty percent coverage.

GERAGOS: So that we understand, and when you say a hundred fifty coverage area, you have got the coordinates here, right? What I’m pointing to. There is four of them; is that correct?

HENDEE: Correct.

GERAGOS: Now, out of those four coordinates, you say a hundred fifty percent coverage area. Do you mean that it goes a little over fifty percent this way? Do you mean as they are going up and down, that they are actually kind of slopping over into the next area that they are going to cover?

HENDEE: It spans a little bit of the next area so that you are actually, you are not missing any areas. You are going up. You are turning. It comes back down, and it’s covering part of what it had just seen the last lap.

GERAGOS: Not only are you not missing any areas, you are covering the same square twice.

HENDEE: Right, yes

To summarise, the search was systematic, the searchers made a complete map of the floor of the bay area where Scott could have dumped Laci’s body, with 150% over-lapping coverage, and objects as small as a beer can or small glass bottles could be located and brought to the surface. The only reasonable conclusion that can be drawn is that Laci Peterson’s body was NOT on the bottom of the bay for several months ( near the island where Scott went fishing ), weighed down with concrete anchors, as the prosecution claim. Instead, something else entirely occurred.

Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey – case update

A further 10 episodes of “Making a Murderer” on the cases of Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey have been streamed on netflix.

They detail Kathleen Zellner’s re-investigation of the case, and the agonising twists and turns in Brendan Dassey’s efforts to have his confession thrown out as coerced.

Specifically, we learn that:

(1) The State’s theory of how the blood-spatter on the rear cargo door of Teresa Halbach’s car was deposited is not tenable. Also, the blood near the ignition key would not have been left by Avery turning the ignition, instead it was planted there.

(2) The hood-latch DNA could not have been touch-DNA, and the swab wasn’t from the hood-latch. Instead the sample swab was relabeled with a swab taken from Avery.

(3) Halbach’s body could not have been incinerated with a couple of tyres. Also, there is no stain. Expert Dr John DeHann is positive the burn pit is not the primary burn site.  (About 35 minutes in to Ep. 3). No photos of discovery of the bones, remains, not done, no documentation. This implies the remains were recovered elsewhere and not at the site where Steven Avery had a bonfire.

(4) Remains were allegedly discovered in burn barrel #2 many days after it had been previously been searched. Again, this implies the remains were in fact recovered elsewhere.

(5) There was a Brady violation ( withheld evidence ) concerning evidence that Halbach’s vehicle left the Avery property.

(6) The blood planted in Halbach’s car came from blood Avery deposited in his bathroom sink ( there was evidence of a break-in, he reported someone cleaned up the blood on Nov 3, on Friday morning the blood in his sink was gone ).

(7) Flakes of Avery’s blood recovered from the carpet of Halbach’s car must have been planted, not deposited there from his bleeding finger.

(8) The .22 bullet fragment recovered from Avery’s garage should have had bone fragments – it didn’t, meaning it could NOT have passed through Halbach’s head. Instead it had wood fragments. Zellner recreated how the .22 bullet fragment occurred. The DNA evidence ( Halbach’s DNA on the fragment ) was forged.

(9) Bryan should have been called as a witness to impeach Bobby, in fact Bobby saw Teresa leave and told Bryan, but Bryan was not called as a witness. We can infer that prosecutors scared Bobby enough with what he saw happened to Brendan, and material on Bobby’s computer would have given them plenty of leverage. ( Also, that was another Brady violation, the computer contents at the very least are impeachment information favorable to the defense ).

Discussion here

 

 

Who Killed Laci Peterson?

Many people have been re-examining the case of Scott Peterson and coming to the conclusion that he did not murder his wife Laci Peterson in December 2002.

This blog post addresses the question : “If Scott did not murder Laci, who did?”.

There is no way to be certain, but nevertheless, there are reasons to suspect the involvement of serial killer Edward Wayne Edwards. The main evidence in support of this theory are anonymous messages, and evidence which suggests Edwards was the Zodiac Killer.

The first anonymous message, shown below, was sent to the Modesto Bee on May 4, 2003. ( Note that the bodies of Conner and Laci were discovered on April 13 and 14, Scott was arrested on April 18, Easter Day was Sunday 20 April ).

This appears to be a confession that the writer framed Scott Peterson.

[ Note: the reason that Edwards references Stayner on the 1st page may be that Stayner tried to frame others for his crime ( and in Modesto ).

“On Feb. 19 authorities found Carole Sund’s wallet insert in Modesto, about 90 miles from the crime scene. A month later a passerby found the tourists’ car. By then, the FBI was all but convinced it was looking for several killers. The main evidence was a taunting, anonymous letter mailed from Stockton on March 15. The letter described where Juli Sund’s body would be found. “We had our way with her,” the writer boasted, referring to Juli.

Investigators began to focus on a pair of methamphetamine users from Modesto, Michael (Mick) Larwick, 42, and his half-brother Eugene (Rufus) Dykes, 32. Both men had extensive criminal records. On March 25 Juli’s body was found exactly where the letter specified. Sometime after that, Eugene Dykes gave what the FBI regarded as a confession.

The FBI now realizes it was duped. Investigators say it was Stayner who left Carole Sund’s wallet insert in Modesto and Stayner who wrote the letter.”

Source: https://www.newsweek.com/handyman-and-his-voices-165828
==
So Stayner attempted to frame Dykes, enough to make him confess, acting as a “disciple” of Edwards. The repeated use of “12” appears to be a reference to the 12 disciples in Christianity. Note also the final two lines on the reverse side are taken from the Gospel of St. John, perhaps a reference to “John” who according to Margot Burns was working with Edwards in 1971.
]

Reverse

Then, from March 22, 2005 through August 6, 2006, a poster using the handle “I Killed Laci Peterson” (IKLP) posted 544 messages on the Fratpack forum. See here for a dump of these messages.

[ Edit Nov 11, 2019 : it seems quite possible that Edwards was operating the Fratpack forum and also “forumsforjustice.org” see here ]

Some of the IKLP messages allude to the Zodiac Killer.

66. Wed Oct 05, 2005 3:30 am You are jealous this I see. As was with my cousin Zodiac. You will never capture me. Fore it is I who does not lack.

384. Thu May 18, 2006 2:05 pm Post Fore if thou breaks the code with FreeBird inside. Thee will tell thou where all others now hide. Thou is not very close. Not by photo of a boat. If thou asks why. Turn eyes to the sky. If thou is so slow. Thou will never know. Thou makes fun of thee if it will. Not laughs will stop thees amazing thrills. Zodiac had four but there were many more. Contact made from within the front door. Thous belief of her walk. Is basic stupid talk. Thou never leaves from within. No one witnesses thees sin. When of a state of no attention. It is how thee starts the detention. Travel in plain light. Right in thous sight. Thou never thinks twice. Thee appears so nice. If thou only knew. How much thee laughs at you. The most obvious of all alludes. Passes by right in front of you. Thou has so many wrong guesses. Thee listens learns and progresses. Thou who count not look for thee. Is why thou makes it easy to be free. A last note to thou stuck on a boat. Thee stands on another deck and simply gloats. FreeBird

386. Thu May 18, 2006 7:47 pm Fore Zodiac and thee are not one in the same. Thou watch what they say about Z and his fame. If thou believe Z has not always been free. Then thou is so wrong in what it believe. More than thou will ever know is Z count. Smarts without thou knowing is what Z is about. FreeBird

The next message refers to a “code” that was “told” more than 30 years ago:

387. Mon May 29, 2006 2:01 pm Fore the code is old. Over 30 years it was once told. Should thou be as bright as sun light. Should not take thou long to get it right. FreeBird.

The code referred to could be the 408 symbol Zodiac code, sent to newspapers on August 1, 1969 ( see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zodiac_Killer#Timeline ).

There is a considerable, even overwhelming, amount of evidence that suggests that Edwards was the Zodiac killer. Please see, for example, https://ededwardsserialkiller.wordpress.com/zodiac-killer/

The Zodiac killer left a short “signature” which apparently decodes to “I’m Edward E”.

“I Killed Laci Peterson” also sent this message:

Mon Oct 10, 2005 2:19 pm Fore here is a clue for who remain on my list. 28527 – 8240 – 791 – 94 – 7 tho is smart who deciphers this.

If the zero and alternate digits are dropped ( analogous to the decoding of the Zodiac short signature ), the result is 8 2 8 4 9 9 7. Using the mnemonic substitution

9 – E ( “e” is similar to mirror image of “9” )
8 – D ( “8” can be made with two D’s – see Zodiac code )
7 – W ( W can be made from two 7s )
4 – A ( “A” when tilted to the right becomes “4” )
2 – R ( “R” is slightly similar to “2” )

this translates to D R D A E E W an anagram of “EDWARD E”.

[ Update Oct 19, 2019. Note the grouping of the digits, 5 – 4 – 3 – 2 – 1, this matches the date on the”Message from God” 5 – 4 – 03, plus 5 4 = “E” “D”.

Also see here for re Thunderbirds Countdown opening sequence 5-4-3-2-1

Also, the last four digits are “1947”, maybe a clue => 1947 – Elizabeth Short.
Credit: here.
]

Note: In October 2019, a witness who was forced to help Edwards make a Zodiac card, and to whom he confessed multiple murders, told me that Edwards told her that 7 was associated with W, confirming my original interpretation back in the year 2015.

Finally, if you take the symbols “GOD ( I )” from the “Message from God”, apparently a clue to the identity of the writer, and stack them over one another, the result is a circle with a cross, similar to the symbol used by the Zodiac Killer to sign his correspondence:

[ Update Oct 30, 2019 : or more accurately “ED” as Margot Burns pointed out ]

Besides these mysterious messages, linking the Scott Peterson case to the Zodiac Killer, and thence to Edward Wayne Edwards, circumstances suggest the involvement of a devious, manipulative, psychopath serial killer:

(1) Planting the bodies, in such a way as to frame Scott Peterson for the murder would involve risk.

(2) Laci Peterson’s head and parts of each arm and leg were missing, and all her internal organs were missing, suggesting they were removed and Conner was then removed from Laci’s corpse.

(3) Conner was found above the high tide line, and had twine looped around his body, tied in a bow. The body was in relatively good condition, suggesting it may have been kept in a bag, separate from the body of Laci.

(4) A calculation to estimate when Conner died, when done correctly ( see the Habeas petition, available here ) suggests that Conner lived into January.

Possibly Laci was abducted after observing the burglary of the Medina house in progress to prevent her calling police, or possibly her abduction was planned in advance and intended to divert the attention of the police from solving the burglary. Edwards had a record of safe burglary, and could have been the mastermind behind it.

Discussion here

See also here re the Kathleen Johns Modesto Zodiac killing

Update October 2019

See here for a witness who met Edwards and saw him making a Zodiac card ( this witness confirmed 7 is associated with W ).

On April 11, 2003 Steve Hodel’s theory that his father murdered the Black Dahlia in 1947 was announced, on April 13 further rumours in the Black Dahlia case were announced, the very same day that Conner’s body was found. See here.

Could Edwards have planted the bodies of Conner and Laci to “steal” Steve Hodel’s thunder? Was this no strange coincidence, even a clue?  See here for the extensive evidence that it was Edwards that murdered the “Black Dahlia” ( Elizabeth Short ) in 1947.

Edwards referred to George Hill Hodel Jr as “Over The Hill Hodel” in 1971, according to Margot Burns.

Update October 16, 2019

Edwards confessed to planting Laci’s remains

 

Darlie Routier Key Points

Two of Darlie Routier‘s three sons were stabbed to death on June 6, 1996, around 2:30am at night. Darlie stated an intruder attacked her and the boys, but she was accused of staging the attack, convicted of murder and sentenced to death. Here are some key points about the case:

• Darlie was very nearly killed by a knife slash to her throat, which came within 2mm of cutting her carotid artery. If it had been pierced, she would have bled to death within a few minutes.
• As well as a slashed throat, Darlie had a stab wound to her arm and very extensive bruising.
• A bloody fingerprint that didn’t belong to any of the family members was found on a glass table that was in the Routier home at the time of the stabbings.
• A bloody sock was discovered 75 yards from the house. The sock had blood of both her boys on it, powerful evidence of an intruder. The boys were still alive when first responders arrived. The severity of their injuries means that Darlie did not realistically have time to perform many “staging” actions alleged by the prosecution.
• Routier’s clothes from that night were placed in the same evidence bag as her sons’, which could have led to cross contamination.
• Prosecution witness Tom Bevel testified the mixture of blood from Darlie and the boys in millimeter sized drops of blood on Darlie’s nightshirt was due to cast off first from the boys and then later drops of Darlie’s blood landing in exactly the same places.
• In at least three other cases, Bevel’s testimony has led to wrongful convictions.
• In a 2008 ruling granting a defense motion for new DNA tests, an appeal judge stated: “The theory underlying the prosecution’s case against the petitioner is as convoluted and counter-intuitive as that of any death penalty case to come before this Court.”
• In the same ruling, the judge rejected the State’s argument that evidence of another male inside the house would merely suggest Darlie had an accomplice.
• Greg Davis, prosecutor, stated soon after the trial that if Darlie was innocent that showed what a good lawyer he is. Although stating in public that he is 100% sure that Darlie is guilty, according to his brother, in private he has stated she may be innocent.
• The jury played the “Silly String” video nine times. At least one juror has changed his opinion that she is guilty, and regrets his decision. The jurors admitted that they never looked at the photos showing how extensive Darlie’s injuries were.
• At trial, the prosecution argued that the screen was cut by a bread knife from the kitchen, on the basis of microscopic glass rods. It is now known that these were likely due to contamination from finger print brushes.
• The state of Texas offered Routier life without parole in exchange for her admitting guilt, but she refused the offer.
• In June 2018, Vanessa Potkin, an Innocence Project attorney stated : “Darlie’s conviction rests entirely on faulty blood spatter analysis and character assassination”.
• Two of Darlie’s pro bono attorneys launched a new website in June 2018 with details abut the case to coincide with a four-part ABC documentary about the case. The Legal Documents page has a link to the Habeas Corpus appeal which describes the case in detail.
• As of June 2018, a petition calling for the case to be re-opened has attracted nearly 5,000 signature, and the Facebook Page “Free Darlie Routier” had more than 3,000 “Likes”.

See also https://abcnews.go.com/2020/video/clues-point-intruder-darlie-routier-case-part-62971301

 

 

 

Bar interviews 4 out of 25 witnesses in latest bar complaint against Arias’ Prosecutor Juan Martinez

Attorney’s hope to reinstate a bar complaint against Prosecutor Juan Martinez as more evidence of professional misconduct surfaces.  Click on link below to read the appeal. Juan Martinez Bar Complaint Appeal

Source: Bar interviews 4 out of 25 witnesses in latest bar complaint against Arias’ Prosecutor Juan Martinez

Jason Sadowski Update

This is a more detailed account of the featured case of Jason David Sadowski, who faces a retrial starting on March 6, 2017.

Update1: A dedicated wordpress site with case information was created on Feb 3, 2017:
https://freecoachjason.wordpress.com/

Update2: Jason was found not guilty on all counts on March 17, 2017.

Two drug addicts, Angel Paris and Becky Bressette, accused Jason of assaulting and torturing them after they admitted stealing money from him, early in the early morning hours of July 2, 2013.

The appeal ruling reversing the 2014 conviction put it this way: “According to the victims, Sadowski essentially turned into a violent, abusive, sword-wielding captor the moment they confessed to taking a relatively minimal amount of money”.

Jason denies the allegations, the defense case (according to the winning appeal brief) is that “the women lied to the police to insulate themselves from arrest for the larceny. He testified the two women fought between themselves in a dispute over returning the stolen money to him, that he never forced them into the basement or bound them to the poles, that he did not physically assault or choke either woman, and did not solicit Ms. Paris to kill Ms. Bressette”.

Angel and Becky told conflicting stories that were contradicted by medical evidence, and there was no evidence to disprove Jason’s version of events other than Angel and Becky’s testimony. Other witnesses who were present corroborated Jason’s version.

Specifically, there are the following apparent lies and contradictions in their stories:

(1) Money stolen from Jason’s wallet.
At trial, Angel testified that she took four dollars, giving two to Becky. However, the first responding police officer testified that Angel informed him that she had stolen three dollars and Becky had taken ten dollars. Becky, on the other hand, testified that Angel took a couple of dollars while Becky grabbed a handful of change.

(2) After the theft.
Angel testified she asked to use the bathroom, confessed to Jason and gave him two dollars back. But Becky testified that only Jason went to the bathroom, and that when he returned he accused them of taking money.

(3) The curtains.
Becky testified that after being hit, she grabbed onto the curtains and pulled them off, but police pictures purported to show those curtains still intact and installed on the window.

(4) The vagina search.
Becky also testified that Jason made her lie on the bed and forced Angel to insert her hand inside of Becky’s vagina at least twice to check if money was hidden there. Angel, however, testified that while Jason wanted them to check each other’s vaginas, they refused.

(5) Duct-taping to poles.
Both victims testified that it was a joint effort of defendants in duct taping them to poles in the basement. But Charles Cope was repeatedly asked if Jason ever touched, hit or threatened Angel or Becky, and responded that did not happen. Then at sentencing he said “Downstairs … that’s all I know, he never touched ’em downstairs. I never seen him hurt ’em.” [ Note that Cope did not testify, so the jury never heard any of this ]

(6) They were taped to the poles for a long time.
Sarah Pietro, Jason’s ex-wife, testified that she was at the gym on the morning in question, the two victims were fine, there was no yelling or screaming, and they did not seem agitated.

(7) Both women were choked.
In Angel’s medical records there is no indication she complained of having been strangled. Dr. Vanderschaff found no physical signs of strangulation, including no neck swelling, hand marks on her neck, or signs of petechiae (broken blood vessels) in her eyes or on her face.

(8) Becky claimed that Jason burned her on the face with a lit cigarette.
Angel testified : while she heard Becky say that he had burned her with a cigarette, she did not see that happen. Dr. Vanderschaff saw no indication of a cigarette burn.

Angel admitted at trial that she had numerous problems in the past with opiate addictions.  On one occasion, Angel assaulted three people then fled in a stolen vehicle. When police arrested her, she lied and said she had been the one that was assaulted and that the stolen vehicle was a misunderstanding. She then plead guilty and was convicted and had to write an apology letter. The judge is not allowing testimony from three witnesses who could testify to this earlier incident in the retrial.

Another witness was with Angel when she asked to be tied up with duct tape before and then asked to raped. Another circumstance is that Becky died of a drug overdose in September 2013, while with Angel, prior to trial.

Sarah Pietro, Jason’s ex-wife and good friend worked as an EMT Paramedic , 9/11 responder, a volunteer until her ambulance rolled over in 2003 and left her a paraplegic. Sarah has hired a lawyer with savings she had, but the money has run out and the attorney she hired is now working pro bono. The court has paid for one expert but won’t pay for anything else, including DNA testing that could conclusively prove Jason to be innocent.

Sarah is doing everything she can to help Jason have a fair retrial on March 6 and has created a support website and a Facebook Page “Free Coach”.

Update: Cope was offered time-served if he would testify against Jason, he refused, was convicted and sentenced to  to 25 to 40 years.

 

.

David Temple’s Alibi

David was released from custody on December 28, 2016

The case against David Temple, recently released on bond, appears to be extremely weak, based on not much more than police alleging the scene was staged, and  he had motive and opportunity. At the trial in 2008, according to this report  :

 

DeGuerin’s key witnesses were brothers who lived directly behind Temple’s house.

“I heard a loud boom,” said one of the brothers. “Boom,” said the other.

The Roberts brothers were young boys when they told the police they heard what sounded like a gunshot.

They had started watching the movie “Dr. Doolittle” a little after 4 p.m., and nine years later, they remembered the exact point in the film when they heard that sound.

Using that point as a time reference, the defense figured they heard the boom around 4:30 p.m. And that is a critical time because David and his son, Evan, were seen on that store security video at 4:32 p.m.

“When they heard the gunshot, David Temple was six miles away,” DeGuerin told Schlesinger.

==

But there have been some new developments. One is that in the recent concurrence written by Judge Kevin Patrick Yeary ( source ) which found ineffective assistance of counsel, we find:

On the night of Belinda’s murder, Kenneth [David’s father] had given written statement to the sheriff’s investigators. Asked about the time that Belinda had dropped by his residence to pick up the homemade soup for the ailing ET on her way home, Kenneth maintained that he had gotten home from work at 3:30 pm, “and Belinda arrived about fifteen minutes later at approximately 3:45 PM.” She “visited with us for a few minutes” and then, “I guess it was around 3:55 PM. at the time she left.”

Testimony at trial indicated that the drive from Kenneth’s residence to Applicant and Belinda’s house takes about fifteen minutes. Thus, according to Kenneth’s original estimate, Belinda could not have arrived home much earlier than 4:10 pm. This would have left only a very narrow window of time—ten minutes or so—during which applicant could have forced or coaxed Belinda into the walk-in closet, killed her, potentially changed his clothes, staged a burglary, hustled ET into his truck, and still arrived at the supermarket by 4:32 pm.

..

When Kenneth testified before the grand jury in April of 1999, he gave the same time estimates: Belinda arrived at his house “at 3:45,” and they visited “for a few minutes standing there in the garage.”

“She probably was at my house from 3:45 to 3:55. I think she left about five minutes till 4:00.” He confirmed that the drive from his house to Applicant and Belinda’s home was “[a]bout 15 minutes.”

..

Inexplicably, Kenneth remembered the time-line differently at trial. He claimed once again that he got home at 3:30 pm. Defense counsel asked him to give his first estimate or if you looked at a clock, when did Belinda get there?” Kenneth told jury, “3:32, or close to that. ” A short while later, defense counsel asked, “And then did she leave Kenneth answered, “In minutes. 3: 45 at least.”

==

It seems that the defense have also discovered cell phone evidence, confirming this timeline to be correct:

“If she’s [Belinda Temple] in that parking lot between 3:20 and 3:30 and her cellphone records say she’s there at 3:30 too, then it’s virtually impossible for David Temple to have committed this crime,” Defense attorney Casie Gotro said. “So not only is this evidence beneficial to the defense, but it completely undermines the state’s entire theory of prosecution.”

Source: David Temple’s attorneys claim mountain of evidence will prove his innocence, July 2015

==

Also interesting is this additional evidence that the murder happened around 4:30 p.m in a 2013 blog by By ADA Alan Curry  :

4:25 p.m. The Parkers’ dog was barking and running up and down along the fence line. The Temples’ dog was not barking.
4:30 p.m. Nothing unusual at the Temple home; the Temples’ dog was not barking. A four-door, light-colored sedan with two young men drove quickly out of the neighborhood.

[ Note: Shaka the family dog was locked in the garage, so wouldn’t necessarily be aware of any events, see here. ]

==

Finally, the confusion about when Belinda got home is very evident in Curry’s blog, as it has an impossible timeline:

3:32 p.m. Belinda calls David Temple at their house to say that she is on her way home. After leaving school, Belinda went to her in-laws’ home to pick up some soup, and she left their residence at about 3:45 p.m.

3:45 p.m. Belinda gets home

==

The drive from the in-laws to home is about 15 minutes, and certainly cannot be completed in ZERO time!!

 

 

 

 

 

Michael Skakel Update

On October 31, 1975, the body of Martha Moxley, a 15-year-old girl, was found on her family property in the Belle Haven section of Greenwich, Connecticut. Her blue jeans and underpants were pulled down, she had been struck several times in the head with a Toney Penna golf club—so ferociously that the club had shattered into multiple pieces—and then stabbed in the neck with the broken shaft. The club’s handle and part of the shaft were not found.

Martha was last seen alive around 9:30 p.m. the previous day. Based on stomach contents, experts estimated that the time of death was between 9:30 p.m. and 10 p.m.  Barking dogs, Martha’s curfew, and Dorthy Moxley’s testimony that she heard Martha cry out around 10:00 all suggested the murder occurred around 10 p.m (see note 1 below ).

Three witnesses—John Skakel, Jim Terrien, and Rush Skakel Jr. maintained from the first time they were questioned that they had left with Michael to go to  Terriens’ house at 9:30, when Martha was still alive, and had returned at 11:20 ( see note 5 for more about the alibi ).

Thus 15-year-old Michael Skakel was never considered to be a suspect at the time, as he had an alibi confirmed by multiple witnesses. Instead suspicion mostly fell on his older brother Tom, and tutor Kenneth  Littleton, who had moved in to the Skakel house on the day of the murder, however no charges were brought.

Michael Skakel’s father, Rushton Walter Skakel (1923–2003) was the brother of  Ethel Skakel Kennedy, the widow of Senator Robert F. Kennedy (assassinated June 5, 1968), and due to the Kennedy connection the case was heavily publicised, leading to considerable speculation. In 1993, a fictional story closely resembling the Moxley case was published, and in 1998 a book by Mark Fuhrman accused Michael Skakel of the murder. In  June 1998, a one-man grand jury was convened to review the evidence of the case, and after an 18-month investigation, Michael was charged with murder. On  June 7, 2002 after a one-month trial, Michael was found guilty. He was sentenced to 20 years to life.

The conviction rested mainly on an alleged confession made to students at Élan School ( see note 2 below ) where Michael was sent at age seventeen after a drunk driving accident.  The school  practiced a controversial behavior-modification program that relies on peer confrontation. For two years Michael was continually spat upon, slapped, and deprived of sleep. He was serially beaten with hoses and by students wearing boxing gloves, forced to wear a dunce cap and a toilet seat around his neck, and subjected to a long inventory of other tortures. Various students claimed that Michael confessed during this mis-treatment, however these claims were not credible. Unfortunately, owner  Joseph Ricci, who stated as much, died shortly before trial and was unable to testify. See this January 2003 article in The Atlantic ( http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2003/01/a-miscarriage-of-justice/304759/ ) by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for the details.

In 2003, Gitano “Tony” Bryant, a former classmate of Michael and a cousin of the basketball star Kobe Bryant, came forward with information that he and the two teenagers had been in the exclusive Belle Haven section of Greenwich on Oct. 30, 1975, the night of the murder. Bryant said that he had left early but that the other two stayed behind and told him they wanted to attack a girl “cave-man style.”

Prosecutors said Bryant’s story was not credible, and a judge agreed, however in fact his account is well corroborated by entries in Martha Moxley’s journal. For details see here and notes 3 & 4 below.

Finally in 2013 the conviction was overturned, and Michael was released on bail, however in December 2016 the State Supreme court voted 4-3 to re-instate the conviction.

The majority opinion is available here, it explains :

“Despite their efforts in the years after the murder, including extensive investigations into whether Thomas Skakel or Littleton was involved, the police were unable to connect anyone to the murder and did not make any arrests.”

and makes it clear that any statements made by Michael while at the Elan school cannot possibly be taken as reliable: “he was paddled, assaulted in a boxing ring, and forced to wear a sign that had written on it something to the effect of ‘‘please confront me on the murder of my friend, Martha Moxley . . . .’’

and “These witnesses also stated that the petitioner denied involvement in the victim’s murder, and, when the abuse continued, he parried their accusations by stating that he either did not know or could not recall what happened”.

According to a news report, the Supreme court’s minority opinion was that the lower court was “absolutely correct” in finding that by failing to pursue a third-party liability defense aimed at Thomas Skakel, and the trial attorney did not act as the competent counsel guaranteed by the sixth amendment.

See this Facebook Page ( created 31 December 2016 ) for updates.

Notes

Note 1: Later that night Dorthy went upstairs to paint the trim around some windows. While doing so, she heard a commotion down in the yard, on the side of the house where Martha was killed. “You know, I was aware of voices outside the house that night, and I’m sure that’s when it happened. There were several voices. That is cause for wonder.” from https://www.greenwichsentinel.com/2015/10/30/the-moxley-case-turns-40-with-no-end-in-sight/

Note 2: Wikipedia has details about Élan School for example ” ‘humiliation’ was stated clearly as a therapeutic tool”

and

“In March 2016, Maine State Police announced they had opened a cold case investigation into the death of former Elan resident Phil Williams, who died Dec. 27th, 1982 after participating in Elan’s brutal “ring” where students were forced to fight each other as a means of behavior modification”.

Note 3: See the ruling overturning the conviction (via NyTimes ) for more information. For example from pages 29-30:

The court heard evidence from Margerie Walker Haur, now of Ridgeway, Connecticut, who, as a fifteen year old teenager grew up on Mayo Avenue in Belle Haven, where she had been a close friend of the victim. She testified that she knew Bryant in 1975, and that he and her brother, Neil, had been classmates at the Brunswick School. She indicated that Mills had relayed Bryant’s story to Neil, who, in turn, repeated it to her. She indicated that her brother was frightened by the story and thought they should tell someone about it. Accordingly, she indicated, she related Bryant’s story to Garr in person and to Attorney Sherman by phone before the trial in 2002. Her impression was that neither Garr nor Attorney Sherman seemed interested in the account. In addition to speaking with Garr and Attorney Sherman, she wrote to Dorothy Moxley, the victim’s mother, on May 24, 2002, in which she recounted Bryant’s tale. While Garr denied meeting Walker, and Attorney Sherman stated he had no recollection of such a conversation, the court credits her testimony as accurate and true.

Note 4: News report July 30, 2014 on unidentified hairs:

In April, Seeger requested a court order protecting two unidentified pieces of hair found on sheets used to wrap Moxley’s body, according to court documents. The cataloguing of key hair evidence had been “inconsistent and discombobulated” over the years, Seeger argued, suffering from redundant labeling and weak record-keeping.

The hairs, Seeger said, possess characteristics that match the description of Adolf Hasbrouk and Burton Tinsley, two men named in out-of-court comments by Skakel’s former schoolmate, Gitano “Tony” Bryant, as the true killers of Moxley. Bryant’s claims have been previously dismissed by prosecutors and the courts.

“These hairs are connected to two individuals that have been spoken about by another witness,” said Seeger. “They have African-American and Asian characteristics, and these are hairs that will be instrumental in our third-party culpability motion to the trial.”
The state could not confirm Wednesday whether the evidence remained in its possession.

Note 5: The key habeas alibi witness, Dennis Ossorio. From Page 49 – 54 of https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/809322/skakel.pdf

2. Failure to Adequately Present the Alibi

The petitioner claims that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel on the basis of his assertion that Attorney Sherman failed, adequately, to present his alibi defense.

Specifically, the petitioner claims that Attorney Sherman failed to investigate and then to present the testimony of Dennis Ossorio, an independent witness who would have testified that the petitioner was at the Terrien home, a location approximately twenty minutes distant from the murder site during the time period in which the victim was most likely murdered.
..
At the habeas trial, Dennis Ossorio, now seventy-two years old, testified that in 1975, he, as a psychologist, was operating a program for women. He indicated that he then had a personal connection to Dowdle and that he had been at the Terrien home in the evening hours of October 30, 1975, visiting with Dowdle and her daughter. He testified that, while there, he had visited with the Skakel brothers, including the petitioner, and Terrien, while they were watching the Monty Python show on television. He indicated that he was in and out of the room where the others were watching Monty Python while Dowdle was putting her daughter to bed. Finally, he indicated that he left the Terrien residence at about midnight and was not sure whether the Skakels had left before him. Thus, Ossorio’s testimony supported the petitioner’s claim that during the likely time of the murder, he was away from Belle Haven, as he indicated.

To the court, Ossorio was a disinterested and credible witness with a clear recollection of seeing the petitioner at the Terrien home on the evening in question. He testified credibly that not only was he present in the home with Dowdle and that he saw the petitioner there, but that he lived in the area throughout the time of the trial and would have readily been available to testify if asked. He indicated that while he was aware of the general parameters of the state’s claim against the petitioner, he did not pay close attention to the trial and he did not come forward because he was unaware of the significance of the particular information he possessed.

He indicated that he had not been contacted by Attorney Sherman or by the state in conjunction with the investigation or trial. To the court, Ossorio was a powerful witness in support of the petitioner’s alibi claim.