1st Quarter 2010 Cases

Milwaukee County, WI 

Robert Stinson

Nov 3, 1984

Robert Lee Stinson was convicted of the murder of a neighbor, 62-year-old Ione Cychosz. The victim was found beaten and stabbed with eight bite marks on her. A forensic odontologist, Dr. L. Thomas Johnson, determined that the perpetrator likely had a missing upper front tooth. Police visited Stinson as part of a neighborhood canvass and he lived in a home adjacent to the yard where Cychosz's body was found. A detective on the case, James Gauger, recalled, “My partner told him a couple of jokes, and Stinson laughed.” When they saw a missing tooth, “we knew we had our man.”

At trial, Johnson and another forensic odontologist, Dr. Raymond Rawson, testified that Stinson's teeth matched bite marks found on the victim's body even though Stinson was missing a tooth in a place where the bite marks indicated a tooth. Johnson testified that the bite marks “had to have been made by teeth identical” to Stinson's and that there was “no margin for error in this.” Rawson called the bite mark evidence “overwhelming” and said “there was no question there was a match.” Rawson would later give provably erroneous bite mark testimony against an Arizona murder defendant named Ray Krone.

On appeal in 1986, Stinson argued he was convicted solely on inadmissible bite mark evidence, but the appeals court upheld bite mark evidence in their legal decision, Wisconsin v. Stinson. According to one expert, the decision was the “crown jewel” of legal opinions that forensic odontologists pointed to as validation of bite mark analysis as an approved science.

In 2005, the Wisconsin Innocence Project accepted Stinson's case and developed two kinds of new evidence. First, DNA testing of saliva found on the victim's sweater revealed a male profile that excluded Stinson. Second, the WIP arranged for the bite marks to be re-examined by a panel of four nationally-recognized experts, Dr. Gregory Golden, Dr. David Senn, Dr. Norman Sperber, and Dr. Denise Murmann. Using modern methods, the panel unanimously concluded that Stinson's teeth could not have inflicted the bites. Due to the new evidence, Stinson's conviction was overturned in 2009 and charges against him were dropped. Stinson was released after serving more than 23 years in prison.  (Chicago Tribune) (Law Review) (AP News)  [3/10]

Navarro County, TX 

Todd Willingham

Dec 23, 1991 (Corsicana)

Cameron Todd Willingham was convicted of murdering his three daughters by setting his house on fire. Under police interrogation, Willingham said that his wife, Stacy, had left the house around 9 a.m. After she got out of the driveway, he heard his one-year-old twin daughters cry, so he got up and gave them a bottle. The children’s room had a safety gate across the doorway which his two-year-old daughter, Amber, could climb over but not the twins. He and Stacy often let the twins nap on the floor after they drank their bottles. Since Amber was still in bed, he went back into his room to sleep. Willingham's house was warmed by three space heaters, one of which was in the children's bedroom. This heater had an internal flame. Amber had been taught not to play with the heater though she reportedly got “whuppings every once in a while for messing with it.”
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February 2010

Johnson County, TX 

Bobby Hopkins

July 31, 1993 (Grandview)

Bobby Ray Hopkins was convicted of the murders of Jennifer Weston, 19, and Sandy Marbut, 18. He was sentenced to death. The murders occurred at the victims' apartment at 601-B South First St. in Grandview, TX. On the night of the murders the victims threw a party at which 30 to 35 people attended.
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Eddy County, NM 

Ralph Rodney Earnest

Feb 12, 1982

Ralph Rodney Earnest was convicted of murdering 31-year-old David Eastman, an oil field worker who was killed near Carlsbad, NM. Eastman's body was found on Feb. 12, 1982 in a ditch beside N.M. 31. At Earnest's trial, his two co-defendants, Perry Conner and Phillip Boeglin, were called to testify. Conner testified that while he and Boeglin committed the crime, Earnest was not involved. Boeglin refused to testify, even though he was given immunity from the use of his testimony and was held in contempt of court for his refusal to testify. The prosecution then introduced into evidence a taped recoding and a transcript of a unsworn statement made by Boeglin to police on the day of his arrest. In the statement Boeglin admitted that he attempted to cut Eastman's throat, but he implicated both Conner and Earnest, stating Earnest shot Eastman in the head.

In 2007, the New Mexico Supreme Court overturned Earnest's conviction because he was denied the opportunity to cross-examine Boeglin regarding the taped statement and was thereby deprived of his Sixth Amendment right to confront an accuser. The prosecution had to drop charges against Eastman because Boeglin again refused to testify.  (AJ#1) (AJ#2) (Appeals)  [2/10]

Eddy County, NM 

Terry Seaton

May 19, 1971 (Carlsbad)

Terry W. Seaton was convicted murdering a Carlsbad baker. The baker was castrated, and cooking oil was poured over him before his body was burned. Seaton was prosecuted even though he passed a polygraph test. Another man had confessed to the murder, and the key witness against Seaton had failed a polygraph test, but this evidence was withheld from Seaton's defense at trial. There was also evidence that Seaton had burglarized a men's clothing store in Clovis and could not have traveled to Carlsbad in time for the murder. Seaton was released in 1979 after this newly acquired and presented evidence cast strong doubt on his guilt. He was awarded $118,000 in 1983 for his wrongful arrest plus another $217,500 in fees for his attorneys.  (AJ) (73) (74) (MOJ)  [2/10]

Bossier Parish, LA 

Jack Favor

Apr 17, 1964

Jack Graves Favor, a former rodeo star, was convicted in 1967 of the murders of Mr. and Mrs. W. R. Richey who were killed at their bait stand near Haughton, LA. Favor had picked up two hitchhikers, Floyd Cumbey and Donald Yates, who afterwards committed the murders. During Favor's trial Cumbey pled guilty to the murders and testified that Favor was the triggerman. Yates also confessed to the murders and agreed that a third person was involved, but denied it was Favor. The trial judge ruled that he could not give this testimony to Favor's jury. After the trial Cumbey was allowed to change his murder pleas to pleas of guilt to manslaughter and received suspended sentences on each count. Cumbey was released from prison seven months after Favor's trial and two days later he killed his former girlfriend and her roommate in Oklahoma. At a retrial in 1974, Yates denied Favor was involved in the murders and Favor was acquitted. Favor was later awarded $55,000 for his wrongful imprisonment. A 1998 TV movie was made about Favor and his wrongful imprisonment entitled Still Holding On: The Legend of Cadillac Jack.  (ISI) (American Cowboy) (News Article) (Photos)  [2/10]

 Australia (SA)

Henry Keogh

Mar 18, 1994

Henry Vincent Keogh was convicted of the murder of his 29-year-old fiancée, Anna-Jane Cheney. Cheney was found dead in the bathtub of the home that the two shared on Homes Ave. in Magill, an Adelaide suburb. On the day of her death, Cheney finished work and met Keogh in a local hotel where the two had wine and potato wedges. Both of them went home to Anna's house but drove there in separate cars. Cheney then took her dog to her sister-in-law's house and the two women walked their dogs in a local park. After Cheney returned home, Keogh went to visit his mother. Keogh returned home around 9:30 p.m. and found Cheney slumped in her bathtub with her face underwater. He claimed he tried to resuscitate her, but neither he nor paramedics were successful. Cheney's blood alcohol level was later determined to be .08%, a moderate level of intoxication.
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Accomac County, VA 

Burton & Conquest

Aug 10, 1907 (Onancock)

Samuel L. Burton and Sylvanus Conquest were twice convicted of voluntary manslaughter in the death of John Topping. Prior to the crime a man named John M. Fosque secured a financial judgment against Conquest which was levied against Conquest's horse then in the possession of Burton. There reportedly was offensive behavior on the part of Burton and Conquest towards a constable who was sent to collect the debt. Burton subsequently paid the debt and Conquest was fined $50 for resisting the constable. This evidence was used to assert that Burton and Conquest had a grievance against Fosque.

On the night of Aug. 10, 1907, a horse drawn carriage owned by Fosque was carrying passengers from an Onancock hotel to the train station. About 30 feet after it passed a store owned by Burton, a man on the street reportedly stood up from a crouched position and yelled “blaze away,” after which 20 to 25 bullets were fired at the carriage. No one in the carriage was killed, but an outsider, John Topping, received a gunshot wound in the shoulder from which he died 12 days later.

Although Fosque, a white man, sometimes drove the carriage, on the night in question it was driven by a colored man, who was unlikely to be mistaken for Fosque. At trial the prosecution alleged that Burton and Conquest, along with confederates, lied in wait for Fosque and opened fire on the carriage because of the grievance they had against him. It was alleged that Topping was the lookout man for the shooters, the man who yelled “blaze away.”

Two trial juries acquitted Burton and Conquest of murder, but convicted them of manslaughter on the grounds that they encouraged or aided the shooting. The Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals later vacated the convictions after finding that there was insufficient evidence that the two engaged in the shooting. The Court also noted that apart from committing the shooting themselves, there was not a scintilla of evidence presented that Burton or Conquest encouraged or aided the shooting.  (B&C v. Com.)  [2/10]  (Note: Accomac County was renamed Accomack County in 1940.)


January 2010

 San Bernardino County, CA

Kevin Cooper

June 4, 1983 (Chino Hills)

Kevin Cooper was sentenced to death for the murders of Doug and Peggy Ryen, their daughter, Jessica, 10, and a houseguest Christopher Hughes, 11. Another child, Joshua Ryen, 8, suffered a slashed throat and a skull fracture, but survived. Two days before the murders Cooper, then 25, had escaped from a minimum security prison in Chino where he had been sent a month earlier on a burglary conviction.
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Bronx County, NY 

Arthur Barber

1965

Arthur Barber was convicted of the murder of Elijah Williams, a neighborhood numbers runner, and was sentenced to life in prison. In 1975, nearly ten years after Barber's arrest, a federal judge released Barber on the ground that police obtained his confession to the crime with severe beatings and “a pattern of lawlessness that shocks the conscience.” Police denied beating Barber, but the judge said the “brutal treatment” was supported by medical reports, court documents, and witnesses. The judge also found that police had arrested Barber without probable cause, questioned him for an extended period before arraignment, refused to allow him to call a lawyer, failed to advise him of his right to remain silent, and searched an apartment for the murder weapon without a warrant.  (News Article) (Innocent)  [1/10]

Phillips County, AR

Elaine 51

Sept 30, 1919

On Sept. 30, 1919, black sharecroppers held a meeting at a church in Hoop Spur, outside Elaine, Arkansas. The purpose was to obtain better payments for cotton crops in the face of patently unfair practices of white landowners. After two deputized white men and a black trustee arrived, shots rang out. One of the white men was killed and the other was wounded. Who fired first is not clear. In any event, a posse of hundreds of white men was dispatched to put down an alleged black rebellion. Five whites and between 100 and 200 blacks were killed in the days that followed.

Following the “rebellion,” 12 blacks were convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. Ten were convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 21 years of imprisonment. Another 29 were convicted of second-degree-murder and sentenced to 5 years of imprisonment. None of the defendants were executed and in 1925 the state governor granted indefinite furloughs to those that remained imprisoned.  (PCR) (EA) (Moore v. Dempsey) (Blood in their Eyes) (On the Laps of Gods)  [1/10]

Elizabeth City County, VA 

Richard Phillips

Jan 1900 (Phoebus)

Richard Phillips, a negro prizefighter, was indicted along Grant Watts, another negro, for the shooting murder of Joseph New, a white artilleryman. Both Phillips and Watts contended the other had fired the fatal shot. Phillips was convicted of the crime and sentenced to death. Watts was subsequently acquitted of the murder. In 1901 a special jury found that Phillips was insane, consequently he was transferred to a mental asylum and his execution was postponed pending his recovery. Following Phillips' transfer, his attorney learned that the fatal shot could not have been fired from Phillips' weapon and that Watts was indeed the murderer. However, the attorney believed that Phillips was hopelessly insane and made no effort to correct the record. In 1930, the attorney, then a state attorney, was contacted by Phillips' sister. The attorney then informed the state governor of the case facts. A month later the governor released Phillips from his asylum after an examination found he had no traces of insanity. (Afro American) (Daily Star) (MOJ)  [1/10]  (Note: Elizabeth City County merged with the City of Hampton in 1952.)

Piscataquis County, ME 

Henry Lambert

May 12, 1901 (Shirley)

Henry J. Lambert, a French Canadian, was indicted for the murders of J. Wesley Allen, his wife, Mary, and his 15-year-old daughter, Carrie Louise. Allen's farmhouse and barn were burned to the ground and all that remained of the family were charred bones. Authorities did not believe the fire was an accident because it appeared unlikely that the fire could have spread between the house and the barn. Also witnesses reportedly had seen the fire from a distance prior to 10 p.m., before the family was likely to be sleeping. However, no one visited the scene until the next day. Allen's remains were allegedly found in the barn, although it was never completely clear that these remains were human.

Lambert was tried for the murder of Allen only, presumably to allow the prosecution a chance to convict him of the other alleged murders should he be acquitted of Allen's murder. The prosecution alleged as motive for the crime that Lambert was in love with Allen's daughter who it asserted was raped. Lambert had cut a square piece of cloth from an area of one of his shirts that was normally tucked in his trousers. He said he used the cloth to bandage his foot. The prosecution alleged a charred piece of cloth found at the murder scene came from this cut in Lambert's shirt. It is not clear how good the match was or why such a piece of cloth would be used or left behind at a murder scene. All other presented evidence against Lambert consisted of attempts to cast suspicion on him, but these attempts were largely refuted. Nevertheless, Lambert was convicted of Allen's murder.

In 1923, after serving more than 20 years in prison, Lambert was granted a pardon based on innocence. It was felt that Lambert was convicted on insufficient evidence and that other evidence showed Allen had had a dispute with a tramp who may have committed the alleged murders.  (News Articles 1900s) (News Articles 1920s)  [1/10]

Josephine County, OR

Jasper Jennings

Sept 7, 1905

Jasper Jennings was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of his father, Newton M. Jennings. In 1906 the state supreme court overturned the conviction because of improper testimony by trial witnesses. Charges against Jasper were dropped following a motion at retrial. According to some witnesses, Jasper's sister, Dora, had told them she had committed the crime.  (State v. Jennings) (MOJ)  [1/10]

San Francisco County, CA

Dr. Eugene West

Sept 9, 1893

Dr. Eugene West was convicted of the murder of Addie Gilmour. Five days prior to her death, she had written to her sister stating that she was in trouble and about to submit to an operation to be performed by West. Reputable physicians later spoke of West in the most disparaging terms. According to statements by Gilmour's parents, West admitted to them he had performed an operation on their daughter on Sept. 4, 1893 and that she died on Sept. 9. He stated that he gave her body to medical students. Gilmour had no known family or friends in San Francisco at the time of her death for him to give her body to. Body parts identified as Gilmour were found floating in San Francisco Bay days after her death. On retrial, West testified he cared for Gilmour following malpractice by Dr. W. A. Harvey and that Gilmour died the following day. West did not specify that Harvey performed the operation Gilmour needed. Harvey testified in rebuttal that there was not one word of truth in West's statement. The retrial jury acquitted West.  (CCCA)  [1/10]