The 2nd degree murder case is for the murders of Mr. Luis Bermudas and Ms. Evalisse Gonzales. Ms. Gonzales was also raped… Some month later, an officer named Julio Aponte came forward with a sworn statement dated April 1st, 1991, in which he reported that Mr. Pagan had confessed to him 10-days earlier that he (Mr. Pagan) had killed four people. Officer Aponte, an officer of the law, waited 10 days to report this confession. But yet his statement was cited in the arrest warrant filed against Mr. Pagan. Several months later, a DNA test proved that Mr. Pagan did not commit the rape! But does link another person “who was one of officer Aponte accomplices to the rape.” At the time of the trials, officer Aponte testified to hearing Mr. Pagan confess to crimes. But as early as January 1992, five months before the first conviction, and over ten months before the second conviction, George Swisher, the informant/crime partner of officer Aponte turned in Officer Aponte for corruption in January of 1992. The state had solid information that officer Aponte, while an officer of the law, was part of a ring that robbed drug houses stealing drugs, cash and weapons. The jury that convicted Mr. Pagan was never informed of the facts. Officer Aponte was later imprisoned for several years in Pennsylvania… Shortly after his release from a Pennsylvania prison, he was arrested again in New York on drug related charges. He remains in a New York prison. George Swisher, the informant for officer Aponte was one of the witnesses who testified against Pagan at the trial in 1992 placing him at the scene of the crime. However, in 1999 George Swisher was arrested for this same crime in which his earlier testimony got Mr. Pagan convicted. George Swisher was later convicted of 2nd degree murder for the murders of Mr. Bermudes and Ms Gonzales. (He was convicted in December 2000) Swisher is also awaiting trial for the other murders for which Jose Pagan was sentenced to death. Jamad Rohn, who was linked through DNA was arrested in 1996 for the rape/murder of Ms Evalisse Gonzales and the murder of Mr. Bermudes. He (Jamad Rohn) entered a plea of guilty in 1999 and received 6 - 20 years consecutive for both murders to run consecutive. He also received an additional 10 - 20 years for the rape of Ms. Gonzales. Jamad Rohn also implicated a witness named Ms. Rosemary Santiago, and her involvement in the murder of her ex-boyfriend, Mr. Pablo Padilla Sr. and his son Mr. Pablo Padilla Jr. … In 1999 (Jamad Rohn) also plead guilty for these two murders and received 45 - 90 years, for the same two murders that Jose Pagan was sentenced to death for in 1992. Hector Alicia in 1992 testified in both cases that Pagan had confessed to him about the murders. Several years later, in 1997, he was arrested for the same four murders that Jose Pagan was charged with, and plead guilty to 4 counts of third degree murder, two counts of robbery, two counts of criminal conspiracy and one count of burglary. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania recommended a sentence of ten to twenty years of incarceration for each count of murder, robbery, and criminal conspiracy, with all the sentences to run concurrently for a total sentence of “ten to twenty years” of incarceration. Alicia received this plea bargain to continue to testify against Jose Pagan for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to protect themselves from being accused of corruption again. Because the Commonwealth knew that if this incriminating evidence regarding big key witnesses like officer Aponte, Swisher, Alicia and Ms. Santiago was released to the defense, it could have been used to impeach all of the witnesses and show that they were lying for personal reasons at the trials. But yet the Commonwealth chose to disregard the law by withholding this important information from the defense. Rosemary Santiago, a witness who testified in both cases for known personal reasons to protect herself and her cousin, Alicia. She protected Alicia from being charged with two murder cases. And Santiago testified in the Padilla case to protect herself from being charged with the murder of her ex-boyfriend, Mr. Padilla Sr. Information has come to light from Alicia and Rohn who now implicates Santiago's involvement in the murder of her ex-boyfriend, stating that she was the one who set up her ex-boyfriend to be robbed, and that she was in the house at the time of the murder. Santiago lied in both cases and is still a free person. The District Attorney who was in charge of the investigation unit at the time of these cases was Ms. Babara Christy. And Ms. Christy had first hand knowledge of officer Aponte’s criminal activities and of the ongoing investigation against this officer at the time of the first and second trial. Ms. Christy knew that officer Aponte was going to testify in both murder cases and therefore, the assistant district attorney in both cases, Mr. Edward J. Cameron had to have known that officer Aponte and his informant Swisher were under investigation prior to placing them on the stand to testify. Assistant District Attorney Mr. Cameron had a responsibility to check with everyone working in/on these cases to make sure that every witness would be telling the truth before presenting them to a court of law, or to the jury. A.D.A. Cameron either failed to conduct an adequate investigation of his witnesses and/or failed to turn this damaging evidence over to the defense. However, years later, this said evidence led the District Attorney’s office to file a motion in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court asking that the Death case be remanded back to the lower court so that the errors can be corrected… But this has caused the Death Penalty case to be unnecessarily delayed. The errors were that the Commonwealth had all of this information/evidence before the start of either trial, and should have turned it over to the defense before the start of trial, which they never did… Furthermore in the motion the D.A.’s office filed with the defense to the Supreme Court, the District Attorney stated that if they would have provided the defense with this new evidence at the time of the trials, the outcome of the trials would have been different … More likely than not, it would have been a verdict of not guilty. By the way, District Attorney Lynne Abraham is in charge of the district attorney’s office and has said that she would discard any cases where evidence surfaces/proves that one of the officers lied in court or on written reports. I can prove that officer Aponte lied in court and on his written reports. I can also prove that these witnesses committed the murders and committed perjury in a court of law. Every witness that testified at the trials committed perjury and/or lied to protect themselves from the risk of being charge with two separate murders. It is now an established fact that those witnesses were indeed the ones responsible for the murders in which Jose Pagan stands convicted and sentenced to death. ---- I wish to meet many people who can see the “Justice System in Pennsylvania” is corrupted/broken. I further wish to meet those willing to help/aid me from this miscarriage of justice with any legal aid before it’s to late! (I am a death row prisoner). Writing abroad (air mail) will be difficult, but I will make a strong effort to reply because my life depends on it. I even welcome curiosity, because without a person being curious about this broken system, nothing will ever get done, nor will the truth be told. I know that I had absolutely no involvement whatsoever with these murders, and I know that I am innocent and wrongfully accused. So all I am asking is for a little help to prove my innocence. So I close with prayers that someone can help me, and that justice can be had so that my miscarriage of justice can be aided. … no one realizes is that this could be you, your loved one. Thank you for reading my story, and thank you for your time. I hope you are interested in helping me. If you have any further questions, please feel free to write and ask… Thank you. Jose Pagan Copied from now non-functioning URL |
