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Louis C. Taylor was convicted of 28 counts of first-degree murder.  He was accused of setting fire to the Pioneer International Hotel on the northeast corner of Stone Ave. and Pennington St. in downtown Tucson.  Twenty-nine people died as a result of the fire, including one woman who died months later from injuries sustained in the fire.  Taylor, 16, whose juvenile-court record included theft, was accused of setting the fire (or fires) as a diversion so he could steal from guests’ rooms.  No one saw him set the fire. But a hotel employee saw him in a stairwell looking up at the flames and mentioned him to police. Other witnesses said he was one of that night's heroes, helping to evacuate the hotel.

The chief arson investigator found no obvious evidence of arson—no residue of flammable liquid or burned matchsticks.  Instead he asserted from burn patterns that two fires were started at least 60 feet apart on the fourth floor hallway.  Modern experts now dispute the arson finding, and even one of the original investigators, Marshall Smyth, said that he and another fire investigator were like members of "a black magic society" that in those days relied on untested assumptions about what indicated arson.  "I came to this opinion some time ago that neither one of us had any business identifying that fire as arson."

Taylor, after decades of imprisonment, recalled that over the years others -- including his former trial judge -- advised him to seek a reduced sentence.  But one condition was that he admit guilt and show remorse.  Taylor said, "I told them I'd rather die in prison."  In 2003, the case was featured on a “60 Minutes” episode.  (Hotel Online)  [1/07]

Robert Rubane Diaz was sentenced to death for the murders of 12 hospital patients.  In early 1981, Community Hospital of the Valleys in Perris, California experienced an abnormally large number of deaths among its most elderly patients.  To gather evidence, the coroner exhumed or intercepted all the patients who had recently died and he collected tissue samples from them.  The coroner found that 11 patients had a supposedly lethal level of the heart drug lidocaine in their system.  Investigators focused on Diaz, a male nurse, who worked at the hospital during many of the deaths.  They also investigated his previous employment and came up with a 12th patient from another hospital whose exhumed body showed a supposedly lethal level of lidocaine.

High levels of lidocaine were not necessarily indicative of poisoning as hospital staff used the popular drug liberally on its patients.  There was no direct evidence against Diaz.  No one had seen him inject a patient with a fatal dose of anything.  He had no apparent motive to kill anyone.  An alleged “smoking gun” syringe filled with an especially high solution of lidocaine was found hidden in the Valleys hospital 7 months after it closed.  It fit the prosecution’s theory of how the alleged murders occurred.  However, it appears to have been planted.

After Diaz’ arrest, investigators from the public defender’s office found that the hospital’s care was abominable.  It was not unusual for there to be a Code Blue alert every night, and not just during Diaz’ employment there.  Employees were often unable to read heart monitors and other basic equipment.  Doctors often failed to respond to emergencies.  During the deaths Diaz reportedly blamed the doctors who showed up late.  Diaz may have served as a fall guy for the doctors.

Following standard procedures, Diaz’ defense would be extraordinarily costly to the cash strapped public defender’s office.  To save money, a new administrator fired all the investigators and implemented a budget defense for Diaz.  The reasoning seemed to be, “Better to sacrifice one suspected serial killer, than to risk harming the mass of the office’s clients.”  At trial, Diaz’ defense took the unusual tactic of saving money for itself and the state by presenting its case before a judge rather than a jury.  This tactic was unusual because a judge would likely feel political pressure to convict a suspected serial killer.  Most jurors would not likely feel as much pressure, and a single unconvinced juror could stop a conviction.

The judge convicted Diaz of 12 counts of first-degree murder.  At sentencing, the defense failed to present character witnesses.  It could at least have had each of Diaz’ five children state, “Don’t kill my Daddy.”  The defense’s short plea for mercy was that Diaz had saved the state a considerable amount of money.  The judge was not impressed and sentenced Diaz to die, ironically by lethal injection.

Following Diaz’ conviction, his appeal attorneys located, in 1989, a study of 140 lidocaine patients done by the Coroner’s Office of Nassau County, NY.  The study found that 24 of the patients had similar levels of lidocaine as Diaz’ alleged victims, but that none of the 24 were suspected of being poisoned.  The study concluded that there is a great difference in the rate at which different patients metabolize lidocaine.  The assumption that Diaz’ alleged victims died of lidocaine poisoning appears unfounded.  Diaz has since exhausted his state appeals, but in 1998 a federal judge granted him an evidentiary hearing.  (AJ)

Townsend, who is mentally retarded, was arrested in 1979 for the rape of a pregnant Miami woman.  During the investigation, he confessed to six murders.  He was convicted in 1980 for the 1973 murders of Naomi Gamble and Barbara Brown in Broward County.  In 1982, he pleaded guilty to two murders in Miami including the 1979 murder of 13-year-old Sonja Marion.  He also pleaded no contest to two 1979 murders in Broward County.  Including the original rape, Townsend received seven life terms.

In 1998, Sonja Marion's mother had a Fort Lauderdale police detective review the Townsend cases, and DNA testing cleared him of some crimes.  In 2000, DNA evidence implicated Eddie Lee Mosley as did evidence from Frank Lee Smith's case.  DNA evidence cast doubt on all of Townsend's confessions, and in 2001, he was cleared of all charges and released after being imprisoned for 22 years.  (IP085)  [6/05]

James Joseph Richardson, a farm worker, was convicted of murdering seven of his children by poisoning them with the pesticide parathion.  He was sentenced to death.  The prosecution claimed that Richardson had purchased life insurance policies on his children the evening before their deaths.  Police officers testified that they found a sack of parathion in Richardson's shed.  Additionally two jailhouse informants testified that they heard Richardson incriminate himself.

Following the conviction, a defense investigation revealed that Richardson never bought life insurance for his children.  Three police searches of his home and shed turned up no evidence of parathion.  However, a neighbor, Betsy Reese “found” parathion in Richardson’s shed following the police searches.  On the day of the children’s deaths, Betsy Reese babysat Richardson’s younger non-school age children, and had fed his older children when they stopped home from school to eat lunch.

Richardson and his wife had prepared breakfast for the children that morning and both left for work before the children got up.  They picked fruit miles away and did not have their own transportation.  Parathion was found on the breakfast plates and in the grits pot used to serve breakfast.  However, none of the children showed signs of poisoning until immediately after they returned to school following lunch.

The babysitter, Betsy Reese, had been convicted of murdering her first husband, apparently due to jealousy.  She was suspected of poisoning her second husband.   After a visit by Richardson’s sister-in-law, Reese’s third husband accompanied the sister-in-law on her return home to Jacksonville.  When he did not return, Reese, who lived next door, was apparently upset and stopped visiting the Richardsons.  Reese resumed her visits just days before the children’s deaths.

Years later while Reese was living in a nursing home, she confessed to killing the children, but the prosecution discounted her confession as due to her senility.  The state’s case file wound up in independent hands after being stolen by a man who was dating the prosecutor's secretary.  The file revealed extensive exculpatory evidence that was withheld from the defense.  In response, the Dade County State Attorney, Janet Reno, was named special prosecutor to examine the case.  Based on her conclusions that a grave injustice had been done, charges were dropped against Richardson and he was released in 1989.  The case is the subject of a book, Arcadia by Mark Lane.  (PC) (FLCC)  [12/06]

A fire broke out in Hobley's apartment building early in the morning, which killed his wife, infant son, and five other people.  Hobley escaped wearing only underwear.  Later in the day, detectives picked him up and tortured him in an attempt to extract a confession that he started the fire.  When torture did not work, four detectives asserted that Hobley made a confession.  No record of this confession existed.  One detective claimed to have made notes but threw them away after something spilled on them.

The prosecution claimed that Hobley had bought $1 worth of gasoline, which he used to start the fire.  They produced a gasoline can allegedly found at the fire scene, but a defense expert pointed out that it showed no exposure to the high heat of the fire, as its plastic cap was undamaged.  After trial, the defense learned that a second gasoline can was found at the fire scene but police destroyed it after the defense issued a subpoena for it.

In addition, post-conviction affidavits of jurors stated that non-jurors intimidated some of them while they were sequestered at a hotel, and that they were prejudiced by the acts of the jury foreperson, a police officer, who believed Hobley was guilty.  The affidavits also stated that jurors brought newspapers with articles about the case into the jury room and that they repeatedly violated the trial court's sequestration.  In 2003, Gov. George Ryan granted Hobley a pardon based on innocence.  (NL)  [9/05]

Eric Jackson, also known as Eric Knight, was convicted of setting a fire to a Waldbaum’s Supermarket in Sheepshead Bay.  Six firefighters died in the blaze.  The investigation was plagued by public disputes between fire marshals and police arson investigators.  After an informant fingered him, Jackson was indicted in May 1979 on arson and murder charges.  Police said he confessed to setting the fire for $500.  Jackson was sentenced to 25 years to life.

In 1988, a judge overturned Jackson’s conviction because prosecutors had withheld evidence from the defense.  This evidence included statements by a police arson investigator stating that the fire could have been caused by an electrical accident.  In 1994, Jackson was retried.  The defense maintained that Jackson’s confession was coerced and that the fire was an accident resulting from faulty electrical wiring.  Jackson was acquitted.  (IP Arson)  [7/07]

Wilkinson, a mildly retarded man, was convicted in 1976 of the arson murders of five people.  At 3:25 a.m. on Oct 5, 1975 someone used a Molotov cocktail to firebomb the home of Radamas Santiago.  The Santiagos, who lived at 4419 North 4th Street, were then asleep in their home.  Radamas and one of his sons, Carlos, survived.  Radamas' wife, three of his children, and Luis Caracini, a guest in the house, perished in the fire.  At the time of the firebombing, 14-year-old Nelson Garcia, a friend of the Santiagos, was sleeping on their front porch.  His hair aflame, Garcia fled from the house, looking for a fire alarm. Garcia saw Robert Wilkinson in an automobile stopped near the Santiago home.  Because Wilkinson was the first person he saw, Garcia assumed that Wilkinson had thrown the firebomb.  He accused Wilkinson, who police then arrested.  Garcia later elaborated that he had seen Wilkinson throw a bottle with a burning cloth onto the Santiago porch.

Wilkinson was beaten into confessing to the crime, but the confession was barred from trial on the ground that Wilkinson did not understand the Miranda warning given him.  In addition to Wilkinson, the police were alleged to have threatened and physically coerced other suspects and witnesses.  Wilkinson was released in 1977 after being exonerated by new evidence.  He was reindicted in 1977, but the indictments were dismissed three months later.  A federal court ruled prosecutor David Berman ignored, withheld, and/or destroyed exculpatory evidence.  In dismissing Wilkinson's later indictment, the court ruled the prosecution was being maintained in bad faith.  Several Philadelphia police officers were convicted of civil rights violations arising from their "brutal and unlawful" mistreatment of Wilkinson.  These convictions were sustained on appeal.  Wilkinson was later awarded damages of $325,000.

Wilkinson was aided by the homicide squad investigations of Philadelphia Inquirer reporters Jonathan Neumann and William Marimow.  These investigations led to the overturning of Wilkinson’s conviction and to the reporters receiving a 1978 Pulitzer Prize.  In 2000, a TV movie, The Thin Blue Lie, was made that was loosely based on the investigations and on Wilkinson’s case.  [10/07]

On Dec. 28, 2000, four men clad in black ski masks entered a row house at 816 N. Lex St. and forced its ten inhabitants to lay face down on the floor of the home.  The men then released a spray of gunfire that killed seven, ages 15 to 54, and injured three.  The killings, the deadliest mass murder in Philadelphia history, became known as the Lex Street Massacre.  Police arrested Jermel Lewis, 25, Hezekiah Thomas, 25, Sacon Youk, 22, and Quiante Perrin, 21, in connection to the killings.  Following his arrest Lewis confessed to the crime due to "a combination of misinformation [and] coercion."  Lewis may also have been on drugs that day, making him more vulnerable.

Yvette Long, a surviving victim, initially told police she could not identify any of the attackers.  However, after sessions with a psychiatrist, she testified that she recovered her memory of the night and named Youk and Perrin as shooters and identified Thomas by a nickname.  Another man, Shihean Black, repeatedly confessed to the crime, but police dismissed his confessions.  Originally police believed that the murders were committed as part of a dispute over drug territory.  However, Black's story was that a drug dealer who lived at the house had ruined the clutch on Black's car, and that the murders were committed in retaliation.  Another individual corroborated Black's story, and charges were dropped against the four men after they spent 18 months in prison.  The four men later sued the city and won a $1.9 million settlement for wrongful incarceration.  Another four men, including Black, later pleaded guilty to the homicides.  A book was written about the case entitled The Lex Street Massacre by Antonne M. Jones. [7/05]

Anthony Graves was sentenced to death after an admitted mass murderer fingered him as an accomplice in order to protect his wife from prosecution.  In 1992, Robert Earl Carter, a 27-year-old prison guard, was under pressure from his ex-girlfriend, Lisa Davis, to increase child support for their son Jason.  He was already supporting his wife, Theresa, and their son, Ryan.  Anger over increasing child support payments does not fully explain Carter’s subsequent actions, but it is the only motive that has been suggested.  Carter, reportedly, was a kind, gentle, and pleasant man, so presumably something within him snapped.

In the early morning hours of Aug. 18, Carter armed himself with a .22 caliber pistol, a knife, and a hammer and drove to Lisa’s house in Sommerville, Texas.  Carter beat Lisa’s 45-year-old mother, Bobby Joyce Davis, unconscious with the hammer, then fatally stabbed her with the knife.  He then stabbed his four-year-old son, Jason, and shot Lisa’s sister, 16-year-old Nicole.  Lisa, fortunately, was not at home.  Carter then stabbed to death Lisa’s other daughter, 9-year-old D’Nitra.  He finished by stabbing two of Lisa’s nieces, Brittany, 6, and Lea’Erin, 5.  In an effort to cover his tracks he went back to his car, got some gasoline and used it to set the house on fire.  In total, Carter killed six people.

Carter was careless in setting fire to the house and severely burned himself.  Four days later he attended the victims’ funeral.  At the services police noticed his burns and bandages and took him in for questioning.  He was soon charged with the murders.  Police wanted him to name accomplices.  There was evidence on the victims of bludgeoning as well as knife and gunshot wounds, so police may have thought that the use of multiple weapons implied there was more than one killer.  They may also have felt cheated in only being able to prosecute one perpetrator for six murders.

Police pressured Carter to name an accomplice and promised not to implicate his wife in the crime, if he would name someone.  In response, Carter eventually named his wife’s cousin, Anthony Graves, a man he barely knew.  Graves had briefly met Carter, but did not know any of the victims.  At Graves’ grand jury hearing, Carter told the jury that he had committed the murders alone and that Graves was not involved.  Yolanda Mathis, Graves’ 22-year-old girlfriend testified that she had been with Graves at his mother’s house the entire night of the murders along with Graves’ brother, Arthur, 22, and his sister, Dietrich, 24.  The prosecution lacked any physical evidence against Graves.  Despite the absence of any case, DA Charles Sebesta persuaded the grand jury to indict Graves for capital murder.

Following the grand jury hearing, the DA arrested Carter’s wife, apparently to secure Carter’s cooperation.  She was released two months later.  Over two years later, on the eve of Graves’ trial, the DA visited the already convicted Carter in his cell and threatened to prosecute his wife if Carter did not testify against Graves.  At trial Carter did as he was told.  He, however, recanted his testimony following the trial, always maintained that state, and reiterated Graves innocence in his last statement prior to his 2000 execution.

At Graves’ trial, immediately before his alibi witness, Yolanda Mathis, was to take the stand, the DA had the judge excuse the jury and then stated in open court that Mathis was a suspect and that if she chose to testify to what she knew about this case, the state intended to indict her for capital murder as a co-conspirator.  Graves’ attorney immediately left the courtroom to tell Mathis.  Mathis fled the courthouse in fear and never testified.  Graves’ inexperienced lawyer did nothing to counter this brazen intimidation of a defense witness.  In closing, the DA mocked the defense by stating, “Where is this alibi witness that Mr. Graves claims to have been with? Why wasn't she here to testify?"  Graves did have his brother give alibi testimony, but testimony from a blood relative is not considered as reliable as that from an unrelated person.  Graves was convicted of the murders and sentenced to death.

In Mar. 2006, the federal Fifth Circuit Court overturned Graves’ conviction due to the withholding of evidence by prosecutors.  As of early 2007, the state is appealing the ruling and a new trial has not been scheduled.  (Cell Door Magazine) (CBS News)  (JD34 p3)  [3/07]

Lucas was sentenced to death in 1984 for the murder of an unidentified woman whose body was found along I-35 near Georgetown, Texas.  The case was known as the “Orange Socks” case because the victim was found nude except for a pair of orange socks.  Lucas had confessed to the crime.  In his videotaped confession, Lucas said that he had consensual sex with the victim, but this statement was edited out when played at trial, because the prosecution needed to maintain that the victim was raped in order to make Lucas eligible for the death penalty.  The medical examiner had found no evidence of rape.  The victim had an advanced case of syphilis, but Lucas had no venereal disease.  It was later proven that Lucas was in another state at the time.  In 1998, three days before his scheduled execution, Texas Governor George W. Bush pardoned Lucas.

Besides “Orange Socks,” Lucas is believed to have been wrongly convicted of at least eight other murders for which he confessed.  Born in 1936, Lucas was abused by his mother, Viola.  She physically beat him many times.  She one time beat him so badly that he fell into a coma.  Only after three days did she decide to seek medical help.  Viola also abused Lucas psychologically.  She sometimes curled his hair and made him wear a dress to school.  One time Lucas was given a pony and Viola later shot it in front of him as a means of punishment.  Lucas learned to be overly compliant.  When he was older, he moved away and stayed with his half-sister.  But Viola later came to visit for an extended stay.  Lucas had become engaged, but his mother demanded that he end the engagement and return home with her.  That night in 1960 they began an argument that continued to 2 a.m., at which time Viola started beating Lucas across the head with a broom handle.  Lucas defended himself with a knife and ended up serving 10 years for Viola’s murder, plus another 5 for violating parole.

In 1982, Lucas was questioned in Ringold, Texas about the disappearance of 82-year-old Kate Rich.  He was let go after passing a lie detector test.  He was arrested a year later on minor charges.  While imprisoned he was questioned again.  He was stripped of his clothes, cigarettes, and bedding, denied a phone call and lawyer, and detained in a freezing cell.  Lucas soon confessed that he murdered Rich.  He also confessed to the murder of his traveling companion, Frieda Powell, and soon said he killed about a hundred more women.  Year later Lucas stated, “If they were going to make me confess to one I didn’t do, then I was going to confess to everything.”  In his jailhouse confession Lucas stated he could not take authorities to the remains or Rich or Powell.  Yet he later apparently led police to a one-inch bone fragment as the remains of Rich and to a skeleton, alleged to be the remains of Powell.  These remains were never identified as belonging to their respective victims.  A truck stop waitress supported Lucas’ later account that Powell left him and hitched a ride with a truck driver. A trucking company log also gave some support.

Lucas began confessing to committing other murders as well.  His confessions began the biggest serial killer investigation in American history.  A Lucas Task Force was created to investigate these murders.  The Task Force would later state that he confessed to as many as 350 murders, but the truth is they whittled down the number from his approximately 3,000 confessions.  Lucas gained widespread infamy.  A race was made to make a buck off of him.  Books and magazine articles were cranked out a frantic pace.  His captors jockeyed to be first in line to sign a book deal.  Law enforcement received many awards and accolades.

Lucas was well treated for his confessions.  He was flown around the country in the governor’s plane.  He was given the best of food and privileges unknown to any convict.  In pictures and videos of Lucas with his handlers, he seemed more of a partner than a prisoner.  According to one lawman, Lucas even became “cocky,” and started “dictating orders.”  Despite allegedly being the most prolific serial killer in American history, he was rarely handcuffed and according to one witness, knew the security code to open the door separating the jail from the sheriff’s office.

One time Lucas confessed to murdering a West Virginia man, changing the official cause of death from suicide to murder.  This confession netted the widow a six-figure sum.  Afterwards Texas Rangers took him back to a room at the Holiday Inn where they threw a $3,000 party, complete with hookers and booze.

Another time Lucas confessed to visiting defense attorneys that he had murdered a clerk at an Arkansas convenience store.  Another man, Scotty Scott, the son of an Arkansas state trooper, had been convicted of that crime.  Because of Lucas’ confession, Scott’s conviction was vacated and he was released on bail.

Besides the “Orange Socks” murder, Lucas was convicted of ten other murders for which he received life sentences.  Police attributed a total of 214 homicides to Lucas and closed these cases as solved.  Lucas was often able to review homicide case files prior to visits by detectives at which he would confess to committing the respective homicides.   Sometimes he would lead police to locations where he allegedly left victims' bodies based on clues visible in case photos.  Lucas was also talented at extracting information from detectives and using it to convince them of his involvement in whatever murder they were investigating.  However, apart from Lucas’ confessions there is no clear evidence that he committed any homicide aside from the arguably justifiable homicide of his mother.  There is perhaps reasonable evidence that he killed Rich and Powell.

Lucas’ confessions generally indicated that he was driven by sex to kill.  He often confessed to raping his victims before killing them or to having sex with their corpses.  Even in the cases of Rich and Powell, he confessed to having had sex with their corpses.  However, other evidence indicated that Lucas was impotent.  Prison records documented that Lucas was stabbed in the lower abdomen in 1958.  Lucas later told his defense attorneys that medical personnel had told him that the stabbing would most likely render him impotent.  Upon hearing this statement, Lucas’ attorneys had him tested and found that he was totally impotent.  A world-renowned psychologist who examined Lucas stated, “He was living a vicarious sex life through his false statements.”  Lucas died of heart failure in 2001.  (Henry: Fabrication of a Serial Killer)  [9/07]

Terry Pinfold and Harry MacKenney were convicted of murder based on the testimony of a sole witness.  This witness testified the pair murdered a man, but this man was later known to be alive three years after his alleged slaying.

Pinfold served a prior sentence for an unrelated armed robbery and was released from prison in 1970.  After his release, he started a diving equipment company with MacKenney, whom he had met in prison.  In prison, he had also met John "Bruce" Childs and gave him a job upon his release.  In addition, he rented factory space to another ex-inmate, Terence Eve, who used it to manufacture teddy bears and life jackets.

In Nov. 1974, Eve vanished, apparently after finding out that a warrant had been issued for his arrest regarding the hijacking of £75,000 (over $150,000) in stereo equipment.  In Dec. 1979, Childs, who no longer worked for Pinfold and MacKenney, confessed to murdering Eve and implicated them as participants in the murder.  Childs stated that the three of them murdered Eve in his factory on the Saturday morning of the weekend he went missing.  However, Eve's wife, mother, and an employee worked that Saturday morning and reported that they did not see any of the three, nor did they notice anything out of the ordinary.

Besides confessing to the murder of Eve, Childs also confessed to the murder of five other people who vanished between Nov. 1974 and Oct. 1978.  He implicated Pinfold and MacKenney in them, saying the partners ran a discount contract killing business in which Pinfold solicited the orders and MacKenney carried them out.

In 1980, Pinfold was tried for four murders and MacKenney for six.  There was no evidence that the six alleged victims were even dead save for the testimony of Childs.  Pinfold was only convicted of procuring Eve's murder.  MacKenney was convicted of four murders, but was acquitted of murdering Eve.

In 1986, Childs recanted his trial testimony in an affidavit and said he testified falsely because prosecutors had offered him “the inducement that my ‘cooperation’ at the trial would ensure my early release from prison.”  Pending an appeal, Pinfold was released on bail in 2001.  In 2003, new evidence surfaced that was concealed by the prosecution.  This evidence indicated that in 1977, three years after Eve's alleged murder, Scotland Yard knew that Eve was living in West London under an assumed name.  In Dec. 2003, the convictions of both Pinfold and MacKenney were quashed.  (ForeJustice) (BBC) (NK) (JD31 p43)  [12/06]