Location

Defendant(s)

Date of Alleged Crime

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.  (Albuquerque Journal) (AJ2) (Earnest v. Dorsey)  [2/10]

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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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 to 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.  (ISI) (B & C v. Commonwealth)  [2/10]

Note:  Accomac County was renamed Accomack County in 1940.

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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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]

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) (MOJIPCC)  [1/10]

*Elizabeth City County and the town of Phoebus merged with the City of Hampton in 1952.

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) (MOJIPCC)  [1/10]

Kenneth Barnes was charged with sexual assault after the 8-year-old sister of his girlfriend claimed he had raped her.  In 1998, prior to trial, Barnes' mother (and court-appointed guardian) met with his attorney, Warren Brown.  Brown explained a prosecution offered plea agreement in which Barnes did not have to admit guilt for which he would receive no jail time, only probation.  It seemed like a good deal so Barnes took the plea.  However, the defense attorney never explained that Barnes would be branded a sex offender for life and have his name, picture, and address placed on the Maryland Sex Offender Registry.

In 2005, Barnes, who is mentally ill, was given a suspended sentenced for being days late in failing to register a change of address.  Months later he was jailed for a year and a half for maintaining a separate address.  In 2007, Lydia Fitzsimmons, the owner of a Tropicool Italian ice stand on Falls Road in Roland Park, found that Barnes lingered near her business before and after ordering an ice and then sat in his car watching customers.  Many of the customers were children.  Barnes may have been watching the young mothers, though no one really knows.  He denies having a prurient interest in children.  After being told by a customer that Barnes was on the sex-offender registry, Fitzsimmons called the police.  Since watching customers was not a crime, police could not do anything, but Fitzsimmons wrote a letter to Barnes' parole board asking them to incarcerate him.  Parole officials complied on the grounds that Barnes was in a "pre-contemplative state of re-offending."

Later that year, the girl who made the rape allegation against Barnes was located and she admitted Barnes did not rape her.  The girl, named Marian, then age 20, said she accused Barnes because she was jealous of her older sister's closeness to him and wanted to break them up.  Those who support Barnes are seeking to get his conviction overturned so that it cannot be used as an excuse to incarcerate him at will for alleged non-crimes.  (City Paper) (2) (3) (4)  [12/09]

Dr. Paul Schoeppe was convicted of the murder of Maria Steinnecke.  Steinnecke, who was about 65 years of age, was a patient of Schoeppe, who was then about 25.  The two became engaged to marry, but Steinnecke unexpectedly died.  Upon Steinnecke's death, her relatives expected her property to be left to them, but they were much disappointed that her will stated she was leaving all her property to Schoeppe.  At first Steinnecke's relatives proclaimed the will a forgery; later, they claimed Schoeppe must have murdered her.

At trial, an unqualified pathologist asserted Steinnecke was poisoned as he found faint traces of prussic acid in the contents of her stomach.  However, the testimony of other experts was such that the judge instructed the jury to reject this theory and inquire into other poisons.  But the presented evidence indicated that no other poisons were found in her.  The jury convicted Schoeppe and he was sentenced to death.  On retrial in 1872, Schoeppe was acquitted.  (Buffalo Medical Journal) (The Schoeppe Tragedy)  [12/09]

Paul Freshour was convicted of the attempted murder of his sister-in-law, Mary Gillispie, a school bus driver.  In 1976 Mary received a letter in the mail telling her that the letter writer was aware that she was having an affair with the superintendent of schools and that it had better stop.  The letter also contained the threat, “I know where you live.  I've been observing your house and know you have children.  This is no joke.  Please take it serious.”  The envelope was postmarked Columbus, Ohio.  There was no return address, no signature inside, no way to tell who sent it.

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Eight men were convicted of murder and conspiracy to commit murder in connection with the death of police officer Matthew J. Deegan.  On May 1, 1886 there were general strikes throughout the United States in support of an 8-hour workday.  On May 3 there was a rally of striking workers at the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company plant in Chicago.  This rally ended with police firing on the workers.  Two workers died although some newspaper accounts reported six fatalities.

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(Federal Case)  Coleman Leake Johnson, Jr., also known as Mike, was convicted of the bombing murder of his ex-girlfriend, 24-year-old Tammy Lynn Baker.  Four months after the murder, two other bombings occurred within 30 minutes of each other in the same area of Louisa as the one that killed Baker.  These bombings injured three people.  There was no known connection between any of the bombings. 

At the time of Baker's death, she was pregnant with an unborn child.  Although she was not certain who the father was, post-mortem tests determined the father was Johnson.  It was then alleged that Johnson killed Baker because he wanted to avoid paying child support.  However, Johnson lived 140 miles away in Newport News and had an airtight alibi.  Baker had moved to Louisa after she became pregnant and Johnson said he was not even aware of where she lived.  He also had no criminal history. 

Senior Special Agent David M. Riley, of the Virginia State Police, was assigned to investigate the case.  Riley had previously built a murder case against another Virginian, Beverly Monroe, who was eventually freed from her wrongful conviction.  In regard to that case a federal judge found that "the tactics engaged in by Riley were deceitful, manipulative and inappropriate."  In regard to Riley's work in building a case against Johnson, state authorities thought the evidence against him was so weak that they declined to prosecute.

Nevertheless, a federal prosecutor brought charges against Johnson with this same weak evidence along with solicited testimony, most of it from convicted felons.  Witnesses testified in exchange for plea deals and a stake in a $36,000 reward offered in response to the bombings.  Johnson was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole.  He currently resides at the top federal prison in Florence, CO.  (TruthInJustice) (News Article)  [11/09]

While traveling from Boston to New York, Dominic Daley, 34, and James Halligan, 27, both Irish immigrants, were arrested on Nov. 12, 1805 for the murder of farmer Marcus Lyon.  Lyon's horse was found wandering three days earlier and his murdered body was found two days earlier in Wilbraham.  Wilbraham was then located in Hampshire County.  The defendants were incarcerated in Northampton while their captor received a $500 reward.

At trial, the main evidence against the defendants was the testimony of 13-year-old Laertes Fuller who said he saw the pair on the road, then saw them again minutes later with the victim's horse.  It is not clear why the defendants would have the victim's horse as the horse was later seen wandering around freely.  Legally, witnesses were required to be 14 years old to testify, but the judge overrode this rule in Fuller's case.  Fuller's testimony suggested the defendants killed Lyon during the interval between his sightings of the defendants.  However, Lyon had been shot and, when questioned, Fuller reported he did not hear a gunshot, even though he could not have been very far from the murder.

There appears to be reasonable doubt as to the guilt of the defendants because:  (1) Fuller was at best marginally qualified to testify.  (2) The details of his testimony contained nothing that compelled one to believe its accuracy.  (3) The reward offered created an incentive for perjury.  (4) Even if Fuller's testimony was true, it did not definitively establish that the defendants had murdered Lyon.  Besides the lack of credible prosecution evidence, there was a lack of due process because the defendants were not allowed to testify in their own defense and were only assigned a lawyer two days before trial.

The defendants were convicted and sentenced to death.  Both were hanged on June 5, 1806 in Northampton before a crowd of 15,000.  It was alleged and widely accepted in the 20th century that Daley and Halligan were framed and convicted because they were Irish Catholics, but historical records do not support any overt prejudice.  In 1984, Gov. Dukakis issued a proclamation exonerating the two.  (BUSL) (Resources)  [11/09]

(Federal Case)  Kenneth Michael Trentadue, a prisoner at the Oklahoma City Federal Transfer Center, was murdered by federal authorities.  Trentadue was mistaken for Richard Guthrie, a second suspect in the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.  There is reason to believe Guthrie knew too much about FBI involvement with individuals directly involved in the bombing.  This bombing, which occurred four months before Trentadue's death, killed 168 people and injured more than 680 others.

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Mark Dallagher was convicted of the murder of 94-year-old Dorothy Wood.  Wood was found dead at her home on Whitby Avenue in Huddersfield.  She had been smothered with a pillow.  A burglar had entered the home through a transom window above her bed.  Wood was profoundly deaf and slept downstairs because of a heart condition.

Ear prints were found on the glass immediately below the transom.  West Yorkshire police sent these prints along with prints of Dallagher's ears to Cornelis Van der Lugt, an alleged ear print expert.  Police suspected Dallagher might be the culprit because he was a small-time burglar who lived in the area.  Van der Lugt was Dutch police officer for 27 years and a lecturer at the Dutch Police College.  He had no formal qualifications, but he had become interested in ear print identification and read what was available on that topic.  He had built up a portfolio of about 600 photographs and 300 ear prints.

At trial, Van der Lugt testified that he was "absolutely convinced that the prints of [Dallagher's] left ear were identical with the prints of the left ear on the window."  Another Crown expert, Peter Vanezis, considered Van der Lugt to be the ear print expert in the world, and testified that "it was very likely that it was this defendant who made those prints," although he could not be one hundred percent certain.  Vanezis was Regius Professor of Forensic Medicine and Science at the University of Glasgow.

Following Dallagher's conviction, two other criminal convictions that relied on ear print evidence were overturned, one in the U.S. (David Kunze), and another in the Netherlands.  Both relied on Van der Lugt's testimony.  In 2002, an appeals court also overturned Dallagher's conviction because it found fault with the manner in which the experts expressed their opinion of Dallagher's guilt.  Following the reversal, an initial report given by Van der Lugt surfaced in which he stated that the ear prints found on Wood's window were definitely not those of Dallagher.  The words "definitely not" were underlined twice.

A retrial for Dallagher began in 2003, but it was halted after 10 days as the prosecution sought to gather additional evidence.  However, additional evidence was not forthcoming and DNA tests of the ear prints showed they did not belong to Dallagher.  As a result, charges against Dallagher were dropped in 2004.  He was released from imprisonment after serving seven years of a life sentence.  (Innocent) (Forensic-Evidence)  [11/09]

Claus von Bülow was convicted of two counts of attempting to murder his wife, Martha "Sunny" von Bülow.  It was alleged that Claus had on two occasions injected Sunny with an overdose of insulin causing her to fall into a coma each time.  The alleged crimes occurred at the couple's estate, Clarendon Court, in Newport, RI.

Sunny was a former princess because of her first marriage to Prince Alfred von Auersperg.  She was also the daughter of a utilities magnate, George Crawford, and had inherited a reported $100 million from him at age 4.  Sunny had two children, Alexander and Ala by Prince Alfie and another daughter, Cosima, by Claus.  Claus was a British socialite and the son of Danish aristocrats.  He had worked as a personal assistant to oil magnate J. Paul Getty.

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Marybeth Davis was convicted of the attempted murder of her son and the murder her daughter.  In Sept 1981, Davis's two-month old son Seth went into convulsions and ended up in a permanent vegetative state.  Six months later Davis's daughter Megan went into convulsions and died.  Following these incidents, police launched an investigation, but concluded there was not enough evidence of foul play to charge Davis with any crime.

In 1995, Davis's case was reopened by State Trooper Michael Spradlin as part of a task force committed to solving cold cases.  The following year, prosecutor Mark Burnette took the case to trial, stating “the medical evidence was overwhelming.”  The prosecution claimed Davis injected Seth with insulin and poisoned Megan with caffeine.  It also presented Dr. Basil Zitelli to give his expert opinion that Davis committed the alleged crimes because she suffered from Münchausen Syndrome by Proxy.

Münchausen Syndrome is an alleged psychological disorder in which one feigns, exaggerates, or creates symptoms of illness in oneself in order to gain the sympathy or attention of others.  Münchausen Syndrome by Proxy is similar except that one purportedly feigns, exaggerates, or creates symptoms of illness in another person, such as a child, in order to gain sympathy.

 Following Davis's conviction, Münchausen Syndrome by Proxy was debunked by many experts in psychology.  Courts in England and Australia have prohibited medical experts from testifying that anyone has MSBP after ruling the syndrome is merely descriptive and not a psychiatrically identifiable illness or condition.

Advanced testing showed that Seth's illness was related to a human growth hormone deficiency and other evidence showed that that Megan died from from a rare condition known as Reye's Syndrome.  In 2007 Davis was released from prison after agreeing to a plea deal, that gave her a time served sentence.  (Justice p7)  [11/09]

Corinne Wilcott was convicted of fetal homicide.  During a fight, Wilcott had twice kicked her husband's pregnant lover, Sheena Carson, in the belly.  Wilcott later said she did not believe Carson was pregnant.  Following the fight, doctors could not detect a fetal heartbeat.  The baby was stillborn four days later.  Although there was no bruising on Carson’s abdomen, Dr. Eric Vey, a pathologist, told Wilcott's jury that the fetus suffocated when the blunt force trauma of Wilcott’s kick separated the placenta from the uterine wall.

Dr. Miles Jones, the defense’s forensic expert, testified that such kicks would not constitute enough trauma to cause a placental abruption. He said the impact would have to be equivalent to a serious car accident.  He also suggested significant bacteria found on Carson’s placenta showed the child could have died as much as a month prior to the fight.  He added Carson had no pain, bleeding, or spiked heart rate normally associated with a placental abruption.  Wilcott was sentenced to 14 years in prison.

Other evidence supports the defense view that Carson's baby was dead long before the fight.  Based on her prenatal examination, Carson should have been 18 to 19 weeks pregnant.  Vey, who did not view Carson's previous medical history, determined the fetal age to be 15.2 weeks, based on the size and development of the baby’s organs.  Dr. Mark Caine, a gynecologist, said his examination of autopsy photographs show no placental abruption occurred,.  He also concluded that the fetus was dead long before the fight.  (Justice p29)  [11/09]

At 12:40 a.m. on February 13, 1978, a bomb exploded outside the Hilton Hotel on George St. in Sydney, Australia.  The explosion occurred during a prime ministers' conference attended by 12 prime ministers of Asian and Pacific British Commonwealth countries.  All were staying at the hotel.  The bomb had been placed in a trash bin in front of the hotel and exploded after it was emptied into a trash truck.  It killed two trash collectors and a policeman who was standing in front of the hotel.  It also injured eleven others.

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Salvatore (Sam) Fazzari, Jose Martinez, and Carlos Pereiras were convicted in 2006 of the murder of 21-year-old Phillip Walsham.  The three allegedly pushed Walsham off of a pedestrian bridge that spanned a highway onramp.

At approximately 2:12 a.m. on Feb. 28, 1998, Walsham had gotten off a train at Stirling station with two friends, Craig Betts and Spencer Toogood.  Betts walked ahead of Toogood and Walsham.  When Toogood realized that Walsham was not following, he went back to the station and found Walsham there.  Walsham was heavily intoxicated and not feeling well.  Toogood then set off to catch up with Betts.

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Frits Van Beelen was convicted of the murder of 15-year-old Deborah Leach.  Leach was last seen near her home in Adelaide at 4 p.m. on July 15, 1971.  She was crossing a paddock and heading towards the beach.  The beach was covered with seagrass that was up to 2 meters (6-7 feet) high.  Her partially clothed body was found at 4:20 a.m. the next morning in the seagrass.  There were no signs of bruising to her body and a medical examiner ruled that she had been drowned.

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Thomas G. Gunter was convicted of the murder of his son-in-law, Marlin Drew.  Marlin and his wife, Pearl, lived with their three children at the home of Pearl's parents.  Marlin was found dead in his bed with a bullet through his heart and a revolver nearby.  Authorities concluded his death was a suicide.  Following the death, Pearl sent their seven-year-old daughter, Dorothy Louise Drew, to visit relatives in Tennessee.  While there Dorothy related how she had been sleeping with her "pop," when her "granddad," Thomas Gunter, came into the room and shot him.  Pearl soon confirmed the story.  Gunter's wife insisted that Pearl had shot Marlin in a fit of jealousy while Gunter was drunk in another part of the house.  Gunter was soon convicted and sentenced to 5 years in prison.

Three months later, after Pearl gave birth to her fourth child, she confessed that she had killed Marlin and requested that her 63-year-old father be pardoned.  Pearl said she had coached Dorothy Louise to implicate her father.  She added it was always her intention to tell the truth after the birth of her baby, and that she could not bear the thought of it beginning its life in prison.  Mississippi Governor Bilbo then granted Gunter a 90-day suspension of sentence as Pearl was bound over for an appearance before the Grand Jury.  After the Grand Jury indicted Pearl for murder and perjury, Pearl was arraigned and pled guilty.  The judge, however, used his statutory discretion and suspended Pearl's sentence.

When Gunter's 90-day suspension expired in Feb. 1930, the governor denied his application for a pardon and ordered him to return to prison.  The governor stated, "Somebody ought to be in the penitentiary all the time for the murder of a sleeping man.  If Judge Pegram does not believe Mrs. Drew is guilty enough to serve her term, then the man convicted of her murder will have to serve his term.  Husbands ought to have some protection."  Gunter, however, refused to return to the penitentiary and as of Feb. 1931 when an account of the case was written, both he and Pearl had fled the state of Mississippi.  (CTI)  [10/09]