Location

Defendant(s)

Date of Alleged Crime

(Federal Case)  Thomas M. Bram was sentenced to death for murdering three people aboard a ship on the high seas.  The crime occurred about 2 a.m. aboard the Herbert E. Fuller, a cargo ship that was 750 miles into a voyage from Boston to Argentina.  The victims were the captain, Charles I. Nash, his wife, Laura A. Nash, and the second mate, August W. Blomberg.  All were hacked to death with an ax in the after house of the ship.

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Peter Limone, Joseph Salvati, Henry Tameleo, and Louis Greco were convicted in 1968 of the murder of Edward Deegan.  At trial, the main witness against the four was Joseph Barboza, a hit man, who later admitted that he had fabricated much of his testimony.  All except Salvati were sentenced to die but were spared when Massachusetts abolished the death penalty in 1974.  Tameleo and Greco died in prison in 1985 and 1995.

Salvati was released in 1997 after the Governor commuted his sentence.  Limone was released in 2001 after released FBI documents showed that informants had told the FBI before the murder that Barboza and another man would soon kill Deegan, and the FBI was also told after the murder that the same two men committed it.  The FBI also knew that at the time of Deegan's murder, Greco and his wife were watching a movie at a theater in Miami, Florida.

Deegan was a small time thief.  At the time of Deegan's killing, Tameleo and Limone were reputed leaders of the New England mob, while Greco and Salvati had minor criminal records.  FBI agents Dennis Condon and H. Paul Rico not only withheld evidence of Barboza's fabricated testimony, but also told state prosecutors who were handling the Deegan murder investigation that they had checked out Barboza's story and it was true.  Barboza was the first person ever accepted into the federal witness protection program.  He was relocated to California, where he was involved in at least two more murders.

Agent Rico was arrested in 2003 on murder and conspiracy charges in the 1981 killing of Roger Wheeler, a former World Jai Alai owner.  In 2004, he died in an Oklahoma prison while awaiting trial.  John Connolly, Rico's replacement at the Boston FBI office, faces trial in Sept. 2007 for the 1982 murder of a former World Jai Alai president.  In July 2007, Salvati, Limone, and the estates of Tameleo and Greco were awarded a combined total of $101.75 million, the largest wrongful conviction award in U.S. history.  (BUSL) (FJDB)  [7/07]

Lawyer Johnson was convicted of the shooting murder of James Christian, 30, and sentenced to death.  Another suspect in the murder, Kenneth Myers, claimed to have witnessed the shooting, and identified the photograph of the perpetrator.  When the police told Myers that person he identified was in prison at the time of the shooting, Myers changed his story and told police that Johnson was the murderer.  Myers told police that he himself had picked up the victim's gun after the victim was shot, and he took police to the place where he had hidden the gun.  Myers claimed that he was with his girlfriend when he witnessed the murder, but he refused to divulge her name.

On appeal, the court granted Johnson a new trial, ruling that Myers should have been forced to divulge the name of other witnesses who were at the scene of the crime.  At the new trial, Myers' girlfriend did not corroborate his account and a new witness testified that he saw Myers flee from the scene, but never saw Johnson.  The jury however convicted Johnson again—this time of second-degree murder.  This conviction was upheld on appeal.

Several years later, a 19-year-old woman named Dawnielle Montiero came forward and reported that she had witnessed the murder and that Myers was the killer.  She said Johnson was not there that day.  This witness had informed the police at the time of the murder about what she saw, but the police said that because she was only nine years old, her information was not important.  Based on this new evidence, Johnson was granted yet another new trial.  This time around, the prosecution dropped all charges and Johnson was released in 1982.  In 1983, both houses of the Massachusetts legislature approved a bill providing $75,000 compensation to Johnson, but no final action was ever taken on this measure.  (BUSL)  [7/05]

James Rodwell was convicted in 1981 of the murder of Louis Rose, Jr., a drug dealer and the son of a Burlington police captain. No physical evidence linked Rodwell to the crime. The case against him relied on two witnesses: (1) Frankie Holmes, an immunized witness who drove the victim to the murder scene and drove away after the murder. (2) David Nagel, a prison informant, who had the opportunity to confer with Holmes prior to trial, when the two were incarcerated together. Both witnesses faced multiple life felony convictions on various charges.

At trial, Holmes' testimony conflicted with earlier statements he had given to investigators and the grand jury. Both witnesses' testimonies were riddled with discrepancies, inconsistencies, and errors. Nagel was a career informant. He had been charged with 37 armed robberies in the 1970s, a number which grew to 59 by the mid-1980s. He managed to sidestep lengthy sentences by aiding the police with tips and testimony. In prison, Rodwell had to endure taunts by other inmates, taunts that usually ended with the refrain, “Another one that Nagel got.”

The prosecution withheld a police report on a witness who stated another person committed the crime. The prosecutor and the state police told the witness, “If you remember what you saw, you will be charged as an accessory.” (Website)  [2/08]

Christian Amado was convicted of the shooting murder of 28-year-old George Sneed.  The conviction was due to testimony that an eyewitness, Frederick Johnson, had selected a photo of Amado, had identified the assailant as "Bugsy," and had associated the name "Bugsy" with Amado.  When called to testify, Johnson readily answered a series of question on the sequence of events leading up to the murder.  However, his testimony became evasive and confusing when asked about his previous identification of Amado.  The prosecutor had to repeatedly refresh Johnson's "recollection of events," by showing him what purported to be a transcript of statements he had given to police.  Johnson appeared to deny identifying Amado and claimed that he had selected Amado's picture because it "looked familiar."  The prosecutor never asked Johnson if Amado was the killer.  On cross-examination by defense counsel, Johnson denied that Amado was the killer or was present at the scene of the killing.  Three detectives were called as witnesses and testified to Johnson's previous identification of Amado.

According to Amado's attorney, "The eyewitness in the case identified a photo that looked like Amado, but when he came into court and saw my client he said he knew Amado wasn't the killer."  In 1982, an appeals court ruled that the trial court erred in presenting contrary testimony to prove identification.  It reversed Amado's conviction and directed a verdict of acquittal.  (BUSL) (Com v. Amado)  [4/08]

Guy Randolph was convicted of sexually assaulting a 6-year-old girl.  The girl did not initially recognize Randolph as her assailant.  However, a few minutes later, after talking to her aunt, she accused Randolph.  During a grand jury investigation, the girl described her assailant in ways that did not match Randolph, including his clothing and height.  There was also no physical evidence connecting Randolph to the assault.

At his lawyer's request, Randolph entered a Alford plea in which he did not have to admit guilt in exchange for a time served sentence of 4 months plus 10 years of probation.  Randolph later failed to show up for an alcohol counseling session, a condition of his probation.  A judge then incarcerated him for the remainder of the 10 years.  Following Randolph's release, he had to register as a sex offender.  In 2008, after prosecutors said the case against Randolph was so weak it should not have been pursued, a judge exonerated Randolph of all charges and declared him innocent.  (Boston Globe)  [6/08]