Location |
Defendant(s) |
Date of Alleged Crime |
Monroe County,
AL |
Walter McMillian |
Nov 1, 1986 |
Walter
McMillian, a
black man, was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of Ronda
Morrison, a white clerk at a dry cleaners store. The crime happened in
Monroeville, which, renamed as Maycomb, was the setting for Harper Lee's
novel To Kill A Mockingbird, a story about a falsely accused black
man. The three witnesses who had testified against McMillian admitted that
they had lied. In addition, it became clear that the prosecution had hidden
exculpatory evidence, including the existence of a witness who had seen the
victim alive after the time at which the prosecution contended her murder
had occurred. The case was profiled on 60 Minutes on Nov. 22, 1992.
Afterwards the State agreed to investigate its earlier handling of the case
and then admitted that a grave mistake had been made. McMillian was freed
on Mar. 3, 1993. A book was written about the case entitled
Circumstantial Evidence by Pete Earley (1995). (CWC) [5/05] |
San Diego
County, CA |
Jane Dorotik |
Feb 13, 2000 (Valley Center) |
With little evidence, Jane Dorotik was
convicted of murdering her husband Bob. Though physically incapable of
lifting her husband, the prosecution contended she carried her husband's
body long distances and lifted it into and out of a large pickup truck.
The
prosecution withheld evidence from the defense that two eyewitnesses had
seen Bob twelve hours after he was allegedly murdered. These witnesses
placed him near or with two Hispanic looking men at a location that was
close to where his body was found. (JD30
p3) [9/06] |
San Francisco
County, CA |
Robert Lee Kidd |
Dec 13, 1954 |
Robert Lee
Kidd was
convicted in 1960 of the 1954 murder of Albert Clarke, 71, an antique shop
owner. The murder occurred in Clarke's shop at 171 Valencia St. in San
Francisco. The prosecution alleged Kidd killed the victim with the
victim's own sword. Kidd's defense was prevented from informing the
jury that the coroner determined that the victim could not have been killed
with this sword. Subsequent investigation showed that police had
photographic evidence in their files indicating the victim was beaten to
death with a revolver. No evidence connected this revolver to Kidd.
In addition the jury was falsely led to believe that a three-page document
produced by a police witness was Kidd's rap sheet, implying Kidd had a long
series of prior arrests.
Kidd was sentenced to death.
At retrial in 1962, Kidd was acquitted because presented evidence showed
that Clarke was alive several hours after the time Kidd
allegedly murdered him. This evidence had been withheld by the
prosecutor at Kidd's first trial. (MJ) [7/09] |
Sutter County,
CA |
William Marvin Lindley |
Aug 18, 1943 (Yuba City) |
William Marvin Lindley was
sentenced to death for the murder of Jackie Marie Hamilton, a 13-year-old
girl. On the day of the crime, the victim had been swimming in the Yuba
River with other girls around her own age. Lindley, a redhead, operated a
boathouse on the banks of the river. After finishing her swimming, the
victim went to her house, changed her clothes, spoke to her father, and went
out again. She was found 20 minutes to a half-hour later in a dying
condition. She was able to sob out to her father that her assailant was
�that old red-headed liar in the boathouse, the old-red-headed liar.� She
later died without clarifying her statement.
Read More
by Clicking Here
|
Denver County, CO |
Willard Powell |
Mar 28, 1908 |
(Federal Case tried in Council
Bluffs, IA) Willard Powell was convicted of
participating in a massive swindling scheme that had operated in 14 cities
and had taken in millions of dollars. The organizers of this scheme ran a
�Millionaires' Club� for the purpose of operating fake horse races,
wrestling matches, foot races, and boxing matches. They then had a �steerer,� to induce a
�mike,� to join with the club's secretary in betting
against the club, the �mike� believing that the race or match was to be
�thrown� in his favor. After the stakes were put up, with the club's
secretary as stakeholder, the event was instead thrown to the club and the �mike� got a dose of his own medicine. The scheme was cleverly worked out,
inducing persons to surrender their money, yet leaving them in such a
compromising position that they were not anxious to report the affair to the
authorities.
Powell was
indicted because of testimony that he knew and associated with some of those
clearly involved in the scheme. However, there was no evidence that he
conspired with anyone. He and his attorney expected a directed verdict of
acquittal. However, at the last minute in the Mar. 1910 trial, a �mike� was
recalled as a witness and identified Powell as a participant in the group
who fleeced him in a fake horse race near Denver, CO. This �mike� could not
fix the date when he was fleeced, beyond saying it was between March 20 and
April 10, 1908. The only other witness who had testified about this swindle
had already been dismissed and had left town.
The date was
important, because Powell had alibis in different locations during this time
period and did not have time to collect alibi evidence covering the entire
period. Powell had two witnesses testify that they returned from Cuba with
him around the first of April. Another witness testified that he was in
Denver when Powell arrived about the middle of April. However, the jury
disregarded this evidence and convicted Powell.
Following
Powell's conviction, his attorneys established that the horse race occurred
on Mar. 28, 1908, and that Powell was clearly in Tampa, Florida on this
date, having returned from Cuba two days before. U.S. President Taft
granted Powell a full pardon in July 1910. (CTI)
[11/07] |
Pasco County,
FL |
Jason Derrick |
June 25, 1987 (Moon Lake) |
Samuel Jason
Derrick was
sentenced to death for the murder of Rama Sharma. Sharma, 55, owned
the Moon Lake General Store and was found dead behind the store.
Following the murder, police received a tip that a car was seen driving
suspiciously around the crime scene vicinity in the early morning hours of
June 25, 1987, prior to the finding of the victim's body. The
description of the car, including a partial license plate number, seemed to
match that of a car driven by David Lowry. Lowry deflected the
investigation away from himself by implicating Derrick, who was then his
friend. At trial, five Pasco County detectives swore under oath that
Derrick confessed to the crime. There was no written, audio, or video
record of this �confession� or any interrogation notes written by any of the
five detectives. The Pasco County Sheriff's Office had a reputation
for corruption. Just two years earlier, St. Petersburg Times reporter
Lucy Morgan won a Pulitzer Prize for her series of articles documenting this
corruption.
Read More by Clicking Here
|
Cherokee
County, GA |
Roberto Rocha |
July 2, 2002 |
Roberto
Rocha was
charged with the murder of Katie Hamlin. Rocha, who is mentally disabled,
confessed to being present when Hamlin was killed on July 2. However,
passports and witnesses showed that Rocha had been with his missionary
father on a trip to Brazil between June 10 and July 10. Rocha was
released and charges against him were dropped after 15 months in police
custody. (Atlanta
JC) (Primetime) [9/05] |
Harris County,
GA |
Russell Burton |
Arrested 1985 |
Russell Burton was convicted in a rural
Georgia court of raping three teen-age girls and sodomizing two of them. In
Jan. 2002, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the reversal of his
conviction by a federal district court on the grounds of incompetent defense
counsel and unfair prosecution. The girls originally described their
assailant as having a deeply pockmarked face, stocky build, brown eyes, and
brownish hair. Burton is 6 feet tall and slim, with blue eyes, blond hair,
and clear skin. Near the time of the assault, he did have a severe case of
poison ivy, which infected his face, and this fact may have led to a
�pockmarked� description. The victims identified Burton in a photo lineup
and said their attacker drove a white Toyota, a car that Burton owned.
Medical exams
were not performed on two of the girls because they had taken showers
immediately after returning home following the alleged assault. The third
victim was examined and the medical report stated she showed �no evidence of
recent sexual entry.� This report was suppressed at trial. One of the
victims' high school teachers stated to a private investigator that the
three victims were notorious liars. She refused to testify for fear of
being socially ostracized.
A defense
investigator re-enacted the crime and reported that it was impossible to
drive the distance to the alleged rape scene in the time period during which
the victims allege they were driven and also systematically raped and
sodomized. Two days before the attack, Burton had eight genital warts
surgically removed. The surgeon testified that after undergoing this
procedure �sex would have been the last thing on his [Burton's] mind.�
Burton's conviction was overturned in in May 2002. Rather than face
retrial, he agreed in Dec. 2003 to a plea deal for which he received a time
served sentence.
(Case
Facts) |
Houston
County, GA |
Ellis Wayne Felker |
Nov 24, 1981 |
Ellis Wayne Felker was convicted of the rape
and murder of 19-year-old Evelyn Joy Ludlam. The
conviction was obtained through hair analysis, which is notoriously
unreliable, and by claimed similarities between the murder and another crime
for which Felker was convicted years before. Felker was put under police
surveillance within hours of Ludlam's disappearance on Nov. 24, 1981.
Ludlam's body was found in Twiggs County fourteen
days later floating in Scuffle Creek. An autopsy indicated that she had been strangled and put her
death within the previous five days. However, when police realized this
would have ruled Felker out as a suspect because he had been under
surveillance, the findings of the autopsy were changed.
An unqualified
lab technician conducted the autopsy. During appeals, Felker's lawyers
showed notes and photos of Ludlam's body to pathologists who unanimously
agreed that she could not have been dead for longer than three days. In
spite of the medical opinion, appeal courts upheld Felker's conviction.
Felker was executed on Nov. 15, 1996.
The state hid
boxes of evidence from Felker's attorneys until just before his execution.
Some held exonerating evidence, including another person's confession.
Others held materials that could have been DNA tested. (Felker
v. The State) |
Cook County,
IL |
Miguel Castillo |
May 1988 |
Miguel
Castillo was
convicted of murdering Rene Chinea, a 50-year-old Cuban immigrant. Chinea's
decomposing body was found in Castillo's apartment on May 18. Castillo had
been in jail until May 11. Castillo was cleared in 2001 when a
re-examination of medical evidence showed that Chinea died no later than May
9. Castillo was awarded $1.2 million from the City of Chicago and was
eligible for $160,000 from the State of Illinois. (CWC)
[7/05] |
Bossier Parish, LA |
Alvin Moore |
July 9, 1980 (Bossier City) |
Alvin R. Moore Jr. was sentenced to death for the murder of JoAnn Wilson,
23, the wife of
a former co-worker. Wilson called police and said, �Somebody
stabbed me.� After police officer Bill Fields arrived on the scene, he
asked her who stabbed her and she reportedly told him, �Elvin did it.�
Fields later thought the victim meant �Alvin.� Moore, who is
black, was having an affair with Wilson, who was white. Moore was
arrested with a drop of blood on his pants. Tests showed the blood was
Type O, the same as Wilson's, but shared by about 45% of the population.
Moore had a different blood type. A stereo and a plastic jug
containing pennies from Wilson's home were found in Moore's car.
Read More by
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|
Jefferson Parish, LA |
Kevin Williams |
Oct 6, 1985 (Kenner) |
Kevin Williams was convicted of the
armed robbery of a 7-Eleven convenience store. Two 18 to 20-year-old black
males robbed the store of $15 at about 10:54 p.m. One held a gun while the
other took money from the cash register. The cashier called police and her
call was logged in at 10:56 p.m. Two teenagers had seen the robbers flee in
a brown car. At 11:06 p.m., police stopped Williams and his friend Ernest
Brown about 1 1/2 miles from the crime scene. They were driving a brown car
of similar description as that of the robbers. The cashier identified the
28-year-old Williams as being the unarmed robber. She cleared Brown of
involvement. Neither man had any money or gun on them, but police found two
six-packs of Pepsi in the car.
Read More
by Clicking Here
|
Sagadahoc
County, ME |
Dennis Dechaine |
July 7, 1988 (Bowdoin) |
Dennis Dechaine was convicted of the
abduction, sexual torture, and murder of 12-year-old Sarah Cherry. The book
Human Sacrifice by James P. Moore, a former ATF agent-in-charge for
Maine and New Hampshire, contends that the evidence shows that Dechaine
could not have committed the crime.
Dechaine's
pickup truck was found parked 450 feet from Cherry's body. Rope from the
truck apparently had been used to bind the girl. Dechaine's bandana had
gagged her. In addition, two documents bearing Dechaine's name had been
discovered in the driveway of the house where Cherry was babysitting before
she was killed.
Dechaine has
summarized his case as follows: �An unidentified man/men took four
items from an unattended truck and used those items to kill Sarah Cherry and
shift responsibility to the owner of the truck, Dennis Dechaine.�
At trial, the
medical examiner, Ronald Roy, estimated that Cherry had died 30 to 36 hours before he
examined the victim's body at 2 p.m. on July 8, 1988. The longest estimate,
based on the presence of rigor mortis, would have put the time of death at 2
a.m., July 7. However, according to police evidence, Dechaine emerged from
the woods before 8:45 p.m. on July 6, when a motorist stopped to pick him
up, after which time he has a solid alibi.
Moore said, when
he first began looking at the case in 1992, �I was going to prove that all
the criticisms [of law enforcement] were unfounded. It just didn't work out
that way.� Some have disputed the timing of Cherry's death, citing
ambiguity in the medical examiner's testimony. However, according to
Moore, �Every pathologist interviewed, and every forensic pathology textbook
agrees that, in this situation and circumstances, rigor mortis would last a
maximum of 36 hours.�
Evidence which could have identified Cherry's real killer was destroyed by
the state. This evidence included a hair found on the victim's arm, a
hair found on the rope binding victim's wrists, and mystery fingerprints on
the door of the house from which Cherry was abducted. The state
attempted to hide DNA test results of blood found under the victim's
fingernails. These results showed the blood belonged to an unknown
male. Further testing has ruled out male family members, police
officers, or medical examiner office personnel who could have inadvertently
contaminated the evidence. Dechaine is serving a life without parole sentence.
(Boston
Globe) (IB) (www.trialanderrordennis.org)
[7/05] |
Dutchess County, NY |
Dewey Bozella |
June 14, 1977 (Poughkeepsie) |
Dewey Bozella was convicted in 1983 and again in 1990 of the murder of
92-year-old Emma Crapser. The victim interrupted a burglary
after returning to her 15 N. Hamilton Street apartment in
Poughkeepsie. She was beaten, bound with an electrical cord, and suffocated. At Bozella's
trials, the prosecution relied almost entirely on the testimony of two
career criminals, Wayne Moseley and Lamar Smith, both of whom repeatedly
changed their stories and both of whom got favorable treatment in their own
cases in exchange for their testimony.
According to the witnesses' testimony, the
two left a park
with Bozella about 8 p.m. and arrived outside Crapser's apartment when it was dark.
Then according to Smith, both Mosley and Bozella were on the victim's front porch for five to ten
minutes before they went inside. Not more than five minutes later, a
car pulled up and the victim got out. Such testimony placed Crapser's
arrival and death around 9 p.m. However, other evidence indicated with
relative certainty that Crapser was dropped off and killed very close to 11
p.m.
There was no physical evidence linking Bozella to the
crime. In 1983 the FBI found that a fingerprint lifted from the inside of Crapser's
bathroom window matched a man named Donald Wise. Wise was convicted of
murdering another elderly woman in the same neighborhood as Crapser.
This murder occurred just months after that of Crapser and the victim's
sister who was present at the crime said the assailant tried to stuff
something down her throat. Crapser was suffocated with several pieces
of cloth stuffed down her throat.
In 2007, the law firm of WilmerHale agreed to handle Bozella's case on a
pro bono basis. Among the people the lawyers interviewed was Arthur Regula, a retired Poughkeepsie police lieutenant, who surprised them by
pulling out Bozella's case file. Regula said it was the only case file he
kept after retirement, figuring that the conviction was so problematic
lawyers might want it someday. The file contained statements from Crapser's neighbors that contradicted the two key witnesses against Bozella.
Using Freedom of Information Act filings, the lawyers obtained a tape
recording of someone who implicated Wise in the murder. None of this
evidence had been turned over to Bozella's trial attorneys. In 2009, a
judge overturned Bozella's conviction, the prosecution
dropped charges, and Bozella was released after 26 years of imprisonment. (NY
Daily News) (NY
Times) (People
v. Bozella) [4/10] |
Bertie County,
NC |
Alan Gell |
Apr 1995 (Aulander) |
James Alan
Gell was
convicted in 1998 of the robbery and murder of Allen Ray Jenkins, a
56-year-old retired truck driver. Gell was sentenced to death. The
prosecution argued that the murder occurred around April 3 when other
evidence indicated that it occurred closer to April 14, when Gell was out of
state. Two girls, Crystal Morris, 15, and Shanna Hall, 16, were the
state's only witnesses against Gell. The prosecution concealed witness statements of 17 people who saw
the victim alive days after the only day Gell could have committed the
murder. In addition, the prosecution withheld an audiotape of one of its
witnesses, saying she had to �make up a story.� On retrial in 2004, a jury
acquitted Gell of all charges. (CNO) (RCNH) (RCNH
#2) [9/05] |
Hamilton
County, OH |
James Love |
Dec 1988 - Mar 1989 |
In Feb. 1996, 18-year-old Sarah
Jane Adams filed a police report, accusing James F. Love of orally raping
her six, seven, eight years earlier. After being charged with five rapes,
Love filed a notice of alibi, stating that he was out of the United States
during a large portion of the time period mentioned in his indictment. His
lawyers requested more specific dates and times of the alleged rapes, but
the prosecutor repeatedly denied that any dates were available.
At Love's trial
in June 1996, Adams testified that the first rape occurred �the week after
Christmas 1988.� She testified next three rapes occurred �at least once a
month each month after the first time.� Which would have been January,
February, and March 1989. Regarding the fifth rape she testified, �I can't
remember when the last time was.� Love told his attorneys he was in Mexico
during the time period Adams said she was raped. He obtained his mother's
telephone records, which showed his mother had received collect calls from
Mexico in late 1988 and early 1989. The prosecutor argued that there was no
proof the collect calls to Love's mother had been made by Love. The jury
convicted Love on four of the five rape charges. Love was sentenced to four
consecutive life sentences. Love will be eligible for parole in 2036 when
he is 85-years-old.
Since Love's
conviction, he has assembled abundant evidence proving that he was in
Mexico, before, during, and after the period in which the alleged rapes
occurred. In Nov. 2006, Love's conviction was overturned. Love has written
numerous articles on wrongfully convicted persons. Many of those articles
are posted on the
Innocent Inmates of Ohio website. (JD30
p5) [9/07] |
Adams County,
PA |
Barry Laughman |
Aug 13, 1987 (Oxford Twp) |
Barry Laughman, who was 24 with an IQ
of 70, confessed to the rape and murder of 85-year-old Edna Laughman, a
distant relative. He was convicted largely on the testimony of State
Trooper John J. Holtz who was later discredited for accepting money from a
crime writer in another murder case, and Janice Roadcap, a state police
chemist accused of doctoring records in a third murder case. Roadcap
suggested that antibiotics Edna was taking at the time of her death changed
the blood type of the semen evidence from Barry's type B, to type A.
The
prosecution argued that Barry had killed Edna on the night of Aug. 12, but
Elwood Bollinger and his girlfriend, Patricia Harrison, reported seeing Edna
on the morning of the 13th, while on their way a medical appointment.
Barry's attorney presented evidence that Harrison had an appointment on the
13th. The prosecution also presented evidence that an allegedly
three-finger grip mark on Edna was made by Barry because Barry had an
injured pinky finger. Barry served 16 years of a life sentence before DNA
tests exonerated him. (IP)
(Patriot-News)
[9/05] |
Allegheny
County, PA |
John Dolenc |
July 8, 1975 (Mt. Lebanon) |
John Dolenc was
convicted of murdering his wife, Patricia. The couple had separated for a
week, but agreed to meet in Bridgeville on Saturday night, July 5. Dolenc
said Patricia did not show up. The prosecution argued that she did show up,
and Dolenc murdered her that night. Dolenc spent that night barhopping in
Bridgeville with his uncle. He was able to prove that he had been at some
bars, although police did not check them all. Even if they did, the
prosecution later argued that he would have had time to murder his wife
between some of the visits.
Read More by
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|
Sumter County,
SC |
William Pierce |
Dec 1970 |
William �Junior� Pierce was
convicted of raping and murdering Margaret �Peg� Cuttino, 13, the daughter
of a state senator. Cuttino was reported missing on Dec. 18 and her body
was found on Dec. 30. Pierce, who had an IQ that �barely broke 70� and who
was a known serial confessor, confessed to this murder apparently after
being tortured by Sheriff �Red� Carter. A document supports Pierce's
contention that his confession was coerced by physical abuse consisting of
burns, bruises, and cuts to his �privates.�
In order to
convict Pierce the prosecution theorized that Cuttino was murdered on Dec.
18, but when her body was found, the sperm evidence was not much degraded
and this evidence implied that she was not killed before Dec. 25. Public
disagreement with the verdict arose starting with an uncalled witness who
allegedly saw Cuttino on the afternoon of Dec. 19. The county coroner
joined the opposition. Because of new evidence that arose following the
conviction, it is highly likely that Pierce would be acquitted if he could
get a retrial, but getting a retrial because of new evidence is very
difficult under South Carolina law. New technology raised the possibility
of DNA testing, but the authorities contend Hurricane Hugo destroyed the
biological evidence in 1989.
Pierce is not a
glamorous defendant, having been convicted, after confessing, of three
murders in Georgia, perhaps because of techniques similar to those used by
Sheriff Carter. Public opposition to the verdict seems surprising since an
acquittal would do little to free Pierce, but physical evidence that Cuttino
was killed much later than Dec. 18 seems compelling and such a finding would
exonerate Pierce. (CrimeLibrary)
[9/05] |
Cameron County, TX |
Paul Colella |
Sept 12, 1991 |
Paul Richard
Colella was accused of murdering David Taylor and Michael Lavexphere. It
was alleged that he murdered them because he wrongly believed they had raped
his wife. At trial, the prosecution argued that deaths occurred at 2 a.m.,
because Colella was known to be 240 miles away at 6 a.m. However, death
certificates that were not turned over at the time of trial, place the time
of death for both men at 6 a.m. There were other case discrepancies.
Colella was sentenced to death, but later escaped death row by agreeing to
plead to two non-capital counts of murder and accept a 20-year sentence.
Colella still maintains his innocence. (Info)
[5/05]
|
Montgomery County, TX |
Larry Swearingen |
Dec 1998 (Conroe) |
Larry Swearingen sentenced to
death for the strangulation murder of 19-year-old Melissa Trotter.
Trotter disappeared on Dec. 8, 1998. Swearingen was one of the last
known persons to see her alive. He was arrested three days later on
outstanding traffic warrants and put in jail. An extensive search for Trotter
was organized, but her body wasn�t discovered until Jan. 2, 1999. She
was found in the Sam Houston National Forest by a couple of hunters � in an
area that had been already searched three times. Swearingen was still
in jail at this time.
Following the
scheduling of Swearingen's first execution date for Jan 2007, he began
getting medical science on his side. Unanimous medical opinion, based
of various signs of body decay, is that Trotter could not have been murdered
until some time after she disappeared and after Swearingen was put in jail.
One pathologist puts the earliest possible date of Trotter's murder as Dec.
18, another puts it at Dec. 23. Dr. Glenn Larkin, a retired
pathologist, said �No rational and intellectually honest person can look at
the evidence and conclude Larry Swearingen is guilty of this horrible
crime.� (IIPPI)
(Texas
Monthly) |
Tarrant County, TX |
Richard Jones |
Feb 19, 1986 (Fort Worth) |
Richard Wayne Jones was convicted of the abduction and murder of Tammy
Livingston. Around 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 19, 1986 witnesses Ruthie Amato and her two daughters watched
as
Livingston was abducted from a Michael's store parking lot in Hurst, Texas.
Between 9:20 p.m. and 9:45 p.m. the same night, a witness named Robert
Speights heard screams coming from a field at 4600 Randol Mill Road in Fort
Worth. At 11:20 p.m. a fire was reported in the field. When
police responded they found Livingston's body. She had been stabbed 19
times.
Read More by
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Pierce County,
WA |
Timothy Thompson |
Aug 6, 1974 |
Timothy
Thompson was
convicted of the murder of Jan Cygan. The prosecution theory lacked
coherence. Prosecution witnesses disagreed amongst themselves and the
prosecution relied on impossible timeline. The prosecution maintained
victim was beaten before death, but the victim's body showed no bruises. (Justice: Denied)
[9/05] |
Australia (SA) |
Frits Van Beelen |
July 15, 1971 |
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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by Clicking Here
|
|