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[Music] [Music] you feel like you're in a hole or a sewer and you're looking up and you're
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calling out for help from people and people are walking by you know cuz they don't hear
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you I don't think people know how blessed they are to be able to just hug somebody that they
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love or to wake up in a house with people that love you I haven't had the chance to do that
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in 28 years I'm just going to ask you did you kill Marcus Boyd I did not kill Marcus
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he was like a friend of he was one of my best friends and I I loved him in 1994 Marcus Boyd was shot and kill Marcus
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Boyd was shot and killed Mass men ran up and shot and killed Boyd when he pulled
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the trigger I seen The Flash I swear I could almost see like muscle and tendons because the flash was so big it's like
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an x-ray could you see their faces could you identify these men no I couldn't identify
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them he had an alibi I was about 3 miles away uh at a friend's house and his girlfriend at the time provided that
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alibi I know for a fact he didn't do it he wasn't there he was not involved you agreed to lineup agreed to
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a lineup I couldn't identify anybody in all of it Greg viewed the lineup with Lamar Johnson in it at least three times
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there's no identification and that should have been the end of it right there but it
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wasn't I felt bullied by the detectives and only after pressure from the detective did he all of a sudden say oh
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yeah yeah yeah that guy did it I just kept having pressure to go along with this he saw his friend murdered he was
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scared he was easily manipulated by the police and the prosecutor in this case I
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had what I believe to be a murderer and I had an identification witness who I believed was truthful and honest I
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presented the evidence I had and a jury convicted him a trial of erors from start to
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finish it was devastating since my conviction I've been petitioning every judge to give me a
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hearing and no judge has given me a chance to be hurt the problem is I don't know what else to
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do I lost so much just Milestones everything that a little girl wishes that she could you know
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experience with her dad [Music] our conviction Integrity unit found new evidence that will exonerate Mr Lamar
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Johnson there's something powerful really powerful in our system of justice when the prosecutor says we're the ones
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who made the mistake we're trying to free this man free Lamar Johnson fre lar Johnson it's devastating for
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me that this man has spent 28 years in prison for a crime he did not Comm all right this is really kind of Lamar
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Johnson's last chance isn't it yes that is absolutely true [Music] n [Music] [Music]
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convicted at 21 still locked up at 49 Lamar Johnson has spent most of his life in prison for
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a crime he insists he did not commit how do you keep up hope I have a choice I I know the truth I know that I
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didn't kill Marcus Lamar Johnson was convicted of first-degree murder in 1995 for shooting 25-year-old Marcus
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Boyd on his front porch Johnson was sentenced to life without the possibility of
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parole what have you lost time and um there's a closeness between especially with a father and his
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daughters and I I missed being able to be a part of their life you want your dad to come home yeah
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I definitely do Britney Johnson was just one year old when her dad was sent away it was definitely hard but I
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learned to live without my dad kro Barrow was just an infant then we're still waiting there is still an innocent
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man in prison kier's mother Erica Barrow did you think you'd marry him yes I did I mean he was my first
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love Lamar Johnson grew up in St Louis consistently ranked as one of the most dangerous cities in the country his
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Southside neighborhood in 1994 was battered by high crime and homicide rates Johnson had steered clear of
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serious trouble he wanted to better himself he wanted to be the man that he needed to be for his his children
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so Johnson the 20-year-old father of two worked at Jiffy Lube while attending Community College but he also had a
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dangerous side hustle selling small amounts of crack cocaine for extra cash yes I was making some poor choices then
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and I I take responsibility for that but that wasn't the sum of who I was selling
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drugs wasn't his life it was just something to help him manage until he could do better Johnson's good
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friend Marcus Boyd 5 years older had also started a family and was holding down a solid job at a printing company
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and he too sold drugs on the side Marcus was like the the preppy type you know he
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wasn't very Street he was a really really good guy Greg alen then 30 had worked briefly with Boyd at the printing
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company and Elin admits he was an occasional customer on the evening of October 30th
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1994 he wanted to get high but Boyd said no he was like we're going to go to work
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tomorrow so we actually sat down on the front porch up on the stairs Marcus Boyd
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Street Louisiana Avenue was empty his girlfriend and their baby were upstairs all he talked about all the time you
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know was a about his baby and about his girlfriend he's making me laugh we're kind of laughing at each other but all
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of a sudden he went serious he was like oh no from the narrow pathway next to Boyd's apartment two men came out of
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nowhere barely visible in the dim light these guys they had completely dark clothing and they had mask on black
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masks like this one and they had guns the men flew up the porch step says alen one attacked Marcus Boyd and he's
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wrestling with Marcus the second gunman grabbed Alan and he says get the up I remember looking at him right in the
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guy's eyes the other guy I seen him put the gun right up to Marcus's like neck area and when he pulled the trigger I
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seen The Flash Boom the third shot I kind of seen Marcus's Soul just go and I knew I knew he was
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dead to Elkin's horor both men continued to shoot void then vanished the same way
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they had appeared sprinting down the dark pathway surprisingly the shooters spared the only
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eyewitness you say you looked into one Shooter's eyes all I seen was the eyes could you tell whether he was white or
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black um I knew he was black when the gunmen were gone Greg Elkin took off in the opposite direction
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as he ran away Elkin says he could hear Marcus Boyd's girlfriend screaming it's still hard to talk about
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it isn't [Music] it and where were you when this happened I was about 3 miles away Johnson says he
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was with his girlfriend Erica Barrow and their five-month-old daughter Kiara visiting friends Erica says that entire
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evening Lamar Johnson was out of her sight just once so we were there because he was making a transaction someone was
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coming and so he was just like I'll be right back Johnson left the house Erica says just as she began changing Kiara's
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diaper and um I went out to meet uh somebody that I was dealing with his customer picked him up at the corner of
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39th and Lafayette Johnson says they completed a quick transaction while driving around the block by the time I
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finished changing her diaper and clean everything up he's coming back up the steps and how long does that take 3 to 5
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minutes and he's talking you know nothing out of the ordinary it he was just normal
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minutes later Johnson got a call that Marcus Boyd had been shot the next day he learned that Boyd had died Johnson's
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own life began to unravel according to investigators when they asked Boyd's girlfriend whom she suspected only one
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name came to mind Lamar Johnson she thought the longtime friends might have had a
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falling out Marcus and I have never had an argument or a fight I loved him I had
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no reason to want to hurt him you agreed to talk to the cops without a lawyer that was risky wasn't it well now I
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didn't have anything to [Music] hi 4 days after Marcus boy was shot to death on his front porch St Louis Police
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Tracked Down the only eyewitness to the murder Greg Elken how would you describe
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what you went through that night it was the most horrifying thing I ever seen in
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my life shaken and scared alken says he was initially reluctant to talk until he
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met lead investigator Joe Nickerson I thought he was a this amazing dude I thought he was like Nick
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Noti from 48 hours out of the movie he was awesome I mean it was it was somebody that I just immediately
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admired alken says even though the shooters were wearing masks he could tell they were darkskinned black men but
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he only saw the eyes of one of them still Nickerson he says insisted on showing him several photos one says Alin
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stood out I said these eyes there's something about these eyes and that's all I said it was a photo of Lamar
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Johnson and immediately he said would you sign the back of it and I said no I don't want to sign the back of it why
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not because I didn't want nothing to do with this because I couldn't pick out no
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murderer and I don't even think he's a Mur I didn't say he was a murderer Nickerson Elkin says warned him his life
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could be at risk telling him that Lamar Johnson was a dangerous man who may have
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been involved in as many as six murders attorney Lindsay Reynolds says none of that was true if they had any evidence
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whatsoever then then or now Lamar Johnson would be charged with a crime bronos began working on Johnson's case
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when she was in law school does he have a record at all for violence no his record was is is is and was minor it's a
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possession charge possession of cocaine and then a tampering with a license plate she says Johnson received
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probation for those offenses still she says cops aware of his criminal record kept him and young men like him on their
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radar it's just the usual suspects type of round him up and everybody's Guilty By
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Association but after the murder on Louisiana Avenue police had a new reason to focus on Lamar Johnson the victim's
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girlfriend had given them his name and now they had what they said was a photo identification on the evening November
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3rd 1994 4 days after the Mur murder they arrested Johnson along with his friend Philip
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Campbell I couldn't even understand why why would they arrest you Johnson's girlfriend at the time and his Alibi for
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the night of the murder Erica Barrow I begged him to get a lawyer and all he kept saying is I don't want my mom and
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stepfather paying all the money all this money for a lawyer I didn't do it I didn't have anything to hide so I
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you know I believed in the system I believe that if I explained to them what I knew and and where I was that that
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would sort itself out at the police station Johnson agreed to a live lineup I wanted to try to be as
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Cooperative as I could I wanted them to to to investigate and and talk to the people whose house I was that night you
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know I would expected that they would reach the conclusion that I didn't have anything to do with but investigators
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never spoke to anyone who had been with Johnson on the night of the shooting not
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even Erica aarrow they put him in that lineup he's the third man in this photo and brought in elking to view it could
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you identify anyone no all together Elkin viewed that lineup three times and never picked Johnson Elkin was then
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asked to view a different live lineup Lamar Johnson wasn't there but the man arrested with him Philip Campbell is
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number four in this photo Elken still couldn't identify anyone and says he feared he'd let down the detective he
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admired and trusted I felt so bad I could see it in his eyes like I I hurt this guy like this whole time you know
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I've just wasted his time then according to Elkin he asked Detective Joe Nickerson how he could help all that
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came out of my mouth was like all right Joe if you tell me what the numbers were and
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I'll tell you if they were correct what does he say to you he says three and four and I was like you're right three
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and four Lamar Johnson was number three in that first lineup Philip Campbell was
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the fourth man in the other lineup if Joe Nickerson is telling me that three and four is it it's got to be Lamar and
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whoever Philip because he wouldn't lie to me Joe wouldn't lie to me so you picked three and four because Nickerson
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told you yeah we asked Joe Nickerson for an interview he declined our request but
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sent us a text saying in part I went where the facts evidence and circumstances took me alkin claims he
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told no one that Nickerson had allegedly given him the suspect's numbers in the lineups instead he told the other
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detectives that he was able to identify Lamar Johnson because of his distinctive
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eye they asked me what do you mean about the eyee when you say that you could pick you know these eyes and I and I
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said I don't know like like a lazy eye or something like it's different from the other Dwight Warren the prosecutor
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says he pressed Elkin on his identification of Johnson I believed Mr elking uh because
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I looked him straight in the eye and said you know I want to know if he did it tell me you're sure of your
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identification please tell me the truth because I don't want to go uh in charge somebody who's not not guilty what did
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Greg Elkin say to you when you said that to him well quote end quote I you know I
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I couldn't tell you but he told me he was telling the truth that he W he knew who did the shooting and it was Lamar
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Johnson and Philip Campbell so I charge them both in July 1995 Lamar Johnson went on trial with Elken as the star
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witness if he had backed off for that I would never have issued the case that was he was absolutely essential to
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bolster the case one of the witnesses the prosecution called was William mock a jailhouse informant with a lengthy
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criminal history who claimed that he overheard Johnson and Campbell in a holding cell talking about the murder
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but attorney Lindsay rnold says mock was in credible and that his cell wasn't close enough to hear anything Lamar
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wasn't ever selled with Campbell and Campbell nor Lamar were ever in the same sell as William mock so how could you
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hear this if it happened at all which it didn't don't you want to make sure that
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jailhouse snitch is telling the truth how am I going to do that well you wouldn't put someone on the stand unless
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you could check out their story right unless I I did check it out he was in two jail cells away he was in a position
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to to be able to hear that Johnson didn't take the stand at his trial the defense relied on his girlfriend Erica
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Barrow who told the jury he was with her at the time of the murder it took less than 2 hours for the jurors to reach a
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verdict guilty Johnson's life had been changed Forever by Greg Alin who says that as he
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was pointing at Johnson at trial he knew he had identified the wrong man this isn't the dude I seen at all because to
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me Lamar is not dark and not what I seen you had doubts right afterwards why didn't you tell somebody
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why didn't you say because nobody talks to me nobody who am I going to tell him I don't know who I could have told did
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it occur to you at that moment that you might have put an innocent man behind bars without a doubt because I lied on
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the testimony I lied because I thought I was doing the right thing [Music] [Music]
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Lamar Johnson was just 21 years old when he was convicted of murder at my trial they did not even present a motive they
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never explained why I supposedly did this and then before his sentencing Johnson received surprising new
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information that he believed would prove his innocence hand written letters from
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his friend the other suspected killer Philip Campbell one said you didn't do a thing he said I'm sorry you got
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convicted for something you didn't do he said he wanted to come forth but his attorney wouldn't let him because he
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thought he could beat his case and Philip Campbell was actually one of the shooters he was Campbell even named the
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other shooter who was with him on the night of the murder a man named James ba Howard Johnson now had the names of both
00:21:36
shooters he wrote the judge and asked for a hearing but his request was denied in September 1995 Lamar Johnson was
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sentenced to life in prison without parole girlfriend Erica Barrow blames law enforcement you didn't care to check
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his Alibi you wanted to blame someone and you did exactly that you just fled out didn't care you didn't
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care Lamar Johnson didn't give up he became his own jailhouse lawyer sifting through police reports trial transcripts
00:22:15
and Gathering new evidence Johnson with legal help filed a petition asking for a
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new trial in 1996 again he was denied then 2 years later he would meet another inmate with
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a similar story we were both assigned to ptoi Correctional Center in Missouri our
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friendship was almost instant Ricky kid who is also serving a life sentence for murder remembers when he first learned
00:22:47
about Johnson's case he said I have to go to the law library I said what are you working on and he turned to me he
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said well I know everybody says this but I'm innocent and I a big old smile appeared across my
00:23:02
face kind of like you're seeing right now and I said well I know everybody say this but I'm innocent too the two men
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made a pack in prison he said let's make a promise that whoever makes it out will
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come back for the other and we shook on it the Midwest Innocence Project had already been working on kid's case
00:23:24
before he himself was exonerated kid says he can lawyers there to take a closer look at Johnson's case when that
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team of lawyers began their research they discovered that the star witness Greg Elkin in prison himself for bank
00:23:41
robbery had written a letter to a clergyman admitting he had lied at Johnson's trial what did you think would
00:23:49
happen again I thought that I would be heard so it made me even more hopeful that I would that the court would at
00:23:56
least listen alin's letter would reveal another reason why he agreed to testify against Johnson at the time of the
00:24:04
murder Elken had been in serious Financial Straits detective Nickerson in the prosecutor's office put him in a
00:24:12
witness protection program Elkin's debts were paid and his outstanding traffic warrants cleared and that's not all
00:24:21
whose idea was to give you money to move you to give you cash Joe Nickerson they
00:24:27
paid my first month last month's rent for a for a house altogether Elken had received more than
00:24:34
$4,000 none of that was disclosed to Johnson and his lawyer at trial Johnson repeatedly asked for a
00:24:44
hearing he was denied and his case stalled I mean what else is needed the only thing that's that that I haven't
00:24:53
been able to present is DNA and God I wish there was some DNA then in 2018 St Louis circuit
00:25:03
attorney Kimberly Gardner agreed to look at his case she had created a conviction
00:25:09
Integrity unit to look at cases of possible wrongful conviction and I started seeing some red
00:25:17
flags and I consulted my team and I said I think we have a problem here one of the many flags for Gardner was the
00:25:26
timeline for the murder could Johnson have had time to kill his friend Marcus Boyd Erica Barrow said Johnson had only
00:25:34
left their friend's apartment for around five minutes and you cannot drive that distance you'd have to be speeding
00:25:40
through St Louis to even get there and then you'd have to speed all the way back there's no way you could do that
00:25:47
but prosecutor Dwight Warren says Erica could have lost track of time the Johnson could have been gone as long as
00:25:53
15 minutes she didn't have a stopwatch Lamar got into to a car and took off at Johnson's trial Detective Joe Nickerson
00:26:03
testified that it only took him 5 minutes to go from The Alibi location to the crime scene we asked Chief
00:26:10
investigator Robert olabi from the circuit attorney's office to take us on that same drive and according to
00:26:18
testimony it just takes 5 minutes to get there you're laughing yeah help we timed
00:26:25
the drive using a cell phone yep 12:55 13 minutes 13 minutes one way that's more
00:26:37
than double the time detective Nickerson said it took in 2019 circuit attorney Kimberly
00:26:45
Gardner's team released a detailed report listing numerous errors that undermine Johnson's conviction as a
00:26:53
prosecutor you put people in prison you don't try to get them out as a prosecutor no prosecutor I believe wants
00:27:01
to secure a conviction wrongfully using wrong tactics that's just not what we want to do we want to get it right
00:27:09
jurors never learned that jailhouse informant William mock was a racist who had a hatred for black people nor did
00:27:17
they hear the majority of his criminal record and they were never told Greg Alin had been paid thousands of dollars
00:27:25
Gardner was convinced Johnson was in ENT but when she tried to get his conviction
00:27:31
overturned Court after court including the Missouri Supreme Court said she didn't have the power and when you try
00:27:40
to abide by your oath and you're stopped every way it weighs on you in 2021 the Missouri legislature
00:27:49
passed the law that gave Gardner another prosecuters the power to bring cases of
00:27:54
Innocence to court a year later John Johns son got the news he had been praying for after nearly three decades
00:28:03
in prison he would finally get a hearing to present new evidence in his [Music] case on December 12th 2022 Lamar Johnson
00:28:28
and his legal team gathered in a St Louis courtroom for a week-long hearing his daughters Britney and Kara were in
00:28:35
the courtroom nearly every day I think we're all trying to be hopeful that my dad gets Justice all
00:28:46
right one man Judge David Mason will decide Johnson's future you may he has three options overturn the conviction
00:28:55
and Grant a new trial over turn the conviction and decare Johnson innocent or he could uphold the jury's
00:29:04
verdict what is it stake here with this judge's decision Justice and the Integrity of the whole Criminal Justice
00:29:12
System circuit attorney Kimberly Gardner Sat by Johnson instead of her usual seat
00:29:18
at the prosecution table Gardner appointed two lawyers to handle Johnson's case Charlie Weiss and
00:29:27
Jonathan p I took this case because I believe that Lamar Johnson's innocent I didn't take
00:29:34
it because I think he might be innocent there was no physical evidence at all connecting Lamar Johnson with the murder
00:29:42
of Marcus boy period thank you your honor may it please the court this is a rather historic moment in this court
00:29:49
this is the first time where the court is hearing an actual innocence claim filed by a prosecuting attorney good
00:29:56
morning your honor the Missouri attorney general's office sent a team of their own to argue that Johnson's conviction
00:30:03
should stand in response to our request for an interview they provided us with this written statement that read in part
00:30:12
the Attorney General's office has fought to keep a convicted murderer in prison but judge attorney Miranda Le told the
00:30:21
judge not to trust the witnesses who were about to vouch for Johnson's innocence we're going to ask you to
00:30:29
believe convicted murderers and gang members their evidence is not credible Johnson's team calls their first witness
00:30:38
James Howard takes the stand and admits that he's one of the men who murdered Marcus Boyd How did Marcus die me and
00:30:48
Philip Campbell queed him on his for porch remember Philip Campbell had written Lamar Johnson saying he and
00:30:56
Howard were the real shooters Campbell who was later convicted of the murder took a deal and served only 5
00:31:04
years he has since died Howard was never charged with Boyd's death he's currently
00:31:10
in prison for life for unrelated crimes including murdering another man I killed
00:31:17
him the exact same way I fired two shots in back his head but attorneys Jonathan
00:31:22
Potts and Charlie Weiss can't rely on Howard's word alone they must now tear apart part the original case against
00:31:29
Lamar Johnson they called Greg Elkin the state's former star witness law enforcement was wanting me
00:31:38
to help and I trusted them I wanted to help Elin told the court that he felt pressured by Detective Joe Nickerson to
00:31:47
identify Johnson in the lineup he goes I know you know who it is and you're just
00:31:53
not saying and this is the part I hate the most I just remember saying to him you tell me the numbers and I'll
00:32:02
tell you if you're right and he did and I was like that was it that was the numbers and I've been
00:32:11
living with it 25 28 years and I'm telling you I I just wish I just wish I could change
00:32:23
time on day three judge Mason questioned the original prose in the case Dwight Warren about the reliability of Greg
00:32:32
Elkin's identification of Lamar Johnson he told you and the officers that it was
00:32:38
based upon him looking at the eyes cuz that was all he could see isn't that correct I believe so and did he or did
00:32:45
he not tell you that all of this happened within seconds yeah yes and that's what you
00:32:53
decided was sufficiently liable to seek a murder conviction to take it to a jury
00:32:59
yes sir two perpetrators came Warren admitted to Johnson's lawyers that without an eyewitness he would never
00:33:06
have filed charges in the first place oh absolutely not I didn't have any evidence
00:33:14
you on day four Lamar Johnson finally got the chance to defend himself in his own words but you talked to detective
00:33:23
Nickerson that night correct yes ma'am when you attorney Miranda Lash asked him about his conversation with Detective
00:33:31
Nickerson a few days after the murder I Bo was my friend I didn't shoot him I said okay I will I voluntarily
00:33:39
participate in the lineup you had every thing to lose at that point Didn't you I
00:33:44
didn't think so you didn't think so you were arrested for homicide I didn't commit the homicide so why would I be
00:33:50
concerned that I had everything to lose as the hearing week neared the end Detective Nickerson takes the stand the
00:33:59
man Elken claims pressured him into falsely identifying Johnson Mr elen goes hey I know who it
00:34:07
is it's number three in the first lineup and it's number four in the second lineup and did you tell him to say that
00:34:15
I didn't tell him to say anything but judge Mason had some questions of his own for Nickerson are you aware that all
00:34:23
the evidence suggested your witness could only recognize some aspect of the eyes I'm aware of that pleas stand up Mr
00:34:36
Johnson I'm just curious because I don't know what in the world is distinctive about this man's eyes and well you can
00:34:43
tell his eyes are different I just tell me what you see I can tell that his right eye is different from his left one
00:34:50
is lower or higher than the other okay how would you describe the involvement of Judge Mason in this case
00:35:01
well that was one of the most unique things I've seen in any trial I've ever covered columnist Tony messenger covered
00:35:08
the case for the St Louis Post Dispatch he didn't just ask questions he took over the questioning at times and made
00:35:18
it very clear when he was believing something and when he wasn't after five days of witnesses
00:35:26
court adjourned with his freedom on the line Johnson was taken to a St Louis jail to wait for
00:35:34
judge Mason's decision I don't know how to not fight for my innocence to fight for was right what was wrongfully taken
00:35:43
from me what do you think the Judge should do in this case take a look at the evidence
00:35:51
at 48 hours.com [Music] it's been really [Music] hard we heard everything in court Lamar
00:36:12
Johnson's daughter Kiera Barrow has finally heard what happened to her father so many years ago the misconduct
00:36:20
and the negligence that occurred the hardest thing was just that Greg lied knowing that his testimony did
00:36:29
put him in jail Britney Johnson believes that Greg alin's lies robbed her of time
00:36:35
with her dad I'm very angry this is hard yes is very hard I hate that I'm crying
00:36:43
right now the dead is is the most important role but their wait isn't over 2 months
00:36:53
pass with no decision from the judge Kiera is hoping happen soon we've been robbed of so many opportunities and
00:37:04
Milestones I'm getting married in April of this year it would just mean so much to
00:37:15
me and I know to my father to have him there with me and for him to be able to give me
00:37:24
away finally on a Tuesday afternoon in in February Johnson's family and friends returned to the
00:37:32
courtroom lawyers with the Missouri attorney general's office fighting Johnson's release are at one table at
00:37:40
the other the team trying to win Johnson's Freedom seated next to Johnson his attorney Lindsay rynolds what should
00:37:49
judge Mason do in this case judge Mason should vacate these convictions and Lamar Johnson should walk out of that
00:37:56
courtroom today all right oh yeah after both legal teams were given copies of his final opinion
00:38:07
Judge David Mason announced his decision on February 14th 2023 after reviewing both the underlying
00:38:17
trial as well as the entirety of the hearing for the reasons stated above it is should by order that the motion of
00:38:27
the circuit attorney of the 22nd Judicial Circuit filed herein for the benefit of Lamar Johnson is
00:38:37
[Applause] [Music] granted the conviction of Lamar Johnson the state V Lamar Johnson calls 22941
00:38:47
37068 is hereby set aside and held for not Johnson's murder conviction was overturned the judge also found that
00:38:58
there was clear and convincing evidence of Johnson's innocence after more than 28 years behind bars he was more than a
00:39:08
free man 49-year-old Lamar Johnson had finally been exonerated b sir this hearing ised
00:39:20
[Music] all this time he would leave the cour house not in a prison van but in a black
00:39:32
sedan when I first met you I asked you to identify yourself my name is Lamar Johnson I've been in prison for 26 years
00:39:42
now and if I asked you to identify Lamar Johnson right now what would you say I am a free man an exonerated man and u a
00:39:53
blessed man and how important was it to have Greg take the stand and and tell the judge what he had done at trial that
00:40:02
was very important he intentionally you know falsely identified me but not only did he
00:40:09
acknowledge that he made a mistake he took steps to try to correct it and I'm extremely grateful to him for
00:40:20
that and during that time he's been in prison he says he never forgot about his friend Marcus Boyd who died that night I
00:40:30
didn't want Marcus's family thinking that I did this to him cuz I genely cared about Marcus Marcus was a good guy
00:40:37
in the meantime Johnson is starting over his friend Ricky kid knows it won't be easy it's going to be tough but Lamar
00:40:48
has the ability to adapt and adjust and see new opportunities worked 30 years for the Department of Correction for
00:40:58
pennies I don't have anything I hope somebody's willing to to to to give me a shot I want to work you have a date
00:41:07
coming up an important date my youngest daughter is getting married and you know it'd be nice if I
00:41:13
could do something special and nice for them but presence matters more than presence and I'm going to make the best
00:41:23
of the life I have [Music] a couple disappears we're in a million different directions trying to find her
00:41:42
and him a lot of people trusted him with a lot of money he told me that he was adopted by Ronald Reagan's son who was
00:41:49
the man last seen with Diana duvet 48 hours Saturday on CBS and streaming on Paramount Plus
00:41:57
[Music] [Music] this is definitely a life and death struggle I don't think the stakes get
00:42:19
any higher than what's at stake here this is a man's life who's on the line the thing about this case it's hard to
00:42:31
deal with is those little babies in this fire gutted house firefighters found six
00:42:37
bodies it was a shock to everybody it was probably the most brutal crime that ever happened in that part of the state
00:42:43
you're talking about four little babies asleep in their bed a 16-year-old asleep
00:42:49
in her bed and their grandmother who's also killed at the age of 45 when she took that last breath I guarantee see
00:42:57
you her last thought was how am I going to protect those babies now whoever committed the crime was in a
00:43:04
frenzy there were 66 stab wounds 66 66 minimum of 66 by the way those are the ones that they counted those were
00:43:16
living people those were my daughters that was my niece and my nephew who can do that that's what's so
00:43:24
horrible there's a lot of pressure to fight this person or these people that have done
00:43:30
this 4 days after the crime law enforcement had their suspect they got their man and that's the end of the
00:43:38
story they did not do their job tunnel vision total tunnel vision Anthony Graves was convicted of being an
00:43:47
accomplice I'm absolutely convinced that he's inocent I'm a professor I'm not paid to be a lawyer I do it because I
00:43:54
believe in it Nicole and her students played a really pivotal role in this what did you see yourself as being up
00:44:00
against we're Texas we like to execute people how many people have you put up on death row a lot there's nothing wrong
00:44:08
with winning when you're convicting people who are guilty we want to get him out we think he is truly an innocent
00:44:15
person I've written crime stories for Texas monthly for 13 years what I wanted to do was to try to get to the bottom of
00:44:22
what had happened in this case there is an innocent person who is going to death row if I don't do my
00:44:32
job does this man get to live does this man get to die grave Injustice tonight's 48 Hours
00:44:42
mystery [Music] [Music] this was such a horrific event in that town and continues to be an event that
00:45:24
really haunts the people of Somerville this used to be where the Davis family lived before the early morning hours of
00:45:33
August 18th 1992 in the midst of the rubble the police found those six bodies all
00:45:40
members of the same family this was a family that almost everyone in town knew liked
00:45:49
respected the victims a grandmother her daughter and four grandchildren who were
00:45:55
staying with them reporter Pam Koloff is still moved by the fact that the family never had a
00:46:03
chance there was Bobby Davis the grandmother to the four children who was bludgeoned and then stabbed to death
00:46:10
there was 16-year-old Nicole her daughter who was a high school student and athlete who was bludgeoned and shot
00:46:18
and then there were the four grandchildren they were 9-year-old denitra 6-year-old Britney 5-year-old
00:46:24
learon and four-year-old Jason my daughters were exotically beautiful Glenda rutage was learon and
00:46:37
Britney's mother they were my legacy and I was so looking forward to the chance to get it
00:46:44
right to raise strong sure confident successful women you know I wanted to do that so
00:46:55
bad [Music] Glenda's ex-husband Keith Davis lost almost his entire family that night
00:47:05
these were little babies and and my mother who I you know who we adored who was the center of our life he was
00:47:13
convinced it was a random crime I just couldn't imagine someone from that area harming anyone in my family cuz we had
00:47:21
never we didn't have any enemies we hadn't been in any trouble Roy Ritter lived and worked not far from
00:47:31
the murders 5 days after the crimes he remembers hearing there was a break in the case I could hear the radio and the
00:47:40
News would always come on and it was early in the morning and and they came up and they said you know arrest have
00:47:46
been made and they said uh Anthony Charles Graves age 27 Anthony Graves was one of Ritter's
00:47:56
best friends Graves had worked for him for a while at his machine shop and the two became so close that Graves had even
00:48:04
been in Ritter's wedding party it just freaked me out but my immediate thing was yeah right no way and what you know
00:48:10
what what could possibly be going on here you know you didn't believe it well of course not absolutely not Ritter knew
00:48:18
Anthony Graves as a gentleman a father of three and he now is hearing his friend was a murderer of women and
00:48:26
children in my heart my convictions were that's impossible because Anthony would never
00:48:31
do that Anthony would never hurt or raise a hand to a woman and especially not a child especially the way he loved
00:48:39
his children and when Graves was arrested he seemed equally stunned you're charged
00:48:46
with the offense of capital murder who Happ to murder me Roy was so sure of his best friend's
00:48:56
innoc that he even put up $10,000 of his own money to hire a top lawyer for his upcoming hearing convinced it would all
00:49:05
soon be over there's no way they have they have anything they don't have [Music]
00:49:10
anything but police did have the words of this man Robert Carter was the father of the youngest victim four-year-old
00:49:19
Jason and investigators had grown suspicious when they noticed Carter had injuries that were hard to explain
00:49:27
at the funeral for the victims Robert Carter showed up heavily bandaged on the left side of his face and his left hand
00:49:35
and the bandages were covering up severe burns Carter claimed he burned himself after his lawn mower blew up the Texas
00:49:43
Rangers obviously noticed Mr Carter at the funeral he was difficult to not notice and they visited him at his house
00:49:51
after the funeral and took him in for questioning Carter insisted he had nothing to do with the murders but the
00:49:57
Rangers had learned that he had a motive Carter was married but he had recently been served with a demand for child
00:50:05
support from another woman the mother of his son Jason and investigators believe
00:50:11
Carter went there to kill Jason he very clearly wanted his four-year-old Son dead after the murders investigators
00:50:19
believe Carter set the fire to cover his tracks but from the beginning they believed he must have had help
00:50:27
there were so many victims and so many weapons there was a gun there was a knife and there was a hammer and
00:50:36
investigators found it difficult to believe that one person could have wielded three different objects in
00:50:43
killing six different people the Rangers interrogated Carter for hours and he finally gave them a name during his
00:50:52
interrogation Robert Carter placed himself at the crime scene but he said that he had not Tak Taken part in the
00:50:57
murders himself that the person who had committed the murders was a man named Anthony Graves who was his wife's first
00:51:05
cousin within hours Anthony Graves had been arrested and taken to the police station he took a lie detector test and
00:51:14
failed man this this a big mistake Cal murder I never even shot a gun in my life
00:51:24
God and my dreaming the was man at first there was little more than Carter's word to tie Anthony to the case
00:51:32
but investigators would soon get help from the last place anyone would expect Anthony's best friend and then they
00:51:41
asked me if I'd ever known him to carry a knife I said I gave Anthony a knife one time
00:51:49
[Music] [Music] in Somerville Texas nothing moves very swiftly except for the occasional
00:52:03
freight train and sometimes the desire for justice emotions were running so high in
00:52:11
Somerville leading up to these trials that the mayor at the time said that people in the community didn't even want
00:52:17
to bother that they wanted to quote bring back the Hanging Tree but events would unravel a little
00:52:25
more conventionally Robert Carter stood trial and was quickly convicted and then
00:52:30
it was time for Anthony Graves the man whom Carter had named as his accomplice things you see in a horror movie they
00:52:38
said I did it and did you no would never do anything like that I'm not a violent
00:52:46
person at all it was just crazy grave said he knew Robert Carter only in passing and didn't know the victims at
00:52:55
all in fact they there was no physical evidence linking him to the crime I'm like whatever's going on is going to be
00:53:02
cleared up cuz I haven't done anything wrong but authorities only focused more on graves he had said he never owned a
00:53:10
knife but investigators learned he once did and that it was given to him by his good friend Roy rter and I said I gave
00:53:19
Anthony a knife one time around his birthday and I have one that's exactly like it and they asked me if still had
00:53:27
that knife and I said yep the actual murder weapons were never found but investigators wanted Ritter's knife the
00:53:35
one he said was identical to the knife he gave Graves and they said would you mind if we examined it and I said no I
00:53:43
wouldn't mind at all Ritter thought the knives were too flimsy to inflict any serious wounds and some of the victims
00:53:50
had knife wounds that went through their skulls so Ritter was stunned when those
00:53:56
test results came back the blade fit inside the skull cap perfectly so all of these folks from the DA's office told
00:54:04
you that your knife which was identical to the one you gave Anthony fit perfectly into the holes in those baby
00:54:12
skulls yes sir what did you make of that I I didn't want to believe it because if that was true my friend was a
00:54:23
murderer right and his friend Anthony graves's murder trial began in October 1994 District Attorney Charles seesta
00:54:35
star witness was Robert Carter I would have hated to have had to gone to the jury without Carter's testimony but
00:54:43
Carter was a problem witness he was a liar he had changed his story several times sometimes implicating Graves
00:54:52
sometimes not and so when he got on the stand we you worried about what he would
00:54:57
say no why because I told my attorney I wanted him to testify I said because there's no way this man can look me in
00:55:04
my face and lie on me I was just trying to have faith in the fact that this guy would be honest you know because this is
00:55:11
my life this is my life so what did he say when he got up on the stand he lied he
00:55:20
lied he said I did a crime with him Carter took the stand and said it was was Graves who stabbed several
00:55:28
victims to death and Roy Ritter had to testify about the knife he gave Graves I mean it was a very bad position to be
00:55:38
put in it was I was very torn you know conflict conflicted about it but they said it
00:55:48
fit perfectly how did his testimony feel to you as opposed to the other testimony
00:55:55
night bet bet night betrayal because he knows me this man knew me knew my family knew my kids and
00:56:06
there were more damaging Witnesses waiting to testify against Graves sesta said he had found five people at the
00:56:14
jail where Graves and Carter were held who told him they heard them talking about the murders when you have five
00:56:21
people who overhear conversations very damning conversations between Carter and Graves on what they did and what they've
00:56:32
got to do that in itself that's significant that's very admissible I probably could have done with one or two
00:56:40
in a capital murder case you want as much as you can we had five sesta may have had corroborating
00:56:46
Witnesses but Anthony had Alibi Witnesses where were you that night I was in my mother's apartment with my
00:56:53
brother a lady friend and my sister Anthony's brother Arthur Curry testified for him and has never changed his
00:57:03
story My Brother never left the house that night never he never ever left and never is never he never left the house
00:57:11
that night Anthony's girlfriend another Alibi witness was set to take the stand as
00:57:18
well but when the day came she unexpectedly refused the man who lost most of his
00:57:26
family Keith Davis had heard more than enough I've seen this guy hundreds of times in court when you looked at
00:57:34
Anthony Graves what did you see a murderer it was though he had uh horns like a devil he looked like a evil
00:57:41
person to me at the time and the jury agreed Anthony Graves was convicted of six counts of capital murder the
00:57:50
sentence death this is crazy I go from my home where I supposed to be safe feel safe and I'm going a death Thro for
00:58:00
something I didn't even do but as it turns out the jury might not have heard everything they did not
00:58:09
know that there was a critical piece of evidence missing [Music] I'm not a violent
00:58:37
person I'm not a bad person I respect people I carry myself in a dignified manner why me out of all
00:58:48
the people in the world why me by 2002 Anthony Graves had spent 8 years years on death row one more inmate
00:58:59
who swore he was innocent as the state of Texas moved ever closer to executing him were you thinking about your death
00:59:10
no never thought about my that thought about my life my children my mom I just need to hold on to something
00:59:22
a good memory Anthony's optimism may have kept him going on death row but for his
00:59:28
family as the years passed it was getting harder to keep hope alive I couldn't see a light at the end
00:59:37
of the tunnel and just to even fathom him being put to death that would be the ultimate nail in all of our
00:59:48
caskets if they killed him for nothing Robert Carter was executed and Graves kept kept losing his appeals he
00:59:57
was running out of chances when his case caught the attention of the Innocence Network which sent the case to Nicole
01:00:04
cazarez his journalism class at Houston's University of St Thomas we weren't out to prove anyone
01:00:13
innocent that was not our goal our goal was just to find out the truth did you have any faith in them I mean did you
01:00:18
think they could help you yeah yeah because being exonerated by the public meant just as much to me as being
01:00:27
exonerated by the courts I wanted people to know that my mother didn't raise a murderer my mother raised a good
01:00:35
son that meant something to me it didn't take long for the students and their Professor to realize the case
01:00:43
against Anthony Graves had serious problems beginning with the star witness I think one of the first things that we
01:00:51
noticed was that Robert Carter had recanted his testimony against Anthony right before he was executed and that's
01:00:59
very unusual in May of 2000 while strapped to the gurnie in the Texas death chamber
01:01:07
Robert Carter took sole responsibility for the murders it was me and me alone he said Anthony Graves had nothing to do
01:01:16
with it I lied on him in court and I think it's really important to listen to someone's essentially dying
01:01:24
words if there's ever a time when someone might be telling the truth I would think that might be it in fact for
01:01:30
years before his execution Robert Carter said to anyone who would listen that Anthony had nothing to do with the
01:01:37
crimes he even said the only reason he named Graves as his accomplice was because he saw him on the street before
01:01:45
he was arrested Anthony Graves did not have any part from the murderers and was not
01:01:51
present before during or after I committed the multiple Mur at the day home this is Robert Carter in a 1997
01:02:00
statement in it he says he told sester the same thing in fact he swears he said that to sebesta just hours before he
01:02:09
took the stand in graves's trial I told the district attorney and investigators that gra is innocent and had nothing to
01:02:16
do with these murder but sesta didn't believe him Carter went on to testify against Graves anyway because he said he
01:02:24
felt pressured by the da without Robert Carter's testimony the state didn't have a case except defense
01:02:31
lawyers say sebesta never told them that Carter had just recanted as sesta was required to do by law imagine that
01:02:41
you're Anthony's attorney and you are facing Robert Carter on cross-examination how meaningful would
01:02:48
it have been for you to be able to say Mr Carter isn't it true that just five minutes ago you said Anthony Graves had
01:02:54
nothing to do with this what would Robert Carter have said would he have cracked would he have have taken back
01:03:01
his testimony we'll never know sesta has long insisted he told the defense what Carter said his response was that uh
01:03:11
what is that his eighth or ninth story but graves's attorney denies that while the lawyers spent years arguing before
01:03:20
appell at courts about what seesta did or did not tell the defense the students were Gathering new evidence on the off
01:03:27
chance that Graves might get a new trial we did weekend trips and we would take two cars and uh we would have a
01:03:37
list of people and places that we were going to go and the amateur investigators were uncovering troubling
01:03:44
evidence especially about those jailhouse Witnesses who sesta said overheard incriminating statements from
01:03:51
graves from nearby cells and over the intercom it was Texas summer so there were large fans running one of the
01:04:01
intercoms was actually ripped out of the wall and it was just wires Megan Bingham
01:04:05
is one of the students that maybe this intercom system wasn't all that fantastic you know what could you hear
01:04:11
was it actually working they were working some of the intercoms and some of the celles were not working I don't
01:04:18
know which ones but I do know that at least one of those intercoms on one and two or whatever sales they were was was
01:04:25
working how do you know that because I was told this by law enforcement Nicole and the students also
01:04:33
tracked down and met with graves's former girlfriend the one who could have provided him an alibi if she had taken
01:04:40
the stand she said she was very sorry that she hadn't testified at Anthony's original trial so why didn't the
01:04:51
girlfriend testify right before she was supposed to take the step and da Charles
01:04:56
seesta said in open court that she was a suspect in the case and might be indicted even though investigators had
01:05:05
nothing on her sir couldn't that be read though as sort of a koi Ploy if you will
01:05:10
to scare away a woman who could very well Alibi your your defendant had absolutely nothing to do with that she
01:05:19
fled in fear and in tears she said they put him in jail on nothing what's to stop them from putting me in
01:05:28
jail on nothing after a 4-year investigation talking to more than 100 Witnesses Nicole cazarez and her students turned
01:05:38
over their findings to Graves lawyers to help with his appeals Anthony Graves is
01:05:44
innocent Anthony Graves is innocent Anthony Graves is an innocent [Music] man but Anthony Graves remained behind
01:05:53
bars on death row until until March 2006 about 12 years after he was found guilty
01:06:01
and then he got his first big break a federal appeals court one of the toughest in the country tossed out his
01:06:09
conviction I cried I pumped my fist and I was like yes God is good yes I knew it is my case
01:06:18
was overturned somebody seen the truth District Attorney's Office the court skewer Charles sest called his behavior
01:06:27
egregious for among other things intentionally withholding evidence that could have helped Graves most
01:06:34
notably that Carter had recanted right before he testified anthy he not have any part was that but even after the
01:06:43
Court's decision Anthony was not a free man sesta had retired but the new DEA said he would try Graves again so
01:06:53
Anthony walked out of death row and into the county jail where he sat waiting for
01:06:59
his next trial for 4 years and you can't believe that it could actually happen in
01:07:05
real life but it did this time around Graves has a season defense team appointed by the judge Katherine
01:07:13
Scardino and Jimmy Phillips assisted by Nicole cazarez we don't know what we'd do
01:07:20
without her I mean she's like our ENC our Graves encyclopedia the lawyer will have to be on their toes because this is
01:07:29
their opponent like you're mad like you're a friend like you can't can't stop Kelly seagler widely regarded as
01:07:36
the toughest prosecutor in Texas what does that say about David has been appointed to handle the graves case have
01:07:42
you ever lost a capital case a death penalty case yeah no [Music] I would say this is one of the worst
01:08:01
capital murder cases that anyone could ever talk about or deal with Kelly seagler should know she sent 19 men to
01:08:11
death row you will hear from the evidence in this case so in February 2010 she was ready willing and eager to
01:08:20
make it an even 20 when she was appointed to retry and Graves did that scare you that she was
01:08:28
coming after you no why not I was standing up for what was right so it didn't make no difference who was on the
01:08:35
case the fact that I was innocent wasn't going to change by the fall of 2010 Pam koloff's
01:08:42
investigation of the case had produced one of the longest articles in the history of Texas monthly magazine there
01:08:49
were so many things about this case that fascinated me beginning with how weak the evidence was I wanted to understand
01:08:56
how someone could be sent to death row on so little evidence of course making graves' case
01:09:02
in print is a lot easier than making it in court with the trial date approaching
01:09:08
and Kelly seagler circling defense attorneys Katherine Scardino and Jimmy Phillips were feeling the pressure you
01:09:16
make a mistake in a death penalty case and it's over they chose to hire a good prosecutor we're going to have to work
01:09:24
hard and be doubly triple prepared Kelly is a formidable opponent seagler has beaten most of the best lawyers in Texas
01:09:33
and now she asked for a meeting with the graves team why did she want to meet with us was she trying to get
01:09:40
information from us was she trying to learn what our trial strategy was I didn't really know what to make of it
01:09:46
seagler met with the graves lawyers around this table and she asked a lot of questions but the defense team could not
01:09:53
have imagined why the prose with her 19-0 record on death penalty cases was having serious problems with
01:10:01
the case against Anthony Graves I read every page of every document in 25 boxes and at some point it switched from
01:10:10
getting ready to go to trial to can we go to trial to oh my God what happened here seagler and her investigator AO
01:10:19
hanik soon realized Nicole and her students were right on target every single single time we would
01:10:26
reinvestigate or ret talk to a witness that they had talked to we would find that they were right one by one the
01:10:33
pillars of the prosecution's case crumbled we tried to find paperwork people anything that we could especially
01:10:41
a motive to say Anthony Graves committed the capital murder with Robert Carter and we found nothing uto hanik tried to
01:10:49
confirm the testimony from sesa's jailhouse Witnesses we can't find anybody that can positive L say in court
01:10:57
or in this room that I heard Anthony Graves say this I heard Robert Carter say this he looked into Roy Ritter's
01:11:05
knife the blade is flimsy and according to hanik a knife this flimsy could not have caused the kind of wounds to the
01:11:13
skulls that were found on some victims I personally do not believe that that blade is strong enough nor is this knife
01:11:21
made well enough to go through human skulls it's a switch blade knife they're made pretty
01:11:28
sturdy da Charles sesta had argued graves's identical knife had inflicted 66 stab wounds the night of the murder
01:11:37
there's no doubt that that knife could have survived that we had Texas Ranger testimony that that it could have done
01:11:43
it but hanik who is a former Texas Ranger himself believes the knife would have left its mark on the killer when
01:11:51
you get down to the 10th 11th 12th Stab Wound the knife becomes very slippery becomes very bloody the person that
01:12:01
inflicted those wounds is also going to have an injury themselves and did Anthony Graves have any injuries on his
01:12:08
hands none at all did Robert Carter have any injuries on his hands no what does that tell you that tells me that this is
01:12:16
not the knife that caused those injuries seagler thought any new case against Graves would have to be built almost
01:12:23
solely on Rob ber Carter's testimony but that was before she found out how Charles sesta got that testimony from
01:12:32
his star witness he made a deal with Mr Carter and what a deal he made sebesta had a
01:12:39
powerful card to play Carter's wife Teresa shortly after the killings sebesta had also indicted her for
01:12:47
capital murder she had given conflicting statements about his Burns there were a
01:12:52
number of things that she did the deal sesta he would not question Carter about his
01:12:58
wife on the stand if he testified against Graves how does a prosecutor I should say how does an ethical
01:13:06
prosecutor put a witness on the stand your your main piece of evidence in a death penalty case and say okay you get
01:13:14
up there and talk about what you did and what Graves did but I'm not going to ask
01:13:18
you about your wife you can't do that why in the world would you agree not to ask him about her well I needed his
01:13:27
testimony and sesta points out the deal was approved by a judge and the defense never questioned it I put on the record
01:13:36
I did put on the record the indictment against Carter's wife was later dismissed due to a lack of evidence and
01:13:43
seagler never bought into seesta theory that there had to be multiple Killers we
01:13:50
appreciated the fact that you didn't have to have three killers because five of the people killed were children some
01:13:56
little babies asleep in their bed how hard is it for a grown man to stab little babies asleep in their bed and
01:14:05
all the evidence seagler says points to Robert Carter not Anthony Graves there must have been a moment when you
01:14:14
concluded gee W this guy's innocent not just not guilty but innocent it wasn't even a difficult decision it was pretty
01:14:21
clear and by innocent you mean he wasn't there he had nothing to do with it nothing he had never even been in town
01:14:27
no motive no reason no connection nothing never in a million years would I have predicted that this would be the
01:14:35
outcome of this case particularly with Kelly seagler as prosecutor oh my God what happened in Anthony Grave's
01:14:51
trial on an Autumn afternoon in the burles count County Texas jail Anthony Graves was summoned unexpectedly out of
01:15:00
his cell I'm sitting in writing a letter they come get me and say put your shirt
01:15:06
on and walk me up to the front of the jail Nicole cazarez and Jimmy Phillips members of his legal team were there to
01:15:15
see him with a message he'd waited to hear for 18 years the murder charges had been dropped
01:15:26
both of us could barely talk we were so emotional and she says Anthony God is great and he knew and she just
01:15:39
say you're free man you can walk you can leave right now it's over Anthony thing and on October 27th 2010 The Man
01:15:53
known as in number 99127 got his good name back Anthony Graves carrying all of his belongings
01:16:04
and looking a little dazed walked out of jail and into the warm Texas Sun unbelievable this is probably the
01:16:15
dumbest question I've ever asked but I got to ask you anyway ask away come on uh how do you
01:16:22
feel oh well I feel good yeah I'll bet you do sir I feel good I I feel good uh 18
01:16:35
years was a long time I think I've lost a lot but today I gave my freedom you want to talk to someone here
01:16:46
hold on his first call as a free man is to his mother say what you cooking tonight his mother didn't know that her
01:16:54
son was free can can you put some on cuz I'm on my way this is your son and just so you know I did not
01:17:07
[Applause] escape and his first stop is home to his sons who had grown up without
01:17:16
[Music] him and it long last to an embrace with his mother when was the last time you were
01:17:32
able to put your arm around your mother 18 years 18 years ago you haven't touched your son in 18 years 18 years 18
01:17:38
years ago I had no idea oh he is rejoining the world picking up where he left off okay
01:17:48
guys here he is and after all that time Behind Bars he finally has places to go and people to
01:18:02
see at his lawyer's office Graves is able to thank the people who may well have saved his life the students who got
01:18:10
him off death row where are you I'm but there's someone else in the crowd for the first time since graves's trial he
01:18:18
sees Roy Ritter damn you look old his best friend see me with whose testimony did so much to put him
01:18:28
away it happens to the best of us but you know I love you oh my God what' that mean de you for
01:18:39
him to take those minute minute and a half and give me that [Music] Assurance you know that that's what life
01:18:55
is really all about was it hard to forgive him no no it wasn't hard at all he just became another
01:19:05
pun in their game of chest and Anthony Graves trial but Kelly seagler is not nearly as forgiving at a
01:19:17
news conference she lashed out at Charles sesta who was once a fellow prosecutor I think ultimately it's the
01:19:24
prose utor's responsibility Charles seesta handled this case in a way that would be best
01:19:31
described as a criminal justice systems nightmare what are you saying about him I'm saying that Charles sesta did
01:19:38
everything he could manipulating Witnesses fabricating evidence using people misrepresenting things to the
01:19:46
judge and to the jury to make sure Anthony Graves got convicted of capital murder and put on death row graves's
01:19:53
attorneys had filed a compl complaint against seesta but the Texas State Bar dismissed it and seesta insists he did
01:20:00
nothing wrong that seagler was just afraid of losing a big case they didn't have an intention of trying this case
01:20:09
basically they're looking for a way out sebesta says you didn't want to take the
01:20:14
risk of losing it at trial really that's what he said well I would say that he's going to
01:20:23
have a hard time finding than any single other person that would agree that I'm afraid to go to trial on anything but
01:20:31
seagler says there was one thing she dreaded about this case telling the victim's family that the man they
01:20:38
believed was a murderer for so long is not 18 years they believed that the two men responsible for killing their family
01:20:49
their babies their mom their sister um got what they deserved it could have been different
01:20:56
Glenda rutage lost her two daughters that August Night in 1992 some of them are never going to
01:21:04
change their minds they're always going to think Anthony Graves is guilty no matter what I
01:21:09
say how do you get upset with them they're as much a victim of what happened as Anthony Graves
01:21:17
is for his own troubles Anthony Graves should have been paid $1.4 million when he was released that's what the state of
01:21:25
Texas figures 18 years of wrongful imprisonment is worth but there was a paperwork snafu his release documents
01:21:34
never Ed the words actual innocence so Texas refused to pay two words two words they're holding me hostage behind two
01:21:45
words finally after 9 months of public pressure the legislature passed and the governor was quick to sign a special
01:21:52
measure awarding him the money Graves credited 48 Hours mystery for drawing attention to what he was
01:22:01
owed but he had already won the biggest fight of his life for his life and for his
01:22:07
freedom you could put your hands out and touch both WS while I was living it you
01:22:13
know he can come and go as he pleases as he tries to absorb how far he's come from a previous life he's still
01:22:22
struggling to understand stand they were trying to kill me I still can't wrap my mind around how
01:22:31
the hell did I go from home to death row for a crime that happened in another town but to people I don't even
01:22:42
know it's it's crazy and and and I gave 18 years of my life [Music] [Music] a [Music]
01:23:52
[Music] I had no idea where this case would lead this case will turn the District
01:24:09
Attorney's Office upside down I never worked a case where I put so much heart and time into bringing a
01:24:18
man home because of an injustice I'm Jay Sal Peter am Mar tank lips private investigator my name is Marty tankleff
01:24:27
it was my first day of school so I expected to wake up in the morning and go to school and start my senior
01:24:35
year when he woke up instead of going to school he found his father on the doorstep of death and his mother
01:24:43
murdered they were bludgeoned and stabbed I just couldn't believe what I was seeing um I thought I was in a
01:24:52
nightmare I saw him sitting in his office chair and he was covered in blood I knew he was alive because he was
01:24:59
making breathing noises I called 911 from the phone right there all right hold on and I'll
01:25:08
connect I'm connecting you with the ambul Marty was a suspect because Marty was the only Survivor in the house and
01:25:15
that's why the detective went right for mty Marty tankleff was 17 years old at the time that he was arrested for for
01:25:24
murdering his parents in their home in beler Long Island how do you find ask the defendant Martin tankleff as to
01:25:33
count two murder Second deg Great [Applause] y there's no way I could have HT my
01:25:40
parents I love them I knew immediately he couldn't do it the victim's family are Mar's family and they feel that
01:25:48
Marty did not commit this crime Marty was railroaded he loved his mom he loved his dad I'm here because I believe Marty
01:25:56
is innocent all right James gandini became interested in Marty's case he saw a man that was in
01:26:07
jail that shouldn't be in jail some of my Witnesses this is more than just a job this became an obsession
01:26:15
to me when you see a case like this and you know something's wrong you have to have an obligation in life at the end of
01:26:23
the day the people responsible for killing Seymour and alling tank they will go to
01:26:29
jail Marty is innocent M's coming home fight for the truth [Music] [Music] no one could imagine that I would end up
01:27:11
being in this place CU I I'm innocent Marty tankleff had just turned 17 when he was arrested for the murder of his
01:27:19
parents Seymour and Arlene what's it like here difficult but I keep myself as busy as possible I spend hours working
01:27:27
on my case every day it's a struggle he has spent his entire adult life in remote Upstate New York
01:27:35
prisons it's a far cry from Marty tff's childhood spent in the lap of luxury in this sprawling Long Island Waterfront
01:27:45
home it was a wonderful childhood I had more than the average kid Seymour and Arlene tankleff were on
01:27:54
able to have children of their own so they adopted Marty as a baby he was just beautiful and Allie was just so thrilled
01:28:03
how she wanted that baby what was your mom like great she adored me and I adored her we were like best of friends
01:28:10
he was also close to his father my father lived a very poor childhood and when I became a teenager he had money so
01:28:17
he was living his childhood through me vicariously would you describe yourself as as spoiled yes you know I got
01:28:24
basically everything I ever wanted Seymour a Savvy and tough entrepreneur was groomy Marty to following his
01:28:32
footsteps I wanted to be a businessman so I enjoyed being involved in all of that Marty says he knew everything about
01:28:39
his father's businesses including the trouble his dad was having with a partner in a bagel shop Jerry stewman
01:28:47
who owed him around half a million dollars the Friendship had dissipated they essentially became enemy business
01:28:55
partners despite the tension between Seymour tankleff and Jerry stewman both men continued to play in a weekly poker
01:29:03
game and on September 6 1988 it was Marty's father's turn to be host the game lasted into the we hours with
01:29:12
stewman last to leave the next morning Marty says he woke to find his father near
01:29:20
death he called 9911 just remember the woman screaming yelling listen to me saying calm down
01:29:27
calm down I'm sending you an ambulance she gave me some instructions I want you to take a clean towel wherever he's
01:29:33
gushing blood from and did you do that I did that then he says he searched for his
01:29:39
mother he found her dead on her bedroom floor how would you describe the scene when you got there it was it was brutal
01:29:47
it was very brutal James mccre the lead detective now retired arrived an hour later Seymour tankleff bludgeoned and
01:29:56
stabbed but still alive had been rushed to the hospital Arlene's body still lay in her room it was an eerie feeling
01:30:05
because it it always is an eerie feeling she was nearly decapitated and it appeared to me that she had struggled
01:30:14
with whoever assaulted her mccre a homicide cop for 10 years saw no sign of forced entry and he was immediately
01:30:23
bothered by Mar appearance he was sitting as calm as calm can be with his hands clasped just like this what would
01:30:29
you have expected him to be doing I think he would have been crying I think he would have been shaken been very
01:30:35
upset what impression did you get from the way he was talking to you that he was trying to help me and he wanted my
01:30:41
help as the conversation developed I could see that um he was just he's L he was lying I
01:30:48
mean and how did you know that it's not so much the way what is said it's the way in which it's said Marty volunteered
01:30:55
his suspicions that Jerry stewman his father's partner was somehow involved I knew that he was there I knew he had
01:31:04
problems with my father and Marty agreed to talk more about that at Police Headquarters but in fact mccre thought
01:31:13
he already had his man why would Marty kill his parents why one of the simplest old things in the world greed
01:31:21
17-year-old Marty sat with mccre and his partner without a lawyer in a small windowless room 4 hours the detectives
01:31:30
questioned him it was the constant barrage Marty we know you did it everything will be okay just tell us you
01:31:36
did it we know you did it and it was like on and on and unquestioning over and over then mccre did something that
01:31:45
would change everything he left the room pretended to talk on the phone and came back with
01:31:53
news about Seymour tankleff your father they pumped him full of adrenaline and he came out of his coma and he said that
01:32:00
you did it Marty you lied to him yes I lied to him yes yeah and that's all right to do the United States Supreme
01:32:07
Court says it is and what are you thinking that this can't be happening that this is not real Marty begged to
01:32:14
take a polygraph the detectives refused so you're better at telling whether someone's lying I I think I'm better
01:32:21
than a polygraph machine mccc's scheme worked Marty began to wonder if he blacked
01:32:29
out and in fact had attacked his parents finally he told the police what they wanted to
01:32:37
hear it's like having an 18-wheeler driving on your chest and you believing that the only way you can get that way
01:32:44
to get off your chest is to tell the police whatever they want to here even admitting to a murder yeah even
01:32:51
admitting to a murder mccre began to prepare a written statement are these his words that did
01:33:00
he write this no no that's my handwriting although Marty never signed it and almost immediately recanted the
01:33:07
detectives had enough Marty was arrested and charged with murder it was wrong it was wrong
01:33:14
from the beginning private detective J Sal Peter began working on Marty's case seven years ago you can't leave a case
01:33:22
like this you become addicted to a case like this sou Peter's Addiction would eventually lead to startling new clues
01:33:30
that would turn the case around is there a side of you afraid that you just may never get out of here no look the truth
01:33:39
is out there [Applause] do you think about your parents every day I think about all the good times
01:34:00
that we had together from the moment Marty tankleff was arrested his cousin and guardian Ron falby never believed
01:34:08
Marty murdered his parents he is guilty of waking up in the morning alive and Ron's not the only family member in
01:34:16
Marty's corner I'm Marty's Uncle carollyn felby Marty's cousin ever since the 1988 murders all of these relatives
01:34:24
have been fighting to free Marty the strange part is there isn't anybody sitting here that ever got a question
01:34:30
asked by the police they never talked to anybody in this room they say you never
01:34:34
even tried to talk to them that's not true are you saying they're lying yes lead detective James mccre did you ask
01:34:42
to speak with them and they said no no I never directly asked to speak to them I
01:34:47
didn't have to what were they going to add to my case but they say they had plenty to add for one thing they knew
01:34:54
Marty does anyone here though think it was odd that he wasn't very emotional no no no that was that's his way this is
01:35:02
the way he is the whole family is here today and while police say Marty killed his parents to get money his family
01:35:11
disagrees he didn't get any money he wasn't supposed to get any money till he was 25 years old so what was he supposed
01:35:17
to do from 17 to 25 wouldn't you wait were you aware of that no I was not no I was not
01:35:24
jimm isn't it important to talk to everybody before you settle on someone when you know their entire life could be
01:35:30
ruined by this no under the circumstances in this case everything we needed to know we pretty much knew in
01:35:39
the first day with a suspect Behind Bars detective mccre thought he had the whole case
01:35:46
wrapped up in a day but a week later with Marty's father Seymour lingering in a coma the case took took an unexpected
01:35:54
turn Seymour's business partner the same Man Marty had told the police to investigate suddenly
01:36:02
disappeared did you think he would become then a main suspect yes but as this police report shows Detective mccre
01:36:11
still refused to consider Jerry stewman a suspect I'm reading from a missing person's report and it says homicide has
01:36:21
no reason to believe that storman absence is connected with the murder why not because he had nothing to do with
01:36:28
that murder didn't his disappearance make your case harder not that it made it harder it
01:36:35
just it just added more questions two weeks later the detectives found stewman in Long Beach California
01:36:48
he was living under an alias I mean didn't you say to Jerry your your messing up my case here
01:36:55
something like I remember saying something to him to that effect yes stewman returned home claiming his
01:37:02
personal and financial problems caused him to flee I had too many pro problems and it's just 20 years of building up
01:37:10
that's all so I staged my death is it possible Jerry hired someone nope he couldn't that man couldn't hurt a
01:37:20
fly one month after the tank clifts were attacked Seymour died without ever regaining
01:37:27
Consciousness Marty was then charged with two murders and a year and a half later he went on trial I think every
01:37:35
emotion ran through me scared um fearful um but I was also hopeful because I knew
01:37:41
I was innocent and you know I always believe that innocent men don't get found guilty by far the most damaging evidence
01:37:50
against Marty was his confession but there was little physical evidence to back it up none of Marty's hair nor
01:37:57
blood was found on his parents his mother Arlene had clearly fought her attacker yet Marty had no Cuts or
01:38:05
bruises only some swelling in his eyes from a nose job he got for his 17th birthday the jurs also heard from Jerry
01:38:15
stewman who denied having anything to do with the crime I would never do anything
01:38:21
like that he did admit he owed Seymour tank of hundreds of thousands of dollars and part of all of his future Ventures
01:38:29
as well you didn't have a right to set up that business and leave him out correct in his
01:38:37
mind under intense questioning Marty tankle sitting over there storman snapped the only mistake
01:38:46
isow I was a poor man living like a millionaire by contrast Marty tankleff was was composed on the stand Marty did
01:38:55
you kill your father absolutely not perhaps too composed as he tried to explain why he would confess to
01:39:04
something he didn't do they were saying my father said I did this my father never lied to
01:39:14
me after a week's deliberation the jury reached its verdict y the day he was convicted was as hard was the worst as
01:39:29
the day I learned my sister was [Music] killed Marty was sentenced to 50 Years to
01:39:38
Life 11 years later J Sal Peter a retired New York City police detective stepped in how could you not be involved
01:39:47
in a case like this and this kid didn't do it sou Peter believes Mar alleged confession was coerced and he is not
01:39:57
alone oh it's a confession it's a false confession Richard AI an expert in interrogation tactics is working on
01:40:05
Marty's appeals you know that everyone listening to this is saying you couldn't make me confess to a crime I didn't
01:40:13
commit certainly not a brutal murder like this one a bit happens all the time in Marty's case
01:40:21
he says the teenage was tricked into doubting his own memory he knows he didn't do it but he's confronted with a
01:40:30
police officer who's lying to him and skillfully lying all of a sudden there's a way of reconciling it and that is you
01:40:39
had a blackout because of some psychological condition that you've got that impairs your
01:40:46
memory false confessions do happen 25% of the people who've been exonerated with evidence had confessed to crimes
01:40:56
they did not do AI is convinced Marty's confession is false because it doesn't match the crime
01:41:03
scene evidence for example Marty allegedly told police that he used a barbell and kitchen knife as murder
01:41:11
weapons but not a trace of blood was found on them even when they were microscopically
01:41:19
examined if he cleaned off the weapons why wasn't any blood found in the plumbing every confession does not have
01:41:26
100% of the truth in it because they don't give you the whole truth the forensics team found bloody glove prints
01:41:32
at the scene but Marty never mentioned wearing gloves and those gloves were never found what happened to the gloves
01:41:41
I don't know and that doesn't concern you no you know you give me a kid like that
01:41:49
I'll have him tap dancing that he killed his parents we could do it is it right no so Peter conducted his own
01:41:59
investigation and with old fashion leg work track down this man a man who would unravel the entire case did you ever
01:42:08
tell anybody no [Music] former detective James mccre refused to reconsider his initial conclusions even
01:42:31
when the crime scene evidence raised doubts once you have that confession aren't you kind of in a aren't you
01:42:37
caught because you can't bring anyone else a trial once you have that confession I'm not taking a confession
01:42:42
from an innocent man I would never do that but at the time of Marty's arrest mccre and his
01:42:49
fellow detectives in suffk County New York had an astonishingly High confession rate
01:42:57
94% so high a state commission said it provoked skepticism mccre defends his work homicide Squad is sort of the crem
01:43:08
de Lem if you will but in Marty's case as private investigator J Sal Peter mccre was simply wrong the forensic work
01:43:18
does not fit the story if Marty didn't kill his parents and who do you you believed in I
01:43:25
know sou Peter says it was this man Glenn Harris who gave him the break in the case a career criminal serving time
01:43:34
for burglary Harris said after 14 years of Silence he was ready to admit his involvement in the tank Liff murders I
01:43:44
thought if I could do something right for somebody else I'd be helping myself Harris says that on a night in
01:43:51
September 1988 he was the driver on the way to what he thought would be a home burglary who
01:43:58
were you with that evening Joseph greeden and Peter Kent Joseph cedon known on the street as Joey guns and
01:44:06
Peter Kent also have long criminal records in a notorized affidavit Harris says he drove them to an upscale
01:44:17
neighborhood and parked his car where cedon told me to stop when they returned to the car were
01:44:24
you aware of what happened I knew something happened their demeanor their behavior it wasn't normal and what were
01:44:32
your feelings do you remember how something more than a burglary happened usually when you commit a burglary
01:44:38
there's proceeds of something [Music] and that wasn't there and can you tell me what their demeanor was uh extremely
01:44:49
nervous winded creedon's anxiousness to get out of [Applause] there Harris says he later watched Peter
01:45:05
Kent burning his clothes and when he heard about the tankleff murders he put two and two together but kept quiet I
01:45:13
had no right being up there I was just out on parole Glenn Harris took and passed a polygraph arranged by Marty's
01:45:22
inves Ator J Sal Peter he's telling the truth in my opinion Glenn Harris is the hero here what's more sou Peter says
01:45:30
Joey gun's creedon is linked to the man who police dismissed as a possible suspect Jerry stowman has ties to Joseph
01:45:39
cedon this is not a random hit Jerry stewman the bagel shop owner who was heavily in debt to Seymour tankleff is
01:45:47
connected to ceden through his son Todd stewman like ceden a con Ed criminal sou Peter believes Jerry
01:45:56
storman hired ceden the night the tanks were killed my scenario is that Seymour is
01:46:03
sitting at the desk Jerry stewman is talking to him keeping Seymour's attention on Jerry at this point behind
01:46:11
Seymour coming through the door Joe cedon Peter Kent and they took Seymour out and then they went for Mrs tanglo
01:46:22
[Music] Jerry stewman now lives in an upscale community in boa Raton Florida he refuses to talk to 48 hours but both he
01:46:34
and his son Todd deny they had anything to do with the tankleff murders still the New Evidence provided
01:46:41
by Glenn Harris is a major break for Marty tankleff he's been granted a hearing if
01:46:48
the judge at this hearing determines that the New Evidence would have caused the old jury to vote a different way
01:46:55
then Marty will get a new trial and a real shot at winning his freedom as the hearing begins Marty's
01:47:04
lawyers who are working pro bono and his large extended family are thrilled to be
01:47:09
back in court we are very hopeful we we believe in his innocence and we know that he'll be hopefully we know out
01:47:19
soon but that evidence will not go unchallenged this is not a game of stick ball where you do a do over assistant
01:47:28
district attorney Leonard loo is fighting to uphold Marty's verdict there's a verdict there are appeals
01:47:34
there have been Federal habus petitions he's lost lato says Glenn Harris is a liar he came forward initially but when
01:47:42
I tried to interview him he said I don't want to talk in fact when Harris takes the stand he refuses to testify afraid
01:47:51
he'll be charged with a murder and in my view he had isn't testifying because he
01:47:57
doesn't want to get up on the stand and be exposed as a liar but when he was in prison Harris confessed to a Catholic
01:48:04
priest with Harris's permission the priest tells the court the same story Harris told 48 Hours he really wanted to
01:48:13
do the right thing but he was a man who was terrified and there are more than a dozen other new Witnesses who back
01:48:21
Harris's story Carlin kobac met ceden at a party and she says he bragged about the murders do
01:48:29
you really believe when he said he was involved in the tankle of murders that he was telling the truth oh yeah
01:48:34
definitely you're being accused of murder do you have anything to say prosecutor lato claims creeden took
01:48:39
credit for the crime only to enhance his violent reputation but other Witnesses brought to court by tankleff attorneys
01:48:47
say Joey guns creeden tried to involve them in the murder plot there's Joe Gren who says he and cedon made a failed
01:48:56
attempt to Ambush a man he now believes was Seymour tankleff we had to go up to the bagel store to make it look like a
01:49:02
robbery he wasn't there we missed him supposed to catch him coming out of the back and there is
01:49:11
this witness Bill Ram another associate of cedon he confirms Glenn Harris's story that The Killers started out at
01:49:20
his house the night of the murders what were you doing that evening I was hanging out at my house um had a few
01:49:27
people over Ram a convicted drug dealer recalls what cedon told him that night he said I'm working for somebody um
01:49:37
who's got a partner in the bagel business that needs to be straightened out he said you know there's some money
01:49:41
in it for me if we go there and just you know he's going to threaten the guy or rough him up Ram says that he turned
01:49:48
cedon down but Glenn Harris did not when I saw him that he was completely distraught what do you mean by
01:49:55
distraught just shooking up couldn't hold the thought just scared to death I told him just listen keep your mouth
01:50:04
shut what surprised you the most that you've heard from these Witnesses their honesty um that you know
01:50:11
after all these years that they would come forward and admit their involvement in such brutal
01:50:17
crimes when it's the state's turn to present Witnesses the hearing becomes almost surreal incredibly the star
01:50:25
witness is Peter Kent Joe creedon's alleged accomplice when they bring me in you know they told me that we don't we
01:50:33
don't believe that you did this you know I thought maybe like they were trying to
01:50:35
play technology games with me you know yeah pet we don't think that you really did it but just come on come forward you
01:50:41
know Kent denies he had anything to do with the murders I know I was not there with Glenn doing no murders but even he
01:50:49
says Joe cedon is capable of murder would it name like Joey gun just not these murders Joey was not the killer
01:50:58
for these murders I know that cuz he was not with me that night and we didn't do
01:51:01
this with Glenn it never happen were you in that house that night cedon who's been convicted of rape
01:51:08
and Gran Larsen denies ever killing anyone but on the stand he admits to a life of violence collecting money for
01:51:17
drug dealers it's hard to to know that a person is evil as himself self um can walk out of the courtroom free and
01:51:26
they're putting handcuffs on my nephew to take him back to the holding cell do you believe these two career criminals
01:51:35
who have admitted A A History of Violence right do you believe when they say they had nothing to do with the tank
01:51:42
offt murders I believe in terms of the evidence that there's no evidence connecting them to the crime at all no
01:51:48
credible evidence but the hearing is not over after watching a 48 Hours report on
01:51:54
the tank Liff case a surprise witness comes forward Joe creon's own [Music] son the Final witness for Marty tankleff
01:52:16
and maybe the most surprising one is 17-year-old Joe gasio who comes to Court to accuse his own father Joey guns
01:52:26
creeden of murder you didn't see your dad a lot when you were growing up no ma'am in 2004 the young man finally got
01:52:34
to spend time with a father he barely knew he says at first he was thrilled but later after seeing a 48 Hours report
01:52:42
on the tank Liff murders he had to ask his father the tough question dad you know tell me did you
01:52:51
really do this he tells me yes I did do it for several months young Joe says he kept to himself
01:52:59
what his father said when he finally told his mother she convinced him to testify and called private detective J
01:53:08
saler but assistant DA Leonard lato believes Joe gasio is just lashing out at his father the first question is did
01:53:17
the judge believe it if he doesn't believe it it's nothing in fact later doesn't believe that any of Tank's new
01:53:24
witnesses can be trusted especially since so many of them have criminal histories the point is those things
01:53:32
affect their credibility like the people who implicated cedon they all admitted one thing uh they all hated him that's a
01:53:40
reason to say things about a person that isn't true the district attorney of suffa
01:53:47
county has an obligation to seek the truth the district attorney is doing everything
01:53:55
here to suppress the truth from coming out you really believe that all my heart in March 2006 18 months after the
01:54:10
hearing began finally a decision but it's a heartbreaking one for Marty tankleff the judge dismisses the new
01:54:18
witnesses as nefarious Scoundrels and refuses to Grant him a new trial which means Marty's conviction
01:54:28
stands but he does have One Last Hope an Appel at court I will now proceed to call the calendar people versus tank
01:54:38
cliff in October 2007 four Appel Court judges hear the case in a courtroom packed with tankleff supporters the da
01:54:47
concedes everything you're say front and center is one of Marty's biggest and best known backers James gandal how did
01:54:56
that happen well I met James uh about two years ago all right and I started talking to him about Marty actor James
01:55:04
gandini went to visit Marty in an Upstate prison and he knew I was innocent he believed in me and he would
01:55:10
do anything he can to help out have seats come to order Marty's lawyers argue that even though some witnesses
01:55:16
have criminal records they could still be telling the truth prosecutors have to use these Witnesses all the time it's
01:55:23
got to be the same for the defense there were people that you brought forward who
01:55:27
have criminal histories a lot of them what gave them credibility as a group they didn't know each other they came
01:55:34
from different walks of life different communities so how do you get 20 people to lie to come in and just make up a
01:55:42
story that's consistent with each one and all name the same people this court stands in recess
01:55:51
[Music] in December the court rules 19 years after Seymour and Arlene tankleff were killed 17 years after
01:56:03
Marty tankleff went to prison he finally gets the news he has dreamed of all those years the court
01:56:12
overturns Marty's conviction unanimously and what did they tell you with that moment can I say it Bruce said
01:56:25
pack your you're coming home that was his exact line the other side within days Marty is
01:56:33
brought to suffi County one more time was there any side of you Marty a little scared of getting out you had
01:56:41
spent your entire adult life in prison I was ready for everything all right we got our picture
01:56:49
Marty look look Marty there you go [Music] [Applause] the following morning his family gathers
01:56:59
at the courthouse are you congratulations Marty could be retried for murder but the court agrees to
01:57:08
release him on a million dooll Bond as executed by uh Carol and Mr faly did you have any hesitation to do that no not at
01:57:17
all none whatsoever good luck to you sir thank you [Applause] [Music] minutes later Marty walks
01:57:33
[Music] [Applause] free there's a live picture from Chopper 12 the event is carried live on Long
01:57:44
Island television has it feel to be out we're going to make a statement upstairs
01:57:49
little room please little room I just couldn't believe it I mean I was outside free man walking with my attorneys and
01:57:57
being bombarded by everybody gentlemen we need a pet here clear pet Marty tank is coming back in now to go before the
01:58:04
microphones we talk to the media along with his family and [Applause] friends just
01:58:16
mbing and I walked in there I don't remember what I said really I remember just seeing all the family crying and I
01:58:23
just remember hugging everybody I wouldn't have wanted in any better way having all my family together
01:58:32
welcome home it's great to see all of you here today my arresting conviction was a
01:58:39
nightmare this is a dream come true still a little hard to believe yeah I mean I you know it just came so
01:58:49
suddenly we lost the battle but today we won the war this is a man who gave me my
01:58:56
life back it was his dedication that saved me we were scared to death 19 years ago but he's done a
01:59:06
terrific job did you ever really think this day would come the soci me finds it hard to believe however there was never
01:59:14
a doubt in my mind that this day would come you're happy and you know CL your hands Here Comes Marty here he comes but
01:59:23
at that moment you're still facing trial at that moment yes but I wasn't even thinking about it because it was
01:59:30
the first time I was essentially a free person wearing Street clothing Right Here Right Here Right Marty is followed
01:59:40
to his cousin's home how you feeling buddy how you do where there is a long anticipated celebration I I haven't had
01:59:48
a real plate of food so I walked into to my family's house that was filled with friends and family
01:59:56
and it was a loving caring warm environment it felt like I hadn't left how's the food yeah I'm looking for
02:00:04
another round but Marty Tank's case has caught the attention of top state officials and
02:00:13
his fate is now in the hands of the governor budy you Mak today how do you feel buddy
02:00:24
congratulations thank you very much thank you what are your thoughts tonight I just want to spend some quality time
02:00:29
with my family after 17 years of isolation Marty tankleff suddenly is thrust into the
02:00:40
spotlight right here here buddy thank you he's moved in with his cousin Ron fby at times it gets a little hair and
02:00:52
you you wake up in the morning and they're sitting there waiting for you you go to bed at night and they're still
02:00:57
out there sitting there waiting for you and yeah it's like we we got a little feeling of what a rock star is you
02:01:03
know it's not just the notoriety that's new for Marty shock was the technology you know sending you know an email
02:01:11
across the world and getting a response back in 3 seconds yeah never knew that was possible the world changed while
02:01:18
Marty was locked up what else anything else that's surprised you how good it was to wake up in the morning be able to
02:01:25
make my own cup of coffee walk out the back door watch the sunrise when was the lowest period in all of
02:01:32
this every day in prison is a low period you wake up and the smells The Sounds the noise that's the low
02:01:43
period and you have to force yourself to get past that period to kind of get through the day that's the first Sunrise
02:01:51
that I was able to take a picture of at age 36 Marty finally feels like a free man I was given my life back I mean
02:02:01
literally in a 10-day period I went from a prison cell serving 50 years to life to being back with my
02:02:10
family right kind of exciting and Mickey you want coffee his apparent seamless transition to the
02:02:18
outside world surprises his family my wife and I have been watching him closely and and his manners are still
02:02:26
there he still helps his aunts what else do you need oh thank you a little sugar
02:02:33
a little milk no what was your concern um that he would Harden in there and that he would lose his spirit and it
02:02:41
didn't happen I didn't live in the prison system I resided there what do you mean well my body was physically
02:02:48
there my mind wasn't my soul wasn't but his legal ordeal is not over New York's Governor appoints a special prosecutor
02:02:57
from the Attorney General's office to investigate and determine once and for all whether Marty should be retried for
02:03:05
the murder of his parents we can collect materials and try to reach a determination of how long it will take
02:03:12
us to be able to decide whether to proceed with the case it's yet one more frustrating
02:03:20
delay but Marty w no time and enrolls in college at the same time he helps his lawyers prepare for a possible new trial
02:03:30
and this is all the case files I mean essentially everyone is a different witness false confessions Co
02:03:38
of interrogations come on 6 months after Marty tff's release the decision Marty returns to court today is a day it's not
02:03:49
just about me it's about my mother's sisters my father's family he is prepared for battle 17
02:03:58
years in prison I fought for the day for a new trial All Rise Supreme Court of suffer
02:04:06
County criminal term part five is now in session that Al there is some evidence that Mr tankle committed the crimes
02:04:11
charge the evidence is insufficient to conclude or it prove Beyond a reasonable doubt that he did so the people hereby
02:04:18
move to dismiss indictments number 1535 over the Attorney General's office asked the
02:04:24
court to drop all [Applause] charges the 18 wheeler has finally driven off my chest I can kind of just
02:04:35
get on with life now while the decision doesn't completely exonerate him it's the next best thing Marty is free and
02:04:43
clear his record now clean they say there is some evidence against Marty we've known that for 20 years they brow
02:04:51
beat a confession out of him course there's some evidence against them do you feel anybody still looks at you and
02:04:57
wonders um I haven't sensed that at all um I think anybody who knows the facts has no doubt that I they know I'm
02:05:04
innocent what's more the special Prosecutor's investigation uncovers a stunning piece of evidence that points
02:05:12
away from Marty's guilt and was Overlook for two decades there's a bloody imprint
02:05:19
of a knife on Arlene tff's bed sheet and it matches no knife in the tankleff home
02:05:26
it's showing that someone left the house with the murder weapon and it wasn't Marty Marty remains convinced that it
02:05:33
was his father's former business partner and hired Thugs who killed his parents my family and I won't stop till
02:05:42
you know they are prosecuted and they're in prison but the state says neither that bloody knife imprint nor any other
02:05:48
forensic evidence links them to the murders and the state also finds many of the witnesses
02:05:54
unreliable so for now no one is charged with a crime it's frustrating it it's frustrating that the system doesn't work
02:06:04
but Marty is finally free to make something of his future he has set his sights High I'm majoring in sociology
02:06:13
and then I'll go on to law school definitely definitely why I've been exposed to a system that just has so
02:06:19
many problems and I I want to change it I want to make changes [Applause] [Music]
02:06:55
he [Music]