annie mae said:
I am hoping that many of you will visit this web-site: http://www.jrslaughter.com and post your thoughts as why this man should be put to DEATH? or? Did he really commit the crime? Blessings, annie
I found this opinion on the case at FindLaw. Here is an excerpt. Maybe this guy really is innocent.
I. Background
In July 1991, the bodies of Melody Wuertz and her infant daughter Jessica were discovered in their home. Plaintiff, a detective with the Edmond police department, was assigned to the case. Jimmy Ray Slaughter, Jessica's father, was quickly identified as a suspect and was subsequently convicted of the murders. Two days after the discovery of the bodies, Plaintiff asked his immediate supervisor, Lieutenant Terry Gregg, to allow him to leave for a previously scheduled vacation during the Fourth of July weekend. As a result, Plaintiff was absent for three or four days of the investigation. When he returned, he worked on the case for another five weeks before the case was referred to a multi-district task force. As a result of his investigation, Plaintiff had serious doubts that Slaughter was the murderer, and he became convinced that Jessica was killed sometime between 12 midnight and 2:00 a.m. on July 2. Plaintiff's theory was apparently in conflict with autopsy results which placed the time of death between 10 a.m. and noon on July 2. Establishing the time of death was very important in this case because two witnesses placed Slaughter near the Wuertz residence around noon on July 2, 1991. Plaintiff brought his theory to the attention of other officers and his supervisors and was told not to pursue it further because it might "muddy the water."
Plaintiff claims that in late May 1992, Detective Theresa Pfeiffer approached him and asked him to write a police report regarding the Wuertz case including facts he knew to be false. <A target=_blank name=footref1>
1 Plaintiff refused to comply and within a month was transferred from detective to patrol officer. Following Plaintiff's June 1992 transfer, he continued to receive the same base salary, but was no longer eligible for the $50.00 per month "special duty pay" detectives receive.
In December 1992, Plaintiff wrote a letter to then Chief of Police Bill Vetter stating that Plaintiff was aware of exculpatory evidence in the Slaughter case which he wanted to bring to the attention of the district attorney. Two months after Plaintiff wrote this letter, Daves, a captain in the patrol division, changed Plaintiff's days off from Saturday and Sunday to Friday and Saturday. In October 1993, Plaintiff was reassigned to the detective division. Since his reassignment he has not been assigned to any homicide investigations.
On January 20, 1995, Plaintiff filed his original complaint against the City of Edmond, Gregg, and Vetter. On November 2, 1995, the district court dismissed Plaintiff's First Amendment claim against the city, Gregg and Vetter. On June 20, 1996, Plaintiff filed an amended complaint adding due process, tortious interference with business relations, and conspiracy claims against officers Preston and Daves.
In December 1996, the district court conducted a bench trial of Plaintiff's claims against the City of Edmond, Vetter and Gregg for Fourteenth Amendment due process violations, breach of contract, civil conspiracy, and tortious interference with business relations. A few weeks later, the claims against Defendants Daves and Preston were tried to a jury. At the close of Plaintiff's case, the district court took the case from the jury and granted Defendants' motion for judgment as a matter of law. On March 4, 1997, the district court filed findings of fact and conclusions of law pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 52(a), and entered judgment on the claims against Defendants Gregg, Vetter and the City of Edmond as follows. The district court entered judgment on the due process claim in favor of Plaintiff and against the City of Edmond and Vetter and awarded damages in the amount of $1.00. On the breach of contract claim, judgment was granted in favor of Plaintiff and against the City of Edmond, and damages of $1.00 were awarded. The district court entered judgment against Plaintiff and in favor of Defendants on the remaining claims.
You can find the rest of the opinion at FindLaw.
Plus I read somewhere that a co-worker of Slaughter's at the Veteran's Administration told police that she had given him some hair and a pair of soiled panties, but she committed suicide before the trial and couldn't testify. That had me scratching my head at first, then I found the above opinion and wondered if maybe the woman was trapped between putting an innocent man in prison and whoever might have been coercing her to maybe lie. That could certainly cause someone to commit suicide. This sounds like another mystery as yet unsolved, in spite of the conviction.
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