A case almost identical to Darlie's: Julie Rea & Joel Harper

[armywife210]

the link didn't work for me... ?

 

[nicola]

Hi Armywife!

link didnt work for me either, it says video has been removed from utube because of terms of use violations - what ever they are.


Does anyone know where else video can be watched?

 

[cami]

Hi Armywife!

link didnt work for me either, it says video has been removed from utube because of terms of use violations - what ever they are.


Does anyone know where else video can be watched?

It probably violates Copyright laws, Nic.

I would google Julie Rae and maybe you'll find something.

 

[annkitty0630]

Cami, How's it going honey? I stated in a previous post that Julie Rae Harper was acquitted in her second trial and if you remember correctly the FBI had placed Tommy Lynn Sells in Lawrenceville, IL a few days prior and he bought a bus ticket out of town I believe in St. Louis Missouri?) early the next morning (Even though this article doesn't specify that) to Winnemucca, NV. After that if I remember correctly he murdered someone in Missouri or Texas (Can't really remember after all this time)??? Read forward, I posted what I had read years ago, I don't live to far from where this happened... Take Care Cami, long time no talk... Hopefully I won't get in trouble for posting all this? Ann, Keep Smiling! :innocent: :twocents: :croc:


"Downstate Illinois Innocence Project corroborates Sells' confession: Investigation by the Project resulted in eyewitness testimony from Alan Berkshire who saw Sells in Lawrenceville the weekend Joel was killed; and the testimony of Sandra Wirth, who reported selling a bus ticket in Winnemucca, Nevada two days after Joel was killed to a man who matched the suspect Julie described to police. Winnemucca is significant because Texas Rangers could place Sells there after Joel was killed. Texas Ranger John Allen reviewed the evidence gathered by UIS. This evidence convinced Ranger Allen that Sells’ confession to the murder of Joel Kirkpatrick was genuine.

UIS presents exonerating evidence to the Prisoner Review Board: On Oct. 24, 2003, the Downstate Illinois Innocence Project presented compelling evidence corroborating the confession of Tommy Lynn Sells.

Diane Fanning testified as to the circumstances of how Sells confessed to the murder of Joel Kirkpatrick. Former state police crime scene investigator Alva Busch pointed out inaccuracies in the interpretation of crime scene evidence of one of the State's experts at the first trial that contributed to Julie's wrongful conviction.

Bill Clutter, Director of Investigations for the Downstate Illinois Innocence Project, presented a summary of the evidence corroborating Sells' confession.

At the urging of the Prisoner Review Board, prosecutor David Rands and Sgt. Pea of the Illinois State Police traveled to Texas on Nov. 6, 2003 and conducted an audio- recorded interview of Sells. Sells gave details that only the killer would know. Sells told prosecutors that during the struggle the woman clung to his leg as he drug her inside the house. Six years earlier, Julie had described grabbing the intruder's leg and of being dragged on the carpet. A nurse who treated Julie observed what appeared to be rug burns on her leg.

Despite 53 points of corroboration to Sells' confession to the murder of Joel Kirkpatrick, prosecutors continued to insist they disbelieved the confession based on the few facts Sells got wrong, taking the same position prosecutors in DuPage County took in the Nicarico case when they were presented with the confession of serial killer Brian Dugan in 1985.

UIS discovers evidence of police perjury: The media coverage from the Prisoner Review Board hearing prompted the former mayor of Lawrenceville and the former chief of police to contact the Downstate Innocence Project with evidence suggesting that a Lawrence County Sheriff deputy testified falsely at Julie's first trial, providing false evidence which contributed to her conviction. The Deputy, who was first on the scene, made no report about searching the back yard for footprints on an intruder. However, at trial, Deputy Dennis York testified that before entering the house he shined his flash light down on the wet dew-covered grass and could find no evidence of a perpetrator's footprints in the back yard where Julie described the intruder striking her to the ground and calmly walking away. York testified, "I shined the yard with my light. It was heavy dew. I seen no fresh track in the yard." However, this testimony is contradicted by a neighbor who walked the same area in his barefeet and said the grass was dry. After Julie was convicted, her new husband Mark Harper contacted a meteorologist who reviewed weather records for that morning. This expert concluded there would have been no dew on the ground that morning. Key evidence was discovered by UIS that was never provided to Julie's defense attorney by prosecutors. This withheld evidence was an audio-taped interview of Deputy York that was conducted on the morning of the crime by the Lawrenceville police chief David White. The audio interview contradicted York's trial testimony by stating he went immediately inside the house and never mentioned searching the back yard for footprints in the dew. This audio tape was never provided to the defense during Julie's first trial. Yet, his testimony was used by prosecutors as evidence that there was no intruder."

Also I will add this:

"But the most obvious difference between the first trial and the second was the fact that someone else had voluntarily confessed to the crime. Tommy Lynn Sells, a convicted killer, is housed on Texas’ death row as the result of a somewhat similar crime — sneaking into a residence in the wee hours and stabbing a young child to death. Sells claims to have murdered as many as 50 people across the country. Though a handful of his confessions have been proven false, law-enforcement officials in Texas confirmed his guilt in 15 killings and two attempted murders before Sells stopped cooperating with their investigation. Five of those crimes involved victims he stabbed as they slept.

In Joel’s case, Sells’ recall wasn’t perfect; as with other statements he had given, Sells muffed details when he began talking about the crime, some five years after it occurred.

Parkinson consistently refers to all Sells’ statements as either “garbage” or “that Tommy Lynn Sells crap.”

In fact, about the only thing that didn’t change between the two trials was Parkinson’s perspective on the case. The soundbite he delivered after Harper’s 2002 conviction and the comment he offered two weeks ago after her acquittal were almost exactly the same:

“To believe her, a person came into the house in the middle of the night with no forced entry . . . took a steak knife in a darkened kitchen, went down the hallway, turned left, stabbed this little boy to death for absolutely no reason, then struggled with her, didn’t kill her, and left — actually walked away from her in her back yard, pulling off his mask. . . . That’s enough for me,” Parkinson says. “Her story didn’t make sense.”

There’s a certain irony to the fact that Parkinson’s original version of that quote, broadcast May 31, 2002, on the ABC news magazine 20/20, prompted Sells’ confession. Diane Fanning, a true-crime author who was then putting the finishing touches on a book about Sells, happened to be watching that night [see Dusty Rhodes, “Who killed Joel?” July 24, 2003].

Though she thought she had completed her research, Fanning kept up her correspondence with Sells. When she saw Parkinson on TV, she knew that Sells, who had no access to TV, would get a chuckle out of the prosecutor’s blustery quote. So in her next letter Fanning wrote:

The other night, I was watching a story on TV about a woman who was in jail for killing her son. She claims someone broke into her house and killed him. You could say, “Yeah right, lady. We’ve heard that story before.” But then you listen to the law enforcement guys and the prosecuting attorney and they are so full of stupid opinions. When they were asked why they only pursued her in this case, they said: 1) There were no strange fingerprints in the house; 2) No stranger would just come into her house and kill her child; 3) It was so violent, it had to be someone with a very close relationship to the child; (And here’s my very favorite on the stupid scale) 4) A person does not come in to someone’s else [house] without a weapon and then pull a knife out of the kitchen drawer in the house and use it.

She supplied no other details, so she was stunned by Sells’ response: “About that woman claims someone broke into her house,” he wrote, “was that like maybe two days before my Springfield, MO murder? Maybe on the 13th?”

Fanning didn’t remember the date flashed on TV, so she contacted 20/20 and learned that yes, Joel Kirkpatrick had been killed on Oct. 13, 1997. Sells had already been indicted for the Oct. 15 abduction, rape, and murder of 13-year-old Stephanie Mahaney in Springfield, Mo.

This discovery, Fanning says, created a quandary. Her deadline was approaching, and she had no time to substantiate Sells’ claim to this killing. Besides, she had already heard the official legal view by way of Parkinson’s appearance on TV.

“I couldn’t decide whether to put it in my book or not,” she says. “I thought: If I put it in my book and it’s not true, it could damage my credibility — but if it is true, there will be people out there who will read this and know enough to do something about it.”"

 

[annkitty0630]

That is right KBL8201, she was acquitted in the 2nd trial and in my eyes she is "INNOCENT"... Take Care, Ann :twocents: :woohoo:

 

[cami]

Cami, How's it going honey? I stated in a previous post that Julie Rae Harper was acquitted in her second trial and if you remember correctly the FBI had placed Tommy Lynn Sells in Lawrenceville, IL a few days prior and he bought a bus ticket out of town I believe in St. Louis Missouri?) early the next morning (Even though this article doesn't specify that) to Winnemucca, NV. After that if I remember correctly he murdered someone in Missouri or Texas (Can't really remember after all this time)??? Read forward, I posted what I had read years ago, I don't live to far from where this happened... Take Care Cami, long time no talk... Hopefully I won't get in trouble for posting all this? Ann, Keep Smiling! :innocent: :twocents: :croc:


"Downstate Illinois Innocence Project corroborates Sells' confession: Investigation by the Project resulted in eyewitness testimony from Alan Berkshire who saw Sells in Lawrenceville the weekend Joel was killed; and the testimony of Sandra Wirth, who reported selling a bus ticket in Winnemucca, Nevada two days after Joel was killed to a man who matched the suspect Julie described to police. Winnemucca is significant because Texas Rangers could place Sells there after Joel was killed. Texas Ranger John Allen reviewed the evidence gathered by UIS. This evidence convinced Ranger Allen that Sells’ confession to the murder of Joel Kirkpatrick was genuine.

UIS presents exonerating evidence to the Prisoner Review Board: On Oct. 24, 2003, the Downstate Illinois Innocence Project presented compelling evidence corroborating the confession of Tommy Lynn Sells.

Diane Fanning testified as to the circumstances of how Sells confessed to the murder of Joel Kirkpatrick. Former state police crime scene investigator Alva Busch pointed out inaccuracies in the interpretation of crime scene evidence of one of the State's experts at the first trial that contributed to Julie's wrongful conviction.

Bill Clutter, Director of Investigations for the Downstate Illinois Innocence Project, presented a summary of the evidence corroborating Sells' confession.

At the urging of the Prisoner Review Board, prosecutor David Rands and Sgt. Pea of the Illinois State Police traveled to Texas on Nov. 6, 2003 and conducted an audio- recorded interview of Sells. Sells gave details that only the killer would know. Sells told prosecutors that during the struggle the woman clung to his leg as he drug her inside the house. Six years earlier, Julie had described grabbing the intruder's leg and of being dragged on the carpet. A nurse who treated Julie observed what appeared to be rug burns on her leg.

Despite 53 points of corroboration to Sells' confession to the murder of Joel Kirkpatrick, prosecutors continued to insist they disbelieved the confession based on the few facts Sells got wrong, taking the same position prosecutors in DuPage County took in the Nicarico case when they were presented with the confession of serial killer Brian Dugan in 1985.

UIS discovers evidence of police perjury: The media coverage from the Prisoner Review Board hearing prompted the former mayor of Lawrenceville and the former chief of police to contact the Downstate Innocence Project with evidence suggesting that a Lawrence County Sheriff deputy testified falsely at Julie's first trial, providing false evidence which contributed to her conviction. The Deputy, who was first on the scene, made no report about searching the back yard for footprints on an intruder. However, at trial, Deputy Dennis York testified that before entering the house he shined his flash light down on the wet dew-covered grass and could find no evidence of a perpetrator's footprints in the back yard where Julie described the intruder striking her to the ground and calmly walking away. York testified, "I shined the yard with my light. It was heavy dew. I seen no fresh track in the yard." However, this testimony is contradicted by a neighbor who walked the same area in his barefeet and said the grass was dry. After Julie was convicted, her new husband Mark Harper contacted a meteorologist who reviewed weather records for that morning. This expert concluded there would have been no dew on the ground that morning. Key evidence was discovered by UIS that was never provided to Julie's defense attorney by prosecutors. This withheld evidence was an audio-taped interview of Deputy York that was conducted on the morning of the crime by the Lawrenceville police chief David White. The audio interview contradicted York's trial testimony by stating he went immediately inside the house and never mentioned searching the back yard for footprints in the dew. This audio tape was never provided to the defense during Julie's first trial. Yet, his testimony was used by prosecutors as evidence that there was no intruder."

Also I will add this:

"But the most obvious difference between the first trial and the second was the fact that someone else had voluntarily confessed to the crime. Tommy Lynn Sells, a convicted killer, is housed on Texas’ death row as the result of a somewhat similar crime — sneaking into a residence in the wee hours and stabbing a young child to death. Sells claims to have murdered as many as 50 people across the country. Though a handful of his confessions have been proven false, law-enforcement officials in Texas confirmed his guilt in 15 killings and two attempted murders before Sells stopped cooperating with their investigation. Five of those crimes involved victims he stabbed as they slept.

In Joel’s case, Sells’ recall wasn’t perfect; as with other statements he had given, Sells muffed details when he began talking about the crime, some five years after it occurred.

Parkinson consistently refers to all Sells’ statements as either “garbage” or “that Tommy Lynn Sells crap.”

In fact, about the only thing that didn’t change between the two trials was Parkinson’s perspective on the case. The soundbite he delivered after Harper’s 2002 conviction and the comment he offered two weeks ago after her acquittal were almost exactly the same:

“To believe her, a person came into the house in the middle of the night with no forced entry . . . took a steak knife in a darkened kitchen, went down the hallway, turned left, stabbed this little boy to death for absolutely no reason, then struggled with her, didn’t kill her, and left — actually walked away from her in her back yard, pulling off his mask. . . . That’s enough for me,” Parkinson says. “Her story didn’t make sense.”

There’s a certain irony to the fact that Parkinson’s original version of that quote, broadcast May 31, 2002, on the ABC news magazine 20/20, prompted Sells’ confession. Diane Fanning, a true-crime author who was then putting the finishing touches on a book about Sells, happened to be watching that night [see Dusty Rhodes, “Who killed Joel?” July 24, 2003].

Though she thought she had completed her research, Fanning kept up her correspondence with Sells. When she saw Parkinson on TV, she knew that Sells, who had no access to TV, would get a chuckle out of the prosecutor’s blustery quote. So in her next letter Fanning wrote:

The other night, I was watching a story on TV about a woman who was in jail for killing her son. She claims someone broke into her house and killed him. You could say, “Yeah right, lady. We’ve heard that story before.” But then you listen to the law enforcement guys and the prosecuting attorney and they are so full of stupid opinions. When they were asked why they only pursued her in this case, they said: 1) There were no strange fingerprints in the house; 2) No stranger would just come into her house and kill her child; 3) It was so violent, it had to be someone with a very close relationship to the child; (And here’s my very favorite on the stupid scale) 4) A person does not come in to someone’s else [house] without a weapon and then pull a knife out of the kitchen drawer in the house and use it.

She supplied no other details, so she was stunned by Sells’ response: “About that woman claims someone broke into her house,” he wrote, “was that like maybe two days before my Springfield, MO murder? Maybe on the 13th?”

Fanning didn’t remember the date flashed on TV, so she contacted 20/20 and learned that yes, Joel Kirkpatrick had been killed on Oct. 13, 1997. Sells had already been indicted for the Oct. 15 abduction, rape, and murder of 13-year-old Stephanie Mahaney in Springfield, Mo.

This discovery, Fanning says, created a quandary. Her deadline was approaching, and she had no time to substantiate Sells’ claim to this killing. Besides, she had already heard the official legal view by way of Parkinson’s appearance on TV.

“I couldn’t decide whether to put it in my book or not,” she says. “I thought: If I put it in my book and it’s not true, it could damage my credibility — but if it is true, there will be people out there who will read this and know enough to do something about it.”"

Thanks AnnieKitty. Regardless, I still don't think Sells is responsible. I don't believe he's been charged has he? Besides phsychopaths will say anything to get some attention.

I have no opinion on this case as I don't know it the way I know a couple of cases. Her supporters won't put the complete trial transcript online so imo they are not trustworthy.

She very well could be innocent. I just don't have an opinion as you do.

Take care

 

[Paige SC]

I know this is a few yrs old but I agree Cami. I'd just like to ad that despite what the evidence (or lack thereof) suggests, I personally believe this mother killed her son. Sells was never charged with or convicted of any crime related to the murder of Joel Kirkpatrick.

 

[chlban]

I realize this is a very old thread but I just watched a show on ID about the Julie Rea Harper case, which I am familiar with, and it dawned on me that the Darlie fan club must have jumped all over this one.

It's been a while, but clearly it got some attention, although I must admit, less than I thought it would. Probably because Sells was in jail at the time Darlie killed the boys.

I too believe that Julie was guilty. It was actually mentioned on the show (On the Case with Paula Zahn) that Sells was about to have a date set for his execution when he made his confession to Fanning, so the confession naturally bought him time, as it always does when a known killer starts adding victims to his list.

Add that to all the inconsistencies in both his story and Julie's and it really surprises me that she was acquitted. She totally lucked out with Diane Fanning wanting to publicize her book and Sells seeing that date setting looming on his horizon.

Thankfully, Darlie cannot latch onto it, or certainly already would have.

 

[cami]

I realize this is a very old thread but I just watched a show on ID about the Julie Rea Harper case, which I am familiar with, and it dawned on me that the Darlie fan club must have jumped all over this one.

It's been a while, but clearly it got some attention, although I must admit, less than I thought it would. Probably because Sells was in jail at the time Darlie killed the boys.

I too believe that Julie was guilty. It was actually mentioned on the show (On the Case with Paula Zahn) that Sells was about to have a date set for his execution when he made his confession to Fanning, so the confession naturally bought him time, as it always does when a known killer starts adding victims to his list.

Add that to all the inconsistencies in both his story and Julie's and it really surprises me that she was acquitted. She totally lucked out with Diane Fanning wanting to publicize her book and Sells seeing that date setting looming on his horizon.

Thankfully, Darlie cannot latch onto it, or certainly already would have.

I believe Julie is guilty of the murder of her son. Sells confessed but has since recanted his confession. His confession was full of inconsistencies as you noted, he didn't even have the description of Julie's house correct.

 

[mubblefubbles]

I believe Julie is guilty of the murder of her son. Sells confessed but has since recanted his confession. His confession was full of inconsistencies as you noted, he didn't even have the description of Julie's house correct.

Julie committed the crime. And she's extremely lucky to have been acquitted.
But - I'll give the "innocence project type people" this much: you can make a better case - a much better case, in fact - that Julie Harper is innocent than you can make a case that Darlie Routier is innocent.
With Darlie there is no doubt to be had - from top to bottom all of the evidence points towards her, and it is beyond all reasonable doubt and possibly beyond all possible doubt that Darlie is guilty.
With Julie Harper it is possible to imagine a scenario where she could be innocent.

 

[Junebug99]

I believe Julie is innocent. She passed two lie detector tests, she had burn marks where she was drug across the carpet, also no blood but a tiny tiny speck on Julie, how does that happen?

 

[Val830]

From what I understand (and mind you, the first trial transcript is sealed so I've never read it), the police really dropped the ball as far as evidence collection. I read an article that talked about photos of the bed that clearly showed fibers yet they were never collected.

If Harper is guilty, she's one of the luckiest murderers of all time.

 

[chlban]

From what I understand (and mind you, the first trial transcript is sealed so I've never read it), the police really dropped the ball as far as evidence collection. I read an article that talked about photos of the bed that clearly showed fibers yet they were never collected.

If Harper is guilty, she's one of the luckiest murderers of all time.

Not really. There are plenty of much luckier murderers out there that have never served a single day in jail for their crimes.

She's lucker than Darlie though.

 

[cobalt sky]

I also found this http://www.truthinjustice.org/who-killed-joel.htm

I have been rading the other thread on webslueths about Juile & Joel the people made some good points on there about the cases....
here is some could this have been something that happened in Darlies case, a random act, She seemed like a snooty girl that thought she was all rich & better....Maybe she snubbed somebody & made them mad and they decided to get her back! JUST LIKE IN JULIES CASE HERE IS SOME INFO

Tommy Sells says he went into that house because he ran into Julie (with her son) at a convenience store and she treated him badly. He followed them home that very minute from the store and sat in front of their house. He later went back. He said he went into a room, saw a body and started "cutting/stabbing" and heard someone coming down the hall. He said she fought with him and he pushed her and she came back at him again. He said he would have stabbed her, but he had already left the knife behind, so he got the hell out of there. He was then asked if he felt bad that she was being held responsible for a crime he may have committed and he said hell no, that he was happy about it because of the way she treated him and she could go to hell (or something of the sort). This doesn't sound to me like a guy who wants to just be a nice guy and get the lady out of trouble. He also said that sometimes killing someone close to the person he hated was even better than killing the person because it hurts them more.

Very interesting case! The following is taken from the article linked above, bottom of the page: "At a hearing scheduled for late August, Julie's attorneys plan to seek DNA testing of a strand of hair that was found in Joel Kirkpatrick's hand."

I am wondering if any testing was ever done on the hair. What a shame if Julie really did kill that darling boy, terrible injustice. IMO.

 

[missy_g]

Julie Rae Harper was acquitted.

 

[Mary456]

The two cases are strikingly similar. The major difference is that Julie got away with murder, and Darlie did not.

After years of contacting just about everyone involved in Julie Rea's case, I obtained a partial transcript of her 2002 trial. I reconstructed, to the best of my ability, the missing testimony using two sources: 1.Trial coverage posted on the supporter website "Justice for Julie and Joel!" This website was taken down soon after Rea's 2006 acquittal and 2.The Lawrenceville Daily Record newspaper.

Don't panic when you see 722 pages, because the actual transcript is double (triple?)-spaced in large type. I read the entire thing in a few hours. Opening statements are missing, so some of the testimony may make more sense if you read the closing arguments first.

http://goo.gl/IdUzgG

 

[Mary456]

Sorry, I should have re-introduced myself. I've been a long-time member of this board, although I don't post too often. Julie Rea's case is dead, because she won an acquittal in her second trial, but I'd love to hear your comments. I'll post evidence/testimony of her guilt and welcome any responses.

 

[neesaki]

I've never heard of Rea case, except for what I just read and though for the most part it sounds quite different from Darlie's. For one, Tommy Lynn Sells confessed to the murder, and according to jurors they found Rea's testimony believable. Darlie has never been believable, imo.

Idk, as I said, my knowledge on the case if virtually zilch, other than what I just read here and in another article or two. Still, the Texas Rangers are generally much more credible than your average law enforcement agency. Thanks for bringing up the discussion though, it's an interesting case and comparison.

http://www.uis.edu/innocenceproject/cases/exonorees/jrharper/

The Julie Rea Harper Case
Investigation by the Project resulted in eyewitness testimony from Alan Berkshire who saw Sells in Lawrenceville the weekend Joel was killed; and the testimony of Sandra Wirth, who reported selling a bus ticket in Winnemucca, Nevada two days after Joel was killed to a man who matched the suspect Julie described to police. Winnemucca is significant because Texas Rangers could place Sells there after Joel was killed. Texas Ranger John Allen reviewed the evidence gathered by UIS. This evidence convinced Ranger Allen that Sells’ confession to the murder of Joel Kirkpatrick was genuine.

 

[chlban]

I've never heard of Rea case, except for what I just read and though for the most part it sounds quite different from Darlie's. For one, Tommy Lynn Sells confessed to the murder, and according to jurors they found Rea's testimony believable. Darlie has never been believable, imo.

Idk, as I said, my knowledge on the case if virtually zilch, other than what I just read here and in another article or two. Still, the Texas Rangers are generally much more credible than your average law enforcement agency. Thanks for bringing up the discussion though, it's an interesting case and comparison.

http://www.uis.edu/innocenceproject/cases/exonorees/jrharper/

I agree Darlie has never been believable, but I happen to believe that Julie was guilty as well and her first set of jurors got it right. An already convicted murderer confessing to one more murder doesn't hold much merit to me and I think there was plenty of evidence against Julie.

So, I consider the cases similar in that respect, along with both claiming strangers did it (Julies description did bit fit Sells), overkill on the victims etc.

 

[Mary456]

Ok folks, here goes. What follows is just a portion of the evidence against Julie Rea. Warning: incomplete sentences for the sake of brevity



Bitter divorce and custody battle. Julie lost her appeal for primary custody less than two months before Joel was murdered.

Told responding officers that assailant was a white kid between the ages of 14 and 17, with a short, preppie haircut. Julie’s composite sketch strongly resembled her son, Joel. (Tommy Lynn Sells was 33 years old at the time, and didn’t look anything like Julie’s composite sketch).

Told neighbors she awoke to a man standing over her bed. She struggled with him all the way through the house and out through the back garage door. He then took off his mask and calmly walked away.

Told E.R. nurse Garvey that she pulled the ski mask off, and it was an old ski mask, not a new one. It was soft and had little nubbies on it, as if it had been washed a lot.

Told Fred White, family friend and defense witness, that intruder took off his ski mask in the back yard, looked her right in the eye, and then walked away.

Told police she heard a scream and ran to Joel’s room. Julie saw intruder standing on the side of the bed where Joel lay bleeding on the floor. Intruder jumped onto the bed, then onto her. No bloody shoe prints on bed, none on the floor, no blood trail whatsoever through the house.

Julie consistently said she fought and struggled with intruder through the hallway, dining room, kitchen, and into the backyard. Baseball bat standing upright under framed pix on hallway wall. None of the pix were crooked. Only 3’ from edge of table to kitchen counter. Chairs and placemats straight, items on fridge, nothing disturbed or out of place in kitchen. Adjoining dining room, which was in the pathway to the kitchen, was in order; papers and scrapbooks on table, some extending over edge of table. Nothing knocked to the floor. Placemats undisturbed on table.

Julie’s story changed when she realized that her neat, tidy house didn’t support the“fighting and struggling” scenario. In her second trial, she said she was not struggling or fighting. She was simply holding onto the intruder - he was dragging her, he just wanted to get away.

In one story, Julie said she heard Joel scream, which means he was still alive when she ran to his room. Why didn’t she hear a struggle before that, considering that her bed was just a few feet across the hall? Joel was stabbed multiple times, fell to the floor beside his bed, and struggled. When asked how she failed to hear her son being murdered 14’ away, she asked if it was possible that Joel was murdered someplace else and then brought back to his room.

No forced entry of any door or window. Julie said she always locked her doors, and did so that night. Nothing taken from the house.

Bloody knife lying on carpet outside Joel’s room. Placed, not dropped. No blood spatter. Knife came from butcher block in kitchen. Only light in kitchen was from a 7-watt “candle” light. Butcher block was on the counter on the opposite side of the room as the light. Dust on toaster beside butcher block not disturbed.

Heavy dew that night. No disturbance in the grass, no footprints.

Bottom pane of glass from garage door leading to backyard was broken from the inside (broken glass was on the concrete walk outside the door).Bottom pane of glass from kitchen storm door to garage was open at a 90 degree angle when it was broken from the inside. Not consistent with two bodies crashing into the closed door, as Julie claimed.

Julie’s injuries were very superficial; treated and released. She pointed out every single injury to Lewis. Strange reaction after her son had just been stabbed to death. Joel had multiple stab wounds to his chest, back, and neck. Defensive wounds on his wrist and hand.

Julie asked Officer Brown, “Do you know how my son died?” Brown said he didn’t know. She immediately asked, “Did you find the knife?” If she already knew “the” knife was involved, why ask Brown how her son died?


Joel’s blood on right front shoulder of Julie’s nightshirt.

Julie said she turned off the light in Joel’s bedroom. York, the first person to enter the house, said Joel’s light was on.

Next-door neighbor heard glass break, but heard no screams, no sounds of a struggle.


During a convenient “flashback,” Julie stated that she let a man in her front door, and was possibly raped. (The front door was locked when police arrived; Julie’s neighbor confirmed the locked door).

When asked point blank if she’d killed Joel, Julie replied, “I have thought of that possibility, but in my mind I know I didn’t do it.”