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A man had been watching them, casing them. After Morton left for work [at Safeway] that morning, the man snuck into the house and savagely beat 31 year old Christine Morton to death with a wooden club while young Eric watched. The murderer stole her purse and fled, leaving Eric to wander the front yard.
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As for the evidence, neighbors told police that a man in a green van repeated parked in the woods behind the Morton's home and watched the property. And 11 days after the murder, three year old Eric told his grandmother, Christine's mother, that a monster came into the house and hurt mommy.
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Innocence Project co-founder Barry Scheck says knowledge of this evidence would have meant the world to Morton's original criminal defense team, but they didn't find out about its existence until 25 years later.
BARRY SCHECK: The report of the green van is, you know, very important because remember, poor Michael is on trial and they're alleging that somebody must have come in the house through the back door, through the wooded area where there were fingerprints and signs of entry.
And there's no corroboration to back it up for independent witnesses. And there it is sitting the prosecution's file.
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