CONVICTION OVERTURNED MO - Kent Heitholt, 48, found murdered, Columbia, 1 Nov 2001

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Just saw the 48 Hours update on this case and read through this thread. I'm a real newbie to this case. My hubby has followed it for years. I tend to believe Ferguson is innocent. To me, it looks like another case where LE coerced a false confession. Seems like just about everybody lied in this case, under oath and otherwise. I think I heard them say that a new hearing was granted and is scheduled for May of this year. What a mess!
 
Compassionate Reader said:
Just saw the 48 Hours update on this case and read through this thread. I'm a real newbie to this case. My hubby has followed it for years. I tend to believe Ferguson is innocent. To me, it looks like another case where LE coerced a false confession. Seems like just about everybody lied in this case, under oath and otherwise. I think I heard them say that a new hearing was granted and is scheduled for May of this year. What a mess!
Click to expand...

This case is very interesting. Dateline will also air a show about it.
 
Wow. How can anyone believe anything out of Chuck's mouth? I don't understand why the boys would leave the car somewhere and go off on foot. That makes no sense to me.

Do we know how far George's is from the Tribune? I listened to the new statement by chuck, and I'm sorry, but upon watching the police interrogation tapes, I don't believe chuck's new story either.

There were too many people in that damned parking lot that evening to not get the truth about this. You have supposedly Boyd leaving, cleaning people out there smoking, kids strolling through the alley, and a murder victim and a perpetrator. You have a guy who got beat down and strangled with his belt. That couldn't have happened in a blink of an eye. I don't know. Just strange. The only person's story who's stranger than chuck's is Boyd's. I don't know why chuck and Ryan would steal a watch and car keys. Wasn't the vic's wallet in his car?

Confusing. Hope Ryan gets out. I don't see enough evidence to prove Ryan was there and did anything. I don't know why they can't test the hair and DNA found at the scene.

But my biggest question is this: Why in the hell would Boyd return to the parking lot and watch the crime scene get processed? How would he have known there was a murder? You telling me someone from his job called him at 3 in the morning to say there was a murder in the parking lot? How would he have known? If he left before the murder like he said, I see no reason for him to be back at the crime scene an hour later unless he's the killer. I don't get why the police are not puzzled by that. I got this from reading on the exhibits which talked about Boy'd inconsistent statements.
 
wasnt_me said:
Wow. How can anyone believe anything out of Chuck's mouth? I don't understand why the boys would leave the car somewhere and go off on foot. That makes no sense to me.

Do we know how far George's is from the Tribune? I listened to the new statement by chuck, and I'm sorry, but upon watching the police interrogation tapes, I don't believe chuck's new story either.

There were too many people in that damned parking lot that evening to not get the truth about this. You have supposedly Boyd leaving, cleaning people out there smoking, kids strolling through the alley, and a murder victim and a perpetrator. You have a guy who got beat down and strangled with his belt. That couldn't have happened in a blink of an eye. I don't know. Just strange. The only person's story who's stranger than chuck's is Boyd's. I don't know why chuck and Ryan would steal a watch and car keys. Wasn't the vic's wallet in his car?

Confusing. Hope Ryan gets out. I don't see enough evidence to prove Ryan was there and did anything. I don't know why they can't test the hair and DNA found at the scene.

But my biggest question is this: Why in the hell would Boyd return to the parking lot and watch the crime scene get processed? How would he have known there was a murder? You telling me someone from his job called him at 3 in the morning to say there was a murder in the parking lot? How would he have known? If he left before the murder like he said, I see no reason for him to be back at the crime scene an hour later unless he's the killer. I don't get why the police are not puzzled by that. I got this from reading on the exhibits which talked about Boy'd inconsistent statements.
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Usually when I hear about these cases I am often thinking they are guilty. I just simply have had a very difficult time believing it with this case from the first time I heard about it

What I thought was truly cool was although Kathleen Zelner is representing Ryan at this moment, I found it interesting that his father stated (IIRC) that he also still feels Chuck is innocent as well. As well KZ plans on representing Chuck after she helps Ryan which I felt was so totally cool

I hope this works out for them all
 
UdbCrzy2 said:
I was looking at the appeal from 2010 and it tells why he was denied a new trial. Two credible eyewitnesses and BTW this was a very brutal murder.
http://caselaw.findlaw.com/mo-court-of-appeals/1536781.html

I like to read the actual appeal as opposed to a prisoner support website or news media as it gives the facts of the case.
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I think you will find all the documents you are looking for in the link for the filing rather than the actual free ryan site
 
I've followed this for a while and I really don't know what to think.

I was reading comments on some other Web Site and someone who claimed to go to school with both Ryan and Chuck. He described Ryan and a bully, a fighter, a "wanna-be" tough guy. Chuck was described as a wimp, a follower, a hanger-on. This poster didn't doubt that they did it and Chuck would go along with anything Ryan suggested. I have no idea if there is any validity to but caused me to receptive to possibility that Ryan could be guilty.

There is something very "off" about the way Ryan describes the events in both the interrogation and the statement to Zellner. He never says: this is what happened. Instead it is all: it must have happened this way because... I wonder if he is genuinely "confused" about what really happened but believes he and Ryan were involved. I can't imagine someone coming to believe they were involved in a crime they did not commit only because it occurred while they were in the vicinity unless he suffers some sort of mental illness.

I'm a little bothered by Zellers going after Boyd when I can really see no reason what so ever to suspect him. Defense Att's often assume that jurors want an "alternate suspect" to be convinced that their guy didn't do it. She may feel that since there is no evidence, Boyd will never be charged so what the problem is. The problem is that the suspicion may hang over Boyd the rest of his life.

One of the (many) weird things about this case is that Heitholt was a really big guy. He seems like a really bad target for a mugger. He also seems like a lousy target for someone with a personal motive to kill in this manner. I can't see Boyd or anyone else planning to kill him in such a crude manner when potential witnesses would be around.
.
Overall. I think this is like a puzzle with a key piece missing. Hopefully justice will be done
 
In my opinion, neither Ryan nor Chuck had anything to do with killing the victim. Someone got away with murder.
 
"Some on the unanimous jury that convicted Ferguson of murdering Tribune Sports Editor Kent Heitholt have mixed feelings about the verdict today. In light of new allegations by the defense and recantation of testimony by key witnesses, the Tribune in February attempted to contact the 12 jury members and two alternates who served on the panel. Many said they were tired of reporters over the years asking about their participation"

One jury member declined to be interviewed but said before hanging up the phone: “He’s innocent. I hope they just release him.”

Krieg also is no longer convinced, although in the courtroom he said everyone was “dead set that he was guilty.”


http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2011/may/01/ferguson-jury-rethink-decision/
 
A common legal tactic in a criminal case is the "some other dud did it" defense. There are many different versions of this. Sometimes it's just "we don't know who did it; but it wasn't our client". Other times it is more like "other suspects were not properly investigated; there was a 'rush to judgment'". The most "aggressive" spin on the "some other dud did it" defense is to point the finger at somebody else and say "Here's your killer, not my client". That seems to be what Zellner is doing to Michael Boyd.

From what I can see, there is absolutely nothing that suggests Boyd had anything to do with the murder. The "big deal" is the fact that, in two statements Boyd gave 2 1/2 years after the event, he was confused about which car he drove that night. It seems he traded in one car for another a few months after the murder. This looks like a perfectly reasonable "discrepancy" to me.

I don't know what the legal ethics are here. Zellner has a duty to do the best she can do for her client and perhaps there is no legal or ethical reason for her to be concerned about the harm her "aggressive defense" may do to someone else's reputation. This approach just rubs me the wrong way. It might cause me to be a little more suspicious of Ryan.
 
I would not be saying Michael Boyd did it unless they had evidence that he did.

Now, i don't know what to think about Ryan anymore.

what racks my brains is: IF chuck was not involved then why does he insist that he is the one who killed Kent?

Is he just confused or was he really involved?
 
iluvmua said:
I would not be saying Michael Boyd did it unless they had evidence that he did.

Now, i don't know what to think about Ryan anymore.

what racks my brains is: IF chuck was not involved then why does he insist that he is the one who killed Kent?

Is he just confused or was he really involved?
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At this point I believe it to be more of a defense strategy as he was only spoken to originally on the telephone more to point out that avenues of investigation maybe were not considered/followed
 
Some interesting things which were not presented at trial specific to his mental state of mind

"Erickson said in his affidavit he believed Ferguson was going to accept a plea agreement and testify against him. He also acknowledged he did not remember any details about how the crime took place during his interrogation"

"He said his substance abuse problems began at age 14, and he described himself as a “heavy drug user” with experimentations with LSD, psychedelic mushrooms, peyote and cocaine. During the 2½ years between the murder and his arrest, Erickson said he experienced 10 to 20 additional blackouts "

"Just days after Heitholt’s murder, Erickson was tested by the University of Missouri’s Assessment and Consultation Clinic for possible attention difficulties. The assessment suggested three findings: Erickson became bored with school at a young age; he experienced a minor brain insult or abnormality that had gone undetected and had compromised his cognitive abilities, memory, motivation or judgment; or that Erickson’s past or current substance abuse impaired his memory.

He claims both the state and defense were in possession of that assessment before the trial"

http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2011/may/01/ferguson-jury-rethink-decision/
 
Arguments heard

"A ruling from Cole County Circuit Judge Daniel Green is expected soon on Ferguson’s request for a new trial in the 2001 murder of Tribune Sports Editor Kent Heitholt. Attorneys from both sides met yesterday in Cole County to argue Ferguson’s latest habeas corpus petition. That petition includes recantations by key witnesses, co-defendant Charles Erickson and former Tribune janitor Jerry Trump, and it also questions the legality of a previous Lincoln County jury selection process in which people were allowed to get out of jury duty by paying a fine and doing community service."

http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2011/jul/13/jury-issue-seen-as-key-in-ferguson-case/
 
Geez this is taking forever.

I want boyd to explain why the rental place he "traded" his car into claims that car "got buried" in the system so that it could never be found. That's what I want to know about.
 
wasnt_me said:
Geez this is taking forever.

I want boyd to explain why the rental place he "traded" his car into claims that car "got buried" in the system so that it could never be found. That's what I want to know about.
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No joke!!! I think if Zellner had of been approached sooner things would of been different. Now they are saying August before a ruling on this alone
 
Heads up: Dateline will air "The Mystery on Halloween Night" this Friday (August 5th)
 
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