GUILTY IN - Jill Behrman, 19, IU student, abducted & murdered, Bloomington, 31 May 2000

Yep, a real railroad in my opinion. I really hope this case gets revisited, a new trial or a confession from the real killer.

 

This is an interesting "possible miscarriage of justice" case. It lacks the common elements of most of the "wrongfully convicted" cases such as new forensic evidence or problematic evidence introduced at trial. There are no glaring problems with the conduct of the trial so there has been no successful appeal and little chance of a new trial. What seems glaringly wrong is that the evidence against the defendant John Myers, seems to be absurdly thin.

There was no physical evidence, no ties to crime scene or links to the victim. There are even two " alternate" suspects couldn't really be ruled out.

The only real objective evidence was the fact that the victims bicycle was found near (3/4 of a mile in a rural area) from where the defendant lived and the defendant owned the same type of shotgun as is believed to be the murder weapon (a commonly owned firearm in the area). This isn't much at all.

What really lead to Meyers conviction was what might be called subjective evidence: people's interpretation of events that might not be inherently incriminating. In this case, some friends and relatives testified that he was acting strange in the days after Jill's disappearance, he expressed fear that he would be "blamed" for her death and he apparently told his grandmother that he had some bad "things" that could land him in prison for life. Is was never claimed that he ever confessed to anyone. You get the impression that there was suspicion within his family that he was guilty even before the investigation started looking his direction.

Apparently John was going through a difficult breakup with his girlfriend and that could either explain his strange behavior or provide the motive for the crime. John had some prior run ins with the law and he claimed that what some saw as fear of being charged in Jill's death was just his general fear that any time something happened in that county, he got blamed.

Any Criminal lawyer will tell you that family members testify against you, you're in trouble. A lot depends on how well the witnesses came across and how they stood up to cross examination. Without being there you can't really judge but somehow I don't see enough evidence to convict and the guy may very well be innocent.

It would be interesting to hear from anyone from the area that may be privy to what was really going on

 

What really has me concerned is how hard LE was trying to prove that some other people killed Jill before this suspect. It makes me wonder about all their investigations in this case.

 

Can you please share your source for Dr. Nawrocki's claims and what Wendy said? I would like to find some good sources on this case.

 

A federal court has vacated John Myers’ conviction and has ordered his release. Federal court orders release of John Myers II in Jill Behrman murder, state has 120 days to retry him

 

Indiana AG appealing order to release Jill Behrman's killer

https://www.wthr.com/article/indiana-ag-appealing-order-release-jill-behrmans-killer

 

I lived in Indiana at the time Jill disappeared. It was tragic and in the news daily. I thought Dr. Nawrocki could never prove any injury other than the shotgun blast to her head. I know I read there were bones missing due to animal activity.

 

(more at link, i live in Indiana and saw this on the local news)

State argues against release of man convicted in Behrman case

State argues against release of man convicted in Behrman case

INDIANAPOLIS (WTHR) — The Indiana Attorney General filed his appeal on Wednesday (Jan. 8) to argue against the release of the man convicted in the death of IU student Jill Behrman.

Late last year, a federal judge ruled that John Myers II should be released from prison because he had ineffective counsel during his murder trial of the 19-year old IU student.

The state made its argument on four main points:

1. Myers' trial counsel did not prejudice Myers by making a misleading opening statement because the statement did not harm his defense.
2. Bloodhound evidence supported the defense's theory of a different suspect, so Myers' counsel made a reasonable strategic decision to not object to the evidence.
3. Myers was not prejudiced when his counsel did not object to the pahtologist's opinion that Jill had been raped because the evidence did not make it more likely that Myers murdered Behrman.
4. That a claim that Myers counsel was ineffective because of a cummulation of errors is not available on federal habeas review.

 

In a recent ruling, the high court denied a petition lawyers filed on Myers’ behalf asking the court to consider the case.

The result? Myers, who is 45, will remain jailed at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City until his release date in the summer of 2037, 16 years down the road. A Morgan County jury convicted him of murder in 2006, three years after Behrman’s body was found in a wooded area there.
U.S. Supreme Court won't review case in John Myers' murder conviction