Alaska to Retry Mechele Linehan
News out yesterday…
Alaska to retry ex stripper for ’96 murder
She may have won her appeal, but it ain’t over yet.
To read my thoughts on Mechele, click on the labels below.
48 Hours Tonight: Update on Karen Tipton Case
Don’t forget to watch! It looks interesting…More here.
P.S. Due to the frustration users are facing with the authentication, I have removed it for the short term until I can figure out the best solution. I am open to ideas.
Accomplice: Ryan Ferguson NOT GUILTY
There is a lot of buzz in the news right now about the Ryan Ferguson case. In November, one of the top trial lawyers in the U.S., Kathleen Zellner, took on his case pro bono. She is working on an appeal to get a new trial at the circuit court level. I was very happy to see this as I have always believed in Ryan Ferguson’s innocence.
New information came out last night as well (Thanks, Stacy) that Chuck Erickson, in a deposition taken last November, changed his story. Erickson wrote to Ferguson for the first time since the trial and asked Ferguson to send his attorneys to speak to him.
Have your lawyers come speak to me the next time that they’re down here. If you tell the media that I asked to see your lawyers, or you tell the media what I talked to your lawyers about before I can talk to my family and/or consult an attorney, it will be regretful. I hope that you are holding up.(source)
Ferguson and his lawyers obviously complied with Erickson’s requests and met up with him. They took a deposition.
In the deposition, Erickson says, “I made up what I said about Ryan being on top of the victim.” Later he admits, “I lied about him strangling the victim.”
ConnectMidMissouri.com continues to report that..
Erickson says he was solely responsible for the robbery and death of Heitholt and says it took so long to come out with this version of the events because he couldn’t believe he could have acted so aggressively. He says he was under the influence of drugs and alcohol at the time of the murder.
I have never believed Chuck Erickson from day one, and I have always believed Ryan Ferguson was innocent. It’s about time!!!
If anyone sees this deposition uploaded online, please let me know. I want to watch Chuck make his statements to see if I believe this is the truth. I am still skeptical that Erickson isn’t giving us the entire truth, personally, though I think it is true that Ryan had nothing to do with this.
To read my original thoughts on this case back in 2006 before much was known, click here, or click on the the labels below.
Matt Baker’s Trial Begins Today
For those of you who have been reading my blog for some time, you will remember I discussed and reviewed the case of Matt and Kari Baker starting back in March of 2008, after it was profiled on ABC’s 20/20 and then again on 48 Hours. Click here to see some of my posts on this story (the first post is at the bottom).
The state of Texas has taken on the case and is now pursuing murder charges against Matt Baker. His trial starts today. His attorney asked for a change in venue, but was turned down by the trial judge. More info from the WacoTrib.com.
Stanley Alpert: CBS Live To Tell
I am catching up on the TV shows I recorded while I was on vacation this week, and last night I thoroughly enjoyed the show The Birthday Party from CBS Live to Tell series. Did you see it?
It’s about a federal prosecutor who got abducted at gunpoint, and managed to survive being held hostage. When he was released, he called his home and found his co-workers looking for him. When he told them his story, it was so over-the-top that no one believed him at first. His story involved abduction, sex, drugs, prostitutes, etc. They thought Stanley had flipped his lid. There was quite a bit of humor in this because of who Stanley is as a person.
Stanley is a straight shooter. He is one to like rules, respect rules and follow them. Yeah, it makes sense he was drawn to federal prosecution. He isn’t one to stretch them for his convenience. That’s just not Stanley, and for his co-workers to disbelieve such an honest Abe is part of what made the story so fascinating. The second angle that was so fascinating for me was watching just how honest Stanley was when he stared down death in the face– how he truthfully he answered his captors questions. At times, I cringed. I am unusually honest in life, but I would have minimized my answers where Stanley didn’t.
When Stanley was asked what he did for a living, I couldn’t believe he said he was a federal prosecutor. I would have maybe said, “lawyer”. I thought saying federal prosecutor was going to be his death sentence, but in the end, I think with these guys, it actually saved his life.
Fascinating story! What do you think?
