Part ~ 16 The Michigan Authorities Refused to Listen

The Head lines all said that The Pair had Gone on a 37 State , 4 month Crime Spree of Mayhem and Murder.

When the news of these two young men in Bristal came out. We were so elated and so positive our sons would now be cleared and let free. But they were not. The Prosecutor and the police continued to insist that they had the right people behind bars.

Three days after the two men were arrested in Virginia. the New Baltimore Police Chief was quoted in the papers as saying .."We have sent our people down to Kentucky. They did the ballistics on the guns that these boys in Kentucky had and there was no match".

That was later to be proven a complete lie.

So we had to go ahead with the "Walker Hearing" after all. And Like I said before, the hearing was to challenge the Validity of the Confessions our sons had been coerced into making. And see if the District Judge would allow the statements to stand. If he did not, then they would be coming home. With all this new evidence coming to light we thought for sure our sons would be released.

The prosecutor continued to say that there was no proof that the two in Kentucky ever came here. That they had told their investigators that they did not kill the young man here. Then the Prosecutor said " They admitted to the murder in Virginia and the one in Florida, why would the deny doing the murder here in Michigan". And If we had left it up to our Justice System and still believed in it, we might have we might have believed the Prosecutor was telling the truth. But with everything we were hearing and reading in the papers we did not.

The "Walker Hearing" lasted longer then usual.Our Attorneys kept asking the Prosecutor to get the Atlas and the map with their route marked on it. The Prosecutor kept saying that the Virginia Authorities were being very uncooperative. That he was having a hard time getting it, Another lie, later to be proven. He said his people had looked at the map when they went to Kentucky. And yes there was a mark on New Baltimore. but it was only there because that was their home town. And still said they never came back to Michigan. That he had proof they were no where near Michigan at the time of the murder. Of course he never came up with that proof.

The judge ordered the prosecutor to get the map or a copy of it by March 27 2001. That day came and went and he still did not.

Then A Bombshell....Virginia Authorities did the 'True" ballistics and when the results came in  there was a match. The two down south had the murder weapon. Again we thought our sons would surely be released.

Now the Prosecutor and the Police, were changing what they said and said they believed My son and his friends went down to Ohio. Met the two young men, borrowed the gun. then drove back hear committed the robbery and murdered the young man here. Then again drove back down to Ohio and gave the gun back to the two men....Really?? It was so far fetched.

My son was so sure he was coming home. But I tried to tell him to please not get his hopes up because it's been nothing short of a roller-coaster ride of hope and dashed hope.

March 27 came and with no map, and no proof of anything the prosecutor and police were saying to be true.  The judge let the statements stand. My son was going to trial for capital murder.