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The Confessions (full documentary) | FRONTLINE — Transcript

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0:05tonight on front
0:07line inside this police
0:11station inside an interrogation
0:15room I show you n police photo 152 four
0:20US Navy sailors were relentlessly
0:22questioned about a brutal
0:24crime you were going to rape Michelle
0:26BOS is that true over and over you Rec
0:30call what happened to the knife hour
0:32after hour I show you another picture
0:34and ask if you can identify this
0:37female Dan grabbed her around the mouth
0:40so she couldn't
0:42Scream one by one eventually they all
0:47confessed Dan was about to start raping
0:50her Dan was the first to have
0:54intercourse with her I was the second
0:57Eric was third I know that Dan and Joe
1:01were getting really
1:02rough Jeff went grabbed the knife from
1:05the kitchen you remember your exact
1:08words at that
1:10point just go ahead and stab the
1:13[Music]
1:15based on these confessions the
1:18jury found them
1:20guilty is this the truth that you're
1:22telling us now yes it
1:25is but were they telling the truth
1:30tonight on front line the confessions
1:48[Music]
2:05July
2:071997 the naval station in Norfolk
2:11Virginia a sailor William bosow had just
2:15returned from
2:16[Music]
2:18sea eager to see his new wife he rushed
2:21home to this apartment
2:28complex what he found in side horrified
2:32him he ran next door to his neighbor
2:34Daniel
2:36Williams Willam Bosco came over beating
2:39on my door yelling frantically that his
2:43wife was
2:44dead and I grabbed my phone called
2:49911 and went to see what how I could
2:55help the police arrived minutes later
3:00there was no forced
3:05entry the apartment was clean and
3:08tidy except for the
3:11bedroom where Michelle Mor Bosco had
3:13been brutally raped and
3:20murdered to the police it looked like a
3:23single as
3:24salant Moren Evans was the lead
3:28detective with an hour and a half of
3:31discovering the body Morin Evans asked
3:34the victim's friend Tama Taylor what's
3:36your Hunch what what does your gut tell
3:38you about who might have committed this
3:42crime to Taylor a young woman who lived
3:45in the complex had only known Michelle
3:47for a month she pointed to the next door
3:50neighbor Tama Taylor told detective
3:53Evans that they should look at Daniel
3:56Williams because it appeared that he
3:58seemed interested in the
4:02victim at the time of the murder Daniel
4:05Williams was 25 and a machinist's mate
4:08in the
4:09Navy he had been married for just 11
4:12days he and his wife Nicole had thought
4:15they were expecting a child when they
4:17found out to their dismay that she was
4:20suffering from ovarian
4:22cancer his parents were visiting them
4:24from
4:26Michigan my parents and Nicole had gone
4:30to dinner expecting me to join them
4:34shortly when we
4:35were leaving to go to dinner they asked
4:38him to come down and to help sort out
4:41some of the information to give him a
4:43few more answers uh so we took separate
4:46cars and he said that he would be
4:49joining us very shortly uh shortly
4:52turned into 2 hours and then three
5:00and then 13
5:02[Music]
5:05years Williams left the apartment and
5:09drove himself to the police
5:11station I expected to just answer some
5:16questions why was I the one to call 911
5:19and not her
5:22husband it was a half hour to 45 minutes
5:26into the questioning is when they
5:29started accusing me of raping and
5:35killing Michelle
5:37[Music]
5:42Bosco they wanted him to take a
5:44polygraph
5:46test he
5:50agreed they told me that I had failed
5:53polygraph test and that I needed to
5:57start telling the truth about what I did
5:59did in fact Daniel passed the test but
6:04the police didn't tell him that he
6:05passed the test the police told him that
6:07he failed the lie detector test and that
6:11really began an intense interrogation of
6:14Daniel that lasted for over 9
6:21hours being in a small room and you have
6:26a person sitting over across the table
6:29from you that's getting in your face
6:32yelling at you calling you a liar poking
6:35you in the chest with their
6:37finger and then turns around and says
6:42well I can help
6:43you if you tell me the truth tell me
6:47what
6:48happened and it went on and on and on
6:51throughout the night with them calling
6:54me a liar telling me that I need to tell
6:57the
6:57truth and I kep telling I why I'm
7:00telling you the truth I didn't do
7:05it the goal of an interrogation is to
7:08get a confession that's the single
7:11overriding goal prior to an
7:13interrogation police have made up their
7:15mind that the person is guilty you don't
7:18interrogate somebody unless you first
7:21believe they're
7:23guilty Moren Evans interrogated Daniel
7:27for over8 hours um but she was not able
7:31to get Daniel to
7:32confess and eventually she gave way to
7:35another detective detective Ford and he
7:39was a detective who had a reputation for
7:41getting people to
7:44confess
7:46Ford is a very intimidating person he's
7:50not a big person but he's like a bulldog
7:53once he gets his teeth into you he
7:56doesn't stop until he gets what he wants
7:58from you and that's what he did he just
8:01kept relentlessly going at me throughout
8:05the night to get me to
8:08confess
8:10and he got what he wanted he got me to
8:13confess even though it was a false
8:18confession some people have very strong
8:22personalities and they will never break
8:24and other people have very weak
8:26personalities and most of us are
8:28somewhere in between que but what people
8:31who've never been interrogated have to
8:34understand is that interrogation can be
8:36very intense um a lot of psychological
8:39pressure sometimes in a small space for
8:42a long period of time people break
8:46sometimes in response to that pressure
8:49and they think the only way to save
8:50themselves is to put an end to that
8:54interrogation at the end of the day and
8:57confessions could go for over 24 hours
9:00you will have sleep deprivation your
9:02your subject will be hungry but probably
9:04doesn't even want to eat you know so you
9:07are taking them into another situation
9:10so many people say well how could you
9:11confess to a crime that you never did
9:14well I'll tell you something put them in
9:16a room with me I could do
9:21it you know I'm going to be asking you
9:25are you deaf you're not deaf right no no
9:31well talk louder I'm asking a question
9:33are you deaf no okay now you want to go
9:36to jail you want to get the death
9:39penalty or you want me to help you
9:41out of course I don't want to go to jail
9:44I don't want to get a death penalty so
9:47then tell me what the hell happened
9:49there and I'll help you out but don't
9:52look at me like that we're sitting here
9:5310 damn hours how much longer are we
9:55going to do
9:56this I don't know you don't know
10:00well it's up to you don't tell me you
10:02don't know you failed the polygrip so
10:04you're not going to tell me you didn't
10:05do it we're going to go here all night
10:07you're not leaving this room now you
10:09want to Daniel Williams confessed after
10:1211 hours of
10:16interrogation I got her in the back room
10:19and I forced her to have intercourse
10:21with me she resisted and I hid her a
10:24couple of times with my
10:26hand I grabbed a flat hard sh shoe and I
10:30struck her with it and then I got up and
10:34left the problem was that the confession
10:36that Daniel gave was completely
10:39inconsistent with the facts of the
10:43crime the first thing they should have
10:45done is understood the crime that they
10:46were investigating they didn't even know
10:49the results of the autopsy for example
10:51William said he'd beaten her with a shoe
10:53denied choking her denied using uh any
10:56sort of a weapon when in fact she was
10:58not beaten
11:00uh and she was choked and there was a
11:01weapon used she was
11:03stabbed overnight detective Evans
11:06received the autopsy
11:08report Michelle was not hit with a shoe
11:11or anything else she was stabbed and
11:15strangled the detective rushed back to
11:18Daniel to question him some
11:21more she started questioning me more
11:23about it and she had at one point
11:28demonstrated on her self and where
11:31Michelle was stabbed at in her
11:34chest Daniel got the message and amended
11:38his confession I started looking around
11:41for something and I saw a knife I picked
11:43it up and I stabbed her about three
11:46times detective Evans then asked Daniel
11:49what he did next I got up I dropped the
11:52weapon and I went out they came back and
11:55had him readjust and oh yeah I think I
11:57might have touched her throat and he
11:59couldn't describe the knife but he might
12:00have stabbed her and and these sorts of
12:02things and they were satisfied no
12:04concern about multiple offenders they
12:06were convinced they'd solved the
12:08crime Daniel was charged with rape and
12:11murder less than 24 hours after the body
12:14was
12:19[Music]
12:20discovered when Daniel called us um to
12:24tell us that he was
12:26arrested he just kept saying he didn't
12:29do it and they wouldn't believe him and
12:31he wanted to come home to be with Nicole
12:35and uh but they wouldn't let him come
12:38home close
12:40one probably really sank in after that
12:44that you know I messed
12:47up and I should have stood my
12:51ground all during the interrogation
12:54Daniel Williams never used his right to
12:56ask for a lawyer
12:59I think it's a Prejudice most of us have
13:02that if you are innocent you don't need
13:04to call for a lawyer uh because
13:05innocence is is its own defense innocent
13:08can defend itself um and if you call for
13:12a lawyer it looks a little bit sleazy it
13:15looks as if you've got something to hide
13:17and need a professional at the law to to
13:19help you hide it uh the trouble with
13:22that is U that innocence can't defend
13:25itself um against a really clever
13:28interrogation
13:30why in the world would you want an
13:32attorney now we're sitting here 10 hours
13:35you're almost there you get an attorney
13:37then I'm going to have to lock you up
13:39for the capital
13:40murder so why why did you put in 10
13:43hours let's finish it up then we'll get
13:47you your
13:49attorney by the time Daniel realized
13:51what he had done it was too late it
13:55was just unimaginable to myself at that
13:59point but I had
14:02confessed and I knew the
14:07confession wasn't
14:09true
14:11but it was a
14:17confession at that point the police
14:20closed their investigation they they had
14:22arrested the person they thought had
14:24committed the crime and they they didn't
14:26investigate the case
14:27anymore they thought they arrest
14:29arrested the one person who had
14:31committed this
14:35crime the case was closed and weeks went
14:38by detective Morin Evans left the force
14:41for another
14:43job detective Ford was dealing with
14:45other
14:47cases then 4 months later startling news
14:52the results of Daniel's DNA were back
14:55and they did not match the Sean left at
14:58the crime scene now they had a choice to
15:00make either Williams was not guilty of
15:03this was not involved in the crime scene
15:06or uh he had to be part of some sort of
15:09weird conspiracy instead of objectively
15:12looking at the case and his involvement
15:15in figuring out what does the DNA tell
15:17us they assumed he still had to have
15:20been involved but there had to have been
15:22somebody
15:24else they kept the DNA results secret
15:28and went looking for Daniel's
15:31accomplice they picked his roommate a
15:33fellow sailor on the USS
15:36cipan his name was Joe dick
15:40Jr when I heard it confessed it is just
15:44something that was hard to
15:45believe it's like I know he couldn't
15:48have done it because he had just married
15:51Nicole and he he loved Nicole
15:56so basically a shock to uh me and the
16:00guys that he worked
16:02with family members say he was a shy and
16:05sensitive kid raised in a workingclass
16:08neighborhood in Baltimore protected by
16:11loving parents Joe dick was socially
16:15awkward he had struggled both in school
16:19and in the
16:20Navy he had always been a
16:25loner Joe dick is one of the most
16:28interesting people involved in this case
16:30and I think key to understanding this
16:33case his confession stands out uh
16:36because he came to believe that he must
16:39have been involved in this
16:42crime to this day I still blame
16:46myself it's an experience
16:49that will never leave
16:53me there are some things that I won't
16:56talk about not because
16:59I'm ashamed of it but because I just
17:02don't want to talk about
17:05it he would become the most important
17:08witness in the
17:10case 6 months after the
17:13murder Naval security turned Joe over to
17:16the Norfolk
17:19Police detective Glenn Ford was waiting
17:22for
17:24him they started asking me where I was
17:28when this
17:29happened and I told him that I was on
17:32the
17:33ship Ford saying I'm
17:35[Music]
17:36lying uh he's starting to get uh ticked
17:42off he's raising his voice he keeps
17:46coming back with we know you were there
17:47we can prove you were there you can't
17:49get the death
17:51penalty I kept denying
17:55it we went and did a polygraph
17:59he comes back with the
18:03results and he says I'm still lying that
18:06I failed the
18:09polygraph the results of this polygraph
18:12test have never been
18:15released
18:17eventually I just wanted to tell him
18:20anything to get him off my back to shut
18:22and to shut him
18:24up I was
18:26tired emotionally
18:29mentally worn
18:31down then Ford showed Joe a photograph
18:34of the Dead
18:36victim she was laying there and she had
18:39on this black
18:40T-shirt I just looked at
18:43it the photograph appears to have
18:46traumatized
18:47Joe it also fed him information that
18:51only the perpetrator would have
18:53known after hours of interrogation he
18:57finally told them he said what they
18:59wanted to hear I told him that I was
19:02there and that Danny was
19:04there he would ask uh are you sure that
19:09it happened in the living room and not
19:13the bedroom didn't it happen like this
19:17or didn't it happen like that just to
19:20get the story he
19:23wants then for a minute he had hope and
19:27when I'm in the interrogation room
19:29Ford said we know that you were there
19:31and we can prove it all we need some
19:34DNA and I'm like sure go ahead take
19:38it uh because I knew for a fact that DNA
19:43wouldn't be
19:44there
19:46and I gave him pic care
19:51samples two vials of
19:53blood
19:55and samples of hair from the top of my
19:57head
20:00anything they
20:01wanted
20:03and this was the only thing I was happy
20:06about all
20:07day knowing that yeah I've got them
20:12ain't going to be there I'm going to be
20:14walking out that front door they going
20:15to have to drop them
20:17charges joke was on
20:19me they didn't they didn't drop them
20:23they kept they help kept them charges in
20:26place and put me in prison
20:30once again they would arrest a suspect
20:33confident that the DNA would eventually
20:35prove them
20:37right in the mind of the investigator
20:39and the prosecutor they're the good guys
20:41they would not put an innocent person in
20:42jail they would not prosecute an
20:44innocent person and because they put
20:46these people in jail they just have to
20:48believe that they're guilty it's this
20:50sort of circular it's self- validating
20:52sort of mentality that that goes on that
20:55just ignores all of the all of the
20:57evidence
20:59Pat and Joe dick senior Joe's parents
21:01live in
21:04Maryland she's a court stenographer and
21:07he's a retired military
21:09man I came in from work one day and uh
21:13the phone was ringing and I picked it up
21:14it was the
21:16um captain of the uh
21:19ussn and he told me that my son had been
21:21arrested and I told him I
21:25says Joseph dick Jr he says do you have
21:27the right child is not my son would to
21:29be arrested for something like that and
21:32uh he said no he said definitely you
21:35know my son there was no
21:36mistake that evening Joe called us at
21:40home and he said to me I didn't do it I
21:43didn't do it I didn't do
21:45it and I told Joe I said well you know
21:49we understand I believe me I know that
21:51you couldn't ever ever been party to
21:54something like this and I said why are
21:57you still there I said well I just told
21:59them what they wanted to hear and that's
22:01when the terrorist set
22:04in and I said you didn't sign anything
22:07did you well yeah I signed a confession
22:11and I said we'll be down first thing in
22:12the
22:14morning they drove to
22:17Norfolk at the jail a man handed them
22:20the business card of a lawyer named
22:22Michael
22:23fanaro fasanaro a veteran Navy lawyer
22:27said he was willing to represent their
22:29son for
22:30$22,000 a bargain for a complex death
22:33penalty
22:34trial they left to take a mortgage out
22:37on their home leaving their son's case
22:39in Fasano's
22:41hands the attorney felt that I was
22:44guilty from day one I certainly thought
22:48he was guilty the client told me he was
22:51guilty he had confessed to the police
22:53and then he told me he was
22:55involved it's like he gave up from the
22:57first day
22:59and didn't even try to uh give me an
23:02adequate defense Joe was facing the
23:05death
23:06penalty uh the Commonwealth approached
23:08me and asked me whether or not he might
23:10be interested in in testifying in behal
23:14half of the Commonwealth in return they
23:15would take the death penalty off the
23:17case off the table I approached Mr Dick
23:21about it I approached his parents about
23:23it uh based upon the evidence based upon
23:26the personality of the client that I had
23:29I considered that if we went to trial uh
23:32he the death penalty was a legitimate
23:36possibility whatever he thought fero's
23:40biggest problem was Joe Dick's
23:41confession a problem shared by Daniel
23:44Williams court appointed lawyer Danny
23:47Shipley no one in
23:51Virginia believes that you confess to a
23:54murder you didn't commit No One Believes
23:58it and and and that's true of Judges
24:00true of lawyers No One Believes it and
24:02and they'll tell you again and again I
24:04don't believe someone confesses to a
24:07murder they
24:09didn't commit and that's what I'm
24:11looking at and and and and to be quite
24:14Frank with you when you approach a case
24:15how are we going to handle this case are
24:17we going to try to make a deal are we
24:19going to go to court and try the case
24:21death changes everything death all of
24:25your decisions that you make are Guided
24:28by the fact that if you make the wrong
24:30decision you make the wrong call your
24:32client's dead in Virginia in Virginia
24:35your client's dead okay we are very very
24:37good at killing people executing people
24:40we're in the top two or three every
24:44year any hope Joe had that his DNA would
24:47save him was
24:50dashed my
24:52darney came to me one day told me my DNA
24:56didn't match and I knew that it wasn't
24:58going to match I knew that it wasn't
25:00there and I'm figuring okay I gave them
25:04my DNA even though I confess they got to
25:06kick me
25:07loose because that proves right there I
25:10didn't do
25:12this but um that's not they're thinking
25:15they don't
25:16care uh my attorney told me that there
25:19had to be somebody
25:21else and if I cooperate he can get me a
25:25better plea
25:27bargain it was in his best interest to
25:30try and cooperate the best he could to
25:33take the death penalty off the case
25:35because I was convinced with the
25:37brutality of this murder a jury might
25:40very well have given a death
25:44penalty one day Mr fero called here and
25:48said I've got some bad news for you I
25:50hate to tell you but your son is guilty
25:55he was involved in every bit of this
25:58crime from start to
26:02finish
26:04and I
26:06just I just stood there with my mouth
26:08open
26:10because up to that
26:13point we
26:16believed always believed our son was
26:18innocent never had any
26:20doubt but now we've got the guy that
26:23we're paying to defend him telling us we
26:27got a problem
26:29you know and he's telling us he's guilty
26:31he was there for every aspect of the
26:34crime he could get the death penalty we
26:36need to plea bargain and my job now is
26:38to save his life because he said
26:40everything hinged on the confession and
26:43there was absolutely no way that they
26:45could get past the
26:48confession he advised them to urge Joe
26:51to tell the truth and name others who
26:54were involved
26:58he says urge upon him the the importance
27:00of you know it cooperate and and just
27:03tell the truth so of course you know Joe
27:06happens to call up and and we're talking
27:08to him and and I try and press upon him
27:11you know Mr foso says you have to tell
27:13the truth Joe it's really important that
27:14you tell the truth you know and that'll
27:16help you maybe get a better deal or or
27:19you know get the death penalty off or or
27:21something like that and you know so like
27:23we were we have become part of the
27:27problem I went ahead and listen to
27:30her um because coming from Mom it made
27:35sense um coming from my attorney it just
27:40sounded like a sheer
27:42lunacy why would I take a play bargain
27:44if I know I'm
27:47innocent urged by his lawyer and his
27:50parents Joe tried hard to protect his
27:52plea by giving the prosecution what he
27:55thought they wanted to hear
27:58just made it up I just made it up just
28:01telling them what they wanted to
28:04hear when the truth of the matter is
28:07that everything I told
28:11them is their version of the facts which
28:15is a straight up
28:18lie one of Joe's statements involved a
28:20young Navy man a friend of the wife of
28:23Daniel Williams named Eric Wilson well I
28:27got involved in the case case because of
28:29uh Joseph
28:31dick he had for reasons of his
28:36own uh decided to tell the police
28:39officers that I
28:42was
28:43involved and as soon as I got back off
28:47my Mediterranean
28:49Cruise I was arrested and brought
28:55in do you know why he did it
28:59no no I don't know why he did
29:02it were you
29:05friends I knew him I I knew Joseph uh I
29:10wouldn't really call us friends but uh I
29:12did know
29:15him and that was enough for the police
29:18to arrest
29:20Eric how many statements did you make do
29:23you
29:27remember three or four how about seven
29:30seven I think it was a total of seven
29:34statements
29:36uh how many were true none of those
29:40statements that were made were true he
29:42was making up stuff I couldn't tell you
29:45what was made up because I wasn't there
29:47I had to rely on my
29:48client fasino gave Joe mixed signals Joe
29:53could tell all the stories he wanted but
29:55he had to tell the truth I I didn't
29:58recommend against his continuing on and
30:01cooperating with the authorities I
30:02thought it was in his best interest to
30:04continue to to cooperate of course even
30:07though he kept changing the stories well
30:09if they were willing to accept his
30:10changes of his stories and it was going
30:12to benefit Mr dick then by all means
30:14continue but try and tell the
30:17truth often the attorney didn't
30:19accompany Joe to his sessions with Ford
30:21or the
30:23prosecution I didn't need to be there
30:25Joe was already committed and again my
30:28position in these things is that my
30:33presence could hinder Joe more than help
30:37him it's up to him once the decision is
30:40made that you're going to cooperate Mr
30:42dick then you Mr Dick have got to
30:45continue to sell yourself if I'm there
30:48and you're looking for me to me to give
30:50you answers with a nod on my head or a
30:52shake on my head or something that
30:54destroys everything you you've agreed
30:56this is what you want to do go do
31:00it after months in jail depressed and
31:04Confused Joe began to believe the police
31:08theories
31:10after giving the detective the names
31:13that they
31:14wanted it
31:17became a natural thought to
31:20me that I did
31:24this Joe's growing belief in his guilt
31:27would prove crucial for the
31:31case then two months after his arrest
31:34Eric Wilson's DNA came back negative so
31:38detective Ford went back to Joe to ask
31:40for new names as usual Joe
31:44complied he gave a new statement in
31:47which he claimed that there were three
31:48other men
31:49involved two whose names he didn't know
31:53and one who he named George
31:56Clark did you know George Clark no I
31:59didn't know George Clark but um I knew
32:03Derek and that's who it turned out to
32:07be the police couldn't find a George
32:10Clark but the description and resulting
32:13police sketch looked somewhat like Derek
32:17Ty a friend of ours said well there's a
32:21guy named Derek that was on the George
32:23Washington in the Navy so they got a
32:27cruise book from uh the George
32:29Washington showed it to Joe he flipped
32:32through it saw me said yeah that's the
32:36guy Derek was another friend of
32:39Daniel he was arrested in Florida and
32:42taken to norfol Virginia for questioning
32:45the only thing I knew of that I had ever
32:47done in Virginia that was breaking the
32:49law was a speeding ticket and I'll go up
32:52to Virginia and get it straightened out
32:53pay the ticket and be back home in a
32:55week
32:58didn't come out that way uh no it was uh
33:0311 years 1 month and 18 days later I
33:05walked out of prison
33:07so didn't happen the way I wanted it
33:10to Derek remembers learning of the
33:13charges against
33:15him my legs just turned a jelly I
33:18couldn't think I didn't know where I
33:21was it was you know getting hit upside
33:24the head with a 2x4 it was about like
33:27that I was Dazed and
33:29Confused he too was taken to the
33:31interrogation
33:33room to face Glenn
33:36Ford Ford he uh postured like a
33:41bulldog uh leaning towards me yelling at
33:45me uh calling me a liar telling me I was
33:47going to die and this went on for 8
33:52hours I keep telling him I didn't know
33:54anything about the crime I wasn't there
33:58but he had in his mind what he thought
34:02was the truth and until I said what he
34:04wanted me to to
34:07say I wasn't getting out of that
34:11[Music]
34:12room a few hours into the interrogation
34:16Derek like the others was given a
34:18polygraph test the results of which
34:20again have never been
34:22[Music]
34:25released after the test Derek told the
34:28investigator that he had decided to stop
34:30talking unless he could see a
34:34lawyer I was taking back to the
34:36interrogation room and within 13 minutes
34:40in walk detective Ford and Ray and he
34:45had
34:46the cat that ate the canary smile on his
34:49face and said told you you were guilty
34:52told you you failed and started right
34:55back in on the
34:56interrogation what happened to the
34:58lawyer there was no lawyer no nothing
35:02and at that moment when he came back in
35:05and started the
35:09interrogation my
35:10mind because of him coming in like that
35:13just froze it was like in total shock
35:18and so you know he started the
35:21interrogation up again
35:23and you know eventually I broke and
35:28gave him what he wanted to
35:30hear after 11 hours he signed a
35:36confession yes yes Alan zaleski was
35:39Derek's court appointed lawyer he has
35:42practiced criminal law for 40 years okay
35:45how did he explain this confession yeah
35:47he said that uh uh it was 8 hours of of
35:52constant um
35:54Talk
35:55constant telling him he he's lying
35:58telling him that he should tell the
36:00truth uh that kind of
36:04business it's not very satisfactory to
36:06me I don't I don't uh
36:11uh it's hard to
36:14accept that that is a reasonable
36:17explanation you might ask him why he
36:20did why did he sign a statement saying
36:23he committed these these murdered a
36:27woman a woman stabbed her and everything
36:29why would you do that if you didn't do
36:31it at least every I'd say 30
36:36seconds uh Ford was saying you keep
36:38saying you weren't there you keep lying
36:40to us you're going to die you're going
36:42to get the needle how does it feel to
36:45die and after the 9 hours my thinking
36:51was my only options are tell him a lie
36:55tell him what he wants to hear and live
36:58or keep telling the truth and
37:03die they were threatened they were all
37:06threatened with the death penalty they
37:08were told they would receive the death
37:10penalty if they didn't confess and the
37:13only way to avoid the death penalty was
37:16if they stopped denying and started
37:19admitting to what the interrogators
37:21believe they had done if you go back in
37:24history to the Inquisition for instance
37:27uh which had very elaborate Protocols of
37:30torture when you can torture if someone
37:33made a confession under torture he'd
37:35have to repeat it without torture 24
37:37hours later on the other hand if he
37:39recanted it then you'd torture him again
37:41but one of the stages in applying
37:44torture was known as showing the
37:46instruments and lots of
37:48victims confess just at seeing the
37:51instruments that would be used on them I
37:52think I would have um and I think in the
37:56case of the North for the way the
37:59detective used the death penalty was
38:02very much like showing the
38:04instruments to help us understand what
38:07it was like to be confronted by Ford and
38:09the threat of death Derek said he'd try
38:12to show what the interrogation was
38:15like all right Derek let's start again
38:19what happened that night I was at home
38:21and a friend called me and told me to
38:23watch television and uh no quit right
38:28there you're lying Derek no no you were
38:32there you committed this crime Derek
38:35what you did was sickening I've lived
38:37this case since its beginning it's been
38:40my life no I know there was a party at
38:44Dan's house and you went Nicole got a
38:46headache and she went to bed y'all
38:48started talking about girls decided to
38:50go over to Michelle's apartment somebody
38:52knocked on the door somebody covered the
38:55peephole with their thumb
38:57y'all went in and you raped and killed
38:59this
39:00girl I know you did it I'm telling you
39:04the truth no you're not telling me the
39:05truth Derek you're just a liar and
39:08you're going to die you deserve to
39:11die I'm sorry I
39:14I that's it I I can't I
39:20I I can't do anymore I'm sorry I hope
39:24that was enough I can't
39:36it's a very difficult thing to explain
39:38to someone who hasn't been
39:40there I felt
39:43caged and I was scared and I didn't know
39:48what to
39:50do 88 and 1/2 hours he was like
39:54that just never down
39:58never
40:00he physically emotionally wore me down
40:05to the point where I just couldn't go
40:07anymore and I just told him what he
40:11wanted to
40:14hear my fear was not of what would
40:16happen next it was of
40:19Ford he does not appear that
40:23imposing but
40:27in the interrogation room it's
40:30different it it it's just
40:36different they told me what they wanted
40:38to hear and I repeated it back to
40:43them everything I said was scripted by
40:46Ford all the details I gave about the
40:49apartment were because of photos he
40:50showed me of the crime scene I was so
40:54mentally emotionally drained
40:58by them
41:01that I didn't care what the truth was I
41:05was willing to tell
41:07them whatever they wanted to
41:10hear just to make them
41:14stop the confession Derek said was
41:17carefully
41:18crafted it was an hour and a half to 2
41:22hours of rehearsal of going over this
41:25statement over and over and over over
41:27again adding a piece here adding a piece
41:30there
41:31until it was a big enough story that
41:35Ford liked and he was like okay then
41:38once we got that we had to go back over
41:40it three more times just to make sure
41:43that I had all the parts and pieces
41:46together and then he goes okay now we're
41:48going to record it when the rest of us
41:51got
41:52inside we disrobed
41:55her held her down I had one leg Eric had
41:59the other
42:00leg was just so not
42:04me it was a robot Dan was the
42:10first um to have intercourse with
42:13her I was the
42:16second Eric was third what I said I
42:21didn't know until I got a copy of it and
42:24read
42:26it I couldn't remember what I had
42:29said Dan started to strangle her to keep
42:33her from talking and so made the
42:35statement that just get a knife and stab
42:40her then Dan stabbed her I stabbed her
42:46then uh Eric stabbed her Joe stabbed her
42:50there was no record of what led to the
42:53confession the police didn't turn the
42:56tape on until they were ready to have
42:58the full confession in other words we
43:00were not provided with because there was
43:02no uh evidence of no record of what had
43:05occurred for the 10 12 15 hours I can't
43:09remember exactly how much now but the
43:11the numerous hours that occurred prior
43:13to that time in terms of the confessions
43:15where he denied where he said I wasn't
43:17involved I wasn't there how'd they get
43:19him from point A to point Z we don't
43:22know because it wasn't
43:24taped since Joe dick said in one of his
43:26statements that Derek was involved in
43:28the crime with two unknown men Derek now
43:32had to identify them who was it and I
43:35said the first name that popped into my
43:37head I said well Jeffrey
43:40Ferris the next name that popped into my
43:42head was Rick
43:44Paulie and because they popped into my
43:47head and I uttered their names they were
43:53arrested by then four men were in jail
43:57Daniel Joe Eric and Derek then with
44:02Paulie and Ferris there were six and
44:05there was still no DNA match so the
44:08police went back to
44:10Derek they decided to give me a plea
44:12agreement as long as I named the DNA
44:16match how would you know the DNA match I
44:19wouldn't
44:20but you know at that time I was like
44:24well I don't know who the DNA match is
44:27but you know I'll give it a
44:29shot Ford seemed interested in a former
44:32Navy man named John
44:35dancer John danzer was a shipmate of
44:38mine on the George Washington and he had
44:40moved back up to
44:42Pennsylvania uh May or
44:46June of that year and he didn't come
44:49back down to norfol to visit until
44:52August after Dan had been arrested and I
44:54knew this so so I was arguing with Ford
44:59no CJ John danzer wasn't there and after
45:05a little while it was like okay he wants
45:08me to put John danzer into the story so
45:12it was like okay well you want him there
45:15John was
45:17there the problem was that dancer had an
45:20alibi the day of the crime happened to
45:23have been his birthday
45:28my client's Alibi was that he was living
45:31in Warminster Pennsylvania at the time
45:33which is right outside of Philadelphia
45:35he was working with an HVAC company the
45:38entire day on of the murder he came home
45:42took a shower went out with friends to
45:43celebrate his birthday and then went
45:45back to work the next morning that was
45:47his Alibi so they brought me back to the
45:50police
45:51headquarters and said hey John Danzer's
45:53got an alibi a mile long said what said
45:56that was
45:57Robert glint
45:59Ford he goes you lied to us he said you
46:04lied to me that's it John danzer didn't
46:08do it John danzer wasn't there but guess
46:10what they still prosecuted him they
46:13didn't let him go even with an airtight
46:17Alibi one month later he's at a
46:19preliminary hearing to determine whether
46:22they have enough evidence to charge him
46:26with Mur murder and
46:28rape forget the truth forget
46:32Justice forget The
46:36Alibi as far as the Commonwealth of
46:38Virginia is concerned John Daner was in
46:41that
46:43apartment so I had to testify at his
46:45preliminary hearing saying saying that
46:48he was
46:49there by then you knew he had an Albi
46:52they knew he had an Albi they knew that
46:54you knew he had an Albi what were they
46:56thinking
46:57that's the million-dollar question you
46:59would have to ask the Commonwealth what
47:01they were
47:02thinking detective Ford would not talk
47:05to us despite repeated requests but in a
47:08deposition in 2006 he made the following
47:11statement was the truth about what
47:15occurred that every one of them was
47:17guilty and I still believe that
47:21today how many people is that every one
47:24of them four had to protect his work he
47:29couldn't come back looking ridiculous or
47:32how in the world could can one detective
47:34take so many confessions somebody's
47:37going to wake up unfortunately nobody
47:39did in this
47:42case the writing was on the wall
47:44everyone's DNA is coming back negative
47:47isn't anyone going to wake up
47:49here where's your
47:52prosecutor the prosecutor DJ Hansen also
47:55refused to give an interview on camera
47:57but in 2001 he appeared on a TV program
48:00called Medical detectives about the case
48:03expressing full confidence in the work
48:05of the
48:06police the police detectives in this
48:08case were very professional U it's not
48:11their business to obtain a confessions
48:13at any cost they're interested in the
48:15truth in a part of the interview which
48:17never aired Hansen revealed his thoughts
48:20about the growing pool of defendants
48:23when I looked back on it it seemed as
48:25though
48:27when as frustrating as it was to have
48:29this DNA come back that it was not these
48:32guys one after the
48:33other it was almost as though Michelle
48:35was telling us that you don't have
48:37everybody yet and if that was the one
48:40thing I'd take away from this case that
48:42that we were able to get as many people
48:44as we
48:45were um as so she kept telling us that
48:48you don't have them all yet and there's
48:50more and it just so happened that that's
48:53the way the the case fell that one after
48:55the other the
48:57men at first wouldn't implicate
48:59themselves and eventually some
49:00implicated
49:01everybody um so we knew that this was a
49:05gang rape and murder without a
49:08doubt there were now
49:11seven the prosecution that includes the
49:14police and the prosecutor's
49:16office had a theory of the case and
49:19every time a new person surface they had
49:22a different version of what happened and
49:24instead of sitting down saying you know
49:26there's a problem here with this case
49:28this case is nothing like we've seen
49:30before it's going in 12 different
49:31directions it goes this way then it goes
49:33this way and the only thing they were
49:36concerned about was preserving the
49:39people they had already charged
49:41preserving those
49:42convictions they would bend their theory
49:45of the case to conform to the new
49:49confession the new physical evidence
49:51anytime somebody confessed there were
49:53discrepancies so they would come in and
49:55say well Theory here was wrong but we've
49:58tweaked it a little bit so now we're
49:59going this way with it they were simply
50:01bending their case to fit what EV
50:04whatever evidence came before
50:07them dancer's case marked a turning
50:10point for Derek he recanted his
50:14confession
50:15after you know 5 six months of sitting
50:19in jail and listening to other inmates
50:23talking and talking to my family and and
50:26my girlfriend at the
50:28time my brain finally kicked back
50:32in
50:35and rational thought came back in and I
50:40was like I can't do this it's against my
50:42morals to send an innocent man to
50:47jail when it got to the trial date he
50:50couldn't do
50:52it and told me I can't do this
50:58I cannot throw my friends onto the
51:01bus so about a month later I signed the
51:03paperwork pulling out of the plea
51:05agreement and within a
51:08week Rick Paulie Jeffrey Ferris and John
51:12danzer were released because there
51:15wasn't enough
51:17evidence as for Derek himself he would
51:20have to go to trial where he would now
51:22face the death
51:24penalty then an un expected
51:27turn a woman gave the police a letter
51:31which her daughter-in-law had received
51:32from a man in prison it was an angry
51:35Love Letter it was also a threatening
51:38one you wanted to know how I really felt
51:41about you and I told you you never even
51:45wrote back ain't no forgiving you you
51:49thought you knew me you don't nobody
51:51knows
51:54me his name was Omar Abdul
51:57Ballard the letter ended with a stunning
51:59admission that he Ballard killed
52:03Michelle
52:05bosow you remember that night I went to
52:07Mommy's house and the next morning
52:09Michelle got killed guess who did
52:13that me
52:17haha Ballard had been in prison for 2
52:19years after viciously beating a woman in
52:22the same apartment complex where
52:24Michelle was murdered he also raped a
52:2614-year-old girl less than a mile
52:29away both crimes were committed within 3
52:32weeks of Michelle's
52:35murder sexual homicides are very rare in
52:39that year occurred 1997 in the United
52:42States based on FBI statistics there
52:44were
52:4567 uh rape murders in the United States
52:48that's out of over 15,000 murders only
52:5167 so someone who is sexually violent uh
52:54is a very unusual uh sort of crime so
52:58you need to look for any prior similar
53:00crimes at all uh and here we had this
53:02brutal rape and murder uh and then 3
53:05weeks later another brutal rape sure but
53:08not a murder a beating but then we had
53:09the beating of a woman just before this
53:12100 feet from Michelle Bosco's apartment
53:14they ignored
53:16that Ballard grew up in foster homes in
53:19New Jersey a tough kid in a tough
53:23neighborhood in Norfolk he joined up
53:25with an old friend
53:27to M Taylor that friend of Michelle Mo
53:30Bosco at the apartment
53:32complex Ballard's DNA which had been
53:35stored since his arrest a year and a
53:37half before was quickly
53:40analyzed it was a
53:43match he was in custody shortly after
53:47Michelle morbosa was killed he had these
53:50convictions his DNA was in the data bank
53:53and nobody did anything to try to run it
53:55through the data Bank to see
53:57um if there was a
53:59match because if there was a match the
54:01whole case would that wouldn't have
54:03happened their Theory would have fallen
54:04apart in a big way but if they had done
54:07it and they'd learned of the match much
54:09earlier on then five or six other people
54:12would never have been investigated would
54:14never have been
54:16charged Ballard confessed almost
54:19immediately and said he had acted
54:21[Music]
54:23alone I was on cloud n because now
54:27they've got a DNA match and he's saying
54:29he did it
54:31alone hey when somebody's DNA matches it
54:35proves they were there he's saying he
54:37did it
54:39alone I go to trial I'm going home I
54:43thought it would be any day now they
54:44would let me go and that I would be able
54:47to go
54:47home but my
54:50lawyer my lawyer was ever the uh realist
54:56and he said Don't expect it that's not
54:59how the system
55:01works you're going to go to
55:04trial and that's what happened the state
55:08was
55:09undeterred after 2 years of secret
55:12interrogations accusations and
55:15confessions Eric Wilson would be the
55:17first of the accused to go to
55:21trial I still had some faith in the
55:23system and I believe that since I did
55:26not not do it and then when the DNA
55:28evidence came back I
55:30knew I knew in my heart that I would not
55:33be
55:34convicted
55:36because I wasn't there and I could prove
55:40it but by now the prosecution had a new
55:42Theory involving eight
55:46people the four original
55:50Sailors the three who had been
55:53released and Omar Ballard who the
55:56prosecution believed was part of what
55:58was now a gang
55:59rape in spite of his claim that he'd
56:02acted
56:04alone I remember Mr ballad arriving on
56:07the scene and it was it was a surprising
56:10event and uh the the funny thing was
56:15that he said that he acted alone and and
56:18of course the detectives were trying to
56:21get him to bring in the the other
56:24seven and he says no I did it myself if
56:28they were rational objective fair-minded
56:31police and prosecutors they would have
56:33let everybody else go but they couldn't
56:35admit what was so obvious they made a
56:38mistake a big mistake four people had
56:42been interrogated coercively confessed
56:44to a crime they didn't commit and
56:46instead of acknowledging that mistake
56:49and these individuals innocence they
56:51tried to make they they tried to link
56:53Omar Ballard to these individuals they
56:56tried to make it a group
56:58crime the new prosecution theory was an
57:01even more complicated conspiracy that by
57:04chance Ballard had met the seven
57:06defendants in the parking lot of the
57:08building complex and decided to join
57:11them in the
57:12crime Ballard clearly was was directly
57:16responsible for this this crime but
57:18there was no association between Ballard
57:20in the Navy guys yet they had to weave
57:24this Preposterous sort of conspiracy
57:26theory together of where these seven or
57:29eight Navy guys were in the parking lot
57:32uh trying to get into the apartment but
57:34they couldn't well this goes against the
57:37initial theory that Williams went into
57:38the apartment because he knew her well
57:40uh but now they couldn't get in but now
57:42Ballard came along a stranger they said
57:44hey we have this great idea we want to
57:45rape and murder this woman in this
57:48apartment would you help us and Ballard
57:50say oh yeah for sure no problem I I'll
57:52get you in it's not a problem and then
57:53these eight guys or nine guys go in the
57:55apartment
57:56and according to the states Theory raped
57:59and murdered
58:00her Ballard appeared at the trial only
58:03to plead the 5th the judge informed the
58:07jury that Ballard's DNA matched the seen
58:09found in the victim and that he claimed
58:12to have acted
58:14alone the key witness for the
58:16prosecution was Joe
58:18dick having agreed to cooperate his
58:22testimony had to support the
58:23prosecution's newest theory of the 8
58:27perpetrators Eric Wilson's defense
58:29lawyer Greg McCormack tried to emphasize
58:32the absurdity of this version of events
58:35all seven of you went out to the parking
58:38lot correct that's
58:40correct while you and Eric are out there
58:43talking I understand an eighth person
58:45comes
58:47up yes and this eighth person is
58:51who Balor I didn't know him at the time
58:54your honor until I was told of his
58:58name when Joe dick testified that the
59:01seven of us guys tried to get into Miss
59:05Bosco's apartment but we couldn't
59:07because she didn't know any of us and we
59:10all go outside into the parking lot and
59:13meet this total
59:14stranger and start talking about a crime
59:17that we want to commit and he goes oh
59:19well I can get you in the
59:21apartment and he just joins
59:24us I I mean that's something out of a
59:28science fiction
59:30book you just you know if if it was on
59:34TV you wouldn't believe it it doesn't
59:36make any sense I mean how can you go
59:37from from these seven white guys Sailors
59:40to this black guy uh sex
59:44offender that don't even know each other
59:46hook up and and make a conspiracy to go
59:48into rape and murder this girl just it
59:49doesn't make any sense it's
59:51absurd led by the prosecutor Joe
59:54described the crime of of eight men
59:57raping and stabbing the victim we all
59:59rushed in we grabbed her somebody put
1:00:02their hand over her mouth how did you
1:00:04grab her I grabbed the left leg somebody
1:00:07else grabbed the right leg there were
1:00:10two more people on the arms and somebody
1:00:12had their hand over her mouth what did
1:00:15you do we all took turns I'm not sure of
1:00:18the order took turns doing what raping
1:00:23her Joe remembers being torn Inside by
1:00:26his
1:00:29testimony around the time of Eric's
1:00:33trial I had
1:00:35started to think or come to the
1:00:38conclusion that yeah I was there I did
1:00:40do
1:00:41this
1:00:43and
1:00:45that's not a good feeling thinking that
1:00:49you did something that you never
1:00:53did Eric's mother me was sitting in the
1:00:57courtroom I should have been angry I
1:01:00should have just been so angry with him
1:01:03because he was up there saying that my
1:01:05son did these horrible things that I
1:01:07knew he didn't do and instead of being
1:01:10angry at him I could only feel sorry for
1:01:15him he was such a
1:01:17sad
1:01:20person just a shell of a person
1:01:23saying what he had to say to save his
1:01:25life
1:01:27he reminded me very much of somebody
1:01:29that had uh suffered greatly while he
1:01:31was in prison and he had uh lost uh both
1:01:36whatever physical stature weight and and
1:01:38and complexion and looks that he may
1:01:40have had so when he presented himself he
1:01:42presented himself almost as a
1:01:44ghost Joe's testimony and record of
1:01:47confessions were distressingly graphic
1:01:49and detailed after I in Michelle's mouth
1:01:53Dan and I switched places I Michelle for
1:01:57about five minutes and then got up and
1:02:00held her wrist down again then after we
1:02:03well you wonder how these suspects could
1:02:06have come up with these really depraved
1:02:10narratives of sexual assault rape and
1:02:14and uh murder and as I read through them
1:02:17in particularly the one of I think it
1:02:19was of Dick um it seemed to me that
1:02:22there was a clue uh in that they were
1:02:25they were kind
1:02:27of low-grade male pornographic fantasies
1:02:31uh something out of a bad porno movie uh
1:02:34particularly the one where two of them
1:02:37were having sex with her at the same
1:02:39time one oral sex and one intercourse
1:02:42and you said wait a minute uh this
1:02:46sounds like something he's making up out
1:02:49of his own deep fantasms right um and it
1:02:54obviously bore no relation to the state
1:02:59of the corpse and the the the DNA
1:03:01evidence and so on Eric's lawyer implied
1:03:04that Joe's testimony stemmed from his
1:03:07fear of the death penalty Mr Dick you
1:03:10would agree you are a liar correct yes
1:03:14you would agree that you have given
1:03:15totally false versions of this event on
1:03:18numerous occasions yes you have lied in
1:03:21court have you not yes because Joseph
1:03:24dick does not want want to die correct
1:03:27yes
1:03:28sir Eric took the stand in his own
1:03:31defense he claimed that his confession
1:03:34was false and was extracted by detective
1:03:37Ford who was he said very aggressive
1:03:41very threatening very
1:03:44angry a prosecutor asked Eric if he
1:03:47would confess to killing someone if it
1:03:49weren't true at that point in time if
1:03:52they had told me that I killed JFK I
1:03:55would have told told him that I handed
1:03:56Oswald the
1:03:58gun both Eric and his lawyer were
1:04:01optimistic I honestly and truly felt
1:04:05that I was going to go home that day a
1:04:06free
1:04:07man because I didn't do it I
1:04:10had all my hope and all my faith was put
1:04:13in to that one
1:04:15moment and it was
1:04:19shattered it shattered when his
1:04:21audiotaped confession was played in open
1:04:23court to a riveted jur
1:04:26Dan Joe and Michelle went and sat on
1:04:29this couch they were just talking a
1:04:31little bit and uh Dan grabbed her put
1:04:34her on the
1:04:35ground and everyone started wrestling uh
1:04:39they asked me to join in I said fine
1:04:42when confessions are introduced at a
1:04:46trial what happens is the presumption of
1:04:49innocence goes out the
1:04:51window I think that the wrestling moved
1:04:55in into the bedroom I grabbed Michelle
1:04:58by either the shoulders or the upper arm
1:05:01she was shaking her head left and right
1:05:04started saying no the confession even
1:05:08when there's other evidence of Innocence
1:05:10the confession overrides that evidence
1:05:12people ignore jurors ignore that
1:05:16evidence I looked
1:05:18up
1:05:20and Dan was about to start raping
1:05:23her and uh
1:05:26believe I went in
1:05:27next I remember specifically her looking
1:05:30up at me
1:05:32afterwards after I had finished and
1:05:35asking me to help her but I didn't know
1:05:38what to do I was confused the jury's
1:05:42verdict was guilty of
1:05:45rape my statement is what got me
1:05:50convicted it felt like someone hit me in
1:05:52the stomach and it took everything I had
1:05:55not to collapse to my knees right
1:06:00there he was sentenced to 8 and 1/2
1:06:03years in
1:06:03prison oh it was very hard it was very
1:06:08hard you wake up with this feeling of
1:06:11Devastation every morning and you go to
1:06:13bed with it every
1:06:15night it's just so
1:06:17unreal especially when you have always
1:06:20had faith in the
1:06:22system I was 20 years old when I went to
1:06:25the per
1:06:27golf I was
1:06:2929 when I was finally able to walk a
1:06:32free
1:06:34man 8 months after Eric's verdict Derek
1:06:38went to his
1:06:39trial Dan started to strangle her to
1:06:43keep her from talking and to kill her I
1:06:46made the statement just get a knife and
1:06:50stab
1:06:51her he was found guilty and sentenced to
1:06:54life in prison
1:06:56his jury too couldn't get over the
1:06:59confession Daniel and Joe decided not to
1:07:02face a jury and took a plea of life
1:07:04without parole Daniel because he was
1:07:07afraid of the death penalty Joe because
1:07:11he had come to believe he was
1:07:13guilty the confessions doomed them
1:07:17all then Dan stabbed her I stabbed her
1:07:21no one doubted that what they were
1:07:23hearing was the absolute truth Eric
1:07:25stabbed her Joe stabbed her and Rick
1:07:29Paulie also stabbed her the one
1:07:31confession no one believed was Omar
1:07:34ballards that he had acted alone I alone
1:07:38committed the murders there was no one
1:07:40with me no one was uh ever present in
1:07:45any in 2010 Ballard agreed to talk to us
1:07:48by phone from prison where he is serving
1:07:51a life
1:07:52sentence he said the prosecution didn't
1:07:54want to hear that he had acted alone it
1:07:57was made clear from the jump that unless
1:08:00I said somebody else was with me that it
1:08:02wasn't going to be the truth the only
1:08:05truth they wanted to hear I did it with
1:08:06someone else he avoided the death
1:08:09penalty by cutting a deal with the
1:08:12prosecution agreeing to say that he
1:08:14committed the crime with the four
1:08:17original
1:08:18Sailors I'm thinking damn this like a
1:08:21miscarriage of Justice because these
1:08:24people sitting here telling me what they
1:08:25what they want to hear but they not
1:08:28clearly wan to hear the
1:08:30truth he also told us that he was not
1:08:33surprised that the man had confessed
1:08:36they confessed out of fear see one thing
1:08:40about me is I'm not I'm I'm not
1:08:42intimidated so when forward came to
1:08:45visit me on a number of occasions I
1:08:47actually could see right through it I I
1:08:50understood why these guys made these
1:08:51statements they confess out of fear
1:08:5513 years after the murder he wanted us
1:08:58to know the truth he said which he
1:09:01stands by the truth is that I alone
1:09:06committed the murders there was no one
1:09:07with me no one was uh ever present in
1:09:12any shape form or fashion no one ever
1:09:15had anything to say or do with the case
1:09:18besides
1:09:19me that's what I stand
1:09:24by by 2001 Daniel Joe Eric and Derek had
1:09:30become known as the Norfolk
1:09:32four their case started to attract
1:09:34national
1:09:38attention in 2004 three major law firms
1:09:42signed on as pro bono Advocates the
1:09:45following spring they submitted a
1:09:47detailed clemency petition to Virginia
1:09:49Governor Mark
1:09:51Warner who passed it to his successor
1:09:54Tim Cain
1:09:56Governor Cain took three and A2 years to
1:09:58reach a decision which he announced
1:10:01shortly before leaving office I'm
1:10:03denying the request because I do not
1:10:05believe that the petitioners have met
1:10:07the burden that they have of
1:10:09demonstrating conclusively that they are
1:10:11innocent of all involvement in this
1:10:13crime he would deny a request for full
1:10:16pardon the confessions he said were too
1:10:19overwhelming to
1:10:22ignore as I have wrestled with the issue
1:10:24of the more than than dozen confessions
1:10:26given in different times in different
1:10:28places to different people some in
1:10:31custodial and interrogatory situations
1:10:34but some in letters to third persons I
1:10:36find just as I believe the jury and
1:10:38judge found in this case that it is
1:10:40difficult to completely ignore the
1:10:42entire weight of these confessions um it
1:10:45is difficult but in the end he said he
1:10:47also had grave doubts about their guilt
1:10:50so he granted the three still in prison
1:10:52conditional pardons a pardon to three of
1:10:56the
1:11:02individuals Derek Daniel and Joe were
1:11:05released the next day August 10th
1:11:09[Music]
1:11:122009 they would be free but not
1:11:17exonerated they would be branded felons
1:11:19and sex offenders
1:11:23[Music]
1:11:31if there was anyone who understood what
1:11:33their life would be like it was Eric
1:11:36he'd been released 4 years
1:11:39before once you have been convicted of
1:11:42this type of crime you will be paying
1:11:44for it for the rest of your
1:11:47life I've not been able to work on some
1:11:51jobs I've actually been escorted off of
1:11:53one job when they found out out
1:11:56of 3 years ago he met
1:12:00Misty they got
1:12:02married they love each other but they
1:12:06struggle we can't move into town because
1:12:09we're worried about what the neighbors
1:12:11will do what they will
1:12:12say some areas actually require the
1:12:16police to knock door too and ask every
1:12:18one of your neighbors if it's okay if I
1:12:21move into the
1:12:23area yes so you know and if one neighbor
1:12:27says that it's not okay you're not
1:12:28allowed to move into that
1:12:31area every year Eric has to register as
1:12:35a sex
1:12:36offender it bothers Eric greatly that he
1:12:39has to go and register it's an
1:12:42embarrassment every time he has to go um
1:12:46because somebody sees that designation
1:12:49on a piece of paper they don't know the
1:12:52story and so they think he is a predator
1:12:58and it it's terribly embarrassing and
1:13:00very hard for
1:13:02[Music]
1:13:03him they live in a rundown trailer that
1:13:06belongs to Misty's
1:13:08family they have almost no friends
1:13:13left when they found out that we were
1:13:15even dating um they were very upset uh
1:13:19several of them came to me telling me
1:13:21did you know that he's on the sex
1:13:22offender
1:13:23registry and uh uh they would not stay
1:13:27friends with
1:13:28me they have a 2-year-old child and
1:13:31Misty has a 7-year old from a previous
1:13:34relationship
1:13:36Garrett our oldest he does not know
1:13:39anything about this but it's not going
1:13:41to be long and he's going to start
1:13:45noticing
1:13:47that people look at us different I think
1:13:51the hardest thing is Garrett uh Eric is
1:13:54the only dad he's ever known and he
1:13:58constantly asks why he has a different
1:14:00name and More Than Anything Eric wants
1:14:03to adopt him we actually had tried at
1:14:05one point but they told us he would have
1:14:07to pass a background check and he
1:14:11can't and it it broke our
1:14:15[Music]
1:14:22hearts it has been 9 months since they
1:14:26Joe dick is still wrestling with what
1:14:30happened there are times when I wish
1:14:33that I could have gone back and redo
1:14:36that day to where things worked out
1:14:41differently
1:14:44it's a part of me that I'll never be
1:14:48able to get rid
1:14:50of he is on his way to Washington to
1:14:54meet with the appeal lawyers who helped
1:14:55to free the norfol
1:14:58for it will be their first time together
1:15:00since their
1:15:05arrests Joe arrives at the meeting
1:15:08first he had briefly met Derek and
1:15:11Daniel recently but he hasn't seen Eric
1:15:13since he testified against him at the
1:15:17trial he is
1:15:20petrified just knowing that I help put
1:15:25two guys away who never should have been
1:15:34there what's up Joe Derek and Daniel try
1:15:38to make it easy for him this is a rare
1:15:41deal for me what's going on morning I'm
1:15:46sorry for
1:15:49sorrya like we
1:15:51said they played all of us you know
1:15:55with it's it's water under the bridge
1:15:57and let's just move forward yep you know
1:16:01for a long time I had a hard time with
1:16:04it
1:16:06but you
1:16:08know time heals everything and
1:16:11eventually you're able to see through
1:16:13everything and
1:16:15realize exactly what was going on and
1:16:17once you can see the truth of the matter
1:16:19it makes it a lot easier to move past
1:16:23it you know cuz it wasn't just you that
1:16:25I was mad at I was mad at a lot of
1:16:30folks besides being mad at someone only
1:16:33hurt yourself yeah that is
1:16:37true Ford did it to all of
1:16:40us you know he did it to every one of
1:16:45us I know he did I know he did and you
1:16:48know it took me it took me years I mean
1:16:53I was out before
1:16:55I could think clearly guys I can't tell
1:16:57you how happy we are to see you seeing
1:17:00you all here together and seeing you out
1:17:03it is so special to us it's a lot better
1:17:06than seeing you in those Browns and
1:17:08oranges that we saw you in last year and
1:17:11before the lawyers want to update the
1:17:13men on their legal status and the next
1:17:16stages of the
1:17:17fight we were as disappointed as you
1:17:21that we only got half a loaf from
1:17:24the pardon process but as you all know
1:17:27we're not done we wanted to talk a
1:17:29little bit about the status of the legal
1:17:31proceedings why don't we start with you
1:17:32Derek your case is the furthest along we
1:17:35want to State habius on behalf of Derek
1:17:38finding that uh detective Ford and the
1:17:40norfol police committed constitutional
1:17:42violations in Joe um we're going to be
1:17:45going to court very quickly with your
1:17:47case um the paperwork is nearly done and
1:17:50but we're going to face the same so we
1:17:52expect in the next few months to have an
1:17:53oral argument in the Force circuit uh
1:17:56and I we're confident that at the end of
1:17:59that finally this conviction will be and
1:18:02Eric same with you the hope is just as
1:18:04with Dan and Joe that the courts are
1:18:06going to say that evidence is strong
1:18:07enough that we're going to hear your
1:18:09appeal because if they hear your appeal
1:18:11uh you have a very good chance of of
1:18:12getting the the second half of the Loa
1:18:14getting your then some startling news
1:18:16that broke a few days before back in
1:18:19Norfolk you may have read in the papers
1:18:21that detective Ford was indicted several
1:18:25days ago for abuse of the Criminal
1:18:28Justice
1:18:29System detective Robert Glenn Ford had
1:18:33been indicted for extorting money from
1:18:35defendants in exchange for getting them
1:18:37favorable
1:18:38treatment he has pled not
1:18:41guilty what we're hoping is that the
1:18:44officials in Virginia will see that they
1:18:45had a Serial offender of the law who had
1:18:49the the power of the badge he did it
1:18:51before your case he did it during your
1:18:53case and he's done it since the only
1:18:55thing that has kept you under the these
1:18:59convictions for all these years is what
1:19:01happened in that room with Glenn Ford
1:19:04and for now it's the light has finally
1:19:06been sh it's not just one detective
1:19:09who's a rogue
1:19:11detective this case is much more than
1:19:14just that to understand why this case
1:19:18happened is really an indictment of the
1:19:21police the prosecutors to some extent
1:19:24well in addition to the police and
1:19:26prosecutors the lawyers the defense
1:19:28lawyers and to some extent the judge and
1:19:30the jury it it really this case really
1:19:34raises deep questions about the system
1:19:36not just one actor or two actors in the
1:19:39[Music]
1:19:43system so they are out but they are not
1:19:50free they have moved back to their
1:19:53parents trying to put their lives
1:19:55together finding Solace mainly at
1:20:01home Nicole Williams Daniel's wife died
1:20:05while he was in
1:20:07prison I'm not sure if I'll have a
1:20:10family because I don't know if there's
1:20:12someone that's going to want to be
1:20:15around
1:20:16me I have to be registered as a sex
1:20:20offender for the next 25 years
1:20:28I basically built myself a new cell my
1:20:36bedroom when I'm not at work when I'm
1:20:39not in the kitchen eating
1:20:41dinner I'm in my
1:20:45bedroom watching TV
1:20:50sleeping because that's where I'm safe
1:20:56so all I did was trade one self for
1:20:59another and until my name is cleared
1:21:02that's how it's going to have to
1:21:11be Derek Ty won his petition to have his
1:21:15conviction overturned but the Attorney
1:21:17General of Virginia has appealed it the
1:21:20cases for the other three men are still
1:21:22pending
1:21:25retired detective Robert Glenn Ford was
1:21:27found guilty in October 2010 on two of
1:21:30four extortion
1:21:32charges he will be sentenced in February
1:21:402011 Frontline is made possible by
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1:21:49Corporation for Public
1:21:51Broadcasting major funding is provided
1:21:53by the John de and Katherine T MacArthur
1:21:56Foundation committed to building a more
1:21:58just verdant and peaceful
1:22:00world and by Reva and David Logan
1:22:03committed to investigative journalism as
1:22:05the guardian of the public interest
1:22:08additional funding is provided by the
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1:22:22[Music]
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1:23:00[Music]

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