The season finale of Unlocking The Truth closed Ryan and Eva’s investigations on Michael, Kalvin and Byron’s cases.

Byron

Ryan and Eva meet Anastasia’s father. According to him, Anastasia came home that night at some point and then went back out. This doesn’t add up with Kelly’s statement. She never said anything about them going home. Unfortunately we may never get to hear Kelly’s side of the story, as she did not want to meet up with Ryan and Eva. However, a Facebook message from another person claiming to be writing on Kelly’s behalf showed that Kelly is sticking with her second statement.

Ryan then goes to talk to Byron face to face. He asks Byron why he said “we shouldn’t talk about this” to Kelly when she called him. Byron claims that she was ranting during their phone call and that was his way of getting her off the phone. He then tells Ryan his story of what he believed happened to Anastasia that night.

He says that Justin Bruton must have gone home with her and then they left her home, went somewhere else and somehow ended up at the Lincoln cemetery. He also mentioned that their relationship had a darker element to it. Byron thinks they may have made some suicide pact; that is was definitely a mutual thing.

Based on the information gathered and the trial, Ryan and Eva think Byron shouldn’t be in prison. There isn’t enough evidence to prove his guilt or his innocence for that matter. We may never truly know if he is innocent.

Byron has had 3 appeals already.

Kalvin

Ryan and Eva meet with retired Sgt. Chuck Byrom. He was hired to review Kalvin’s case. Chuck let’s the duo know that Internal Affairs told him to take a second look at D.R. William’s cases as most of the “confessions” he got were not actually confessions.

Chuck was able to give the team more insight into the investigation. Kenneth Lamoureux had inconsistencies within the statements he gave D.R. Williams. Chuck flat-out said even dead Ken is more guilty than Kalvin. Unfortunately the system is about wins and losses. It is not about finding the truth. When Chuck was first investigating Kalvin’s case police officers tried to put fear into the investigators, hoping they would stop looking into the case. D.R. Williams himself was hostile and uncooperative when asked about the case.

Ryan and Eva go to speak to D.R. Williams himself. He did not want to meet on camera. Williams stated that he did not document everything but ran a by the book investigation. How could it be a by the book investigation if evidence wasn’t documented?

Later in the finale Ryan meets Kalvin face to face. Kalvin said he survived living by this motto: “when you’re right you’re wrong, when you’re wrong you’re wrong.” He also told Ryan that this wasn’t a mistake. They did this to him on purpose and knew exactly what they were doing. Kalvin was also told during the investigation that if Jill died they were going to make sure he got the death penalty. If that had happened he would have been killed 5 years ago. An innocent man sent to death for a crime he did not commit.

Ryan assures Kalvin he will do everything he can to make sure Kalvin is exonerated, no matter how long it takes. He then presents the team’s findings to Kalvin’s attorney, Jim Coleman. We learn that a possible new witness has emerged. The witness reached out after the first episode aired and stated that they saw Kenneth at the Silk Store with a flashlight. If the team can confirm this testimony, this could potentially set Kalvin free or at least help his case.

Ryan and Eva also go to speak to North Carolina attorney general Roy Cooper. Cooper is currently running for governor but refuses to look at Kalvin’s case. He declined meeting with Ryan and Eva. The duo will continue to call, email, write letters and do everything to make sure Kalvin Michael Smith is heard. Coleman said that if Cooper refuses to look into this case then he doesn’t deserve to be governor.

After concluding their investigations Ryan and Eva believe Kalvin to be 100% innocent.

Recapping Kalvin’s case:

All witnesses in Kalvin’s case were coerced and the so-called confession by Kalvin was never used in trial. Why?

The location of the assault was in the media contrary to what investigators claimed.

Kenneth was seen in the Silk Store 15 minutes before Jill was attacked.

Ken stalked Jill and had a history of violence against women.

Recapping Ryan and Eva’s conclusions:

100% innocent – Kalvin

Innocent – Michael

Uncertain of innocence or guilt but realize he doesn’t belong in prison – Byron

Updates on Byron, Michael and Kalvin:

Cyndy Short continues to advocate for Byron’s release and pursue all legal avenues for exoneration.

Tricia Bushral and the Midwest Innocence Project plan to file Michael’s Rule 91 Habeas petition before the end of the year and continue to champion his innocence.

The Duke Wrongful Convictions Clinic and Jim Coleman plan to file a motion for appropriate relief by the end of the year based on evidence discovered since Kalvin’s last appeal was denied. They will continue efforts to get attorney general Roy Cooper to take an active role in the case.

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“Inside The Gates” dove deeper into Byron and Michael’s cases. It also took Ryan back to the prison he spent 8 years in when he was wrongfully convicted. But first, let’s take a look at the information we gathered in episode 6 of Unlocking The Truth.

Previously on Unlocking The Truth…

Byron

We learn that Justin committed suicide before Anastasia was identified. Justin was known to have suicidal tendencies and depression. We also learn that Justin attended a gun show one week before Anastasia was murdered and that 7 hours after she was murdered he purchased a shot gun (the weapon he used to kill himself). Is this a murder-suicide? Or was Justin so grief stricken he chose to end his life?

One of the major issues in Byron’s case is that they cannot identify or locate a murder weapon. A high velocity gun (rifle or handgun) could have been used. The projectile found at the scene of the crime was lead but had no copper jacket like shot guns would have. However, this doesn’t rule out a shotgun or a long barreled gun as one could have been used if it only used lead projectiles.

Kalvin

Ryan and Eva spoke with Chris Swecker, former Assistant Director of the FBI. Swecker viewed Kalvin’s case and does not believe Kalvin committed the crime. Swecker stated that the evidence and investigation was flawed from the start.

Shane Fleetcher, a mentally unstable man, confessed to attacking Jill Marker months after Kalvin was arrested. He gave details that he shouldn’t have known about the crime. We then find out that he was connected to Kenneth Lamoureux. At one point they lived across the hall from one another in a psych ward. It is possible they could have communicated after the attack. Shane did have telephone privileges.

Ryan went to talk to Shane but couldn’t really get much out of him. He was not in a good state of mind and went where Ryan would take him. However, he does say that Kalvin did not commit the crime.

“Inside the Gates”

Byron

Ryan and Eva went to speak with Francesca, Anastasia’s sister. She said that there was no way all three (Byron, Justin and Kelly) weren’t there when Anastasia was murdered. Ryan and Eva also brought back the forensic linguist, Dr. Robert Leonard to examine the statements of Byron and Kelly. In both of their ’99 statements Byron and Kelly’s stories match up. There are a few differences but they are minor. If they were exactly the same it would look like the two met up before hand to corroborate their information. When the linguist looked at Kelly’s 2000 statement he noticed many contradictions within the same statement. Also Kelly was not very knowledgeable as to the location of where Anastasia was murdered. If she was that traumatized you think she would remember where her friend was killed.

We also got to look deeper into the timeline of the murder. Kelly claimed that they picked up Anastasia from the Dairy Queen around 4:30/5pm. However, when speaking to the manager at the time he claims that Anastasia was picked up near closing time, around 8/8:30pm. It was very dark out at that time. Ryan and Eva then speak to Glenn Colliver who was the grounds keeper of the first cemetery they got kicked out of. He told Ryan and Eva he kicked the group of teens out at about 8:45pm as he wanted to be home for his 9 o’clock television program.

These two statements do not corroborate with Kelly’s depiction of what happened. She’s either lying or she was so badly traumatized that she can’t get her timeline straight.

Michael

Ryan and Eva speak to Tina Carter, a friend of Rita Politte’s.  She tells the duo that Michael and Rita had a close relationship until the divorce. Michael got a lot of flak from his father who put all the blame for the divorce on Rita. Tina also believes Ed orchestrated Rita’s death and had Michael set the fire.

Ryan and Eva also speak to Derek Politte (no familial relation to Rita), an ex-boyfriend of Rita. Prosecutors made a big deal about the fact that Derek told them that Michael was flicking a lighter at the dinner table when he was over. Derek knew Michael did not want him there but he did not think the lighter thing was a big deal. To him he was just a kid who was struggling with his parent’s divorce. It was a non-issue to him.

Paul Bieber, fire/explosions investigator was also brought in to go over the evidence presented in Michael’s case. He tells Ryan and Eva that there is no research to suggest a pattern was made with liquid and that you can’t eye ball a crime scene and determine what kind of accelerant was used. You have to take samples from the scene and test them. After reviewing the evidence it was determined that neither the crime scene nor Michael’s tennis shoes came back positive for gasoline. No accelerant was found at the scene of the crime.

Ryan then meets with Michael in prison. The same prison Ryan spent 8 years locked up in for a crime he did not commit. This meeting really brought home the fact that Michael was stripped from society at such a young age. He has never used the internet and he never got a driver’s license. He basically grew up in prison.

After gathering all this information, Ryan and Eva sat down with Michael’s attorneys for a case review and determined that he was wrongfully convicted; they believe him to be innocent. The case review revealed the following:

• Johnny won’t sit down with Ryan or Eva, so we do not have his side of the story. Why was he in the field so early in the morning? Why was his truck parked there? We may never get an answer to these questions.
• Josh does not implicate Michael
• There was a possible misheard confession
• The evidence against Michael was incorrect

Based on this information Michael’s attorneys are filing a habeas corpus petition on his behalf. Whether or not the petition is accepted is up to a judge.

Next Week:

Ryan meets Byron

Ryan and Eva wrap up Kalvin’s case

The search for D.R. Williams begins

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This week’s episode of Unlocking The Truth, “You Don’t Know Murderers Bro” took us deeper into the red flags and inconsistencies of the investigations for Kalvin and Michael’s cases.

Kalvin:

It is unveiled that Kalvin and his girlfriend at the time were separated when they went downtown for questioning. Kalvin was then told by officers that his girlfriend was making an incriminating statement about him but if he wrote a similar statement (confession) they will be able to go home right away. Kalvin claims the detectives told him what to write.

Eva and Ryan continue to investigate the protocols used during the investigation and seek advice from Special Agent Scott Williams who looks into cases of police misconduct. He says that they cannot prove that Kalvin or any other witnesses were coerced by police and therefore believes he is guilty. To him there are too many people pointing the finger in his direction. Add that to the signed confession by Kalvin, which mentions information that was not public knowledge at the time and its hook, line and sinker. However, when looking back at the statements/stories Ryan and Eva notice that they all differ, yet no red flags are raised.

The duo also looked at the police line-up identification. In the first video of Jill Marker looking at a photo line-up she is unable to identify anyone. 1 year later Kalvin was identified by Jill. Jill was still non-verbal at the time and in the first video investigators had a hard time deciphering what she was trying to say. The first doctor to examine Jill said she would have had amnesia about the attacked, while a second doctor, her primary care physician, said she could make a positive ID. Which is it?

Ryan and Eva also learn that Jill’s son survived and was born while she was still in a coma. They meet up with Baron Marker to hear his side of the story. One that isn’t really heard because he wasn’t born when she was attacked, yet the attack had a significant impact on his life. Baron tells us that his dad raised him and eventually remarried. He also let Ryan and Eva know that he still has a relationship with his mother. We also learn that his stepmother has said his parents would still be together if this never happened and that Baron’s dad is still very much in love with Jill. However, his dad has become really closed off to the world and his family because of this tragedy. He lost his love and his family, only getting half of it back. That’s a horrible burden not only for his father to carry but for Baron as well.

Michael:

Ryan finally gets Josh Sansoucie to talk but not to go on camera. Josh stands by his last statement where he said he couldn’t see whether or not Michael was in his bed. He also told Ryan that he would be willing to testify if called upon. A huge victory for Michael’s case!

Eva and Ryan then go talk to former Washington Sherriff Ronnie Skiles. He goes over when he arrived on the scene. The fire was out when he arrived but he did view the rest of the crime scene. Skiles says you could tell Rita was attacked in her bed and put up a fight because of the blood splatter on the pillows and walls. He then went into the use of the stress test used on Michael, claiming it is mainly used for the process of elimination. If you pass, you are no longer a suspect. The problem with these tests, as told by forensic linguist Dr. Robert Leonard later on in the episode, is that Computer Voice Stress Analyzers (CVSA) are 50% accurate. Essentially a coin toss as to whether or not you will pass or fail.

Skiles does not think Michael attacked alone, he believed his father Ed had something to do with it. Yet, Ed was never looked at again. Skiles refused to go further into detail. The tension continued to build between Ryan and the sheriff. You could see how uncomfortable he was getting, especially when the sheriff said all people in prison claim they are innocent but they are guilty. Even if it wasn’t what they were caught for, it eventually comes full circle. Ryan had no words. Much like myself. The ignorance this man displayed was incredible.

His reasoning for Michael’s guilt is even more dumbfounding. He claims Michael was acting normally and that’s not how someone should act when they just found their mother dead. Sorry he must have missed that day in school were they read Skiles’s book on how to behave when you find your mother beaten and burned to death. Is this guy serious? It directly contradicts his statement to not have “tunnel-vision” when investigating these types of cases. He immediately assumed Michael was guilty because he didn’t act the way the sheriff would have under the same circumstances. It should be noted that Michael did ask weird questions like: who gets her [his mother’s] truck? Who slit her throat? But maybe that was his way of processing what he just witnessed.

Another thing that raised a red flag was after Michael made his “confession” after a suicide attempt there was no follow up to the confession. No additional interrogations. Nothing. Unfortunately in the U.S. the criminal justice system does not continue to search for the truth. Once there is enough evidence or information gathered to win, the investigation ceases. This is exactly why we have approximately 60,000 innocent people in prison right now. Something’s got to change!

Next Ryan and Eva visit the lead investigator in Rita’s murder, Curt Davis. He spoke to both Ryan and Eva but did not want to be seen on camera. He also thinks Ed [Michael’s father] was involved in the murder. More specifically that he convinced Michael to do it. WHY WASN’T ED INVESTIGATED FURTHER?! WHY IS HE ALLOWED TO ROAM FREE IF THEY THINK HE WAS INVOLVED IN THE MURDER?!

Melissa Mercer also tells her deceased mother’s side of the story. A day before Rita was murdered a man came to Melissa’s mother’s door and asked if she was Rita. He asked her about 10 times and became extremely aggressive and irritable when she kept telling him that she was not Rita. She then pointed out where Rita lived and the man strangely went off in the opposite direction. Up until her death she blamed herself for Rita’s death because she pointed out her home to the strange man. Melissa always told her mother to keep quiet about this information for fear of retaliation. Mercer believes that man was hired to kill Rita by Ed. Their divorce was finalized just a week before and Rita got almost everything.

Next Week:

Another suspect arises in Byron’s case — Justin

Shane’s confession — Kalvin’s case

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After finally getting Eugene to talk we learn that his testimony was also coerced. Eugene claims Detective Williams told Littlejohn that Kalvin had confessed to the crime and that if Eugene didn’t corroborate his story he would end up serving the same time as Kalvin because Kalvin said Eugene was with him when he attacked Jill Marker. Eugene then went on to say that all the witnesses in Kalvin’s case were berated by law enforcement and told what to say. Littlejohn also mentioned that during the initial investigation Detective Williams had him brought downtown for questioning every day for 2-3 weeks straight.

Ryan and Eva also got to speak to Pamela Moore, one of Kalvin’s ex-girlfriends, about her testimony. Pamela proceeds to tell Ryan and Eva that she never heard Kalvin say that he beat Jill Marker. She said she heard her boyfriend at the time claim that Kalvin said that to him. However, when she tried to tell police this they told her that she had to say she heard Kalvin say that he beat Jill. It had to come from her.

We also get to dig deeper into testimony from Michael’s case, specifically Josh, his friend who slept over the night of Rita’s murder. Josh wrote a written statement the same night of Michael’s mother’s murder never having mentioned Michael being out of his bedroom. However, two days later a video interview has Josh saying Michael was not in his bedroom and he heard a thud and the voice of a woman. Four years later Josh recants that statement and claims he would not have been able to see Michael if he was in his bed, so there was no way of knowing whether or not he was in the room. Ryan and Eva set out to find Josh and talk to him. Ryan head’s to Missouri but the address he had was incorrect. Luckily the phone number he has for Josh is correct. He texts Josh and says he is willing to listen to Josh’s story if he wants to tell it. On some level he relates to Ryan. Unfortunately Josh wants no part of it. Maybe with a little more prodding they can get Josh to open up.

The final case of this series was introduced in “We Shouldn’t Talk About This”. This case involves Byron Case, a young man in prison for the murder of his friend Anastasia WitbolsFeugen. Case has used up all his appeals and needs new evidence to be unearthed in order to reverse his conviction.

Anastasia was shot in the face at a cemetery. The night of the murder, Anastasia was hanging out with Byron Case and his girlfriend (Kelly Moffett), as well as Anastasia’s on again-off again boyfriend (Justin Bruton). Justin and Anastasia had an argument that night and later on she was found dead. Police went on the hunt for Justin who went a-wall. They found him dead two days later; he had shot and killed himself. As there was no physical evidence or murder weapon linking anyone to the crime the case went cold.

3 or 4 years after the murder (around 2000), Byron’s ex-girlfriend Kelly comes forward. She claims Byron saw Anastasia and Justin arguing, went into the trunk of the car, pulled out the gun and shot her in the face. This was after their relationship dwindled romantically and Byron decided to move to St. Louis with his friend Jamie Rickey. Did Kelly come forward because of jealousy or did she come forward because she felt safe enough to do so?

At the time Kelly Moffett was smoking crack and was homeless. Byron was her safe haven. A person she could fall back on when she was near rock bottom. When Byron told Kelly he was moving she threatened him saying she would make his life a living hell. This is approximately the time she recanted her statement claiming Byron had a fascination with death. Byron was then categorized as a killer/psychopath because he was Goth. A lifestyle choice with a stigma attached to it due to the recent Columbine shooting.

However, it is important to note that Kelly had to have law enforcement give her clues about the case and she couldn’t remember where the murder had taken place. You think something that traumatic wouldn’t be so easily forgotten.

One of the most puzzling pieces of this case is the recording of the phone conversation between Kelly and Byron. Police officers asked Kelly to try and get a confession out of Byron when she called him. They gave her a recording device and what transpired is bewildering. When Kelly asks Byron why he killed Anastasia instead of denying it he says “we shouldn’t talk about this”. She asks him again in a slightly different way and he repeats the same phrase. If he is innocent why wouldn’t he outright deny the accusations? Why would he say not to talk about it? Ryan and Eva definitely have their hands full with this one.

Next Week:

Ryan and Eva answer the question: Can Jill identify anyone in her condition?

Ryan and Eva talk to Josh or one of his relatives

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Ryan and Eva talk to Michael’s father and learn that he doesn’t want to reconnect with his son. We also learn that he had a solid alibi the night Michael’s mother was killed but from that meeting you could clearly see he has issues controlling his anger. Even his second ex-wife thinks he was somehow involved. Ryan and Eva also begin work on Kalvin Michael Smith’s case. A man convicted of assault with intent to kill. In December 1995 a young pregnant woman, Jill Marker, was brutally attacked at the store she worked at and was left for dead. Luckily she lived and identified Kalvin as her attacker. However we learn that she had been stalked by Kenneth Lamoureux, an older white man with mental issues and a history of violence. Kenneth was seen in the store moments before Jill was attacked and witnesses even made statements of seeing him in the store acting very suspicious. However, he was never fully looked into because Michael’s ex-girlfriend, girlfriend at the time and best friend at the time all stated that he was bragging about attacking Jill. The investigation of this case is very suspicious. Questions that have been brought up are: How did the photo lineup go? How can you have a photo lineup ID from a patient (Jill) who doctor’s said brain was like putty and who was also non-verbal at the time? “Honey That’s A Dangerous Man”, delves further into Kalvin and Michael’s cases.

In last night’s episode [Wednesday, August 31], we learn Michael’s uncle on his father’s side, Johnny Politte, was spotted by Larry Lee and Kevin Politte walking through the woods by the Politte home the night Michael’s mother was murdered. He was seen walking through the woods before the fire department arrived. Kevin discovered his truck by the railroad tracks while Larry actually spoke to him asking if he needed a ride. He declined stating his truck was just down the road but made sure to mention that Mike’s mother had died, yet this information had not yet been released. Larry also noticed that Johnny’s close were wet. Was it water or something else? Gasoline? Larry told Ryan and Eva that Johnny came to the Lee’s home a few days later and questioned Larry’s wife about what they knew about Michael’s mother’s murder. This made Larry’s wife uneasy and she ultimately told him to leave. This begs the question: why is Johnny so concerned about what the Lee’s know? What is he hiding?

Ryan and Eva also meet up with Kenneth Lamoureux’s ex-wife to learn more about him, since he is now deceased. We learn that Kenneth hated his wife when she was pregnant and became much more violent with her. One day before Jill’s attack, Lamoureux’s ex-wife was brutally attacked by Kenneth in front of their children; he broke her hand and fingers by slamming them into a doorway. The police were called and Kenneth was held for 4 hours giving his ex-wife enough time to gather her kids and get out of state. The judge and police officers knew Kenneth was a dangerous man, yet he was still never fully investigated in the Jill Marker case.

Ryan and Eva also talk to William Speaks, Kalvin’s original public defender to learn more about what happened at the trial. They also bring in an attorney from the exoneration project and learn that most of Eugene Littlejohn’s (Kalvin’s former best friend) confession/statement was coerced or fed to him by investigators. The whole interrogation was contaminated with bits of information from the crime scene. All Littlejohn did was say yes and when he didn’t say yes or couldn’t remember he was fed information and then replied with “yes”.

We also got to see the affect Kalvin’s incarceration had on his family, especially his mother. She turned to crack/cocaine for over a decade but now have been clean for 5 years. Ryan enlists her help to go on the hunt for Eugene. They find him but he walks away from her.

Next Week

Ryan finally gets to talk to Eugene

Third case introduced: Bryon Case

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