“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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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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