This thought just came to my mind. The man who was convicted of this offense (the little 4 year old Philly girl stuffed into a box down the street from her home) is believed by many to be innocent of the crime. I recall reading a very in depth article that I am unable to locate now, that states that he had a hung jury before his conviction with an 11-1 favoring aquittal. I do not want to comment on any more facts because my recollection is vague, but I think his name may be Osgood. Some commented that his picture did not resemble the disturbing composite that was shown on UM. It was a special alert segment I believe. Any comments? Anyone that is interested in this brutal crime and possible miscarriage of justice should look into it if inclined to do so. Let me know what you can find. I am having some technical issues here or I would seek out further info myself.

Thanks.

That was his name and yeah this was a very early case that was actually done as a "Special Alert" by the Philly police to find this guy okay...The segment itself being a "Special Alert" really didn't go into much detail but the composite looks nothing like Ogrod for those who have seen it.

I was gonna post on this in a few days - Ogrod is mentally challenged, he had no prior run ins with the law and was the Horn's next door neighbor at the time of the murder which took place in the summer of 1988. Police allege that Ogrod lured Barbara Jean Horn into his home with the promise of candy and proceeded to sexually assault her when she screamed he beat her to death with a dumbell.

Curiously there has never been any physical evidence to link Ogrod to the crime. The witnesses who saw the man with the telltale HITACHI TV box that Horn's body was stuffed into described a man very different from Ogrod.

There is also the manner of the way the police captured Ogrod. The police readily admit that before Ogrod CONFESSED to the murder they had no leads in this case at all. Ogrod confessed to the murder in 1992 but for one reason or another the police thought this wouldn't be a enough to spin a guilty verdict so they got a man in prison by the name of John Hall to apparently intice a confession out of Ogrod (or so say Ogrod's defenders) - This would be highly illegal I believe and should result in Walt's death sentence being set aside. There are a lot of people convinced that Walt did murder Horn and a lot who think he is going to die for a crime he did not commit.

None of this was covered on UM because at the time the "Special Alert" aired the police had no leads besides the Hitachi tv box evidence. The thing that always struck me about this case was that the officer who was interviewed on UM could not pronounce the name "Barbara Jean" - He called her "Bobber Jean" or "Bobby Jean" which is obviously incorrect - Still sticks will me and is another one like "Judy Hymes" that is swimming around in my head.

Here are some links pertaining to Mr. Ogrod

http://citypaper.net/articles/2004-06-17/cover.shtml
http://www.amnestyusa.org/abolish/listpending.do&e=10053

You can also find information on Ogrod and Horn by googling it.

I found a link on a June 2005 article on the case. It says that Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell has signed Walter Ogrod's death warrant. Ogrod is scheduled to be executed on August 2.

http://ap.lancasteronline.com/4/pa_execution_warrant

Ogrod was going to eventually die for this crime sooner than later - his stay of execution expired I think on 8-5-05. I still say though that the guy in UM sketch looks nothing like Walt - the guy in the sketch looks older and fatter than Ogrod.

Later.

Walter Ogrod's execution has been stayed. A judge decided to give him more time for appeals. I hate it when that happens. We've given this guy more than enough time to win an appeal. We did the same thing to Kevin Cooper. Kevin says he was framed when the DNA puts him at the crime scene.

Here's what I found: August 2005 Executions (http://www.prodeathpenalty.com/Pending/05/aug05.htm)

Some people think that Walter Ogrod is innocent. Apparently he's mentally unstable? I saw a case on UM today about another man who was "slow" and the police forced him to confess to a crime he didn't commit. He was in jail for 8 years before he was released. Sorry, but I can't remember that person's name right now. Does anyone think this could have happened to Walter Ogrod? There was never any evidence found against him...

Considering how many mistakes are made on death row by imprisoning innocent people (later shown to be innocent with the help of DNA) I wouldn't be suprised if they have the wrong guy. Other poster are right; the police sketch doesn't look like the the guy (but then again, police artists seem to be required to go through an art class to distort the human face). It should all come down to the DNA. If none is available, I certainly hope they don't execute an innocent man.

Well after researching this case and looking at the different links provided I am doubtful that Walter Ogrod actually killed Barbara Jean Horn. Supposedly the guy that saw the man with the television box said it wasnt Ogrod that he saw holding it and Ogrod looks nothing like the composite. Ogrod actually wasnt even considered a suspect in this case until nearly 4 years after the crime. Supposedly the police used controversial tacticts. Like when they interviewed Ogrod he had supposedly been up for over 30 straight hours and was tired and sick. They kept telling him that he had did it. Ogrod was tested by a psychatrist and while the shrink said that Ogrod wasnt mentally ******** he did say Ogrod tested on the lower end of normal in terms of intelligence. Ogrod was nearly acquitted in his first trial in 1993. The jury actually had at first agreed to acquitt him and the foreman was in the middle of reading the verdict when a juror suddenly stood up and said he didnt agree with the verdict. The jury voted 11 to 1 in favor of acquittal and a mistrial was declared. The prosecution never had the evidence. However Ogrod had the misfortune of coming across one of these professional snitches in jail that lies about stuff to get his charges reduced. The informant even later basically admitted that he made some stuff up about Ogrod. In his 2nd trial in 1996 Ogrod was convicted based on the new evidence from the professional snitch and was sentenced to death. Ogrod originally had his execution date set for August 2nd, 2005. However he had an indefinite stay of execution. Originally the police had actually looked at a man named Raymond Sheehan who was 22 years old at the time Barbara Jean Horn was killed. He had also been a suspect in the 1987 murder of another Philadelphia girl. However they didnt have enough evidence to charge him. In 2003 his DNA was found to be the DNA in the 1987 murder and he was arrested and he pled guilty and was sentenced to life. I think Sheehan very well could have been the one that killed Barbara Jean Horn. I am doubtful it was Walter Ogrod.

Walter Ogrod arrested 1992, mistrial 1993, convicted 1996. Walter confessed to this crime to two Phila. Homcide Detectives. He was not beaten or threatened, nor was he tricked or harrassed. Walter was asked to go back in his mind and think about the day Barbara Jen was murdered. Then he was asked if he had seen her that day. He answered that he had seen her, that she had come to his house seeking a little boy that lived there with his parents and sister. He told the detectives that he had let her in and that she went looking for the little boy Charlie who lived there. Then he said he didn't see her again. They asked him some more questions but about what he did that day and such and then they left the room. When they came back, they confronted Ogrod with his initial statemet the day of the murder when he told anaother detective thet he didn't know or see Barbara Jan that day. You see when Walter told them that he saw her and let her in the house he was the first person to say that she had come to someones house that day, others had seen her playing in her front yard. When they asked Ogrod why he changed his statement from 4 years earlier he broke down crying and proceeded to confess to what he had done. That is why he was arrested.
In 1993 the first trial was a mistrial. After the trial some, not all, o the jurors were being interviewed by the media. They all said that they had a hard time believing that the man that they heard testify could not have made that confession because he seemed too dimwitted to give that detailed of a confession. What they didn't know at that time that Ogrod was heavily medicated during that trial, which is why he seemed so dim witted. Tha is why there was a mistrial.
Second trial 1996. Walter Ogrod is found guilty. Found guilty because he confessed to other inmates and went into deeper details about the whys.
So now John Hall one of the inmates wants to say he lied and made things up. You think Hall wants to clear his conscience o what e wanted was the DA to get him out of some trouble he got himself into and they refused so now all the cases he supposedly dimed people out on e was lying it's called payback for the DA for not helping him out.
Walter Ogrod is in prison on death row in Pa. because he is guilty of murdering Barbara Jean Horn a 4 1/2 year old little girl. There was no DNA evidence found in the case and no physical evidence found in the house. The house that Ogrod abandoned less than a year after the murder, the same house that the city of Philadelphia had cleaned out because it had become a haven for kids to hang out in, start fires break windows etc. 2 years prior to Ogrods arrest. Tom Lowenstein and the folks at the innocence project are about saving people from the death penalty, guilt or innocence mean nothing to them as long as no one is executed.

Does anyone know if Walter Ogrod was ever executed for the murder of Barbara Jean Horn? He was sentenced to death and scheduled to be executed on 8/2/05 but it was stayed.

Does anyone know if Walter Ogrod was ever executed for the murder of Barbara Jean Horn? He was sentenced to death and scheduled to be executed on 8/2/05 but it was stayed.

As of August 4, 2012, he was alive and the subject of an article (http://articles.mcall.com/2012-08-04/news/mc-pennsylvania-death-row-cruel-unusual-20120804_1_death-row-inmates-critics-of-capital-punishment-death-row/2) written about him.

EDIT: Still alive. Here's his page (http://inmatelocator.cor.state.pa.us/inmatelocatorweb/InmLocator.aspx) on the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections page.

As of August 4, 2012, he was alive and the subject of an article (http://articles.mcall.com/2012-08-04/news/mc-pennsylvania-death-row-cruel-unusual-20120804_1_death-row-inmates-critics-of-capital-punishment-death-row/2) written about him.

EDIT: Still alive. Here's his page (http://inmatelocator.cor.state.pa.us/inmatelocatorweb/InmLocator.aspx) on the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections page.

Thanks!!

Thanks, thought about this the other day and would by far rather see a guilty man go free than an innocent one wrongly convicted!

Thanks, thought about this the other day and would by far rather see a guilty man go free than an innocent one wrongly convicted!

Well, that's interesting. I'd hate to see anyone be wrongly convicted but I'd despise setting a child killer/rapist free.

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/attytood/A-death-row-inmate-a-murder-victims-son-and-a-16-year-quest-for-justice.html

Article about him in this paper last week,seems like an innocent mentally ill man will be spending the rest of his life behind bars.

HLN's Death Row Stories is talking about the Barbara Jean Horn case right now. It's been mentioned that a "jailhouse snitch" helped fabricate Ogrod's confession, thus trapping him. A childhood friend of his as well as the son of an infamous figure believe he is innocent.

The fact that law enforcement has vehemently refused to test the blood found under Barabara Jean’s fingernails on multiple occasions is all I need to know. This dude got railroaded by dirty cops and screwed over by jailhouse rats. I have no idea if Ogrod is innocent or guilty, but based on all of the available evidence there is no way he should have ever been convicted in the first place.

The fact that law enforcement has vehemently refused to test the blood found under Barabara Jean’s fingernails on multiple occasions is all I need to know. This dude got railroaded by dirty cops and screwed over by jailhouse rats. I have no idea if Ogrod is innocent or guilty, but based on all of the available evidence there is no way he should have ever been convicted in the first place.

I read that last month, they finally went ahead and scheduled a retrial of sorts and are testing the DNA in the case (finally).

The fact that law enforcement has vehemently refused to test the blood found under Barabara Jean’s fingernails on multiple occasions is all I need to know. This dude got railroaded by dirty cops and screwed over by jailhouse rats. I have no idea if Ogrod is innocent or guilty, but based on all of the available evidence there is no way he should have ever been convicted in the first place.

Agreed.

I read that last month, they finally went ahead and scheduled a retrial of sorts and are testing the DNA in the case (finally).

This will be interesting to follow for sure.

Just passing it along ...
https://www.google.com/amp/s/6abc.com/amp/5871713

I have always been convinced of Walter Ogrod's innocence. I hope he is exonerated and the individual responsibile is brought to justice.

https://cdn.abcotvs.com/dip/images/5870928_012220-wpvi-ogrod-file-2-ogrod-arrest-video-vid.jpg?w=800&r=16%3A9
http://photos.geni.com/p13/65/b1/ce/23/5344483d8ed3e78c/download_original.jpg

Good grief. A few minutes ago I just watched that little segment on the case from Season 1.
So I had to look up info on the case and saw that there was an update in the news just today about the guy convicted. I know I saw the case before but did not follow anything else about it. Sounds like DNA will see if he done it once and for all. DUDE did have crazy eyes though.

Did you even read the rest of the thread? The DNA was not his. The man did not commit the crime. It is also been profiled on HLN's Death Row Stories episode is titled Snitchwork.

Nope. Didn’t read all of it. I’m just mentioning the DNA because Philly DA still has to review the new evidence. I don’t know why they would need thirty days to review it.

Apparently a witness at Ogrod's trials was one of the people who saw the man carrying/dragging the box with Barbara Jean's body inside, and this witness actually briefly conversed with the guy. He was the only witness who actually spoke with the man, and he identified him as a man named Raymond Sheehan. In 2003, Sheehan would confess to the rape and murder of a 10 year old girl in 1987 that happened a few blocks away from where Barbara Jean was murdered. The only problem is that the witness also identified another man (Ross Felice) in person just a few days later. 2 other eyewitnesses picked Ross Felice out of a photo spread as the man seen carrying the box. However, nothing taken from Felice's apartment matched any evidence left at the crime scene, and a fingerprint found on the box did not match Felice. Ross Felice became a suspect when he seemed too interested in the investigation (Felice lived in the neighborhood where Barbara Jean's body was found). Raymond Sheehan's fingerprints did not match the print left behind on the box. At Ogrod's second trial, the defense seemed to focus much more on Ross Felice as the alternate suspect. I cannot find a picture of him, but I did find one of Sheehan.

https://i.ibb.co/0rB2HCG/bjhsheehan.png

This picture was taken in 2003 after he confessed to the 1987 murder. I see some similarities between the 2.

Apparently a witness as Ogrod's trials was one of the people who saw the man carrying/dragging the box with Barbara Jean's body inside, and this witness actually briefly conversed with the guy. He was the only witness who actually spoke with the man, and he identified him as a man named Raymond Sheehan. In 2003, Sheehan would confess to the rape and murder of a 10 year old girl in 1987 that happened a few blocks away from where Barbara Jean was murdered. The only problem is that the witness also identified another man (Ross Felice) in person just a few days later. 2 other eyewitnesses picked Ross Felice out of a photo spread as the man seen carrying the box. However, nothing taken from Felice's apartment matched any evidence left at the crime scene, and a fingerprint found on the box did not match Felice. Ross Felice became a suspect when he seemed too interested in the investigation (Felice lived in the neighborhood where Barbara Jean's body was found). Raymond Sheehan's fingerprints did not match the print left behind on the box. At Ogrod's second trial, the defense seemed to focus much more on Ross Felice as the alternate suspect. I cannot find a picture of him, but I did find one of Sheehan.

https://i.ibb.co/0rB2HCG/bjhsheehan.png

This picture was taken in 2003 after he confessed to the 1987 murder. I see some similarities between the 2.


Wow. Talk about incompetent police work then. These clowns are right up there with the ones from Balwin Borough (that bungled the Michael Rosenblum case)

Walter Ogrod was exonerated and released from prison in early June, 2020.

Barbara Jean's mother, Sharon Fahy, pleaded with the court to release Ogrod.
Fahy once believed Ogrod was guilty, but had changed her mind after being told of evidence that was withheld and DNA testing proved it was not Ogrod.

Excerpt from the Philadelphia Inquirer:

"Walter Ogrod is officially exonerated.

Five days after a Philadelphia judge agreed to overturn Ogrod’s conviction in the 1988 killing of 4-year-old Barbara Jean Horn, another judge on Wednesday agreed to let prosecutors withdraw all outstanding charges against him — the final step in Ogrod’s two-decade fight to clear his name."

Walter Ogrod was exonerated and released from prison in early June, 2020.

Barbara Jean's mother, Sharon Fahy, pleaded with the court to release Ogrod.
Fahy once believed Ogrod was guilty, but had changed her mind after being told of evidence that was withheld and DNA testing proved it was not Ogrod.

Excerpt from the Philadelphia Inquirer:

"Walter Ogrod is officially exonerated.

Five days after a Philadelphia judge agreed to overturn Ogrod’s conviction in the 1988 killing of 4-year-old Barbara Jean Horn, another judge on Wednesday agreed to let prosecutors withdraw all outstanding charges against him — the final step in Ogrod’s two-decade fight to clear his name."

I'm reviewing this case with the most careful analysis possible, and all evidence I have reviewed so far points to Walter Ogrod's innocence [or certainly NOT guilty beyond a reasonable doubt]. What's not clear to me is whether the DNA evidence found belonged to a family member [which makes sense - our DNA will move from one person to the next, among people in close proximity], or a clear third party, non-related family member. If the evidence belonged to a person who no one in the family knew, then we can not only rule out Walter Ogrod, but we can assume a clear third party was responsible.

I'll put this another way:

If the DNA found on Barbara Jean Horn was that of her stepfather, we may not be able to use it to prove he is the killer, as there are many ways a stepfather's DNA could get on a 4-year-old. As I understand it, this was DNA found under fingernails. I know my kids have scratched me before...so if the DNA was that of the stepfather [due to normal interaction a father would have with his daughter/child], AND if none of Walter's DNA was found...then there are still questions to answer.

If the DNA is both [1] not Walter's, and [2] not that of the stepfather, then I would say we have very clear evidence that not only is Walter Ogrod NOT guilty...but that he's actually innocent.

Why does all this matter?

Because this is/was a DEATH PENALTY CASE. I take no issue with the death penalty generally, as most people on Death Row are not only guilty - but guilty of the most hideous crimes imaginable. However...something like 3-5% of people on Death Row are actually innocent. Whoa! To me, any number above 0% is unacceptable.

Basically, if the death penalty continues, I'm not about to join the group of activists fighting it. BUT...as long as there are innocent people on Death Row, I can't exactly support it either.

I think the standard for execution should go from "beyond a reasonable doubt" to "beyond ANY doubt". Then I'd be far more supportive of the death penalty. If you ask me if I'm sad that Ted Bundy was executed...well...am I supposed to say yes? I don't shed a single tear for that scumbag.

Not much information was given about the DNA evidence. But it is a significant discovery to me that none of Walter Ogrod's DNA was found. He's definitely "Not Guilty", IMO. And after reviewing the forced confession, I would say that he is actually "Innocent". But even if he is guilty, this was NEVER an appropriate death penalty case, IMO. It is cases like this which is why I can't support the death penalty. Whatever the low percentage of innocent people wrongly executed...well...one is too many [IMO]. As for the Ted Bundys of the world being executed...meh. I'm not going to pretend I'm sad about him when I'm not.

Know what I mean?

Too bad about Walter Ogrod and this complete miscarriage of justice though.

This case was featured on Dateline last night (August 13).

Lester Holt reports on how the investigation into the murder of four-year-old Barbara Jean Horn revealed decades of misconduct across Philadelphia's criminal justice system.

https://www.nbc.com/dateline/video/the-investigation/9000161929

OW7UjMAhvk4

I'm reviewing this case with the most careful analysis possible, and all evidence I have reviewed so far points to Walter Ogrod's innocence [or certainly NOT guilty beyond a reasonable doubt]. What's not clear to me is whether the DNA evidence found belonged to a family member [which makes sense - our DNA will move from one person to the next, among people in close proximity], or a clear third party, non-related family member. If the evidence belonged to a person who no one in the family knew, then we can not only rule out Walter Ogrod, but we can assume a clear third party was responsible.

I'll put this another way:

If the DNA found on Barbara Jean Horn was that of her stepfather, we may not be able to use it to prove he is the killer, as there are many ways a stepfather's DNA could get on a 4-year-old. As I understand it, this was DNA found under fingernails. I know my kids have scratched me before...so if the DNA was that of the stepfather [due to normal interaction a father would have with his daughter/child], AND if none of Walter's DNA was found...then there are still questions to answer.

If the DNA is both [1] not Walter's, and [2] not that of the stepfather, then I would say we have very clear evidence that not only is Walter Ogrod NOT guilty...but that he's actually innocent.

Why does all this matter?

Because this is/was a DEATH PENALTY CASE. I take no issue with the death penalty generally, as most people on Death Row are not only guilty - but guilty of the most hideous crimes imaginable. However...something like 3-5% of people on Death Row are actually innocent. Whoa! To me, any number above 0% is unacceptable.

Basically, if the death penalty continues, I'm not about to join the group of activists fighting it. BUT...as long as there are innocent people on Death Row, I can't exactly support it either.

I think the standard for execution should go from "beyond a reasonable doubt" to "beyond ANY doubt". Then I'd be far more supportive of the death penalty. If you ask me if I'm sad that Ted Bundy was executed...well...am I supposed to say yes? I don't shed a single tear for that scumbag.

Not much information was given about the DNA evidence. But it is a significant discovery to me that none of Walter Ogrod's DNA was found. He's definitely "Not Guilty", IMO. And after reviewing the forced confession, I would say that he is actually "Innocent". But even if he is guilty, this was NEVER an appropriate death penalty case, IMO. It is cases like this which is why I can't support the death penalty. Whatever the low percentage of innocent people wrongly executed...well...one is too many [IMO]. As for the Ted Bundys of the world being executed...meh. I'm not going to pretend I'm sad about him when I'm not.

Know what I mean?

Too bad about Walter Ogrod and this complete miscarriage of justice though.

I was Pro-PD for years, but after doing a paper on the history in the US, the sheer numbers of innocent people put the death in the 20th century, and the fact it's much less cost effective than LIP, I'm against it. I agree with one poster who said it needs to be "Beyond Doubt". Like DNA, unmistakable evidence, and if there is a confession, the DNA and other evidence must be there to back up the confession.

I'm glad WO will get his life back, but he's already still lost over 20 years to the crappy Philly police.

For those who are so inclined, the entire episode is up on Dateline's podcast feed today (August 17th). They even have a little snippet of the UM segment.

I'm glad Ogrom is getting some semblance of his life back despite the injustice he faced, and admired Barbara Jean's mom for taking the evidence into consideration and advocating for his release, even though it meant acknowledging that her murderer was still out there and may never be found.

Unbelievable that his exoneration comes with no money settlement. Poor bloke has had it tough.

Unbelievable that his exoneration comes with no money settlement. Poor bloke has had it tough.

He did get a financial settlement, eventually: https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/who-killed-barbara-jean/city-to-pay-9-1-million-to-man-wrongfully-convicted-of-killing-barbara-jean-horn/3686451/