I doubt it, but Dave Davis has always maintained his innocence and Jerry Strickland claimed he was innocent. So, does anyone think UM ever lead to the capture and incarceration of an innocent person?

The Dowaliby Murder Case...sort of.

Did UM ever lead to the capture of someone that was innocent? There were people that were profiled on UM that I think were probably innocent but these were more final appeal types and not people that were caught because of being profiled on UM. I am waiting for Space Invaderz to come on so we can argue about Stuart Heaton and Larry Race again, haha. But to answer your question out of the Um's I have seen I have not seen a person that was caught because they were profilied on UM that I felt there was more than maybe a slight chance they were innocent. Yes, Davis and Strickland claimed innocence but I feel both are guilty, especially Strickland. Both are serving life without parole in Michigan since that is a mandatory sentence on gets in Michigan if convicted of first degree murder. That law that makes it a mandatory life without parole sentence, I believe Michigan was the first or one of the first states in the country to have life without parole sentences and that law took effect in 1979. However Michigan I believe is still one of the only ones where it carries an automatic sentence of life without parole if convicted of first degree murder. Sometimes people plead down to 2nd degree murder and escape a life without parole sentence although sometimes people for 2nd degree murder can be sentenced to life with parole possible after serving a certain period of time.

The Dowaliby Murder Case...sort of.

How would that case (even "sort of") be included? :confused:

A few comments:

1 - I was thinking a bit about the Dowalibys today and to me there are only two plausible scenerios that could've happened. The first which I subscribe to is an outside party (an intruder) gained access to the house and kidnapped and murdered Jaclyn. Another theory which has been advanced a few times by law enforcement is the possibly that either Cynthia or David were disciplining their daughter and possibly knocked her unconcious killing her. I believe this to be pretty far-fetched but the only way I see either of the Dowalibys involved in their daughter's death is strictly an accident.

2 - I believe that Dave Davis is a psychopathic killer. The planning that went into the murder of Shannon Davis (essentially marrying her to murder her) displays to me the intent of a very sick man, whom if it wasn't Shannon Mohr he killed it would've been another unlucky lady as Davis had apparently tried to get several other women to agree to a "quickie marriage" before Shannon Mohr accepted his proposal.

However, Davis might have some grounds for a reversal based on prosecutorial misconduct. I'm not sure what the grounds were for this but apparently there was some type of problems in the prosecution of Mr. Davis which if it is true, would make him a contender in my mind for a new trial.

3 - Beaver Tempest who is currently serving time for the murder of Doreen Picard might be innocent. Although Susan Lefearte's daughter Nicole, was dismissed as an unreliable witness to the attack it is interesting to note that another man who had/has been strongly considered as being involved in the murder of Picard (and attack on Lefearte) has occasion to somehow come in contact with the Lefeate's after the attack. Nicole mentioned to her father "I think thats the guy who whacked mommy". So there might be something there.

4 - Another case would be that of Walter Ogrod who is on death row for the murder of Barbara Jean Horn (He was due to be executed last summer but was granted another stay...not sure if he's still alive now though?) - There is a lot of speculation that Ogrod is not the killer of Barbara Jean Horn because he bears very little resemblance to the composite sketch given out on the killer.

Also one question that has always haunted me about this case is the fact that the man carrying the cardboard box which Horn's body was later found stuffed into, was conversing with several people as he brought the cardboard box to the curb where it was later found.

If this man was indeed Ogrod (who bear in mind at the time was the Horn's next door neighbor) why wasn't this case solved sooner? - I mean wouldn't these people who saw him bring the notorious box to the curb say - "Oh that was Walt who left that box there!" - Strange.

5 - Finally there is one case I always wished UM never got involved in because I don't see it did anyone much good in the end and thats the case of Margo Freshwater. I have a great deal of sympathy towards Margo and believe that while she did commit a criminal act (robbery and murder) she was actually in fear for her life by the deranged psychopath who orchestrated the whole affair.

While in other cases (such as Missy Munday) I would have no problem seeing the accomplice serve an equal sentence along with the individual who orchestrated the plot, I believe Margo is no criminal and the acts she committed were done under duress.

Also the fact that Margo managed to conduct her life "on the outside" for more than 32 years as a law-abiding citizen, raising a family, holding down a job really make me believe she is not deserving of spending the rest of her life in jail.

I realize this might not be a popular opinion and I do acknowledge Margo's crimes and her 1970 escape from prison but I also take into account the fact of the circumstances in which these crimes were committed as well as Freshwater's life post 1970.

I just really wish UM didn't get involved with this case, yes I grieve for the victims and the families of the victims but I just think its really sad all around.

For more information go here: http://www.mccartorfund.org/index.html

Finally there is one case I always wished UM never got involved in because I don't see it did anyone much good in the end and thats the case of Margo Freshwater. I have a great deal of sympathy towards Margo and believe that while she did commit a criminal act (robbery and murder) she was actually in fear for her life by the deranged psychopath who orchestrated the whole affair.

While in other cases (such as Missy Munday) I would have no problem seeing the accomplice serve an equal sentence along with the individual who orchestrated the plot, I believe Margo is no criminal and the acts she committed were done under duress.

Also the fact that Margo managed to conduct her life "on the outside" for more than 32 years as a law-abiding citizen, raising a family, holding down a job really make me believe she is not deserving of spending the rest of her life in jail.

Sure. Just like how Tookie Williams supposedly found redemption, and was therefore not deserving of execution for shotgunning four people to death. :rolleyes:

In any event, it should be noted that Margo Freshwater was caught before the UM segment aired. Therefore, the show did not result in her capture.

Also, just because she had been "a law abiding citizen" during her years on the run doesn't mean she should get a free pass. No matter how well she had behaved from the time of her escape until her capture, it doesn't change the fact that she participated in a crime that resulted in a murder.

^ Yeah I figured it would be an unpopular opinion. You keep yours and I'll keep mine, I'm not saying for the record I'm crying any rivers because Margo is in jail but wouldn't mind to see her released either.

Hey DD, well I dont know about this case, which state is Margo in? I say if Margo has turned it around she should at least be seriously considered for parole. I have never really understood these tough on crime fanatics because studies have shown it does little if any good and in fact increases crime doesnt decrease it. Oh well, I am in the minority in our country in believing in rehabilitation for inmates and stuff. I mean yes not everyone c an be rehabilitated but I believe a majority can. First step is getting rid of the death penalty and I do think this will happen eventually but it is very slow to get people to come around to this line of thinking, particularly in the south but it is slowly happening.

As for Dave Davis, well I think if true that he killed his wife it woud prove to b e by an extreme, devious, diabolical mind. He would have had to have planned all this BEFORE he even met Shannon let alone married her. He was going to unleash this on any person he met. IT is horrible truly. The scary thing is he almost got away with it. He actually wasnt indicted in Shannon's death until a year after it happened so he did get away with it at least initially. Then he went on the run and was on the run for 8 or 9 years. But if there was prosecutor mis conduct than he does deserve a new trial. It would probably end up the same as the first but I think in Davis's case he would be smart to try to get a plea bargain down to 2nd degree murder, that is really the best he could do at this point.

I also have my doubt as to whether Walter Ogrod was in fact the killer of Barbara Jean Horn. I am not saying he for sure didnt do it, but I never thought he even closely resembled the composite. It was mainly a very circumstancial case against him and they really didnt have any real evidence against him except that of a jailhouse snitch who I believe later admitted they lied to get a deal. It is interesting to note that Ogrod was actually nearly acquitted in his first trial. As a matter of fact the jury had gone back into the court room to acquitt him but then as the verdict was being read a juror suddenly shouted out he didnt agree and thought Ogrod was guilty. The finally tally was the jury was 11 to 1 in favor of acquittal. That juror that yelled out he thought Ogrod was guilty, I dont know what made him do that but it did result in a mis-trial and I believe it was nearly two years later before Ogrod went on trial again. In the 2nd trial which was much less publicized the jury voted to convict and sentenced to death. Ogrod is still alive, and I dont see him getting executed anytime soon. Since PA brought the DP back only 3 inmates have been executed and all 3 of them were inmates that voluntarily ended their appeals. Ogrod just turned 42 earlier this month.

I do think that the killer of Barbara Jean Horn was potentially the same man that had killed a little girl in 1987. This man had also been a suspect in Barbara Jean Horn's killing b ut was cleared as a suspect, police watched him for many years. In 2003 he was arrested in connection with the 1987 killing and he pled guilty in exchange for the death penalty being taken off the table and he was sentenced to life in prison.

How would that case (even "sort of") be included? :confused:

Well, I can't remember when the segment aired. If it originally aired after the father was released from jail, then the Dowaliby case is not included. If the UM segment resulted in the father being jailed, then the case is included. I just can't remember how far into the story UM got hold of the case. I think they covered the story after the father was released from prison, so I guess this story would not be included. That's why I put sort of, because I wasn't sure at what point UM told the story.

Well, I can't remember when the segment aired. If it originally aired after the father was released from jail, then the Dowaliby case is not included. If the UM segment resulted in the father being jailed, then the case is included. I just can't remember how far into the story UM got hold of the case. I think they covered the story after the father was released from prison, so I guess this story would not be included. That's why I put sort of, because I wasn't sure at what point UM told the story.

All versions of the Dowaliby story that I have seen appeared to have been made after David's acquittal. This case really disturbs me, and I think is not unlike the Ramseys in that the police didn't seem to have any other viable suspects so they zeroed in on the parents exclusively.

Here is something interesting about Davis' possible innocense...

SCIENCE CHALLENGED IN '89 CONVICTION -
DAVIS APPEAL SAYS TESTS FOR DEADLY DRUG A 'SHAM'
Blade, The (Toledo, OH)
November 25, 2001
Author: MICHAEL D. SALLAH
BLADE NATIONAL AFFAIRS WRITER
Estimated printed pages: 11

When NBC-TV shows reruns of the movie of his wife's murder, David Davis refuses to watch with the other prisoners.

The 57-year-old inmate says he already knows how the plot ends - and it's not his version.
Over and over, he has played her death in his mind: his young wife gasping for breath in his arms, the blood trickling down her chest, and her whispers fading into silence.

"I could never have hurt her," he says, his voice trembling.

It's been 12 years since he was convicted by a jury of injecting a powerful drug into his spouse in the woods near their farm in Hillsdale County, Michigan, after luring her outside to ride horses.

Since his arrest in 1989, he has refused to talk about the death of 25-year-old Shannon Mohr Davis, a nurse from Toledo.

He didn't take the witness stand at his trial, which drew hordes of reporters and network crews to the rolling hills of southeast Michigan.

Now, with what could be his last appeal in federal court in Detroit, the aging man with the white beard and wrinkles insists he was railroaded by zealous prosecutors and expert witnesses.

In a challenge to the intricacies of science, defense lawyers - with the testimony of four medical experts - insist the tests that turned up a deadly drug in his wife's body were a "sham" that went beyond the boundaries of evidence, a court petition states.

Davis insists his wife lost her life after falling from her 15-year-old mare and striking her head on a rock, the same version presented by his lawyers at his trial.

"I absolutely did nothing to her," he said in a phone interview from Marquette state prison, in which he's serving a mandatory life sentence.

Defense lawyer Thomas Bleakley argues that in two autopsies after her death on July 23, 1980, forensic experts found that her head injuries were consistent with a fall from a horse. At least four laboratory tests on her blood and tissues did not turn up any dangerous drugs, court records show.

The Toledo parents of the deceased woman say they are stunned the case is now in federal court and even angrier at their former son-in-law, an international fugitive until he was arrested eight years after his wife's death.

The tragedy sparked three syndicated television shows, a book, and the 1993 made-for-TV movie.

"This is unbelievable," says retiree Robert Mohr, father of the deceased woman. "I've tried to put that guy out of my mind. He disgusts me. He's a liar now, and he's been a liar from day one."

State prosecutors say Davis and his defense lawyers took their case to federal court in desperation and have found no new evidence since a jury in Hillsdale County found him guilty on Dec. 5, 1989.

"There's no question that David Davis killed Shannon Mohr," says Mark Blumer, an assistant state attorney general who prosecuted the case. "It was an extremely well-planned murder." The motive: to collect $330,000 in life insurance benefits.

But in a scientific challenge, defense lawyers insist the substance identified as the murder weapon - succinylcholine chloride - was not found in his wife's blood and tissues.

Once known as "the perfect murder weapon" because it breaks down so quickly in the body, defense lawyers argue there was no way to detect the substance in human tissues back in the 1980s.

The FBI developed a test to find traces of the drug in the 1990s, but it's not the same procedure used in the Davis case, say several independent experts.

In another twist, Dr. Robert Forney, Jr., the toxicologist who testified he found trace elements of the drug in her tissues, is being challenged in the case by four colleagues at Medical College of Ohio.

Three of the medical professors said in sworn statements within months after the conviction that they seriously doubted their colleague's work, based largely on his published papers about the novel findings.

Defense lawyers mounted appeals, but the Michigan courts ruled the professors should have stepped forward at the trial.

Twelve years later, the professors say they stand by their statements - with two saying they feel stronger today about their criticisms.

"It was a misuse of science, and it was wrong," says Dr. Keith Garlid, now a professor of pharmacology at Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland. "I'm still very upset about it."

Dr. Forney, 55, a toxicologist who travels the country as an expert witness, did not return numerous phone messages after initially agreeing to talk about the rare technique.

Several supporters say even if Dr. Forney's methods were controversial, they believe he found the lethal compound. Lucas County Coroner James Patrick says he's satisfied Dr. Forney's procedures were scientifically valid, even if other methods since have evolved with the latest technology.

In a series of delicate tests using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry, Dr. Forney and others were able to identify an "unknown substance" in the dead spouse's tissues and then compared those readings to those produced by the real drug, says Dr. Patrick.

"What they found were very similar peaks," says the coroner, who hired Dr. Forney in 1978 as a toxicologist at MCO.

Until the Davis trial, experts believed only one person in the United States had ever been convicted of murdering someone with the drug: Dr. Carl Coppolino, who was accused in a sensational trial in Florida of injecting his wife with the substance in 1965.

But 12 years after his conviction, he was released from prison when questions were raised about the credibility of the test in that case.

The key question raised by Dr. Coppolino's lawyers: How can anyone detect a drug that decomposes in minutes into succinic acid and choline - both found naturally in the body?

The Davis defense team is hoping federal Judge Paul Borman will grant a hearing based on the most recent court request.

Davis' lawyers are asking for a writ of habeas corpus - a challenge to the federal court that Davis did not receive a fair trial in state court. No hearings have been set, but the judge refused a request by prosecutors to dismiss the case in August.

Smitten

When he spotted Shannon Mohr for the first time at a Sylvania wedding in August, 1979, David Davis told a friend he was going to marry her. For her part, she was smitten by the strapping man with the piercing blue eyes who asked her to dance, her relatives recalled.

In a story with all the makings of a romance novel, the couple began dating and soon talked about marriage.

Described by relatives as young and idealistic, Miss Mohr had just broken up with her previous boyfriend, a Toledo firefighter, say relatives.

"I was a bit concerned about her, because she was on the rebound, and she had just met [Davis], and it was obvious she was in love - really in love," recalls sister-in-law Judy Mohr.

For his part, Davis says he was taken by the brunette. "She was the sweetest, most gentle person - not a day goes by that I don't think about her."

After seven weeks of courtship, the couple married in Las Vegas. After they returned, they settled into Davis' 100-acre farm in Hillsdale County, a pastoral landscape of grassy slopes and lakes.

Davis grew corn and soybeans, and his wife commuted to her nursing job in Flower Hospital in Sylvania.

Ten months after they wed, the couple went for a horseback ride on the evening of July 23, 1980 - an event that would be examined in police investigations, court, and appeals for years to follow.

The Davis' neighbor, Richard Britton, recalls the husband and wife leaving his farm on their horses after they stopped for a visit. About 25 minutes later, he says Davis returned on horseback alone.

"He said something happened to Shannon. She was hurt," recalls Mr. Britton. When the men rushed back to the woods, Mr. Britton recalls she was on the ground, her shoes off, blouse unbuttoned, and blood on her chest.

A rock covered with blood was found nearby. "He said she fell off the horse," recalls Mr. Britton.

By the time they arrived at Thorn Hospital in Hudson, Mich., with her battered body in Mr. Britton's car, a nurse said Mrs. Davis' eyes were dilated and there was no pulse.

In his recent interview, Davis talked for the first time about the events that ended in his wife's demise.

They were riding along a "path through a wooded lot, and we rode this 100 times before," he says. "It was thick and brushy and full of bugs and biting fleas, so you tried to get the horses through there as soon as possible.

"I was in front of her, and as we rode along, I heard her scream. I turned around, and I could tell she was in trouble. She was underneath the horse with one boot in the stirrup. I dismounted and went back to her as fast as I could. She was barely conscious."

Because of her head injuries and her spouse's explanation, her death was attributed to a "fall from a horse" by the local medical examiner's office, and the case was closed.

Suspicious

After the funeral and burial in Calvary Cemetery in Toledo, the Mohrs grew increasingly suspicious.

First, their son-in-law denied buying life insurance on his wife, they say. Then they learned he had taken out $330,000 in policies on her life. Second, the family learned shortly after Shannon's funeral that Davis was going to Florida with a girlfriend.

By then, the family pleaded with the Hillsdale County Sheriff's Department to investigate.

Thirty-five days after the funeral, Mrs. Davis' body was exhumed, but the autopsy did not turn up anything new. No evidence of foul play was reported.

The case was dropped.

The family was livid and began a letter-writing campaign that led to one of the most far-reaching investigations ever waged by the Michigan attorney general's office.

"I poured my heart out," recalls Judy Mohr. "I wrote that it was so important to not let this case die. She was a beautiful and trusting person who didn't deserve to die that way."

The Mohrs then went to federal court in Detroit to try to ban Davis from collecting his deceased wife's insurance benefits. In the weeks after their daughter's death, they say they found out other things about Davis: He was not a Vietnam War veteran as he told everyone in the family, and he was not an orphan.

Worse, he had been married before with two small daughters - something his wife didn't learn until a week before she died. "He told us so many lies, it makes me sick," recalls Mr. Mohr.

Davis has his own story.

He insists that when he was asked at the hospital whether his wife carried life insurance, he thought the nurse was inquiring about health insurance. "We were at the hospital, and I was in a fog," he says.

After the funeral, he says he wanted to get away from Michigan "to clear my mind," and decided to go to Florida. A former girlfriend asked to go along, he claims.

Though the same woman, Jeanne Hohlman, testified at the trial that Davis told her he was a CIA agent living a dual life, he denied ever saying that.

Davis says she fabricated the story "to get back at me for putting her on a plane after we got to Florida, and she has been mad at me ever since."

He says he bought life insurance for his wife and himself. "The agent came to us. I did not go to him," says Davis, claiming it was a way to cover farm expenses in case one of them died.

In November, 1980, the state attorney general's office jumped on the case, but by then Davis was living on a sailboat in a Fort Lauderdale, Fla., marina.

"I was tired of being targeted. I decided to sell my farm and move away," he says.

With Davis sailing between Florida and the Caribbean in 1981, investigators turned to the laboratory.

Using a gas chromatograph, which shatters a sample into tiny components, two Medical College of Ohio toxicologists say they discovered something in the dead woman's tissues but couldn't identify it.

After several failed tries, Dr. Robert Forney and an assistant, Tom Carroll, turned to private labs that use mass spectrometers, instruments that smash molecules into fragments and identifies them.

But even those machines failed to pinpoint the substance.

After reviewing a list of dangerous drugs, the scientists noticed the name succinylcholine, which is used by veterinarians to relax animals.

That's when they decided to go to Sweden.

In experiments at the Karolinska Institute, the two MCO researchers, under the direction of toxicologist Bo Holmstedt, say they identified traces of succinylcholine in the dead woman's tissue.

The findings led to another exhumation on July 1, 1981, when doctors cut out several bruises - possible injection points - and gave the evidence to Dr. Forney.

Dr. Forney later said that tests in Sweden on the new evidence confirmed his suspicions: succinylcholine was present in bruises in the upper right arm and the right wrist.

With the strength of the findings, Davis was indicted on a first-degree murder charge three months later.

At the time, he says he was living on his boat in Haiti. "My attorney told me that I was wanted," he says. "I was tired of it. I had done nothing wrong, but I knew they were out to get me. I decided to leave."

He says he paid people to watch the boat and flew to Los Angeles. Eventually he moved to Santa Monica, where he took flight lessons.

He grew a beard and adopted the name David Meyer Bell. Over the next eight years, he became one of the nation's most celebrated fugitives as he moved to Alaska, Hawaii, and eventually American Samoa.

Investigators flew to Florida, the Bahamas, and elsewhere hunting for him, passing out flyers and posters.

Their break came nearly eight years later: NBC showed a rerun of an Unsolved Mysteries show about the Shannon Mohr Davis case. A woman who dated Davis in Hawaii and knew he had moved to American Samoa - 3,200 miles away - saw the episode and called police.

On Jan. 6, 1989 - more than seven years after he fled - he was nabbed as he showed up for his job as a pilot for an island airline. He was married to a 23-year-old woman and living in a one-room shack.

Witness

By the time the trial began on Nov. 28, 1989, Dr. Forney was the star witness.

While the jurors listened to testimony about Davis' life of deceit and years as a fugitive, the key evidence was the succinylcholine, they later told reporters.

It took the jury only two hours to seal Davis' fate: guilty.

Three weeks later, a controversy arose that would shadow the case for another 12 years - leading to the present appeal.

For several years leading to the trial, it was learned a group of professors at Medical College of Ohio had seriously questioned Dr. Forney's work on the breakthrough research.

The four professors said they found numerous errors and incomplete information in three of the published papers by Dr. Forney, Mr. Carroll, and three other researchers about the detection of succinylcholine.

"I was shocked that this was being passed off as science," says Dr. Garlid.

Various facts in the papers were wrong, the professors said, including the melting point of key substances. One professor, Dr. Amir Askari, wrote a letter to one of the scientific journals, saying he had "grave concerns" about scientific discrepancies.

Dr. Steven Britton, no relation to the Davis' neighbor, said he talked to Dr. Forney about a series of "errors" and "sloppy" reporting in one of the studies in the Journal of Forensic Sciences.

"This is a discredit to us because it was known that it was wrong," Dr. Britton said in a sworn statement.

Mr. Bleakley, the lawyer for Davis, says he was unaware of the simmering dispute at MCO before the trial. He asked Dr. Forney during the trial whether anyone had criticized his work on the process.

Dr. Forney responded: "Not to my knowledge."

Mr. Bleakley says the toxicologist should have been banned from testifying, since his findings were not accepted by the scientific community.

In one of his papers, Dr. Forney surmised that succinylcholine may have been preserved - instead of quickly dissolving - because the embalming fluid in the human tissues was acidic. However, a witness said the embalming fluid used on Shannon Mohr was the opposite: alkaline.

The professors who criticized Dr. Forney's work said they tried to keep the controversy within the medical college community. But when a Blade editorial praised Dr. Forney's testimony after the trial, Dr. Askari said he felt compelled to write a letter to the editor explaining "there are some of us who have serious problems with this kind of science," he says.

Controversy

During the height of the controversy in 1990, a three-member panel in the medical college was appointed to review Dr. Forney's work.

In the end, the panel members acknowledged they were not experts in the field, but after interviewing Dr. Forney, who shared his data with the group, it appeared his conclusions were supported.

However, the panel added that much of the earlier criticism of Dr. Forney and his assistants was justified: The three papers they wrote about the detection of the drug "were very poorly written," and the questions raised about them "were certainly justified."

Lastly, the group concluded: "While the data presented by Dr. Forney to this committee are consistent with his conclusions, it's likely the validity of this method will only be accepted widely after its reliability is confirmed by an independent laboratory."

Dr. Fredric Rieders, a recognized expert on finding succinylcholine in human tissue, says the testing procedures today are different from those used by Dr. Forney in the Davis case, and they since have been accepted in the courts. "They are more advanced with new technologies. And there is considerably more precision."

Though he didn't see the tests in the Davis case, he says he believes that Dr. Forney, with the assistance of the Swedish experts, used credible procedures at the time.

"I talked to Bo Holmstedt about the tests [in the Davis case], and I'm aware of what they did. I'm satisfied that they found [succinylcholine]."

Davis' lawyer says he will ask the judge to hold an evidentiary hearing to decide whether Dr. Forney's findings should have been accepted by the trial court.

Prosecutors say it's doubtful the judge will hold such a hearing. Mark Blumer, the prosecutor at the trial, says Davis was convicted "on a host of powerful evidence" beyond science.

The Mohrs, who divide their time between Toledo and St. Petersburg, Fla., say they want Davis locked up for the rest of his life. "He did it," says Mr. Mohr, who ultimately was awarded his daughter's life insurance benefits.

"There's no doubt in my mind he did it. To this day, I still wonder how we overlooked this guy. We thought he was going to watch over our daughter and protect her. We thought he was going to be a good husband."
Caption:
Shannon Mohr Davis died July 23, 1980, near her farm in Michigan.
THE BLADE
David Davis insists his wife fell from her horse and struck her head on a rock.
A family photo shows Shannon Mohr Davis enjoying a day with her horse on her farm in Hillsdale County, Michigan, in 1980.
THE BLADE
Dr. Robert Forney, Jr., a toxicologist, testified at the 1989 trial that he had found trace elements of a fatal drug in the tissue of the dead woman. THE BLADE
David Davis, left, speaks with his lawyer, Thomas Bleakley, during the trial. Mr. Bleakley says that Dr. Forney should have been banned from testifying.
THE BLADE
Edition: CITY FINAL
Page: A1
Index Terms: SPECIAL REPORT
Copyright, 2001, The Blade
Record Number: 0111250045

OpenURL Article Bookmark (right click, and copy the link location):
SCIENCE CHALLENGED IN '89 CONVICTION
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I'll save about a dozen posters here some time:

Without a doubt, Jeffrey MacDonald. How can anyone not see that 47 or so acid-consuming hippy freaks with ties to the CIA, KGB, the Italian Mob, the Ku Klux Klan, Black Panthers, among others, slaughered MacDonald's family in cold blood, but only gave him superficial wounds so he would take the fall?

It's a conspiracy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, I can't remember when the segment aired. If it originally aired after the father was released from jail, then the Dowaliby case is not included.

The segment was filmed over a year after David Dowaliby was released from prison; Dowaliby's release occurred in October of 1991, and the UM segment aired during the 1992-93 season. So this rules out the possibility of including the Dowaliby case.

So, does anyone think UM ever lead to the capture and incarceration of an innocent person?

I would have mentioned Jeffrey MacDonald but he didn't fit the criteria of this thread, since he had already been wrongly convicted and incarcerated before UM debuted. Plus he was never a fugitive since he had nothing to hide from.

does anyone think UM ever lead to the capture and incarceration of an innocent person?

^ I wanted to respond to the second part of this question and the most honest answer I can come up with is: I'm not sure.

On one hand if you are referring to the "Wanted" cases, UM endevored to profile these cases where there was already an established suspect. For example there is little doubt that Edward Bell murdered Larry Dickens.

As far as the "Unexplained Deaths" segments go: I just don't know really I'm sure the leads called into the telecenter helped the authorities zero in on a suspect but just the law of averages/probability will tell you that it is highly unlikely that every person UM helped put behind bars was guilty of the crime they were accused of.

Although we must always remember that these people then, obviously went through the whole judicial process where a judge or jury determined their guilt or lack thereof.

However in closing, I will say as a qualifier that UM at times presented a very skewed version of the events they were profiling. I am in no means suggesting they should've identified with the criminals they were trying to catch but in at least one case (that of Jesse James Hollywood) the events as they unfolded on UM are quite different then how they played out in real life.

I've also recieved correspondence from a relation of Albert Leon Fletcher who said his case was also heavily "doctored up" by UM and the events didn't actually go down as they were portrayed on the program. Now obviously being a relation of Fletcher, some degree of bias would have to been entered into the equation but it still gives you something to think about.

I doubt it, but Dave Davis has always maintained his innocence and Jerry Strickland claimed he was innocent. So, does anyone think UM ever lead to the capture and incarceration of an innocent person?

I know this isn't exactly what you are talking about but wasn't Eileen Mangold's killer found not guilty?

I know this isn't exactly what you are talking about but wasn't Eileen Mangold's killer found not guilty?

Indeed, he was acquitted by a jury. But it should be noted that just because someone has been acquitted doesn't always mean they are factually innocent. DNA evidence linked Franklin Alfred Smith to Eileen's murder, but enough reasonable doubt was established to help him beat the rap.

Plus he was never a fugitive since he had nothing to hide from.

:lol:

Wow, a DNA match, yet acquitted by a jury. I guess the main reason being why, was that Elaine was dead and no one else came forward as a witness so there was doubt? I wonder what happened to the two kids on UM? Maybe, they didnt think Franklin Alfred Smith, matched the guy they saw? I dont know, Smith should thank his lucky stars every day he was acquitted because usually especially with DNA if you are a match for DNA jury's tend to convict based on that alone unless you are somehow able to explain it away but even that is usually hard to do. I imagine many were surprised when he was acquitted. But I guess it is always possible he didnt do it but the DNA thing troubles me. Although I guess it doesnt surprise me that in Florida they would acquitt the guy that actually does a crime but convict countless people that didnt do the crime. I can think of at least 5 guys that are on death row there that are most likely innocent. Also Paul Hamwi, who is serving life, he might not be innocent but still they really had nothing to tie him to it except a suscipicous character named Robert Beckett who got immunity , the case was entirely circumstancial beyond that and there was really no hard evidence to tie him to the case.

As for Dr. MacDonald, I am with Awsi, in that I think he is innocent, MacDonald was certainly never a fugitive. He had nothing to run from and not only that but he was never on the run, authorities knew where he was all the time, he never made any effort to hide.

Thought I would bump this thread. I thought of another convict UM profiled who might be innocent: Robert Leeds.

Until the day he was captured, Leeds maintained close telephone contact with the police investigating the case and allegedly tried to make an effort to rectify the situation.

He ended up pleading "no contest" and got less than a year in county jail, IIRC.

I remember seeing a news segment once about how the reenactment actors were often mistaken for the criminals. The actors would have police coming to their doors because people would phone in tips on them.

I'm not sure if it happened to UM actors, but there were a few from AMW that appeared on the story.

A few more -

Frank Casteel apparently still maintains he didn't murder the three ATV riders near Signal Mountain.

James Majors - serving life for various murders. He was a suspect in the death of Angelo Desidari(sp?) profiled during the first season. I can't recall if he was convicted of complicity in Angelo's murder, but I believe that he has maintained his innocence with regard to Angelo's death.

Edward Harold Bell - claims the shooting of Larry Dickens was an accident.

Justin, in regards to Jim Majors, he actually is on California's death row. But yes in essence he is serving a life sentence as that is what death sentences in California are for the most part. I believe Majors was never charged in connection with Angelo's death. I think this was because he was already on death row in California, so they figured why try in Arizona if he is already on death row? However if they had known the problems that California would run into with their death penalty, they probably would have tried him in Arizona as the odds he would be executed in Arizona are far higher. Of course Arizona has had problems of their own with their lethal injection procedure and thus executions have been pretty much stopped for nearly a decade there.

I remember seeing a news segment once about how the reenactment actors were often mistaken for the criminals. The actors would have police coming to their doors because people would phone in tips on them.

I'm not sure if it happened to UM actors, but there were a few from AMW that appeared on the story.

Yeah, I'm surprised that type of thing doesn't happen more.

This IMHO is the downside to the UM re-enactments. Sometimes people confuse the re-enactments for reality.

I'm almost positive there are numerous people who think that the actress playing Tammy Leppert was actually her. That may have hurt a lot of the investigation.

I think UM was even aware of this problem and made a bigger effort in the later years to cast actors that resemble the victims/suspects or they made more of an effort to make sure that the picture of the victim was shown constantly.

Good examples of this are the Oliver Munson segment, Patricia Meehan, & Sneha Phillips. They did a good job of having their photos engrained in your memory.

Edward Harold Bell - claims the shooting of Larry Dickens was an accident.

Oh, absolutely. I can't count how many times I've accidentally shot someone in the stomach with a pistol several times, then walked back to my truck and grabbed my M1 Carbine to 'accidentally' finish the job. :rolleyes:

Oh he did not just shoot him in the stomach. He shot him in the head. In fact I believe he shot him 5 times in the head actually. Or at least 5 times total all over his body. But yeah, one shot I can buy as an accident but 5, that is pushing it.

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Oh he did not just shoot him in the stomach. He shot him in the head. In fact I believe he shot him 5 times in the head actually. Or at least 5 times total all over his body. But yeah, one shot I can buy as an accident but 5, that is pushing it.

I suppose he also forget to wear pants and underwear that morning, too. !:lol:

The only redemeable thing about Edward Bell segment is that at least we got to see Matthew McCoughnehey get shot five times. Now those are the type of roles I would like to see him more in. :D

The only redemeable thing about Edward Bell segment is that at least we got to see Matthew McCoughnehey get shot five times. Now those are the type of roles I would like to see him more in. :D

May the force be with you, Mastermind.

I made a similar mistake moons ago when I opened a similar can of worms and there was H-E-double-hockey-stick to pay. :lol:

A few more -

Frank Casteel apparently still maintains he didn't murder the three ATV riders near Signal Mountain.

James Majors - serving life for various murders. He was a suspect in the death of Angelo Desidari(sp?) profiled during the first season. I can't recall if he was convicted of complicity in Angelo's murder, but I believe that he has maintained his innocence with regard to Angelo's death.

Edward Harold Bell - claims the shooting of Larry Dickens was an accident.


There's also Rick McCue - he was found not guilty (on appeal, I think) and released. He had been convicted of Aileen "Lulu" Corchane's murder.

BTW, Justin, please check your PMs - I've PMed you earlier about this segment - thanks! :)

Charli-Ann