The Times Where Law Enforcement Got It Wrong

[themaninblack]

Were there any instances where the cops had the wrong idea about who committed a crime or simply horribly bungled the crime scene investigation?
The Freeman/Bible case comes to mind here.
And them thinking Dub Wackerhagen killed Latricia White and ran off with his son. Turns out now they believe her ex-husband was involved in her death.

[MediaHoarder]

I have thought about this while working on the database.

To start with, UM had a decent number of segments that were challenging the law enforcement narrative in a case. Arguably in those LE got it wrong, although not surprisingly they have not admitted to it in very many.

What you seem to be asking however is more along the lines of when UM presented the LE line, how often did that turn out to be wrong? Seems to me that has been fairly uncommon.

More common in my mind are the various cases "solved" by LE that appear to be done shoddily. Often this takes the form of closing a case without a conviction based on a theory about who may have done it. But in at least a few cases someone has been convicted by a case that was weak and should not have passed muster.

[1990 UM fan]

Two words: Patricia Stallings

[MegtheEgg86]

Originally Posted by 1990 UM fan

Two words: Patricia Stallings

^ This one, although I can understand why they went wrong and why they were so sure they were right. I wouldn't expect the average police officer or even prosecutor to know what inborn errors of metabolism are. It was those physicians who heard about the story on television who are really responsible for cracking this case. What happened to Patty wasn't right, but it's not surprising to me that it did.

I bumped one of the threads about it recently so it's fresh on my mind: Kevin Ives and Don Henry's crime scene was pretty well bungled. The crime scene map was drawn with the back of the train being the central point of reference, so of course when the train eventually moved on, the map was rendered useless. Evidence was allegedly lost (i.e., the infamous tarp). One of Kevin Ives' feet was actually left at the scene for two days before it was eventually found and retrieved. The medical examiner's godawful investigation. That one was about as bad as bad can get.

[tvscript124]

Jaclyn Dowaliby. What those parents went through, with the father being convicted, and the murder is still unsolved...

[TheCars1986]

Roger Dean

Little girl neighbor insisted she saw a black guy running away from the scene and was largely ignored because the cops initially believed that it was some sort of an inside job.

[Mike82]

I can't think of a better example than Johnny Lee Wilson. What laughable "evidence" they used to coerce that poor kid into falsely confessing and any sane judge and/or jury would have immediately thrown the case out. I think my mother once stored some of her clothes in my closet when I lived at home so apparently that makes me a murderer? Make it make sense! I get angry watching David Dowaliby and Patty Stallings too but at least I can see some of the (twisted) logic the prosecutors used. I am 100% convinced not only of his innocent but also he wouldn't even hurt a fly.

Amy Bechtel was also never given the closure she deserved because the cops lied to Steve about "proof" they had against him and destroyed his trust and cooperation. If they spent half that time using common sense they could have officially nailed Dale Eaton for it. I am shocked and how many people think Steve must be guilty because he wisely stopped cooperating: no rational person would have done anything differently.

[Killarney Rose]

Originally Posted by Mike82

I can't think of a better example than Johnny Lee Wilson. What laughable "evidence" they used to coerce that poor kid into falsely confessing and any sane judge and/or jury would have immediately thrown the case out. I think my mother once stored some of her clothes in my closet when I lived at home so apparently that makes me a murderer? Make it make sense! I get angry watching David Dowaliby and Patty Stallings too but at least I can see some of the (twisted) logic the prosecutors used. I am 100% convinced not only of his innocent but also he wouldn't even hurt a fly.

Amy Bechtel was also never given the closure she deserved because the cops lied to Steve about "proof" they had against him and destroyed his trust and cooperation. If they spent half that time using common sense they could have officially nailed Dale Eaton for it. I am shocked and how many people think Steve must be guilty because he wisely stopped cooperating: no rational person would have done anything differently.

I agree with each of these.

There is another case. I can’t remember if it was UM of Forensic Files. Captain of a fishing boat hired a guy as a hand that was slow, like Johnny Wilson, but able to work. I can’t remember his name, but I believe his regular job was in a local grocery store.

The boat took on water and sank. The captain was killed and the young man managed to get rescued. LE immediately decided he murdered the captain and he was interrogated the same way as Johnny Wilson. Tried and imprisoned, he was later exonerated.

[dynoguy88]

Originally Posted by TheCars1986

Roger Dean

Little girl neighbor insisted she saw a black guy running away from the scene and was largely ignored because the cops initially believed that it was some sort of an inside job.

Next month marks the 40-year anniversary of Roger's murder.

Looks like Michael Jefferson got his sentence in January 2025. I knew DJ was no longer with us but I did NOT know that she committed suicide in 2020, just several months before Jefferson was identified.

https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/new...case-colorado/

[TheCars1986]

Originally Posted by dynoguy88

I knew DJ was no longer with us but I did NOT know that she committed suicide in 2020, just several months before Jefferson was identified.

It was never mentioned on UM, but apparently, LE thought DJ and/or her daughter were involved with Roger's murder and that's why they discounted the 9 year old neighbor's testimony from the onset.

[Street Novelist]

Originally Posted by 1990 UM fan

Two words: Patricia Stallings

That poor woman...the amount of pain and suffering she had to endure.

[1990 UM fan]

Originally Posted by dynoguy88

Next month marks the 40-year anniversary of Roger's murder.

Looks like Michael Jefferson got his sentence in January 2025. I knew DJ was no longer with us but I did NOT know that she committed suicide in 2020, just several months before Jefferson was identified.

https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/new...case-colorado/

I feel bad for Tamara. Her brother gets killed by a train. Her father is murdered. Her mother commits suicide. I hope Tamara has good people in her life to get her through.

Originally Posted by TheCars1986

It was never mentioned on UM, but apparently, LE thought DJ and/or her daughter were involved with Roger's murder and that's why they discounted the 9 year old neighbor's testimony from the onset.

Why would they have thought that, especially the daughter?

[TheCars1986]

Originally Posted by 1990 UM fan

Why would they have thought that, especially the daughter?

They were openly skeptical in the segment thinking it was an inside job that got out of hand. I believe once the extortion letters started, they thought it was something concocted between DJ and her daughter to throw off the investigation.

[Jon]

Sheriff Ed Allmaras in the Kathy Bonderson case who incorrectly insisted her death was caused by an accident.

Tony Miller, who was exonerated after serving 9 years in prison.

On this subject, I recommend the book Framed by John Grisham and Jim McCloskey which focuses on 10 separate cases of wrongful convictions. There's definitely a common thread of false confessions

[BuffaloBill]

Bike Path Rapist / Altemio Sanchez - officers dropped the ball 25 years before they captured him by having him on the radar and didnt do proper follow up. Results of that critical mistake - many more sexual assults on women, including 3 murders and poor Anthony Capozzi locked up 22 years for 2 crimes Sanchez commited.