48 Hours Mystery: The Lost Night

The more Bill Ferguson studied Chuck Erickson's police interrogations, the more he believed that not only is his son, Ryan, innocent - so is Ryan's accuser.

"He looks like someone that's totally lost. He doesn't know anything about the crime scene," Ferguson observes. "I think it's the first time he's ever been there, quite honestly."

What Chuck knew about Kent Heitholt's murder, says Ferguson, seemed to come from the police.

Police Interrogator: We know for a fact that his belt was ripped off from his pants and he was strangled with his belt.

Chuck Erickson: Really?

Watch excerpts of Chuck Erickson's police interrogation

"They fed him all the information," says Ferguson

"But why would Chuck want to fit the evidence? I mean-" Erin Moriarty asks.

"That's the $64,000 question," Ferguson laughs. "Who knows? I have no idea how his mind works."

It's a huge missing piece of the puzzle: why Chuck was willing to go to prison for a crime he seemed to know nothing about.

"I think they put a lot of pressure on him to comply with the evidence," Ferguson explains. "I think what happens is in Chuck's heart, he did it. He knows no details because he wasn't there."

And Chuck's story continues to fall apart when Christine Varner comes forward.

"It's your conscience," she tells Moriarty. "I felt I had to do it."

Varner once managed the agency that employed Jerry Trump, the janitor who definitively identified Ryan at trial.

When she saw Trump's testimony on "48 Hours" when we first aired this story, she says, "I'm thinkin', 'How can you do that? That's not what you had said.'"

Varner says that shortly after the murder in 2001, Trump told her that he'd never be able to identify the men he saw by Kent's car.

"But he said that the way the lighting was, 'I couldn't tell who - who was there, at all," she says.

Three years of digging for new witnesses finally pays off for Bill Ferguson. In July 2008, the state agrees to hear the new evidence.

Varner is one of 22 witnesses who testify - many who undermine the state's case against Ryan.

"We were able to, for the first time, present this new evidence. So, we were very excited," says Ferguson.

The state, however, questions the credibility of some of the witnesses.

For example, the janitor who now claims she told the prosecutor she didn't see either Ryan or Chuck the night of the murder had actually earlier said - in a sworn statement - that she wasn't sure. She tells "48 Hours" that back then the she felt pressured by the prosecutor.

"Kevin Crane had me so intimidated and so - so scared, you know," Shawna Ornt says. "I was scared of what he would do or say to me if I said, you know, somethin'."

But Prosecutor Kevin Crane says Ornt did tell him she just wasn't sure. After the hearing, the judge takes nearly a year to make a decision... and it's a huge disappointment for Ryan: No new trial. His conviction will stand.

"It broke me, in a way, because I allowed myself to get hopeful," says Ryan.

But Ryan's father does not accept defeat, and out of the blue, he's found a new ally.

Kathleen Zellner doesn't even live in Missouri. She's a high-profile attorney in Chicago who also saw the "48 Hours" report.

"A case like this to me is just consuming," says Zellner, who agrees to take Ryan's case pro bono. She's worried. "My big concern is that I came into the case so late, I'm not sure that the case is salvageable."

"Wait a minute, Kathleen. You're saying that you truly believe Ryan Ferguson had nothing to do with this murder, that he's completely innocent... But you're not absolutely sure you can get him out?" Moriarty asks.

"Right, because... the case has just progressed procedurally so far," she says.

Zellner believes the entire case was based on a faulty premise.

"The police came up with the theory and just bought into it 100 percent - that these people that came upon the scene were the murderers," she says. "These two white guys."

Zellner thinks that the two young men seen there were not the killers at all - just college kids cutting across the lot. That's why one of them stopped to tell the janitors to get help.

"Who would do that if you've just committed a murder? You want to get the police there faster? I don't think so," says Zellner.

Because of that wrong assumption, Zellner says other possible suspects were not fully investigated. In particular, the last person known to see Kent Heitholt alive: Sports writer Mike Boyd.

"Did the police take hair samples, fingerprints?" Moriarty asks Zellner.

"No," she replies.

"Check Boyd's car?"

"No. No. None of the above."

Boyd was never interrogated, although he has cooperated with investigators from both sides. He did expect to come under more scrutiny in the beginning.

"Were you worried at how the police would look at you?" Moriarty asks Boyd. "I mean, because-"

"Oh, immediately, yeah, because I was the last one, you know, and - I've seen my share of crime shows to realize that they always, you know, look at the time of all this and where were you and what were you doing?" he replies.

He admits that over the years he has given troubling inconsistent statements - telling one investigator he was driving his wife's blue car that night, and then later telling another he was in his red car.

"What car were you driving that night?" asks Moriarty.

"That's how tired I was," says Boyd.

"But that night, on Halloween night, what car do you think you were driving?"

"I'm gonna say the red car."

After Ryan and Chuck were arrested, Boyd claimed that he also saw two young men by the parking lot. But that doesn't match what he told police on the night of the murder.

"'Boyd stated he did not see anybody around the parking lot, or anybody who was suspicious in nature,'" Moriarty says, reading the report to Boyd.

"OK," he says.

"Is that what you told John Short, right after the murder?" Moriarty asks.

"I do remember having to go back and tell him that I did see two people."

"There's no police report that says you saw two people."

"Later on. That night, I remember - there were so many questions, so many things goin' through my head - that it just - and I'm still tired."

"Now, let me ask you a very tough question," Moriarty continues. "Did you fight with Kent that night? Did you have anything to do with this murder?"

"No, ma'am. No, ma'am."

Zellner believes that Ryan's jury should have been told about Michael Boyd.

"I can't possibly know if Michael Boyd committed this murder. And I wouldn't say that," Zellner says. "But I do think that he raises reasonable doubt about Ryan Ferguson's guilt."

Zellner is confident she could win if Ryan gets a new trial and determined to get an appeals court to hear his case. But that won't be easy.

"Once you're convicted, the system works completely against you," she says. "The analogy I think of is that he's in quicksand. And I'm trying to grab a hold of him."

The difficulty of winning an appeal

She needs more evidence... and she's about to get it from the last person she'd ever expect to hear from.

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[george2015]

WHAT CAN BE DONE ?or!:
A common peeve I have with the 48 hour series is how it leaves the audience with a lack of empowerment. The 48 hour team is guilty of leaving American's with a question mark when they should leave them with an exclamation point. Why leave America with a greater sense of apathy? Why not give them a greater sense of empowerment! You should wrap up every news article with an action plan to show Americans what they can do to GET INVOLVED!

By leaving your audience disempowered you have done Ryan Ferguson a disservice.

TWO THINGS THAT CAN BE DONE RIGHT NOW!
At opening of the your next broadcast announce the following:
********************************************
One reader suggests the following:
INNOCENT MAN WALKING
If you are an inmate at the prison where Ryan Ferguson is jailed, you can help. You can send a message to those who wrongfully keep this man incarcerated by shouting INNOCENT MAN WALKING whenever you see Ryan in the room or whenever he passes you in the hallway.

Fellow inmates will quickly get under the skin of every guard and prison official the moment they ALL start treating Ryan Ferguson the way the military treats a medal of honor recipient.

You will be doing your part to make America a better place to live and you will also be doing your part to make Ryan's stay a little less painful.

Ryan's family can ask for visiting rights to other inmates and ask them to participate in this program.

[sharonestes]

My heart goes out to Ryan's family. If anyone from Ryan's family or friend reads this please research on CBS news episode on Dec 9th 2012. The man that is over the Innocent Project. He has freed lots of innocent men that has been sent to prison wrongfully. God Bless You!

[craigzz]

The last time I saw police investigative techniques this bad, and a prosecuter of such appaulable low standard of concience, is probably in the 1960's.

[ccrider0013]

I have been troubled by this story since I first saw it a while ago. I was so glad to see the follow up. That gives me hope that at least Ryan will be cleared. I am not sure about Chuck but I really don't think he had anything to do with this crime either. I knew that from the minute that the hair in Mr. Heitholts hand did not match either of these two young men.I think Chuck may have some issues that lead him to beleive he did something and the cops never tried to find the truth they just tried to fit square pegs in round holes with Chucks confession( if you can call it that ). I have so little faith in our judicial system. When a killer like Casey Anthony goes free and two innocent young men sit in jail for a crime they did not commit its time to take a look at the whole process.Best of luck to these two young men I hope that the truth sets them free.

[datelineNBC]

I am going to solve this case once and for all. Based on the facts of the case, here is what really went down that night. Mike Boyd, the sportswriter who worked under Mike Heitholt, followed his boss out to the parking lot that night. They were chit-chatting about Boyd's car trouble, Boyd took a tire tool out of his car under the ruse. While Mr. Heitholt went into his car to retrieve something, Mr. Boyd hit his boss over the head with the tool repeatedly. Then knowing that Mr. Heitholt could identify his assailant, Boyd knew he had to finish the job and choked him Heitholt with his own belt. Then Mr. Boyd left the scene in his "blue" Oldsmobile, and evidently disposed of the evidence that night.

Motive? It was reported that Mr. Boyd was not a good writer. Boyd even acknowledged this, that he was criticized by his superior Mr. Heitholt. Apparently Mr. Boyd must have had enough, and decided that he would retaliate that night due to the perceived disrespect he received from his boss. This was nothing more than a case of workplace violence.

As for the two kids seen at the crime scene that night by the female janitor? The two kids were merely college students who stumbled upon an injured man and attempted to rob him. They were able to take his watch and car keys, it was reported that the wallet was not stolen, simply because Mr. Heitholt dropped it in the car and did not have it on his person. When the janitor came out and noticed the boys, they left because they did not want to be caught for stealing. But they had nothing to do with the actual assault.

The reason why Boyd was never seriously investigated even though he was the last known person to see Mr. Heitholt alive (literally placed at the crime scene minutes before the murder) is because the police mistakenly believed the two boys who robbed Mr. Heitholt must have also killed him. They were chasing a phantom lead, and completely ignored the fact that most homicides occur not at random but with a relationship and motive between the victim and attacker.

However, because the evidence (murder weapon, blue Oldsmobile vehicle driven by Boyd on the night of the murder, bloodstained clothes etc) was destroyed by Boyd while police were investigating these two unknown caucasian males, police never were able to make a positive DNA match to Boyd. However, there is still the matter of the hair found on the person of Mr. Heitholt. If the police test this hair with Mr. Boyd's DNA, they will have found the true assailant and Mr. Ryan Ferguson will be proven innocent. I rest my case.

[datelineNBC]

Correction: I said Mike Heitholt, I meant to write Kent Heithold, my apologies. Furthermore, it was noted by police investigators that Mr. Boyd changed this story several times about what happened after work that night. Boyd was inconsistent about the timeline of his conversation with Mr. Heitholt, once saying he left first and waited for Kent, then changing his story and saying he left after Kent and approached him at the victim's vehicle. Boyd also said he did not see anyone else at the crime scene that night, but once it was made public that the janitor saw two boys, Boyd changed his story and implicated said boys as being present (sounds more like he wanted to deflect suspicion away from him and towards the boys). Boyd also said he was driving a blue Oldsmobile, but then later changed his story and said he was driving his family's other car, a red vehicle. Presumably to draw attention away from the actual DNA-stained blue vehicle he was driving that night. Finally, in the interview with Erin Moriarty, when he was questioned if he was involved in the murder of Kent Heitholt, Mr. Boyd looked very nervous and unbelievable. It was clear he knew something, and Ryan Ferguson's denials were much more convincing than that of Mr. Boyd.

Bottom line, the reason why Mr. Chuck Erickson "confessed" to the crime is because he was a hard-core drug addict who had nothing positive going on his life, and attempted to seek attention by fabricating a story to go to jail. In jail he would have food and shelter taken care of, and he would no longer have to attempt to make a living for himself which he could not do in the outside world because he was addicted to drugs. That explains the inexplicable in this case: why Chuck would want to subject himself to 25 years in jail for a crime he did not commit.

[mysterylovr]

I just watched this story for the second time. I totally agree with your theory.The thing that really gets me is because of sloppy detective work Mr Boyd is now a sports reporter for a school in a small "historical" town. When I see hime it makes me uneasy. He should not be out of jail let alone around children!

[mspuma714]

I watched the case of Ryan Ferguson, and was surprised of the judges decision on this case. There's no real evidence so ever. Chuck to me seemed like he had some sort of mental problems. He changed his story many times. He seems to be confused of what was real and that dream he had. I don't think he's a bad person, just that he needs help. Ryan's father I have to say is a very brave man. I admire his devotion to his son's case..I hope they find the real killer/s.

[blankandorange]

Ok...I do have to admit. I saw this case the first time it was aired on 48 hours. My first impression of all the facts presented, although vague, was yeah, they probably did it. It's not that I believed Chuck's testimony more creditable, I just found Ryan's demeanor more a lack of emotional. A bit more of arrogant. He seemed to be hiding something. If I was being accused of murdering someone, I would be yelling, please someone help me, I did not do this. When he took the stand, maybe it was a tactiful move to just answer yes or no rather than give the defense more opportunity to catch him in a lie, his testimony came off more guilty to me. But this second follow up story, gave more unanswered questions, as to the hair found in the victims hand (don't remember that) or fingerprints not matching either of the accused. Certain witness not being presented, and time lines being off. At least that might have caused reasonable doubt for me. So, if's that the case, I do hope the Ferguson family find the answers they are looking for, and if their son is innocent, he should get a new trial and be freed.

[Wildwood1966]

I roo saw this when 48 hours firest aired it - i could not believe with all the coaching the police did that these boys were charged - somebody got away with murder find them!

[BoydBBiggs]

I saw this 48 Hours segment the other night for the first time. I started watching when I heard the victim's name. Kent Heitholt was a friend of mine when he worked in Nashville for the Nashville Banner. I can tell you that no one would be more upset than Kent if he thought someone innocent had gone to jail for his murder. Watch the segment, and it's hard to conclude that Ferguson had anything to do with this.

I've been involved with death penalty cases where it appears an innocent person was sentenced to die, and almost all of them share the same signature characteristics as this case:

1. The police lock in on a particular theory and never investigate plausible alternatives.
2. Prosecutors pressure witnesses to testify a certain way. Why? Because convictions are a feather in their cap and a stepping stone to careers as judges -- just as happened with the unscrupulous prosecutor in this case.
3. Once there is a conviction, it becomes EXTREMELY difficult to get a hearing on new evidence, even when the evidence is extremely strong. And even if you get a new hearing, the presumption of guilt, because of the prior conviction, is so strong that it affects appellate judges, as it did in this case.

This case just stinks, and the Kent Heitholt I knew would be saying so just as loudly as the defense attorney.

[charlieandsarah]

Clap, clap, clap, clap.

Thank you for providing an insight from beyond. Knowing Kent must have been a good experience.

I have a feeling that this will go as far as it has to, and maybe even some past that. The American public is obviously tortured by this and I don't think they'll step down with all of the new evidence. Hopefully, Zellner will be the one to present it.

We all feel sorrow for Kent's family and have since the beginning. He must have been a wonderful, smart man. We all also know that punishing the wrong people for a crime only makes the crime worse.

Thank you for your comment.

[charlieandsarah]

Clap, clap, clap, clap.

Thank you for providing an insight from beyond. Knowing Kent must have been a good experience.

I have a feeling that this will go as far as it has to, and maybe even some past that. The American public is obviously tortured by this and I don't think they'll step down with all of the new evidence. Hopefully, Zellner will be the one to present it.

We all feel sorrow for Kent's family and have since the beginning. He must have been a wonderful, smart man. We all also know that punishing the wrong people for a crime only makes the crime worse.

Thank you for your comment.

[momsmom]

BoydBBiggs: I am no one, just someone with a zest for 'fairness.' Yes please accept my sympathy on the loss of your friend, in this case where no one is at peace, except maybe the real killer(s), God help us all. While Ryan and Chuck have certainly been through hell unjustly, my utmost sympathy lies with the Heitholt family who has to be reminded of the gruesome end of Kent every time this story surfaces; who has grieved and accepted the sentences that justice served only to re-experience it; who have been stripped of their right of closure as well as their sense of safety that the true criminals are still OUT THERE. It is just awful, words can not express the reality of life.

[cinsing]

JLVWALSH- I take great offense to your remarks that the police are all corrupt, they are never held accountable for getting it wrong, they have nothing to do with protecting society or justice and they are just pure evil. Wow, where do you get off making such staements like that? My husband was a dedicated police officer/detective for 29 years. He was looked upon as a detective who did his job very well and cared very much about getting all the facts in regards to his investigations. He spent his last years before retiring in Internal Affairs where he investigated police officers who were complained upon or got into trouble. Yes, there are some police officers who aren't good and do bad things. All the others are out there every day risking their lives to serve and protect our communities never knowing who they are dealing with. One day you may be in need of law enforcement to come to your aid and they will respond regardless of the horrible way you feel about them. Maybe you should do a ride along one day with a local police officer and witness all that they deal with on an average days work. You might then gain a better understanding of all that they do!

[charlieandsarah]

cinsing: I agree that there are only some bad police officers. I live in a very large metropolitan area and cry over the stories of officers being shot and killed by passers by and am so aware they were only "doing their job".

Something is different about this case. If you watch the interrogations of Chuck and Ryan at www.freeryanferguson.com, it is apparent. Very apparent. Since I have been studying it for so long, nothing has changed except the testimony of the two witneses ... Chuck and Trump. That is all the prosecution was basing its case on and other witnesses that were called for the prosecution's case have stated that they were intimidated into twisting or clouding their testimony merely by his presence.

Although I would not choose Ryan's original counsel for my own, my guess is that he was a little too sure the jurors would see the facts as they are. When I watched the trial and the afterstatements of the jurors that actually sat (did not bail out to do community service), I was amazed at their reasoning for believing the prosecution!

[cepe10-2009]

Too bad there are so many cases of officers of the court abusing their authority, failing to police each other, acting in an uncaring and unprofessional manner, trying to cover up their misdeeds etc. then all you exuse making wouldn;t fall on deaf ears. Since there is zero transparency in the doings of officers of the court it is ripe for corruption

[cepe10-2009]

BTW you husband should walk in the shoes of a highway worker, a profession very valuale to society and many time more dangerous than officer of the court, maybe he wouldn;t feel so much entitlement then and would learn some humility instead.

[pattyt3]

I saw nothing in the letter commented on that indicated all Police Officers are corrupt. It referred to those Police Officers described and no where said "all". One of the most respected men I have ever known and my own Grandfather were Police Officer --one a Captain and the other a Lieutenant and they would both agree with the statements made by BoydBBiggs. What upset you so terribly about this truthful statement. I am sure your husband was very honorable officer as are most but it is not the fair and honest being spoken of-This case and everthing about stinks!! Good Luck to the Ferguson Family, my prays are with you.