Ryan Ferguson's fight for freedom

Ever since Ryan Ferguson went to prison in December 2005, his dad, Bill, has been on a relentless quest to prove Ryan's innocence.

"I started going to the crime scene within a week of the arrest," he told, Erin Moriarty. "I'd go down around 1:30 and stay down until 3 o'clock."

He'd spend night after night in the parking lot where sports editor Kent Heitholt was attacked and killed.

Asked how many times he's gone down to the crime scene, Bill Ferguson told Moriarty, "Forty, 50 at least."

He has filed appeal after appeal asking for a new trial for his son, repeatedly pointing out the lack of physical evidence. Every appeal was denied.

"It's just a moment of desperation. Every day we think is there more we can do, is there something else we need to do?" said Bill Ferguson.

Then, in 2009, Bill Ferguson got a new ally.

Kathleen Zellner is an attorney with a reputation for winning freedom for the wrongfully convicted. She took Ryan's case pro bono after seeing a "48 Hours" report.

"What is the best way to describe Ryan Ferguson's case?" Moriarty asked Zellner.

"The analogy I think of is that he's in quicksand. And I'm trying to grab a hold of him," she explained. "... once you're convicted, the system works completely against you. ... It just becomes overwhelming to find evidence that a court will accept."

Zellner got lucky just weeks after coming on board. Out of the blue, Ryan Ferguson got a mysterious letter from his accuser.

"It says, 'Ryan, have your lawyers come speak to me the next time that they're down here ..." said Ferguson.

Zellner wasted no time getting to the prison where Chuck Erickson was housed:

Kathleen Zellner: May I call you Chuck?

Charles Erickson: Mr. Erickson or Charles, I don't go by Chuck.

She videotaped the now "Charles" Erickson as he read a prepared statement:

"Things happened much differently than I had previously stated," he read. "I could not accept in my conscience mind that I was the sole perpetrator."

Four years after his testimony put Ryan Ferguson behind bars, Erickson announced that he had lied. Erickson said he was the one who committed murder:

"I beat the victim, Kent Heitholt, until he was on the ground. Then I took his belt off and strangled him with it," Erickson continued.

Erickson even said that Ryan Ferguson tried to stop him:

"I regret now that I put an innocent man through that. He didn't deserve it," he said.

"Thank God this man has finally admitted that I have nothin' to do with this crime," said Ferguson.

"He's exonerated you by saying you had nothing to do with the murder, but he has said you were there," Moriarty noted. "Isn't there a problem?"

"I believe he thinks that he committed the crime. My personal belief is that he didn't," said Ferguson.

"You don't even think he was there either?"

"I don't think he was there. I know I wasn't there," said Ferguson.

There are problems with this new version of Erickson's story, but from a legal standpoint, Zellner says she doesn't have to make the pieces fit.

"I think what's more important than the details of what he's sayin' about the crime, is he's saying repeatedly, 'I lied to the jury. I committed perjury,'" she explained.

Zellner plans to prove that the tale Erickson told in court was a lie.

"The whole story about the robbery is preposterous," she said.

Zellner points out that Heitholt's wallet wasn't taken -- only his keys and a watch were missing.

"What did they do, take Heitholt's watch back and barter for drinks? ... the person that committed this murder did not do so because he wanted to rob the victim. The person knew the victim and he hated him," she said. "... that's why it was so violent."

SLIDESHOW

The crime scene and more »

Erickson had also claimed that he attacked Kent Heitholt with a tire tool.

Not likely, says Dr. Larry Blum, a forensic pathologist who examined the evidence for Zellner.

"A tire tool would not fit the injuries at all," said Dr. Blum.

A heavy tire tool would have left skull fractures, says Dr. Blum. The victim had none.

"There were no skull fractures associated with any of the outward injuries that were present," he said.

What's more, no blood was found in Ferguson's car. Dr. Blum says Heitholt's wounds are more consistent with a two-pronged tool, like a nail puller.

"In a defensive posture with the hands up," he demonstrated for Moriarty, "it would cause two parallel marks on the skin in this fashion. There were several on Mr. Heitholt's forearm, wrist area, back of the hand."

Blum estimates that the struggle lasted about 6 to 8 minutes. That's important because Michael Boyd, the part-time reporter, puts himself at the scene very close to the time the crime was reported. Boyd says he left the lot around 2:20 a.m., only six minutes before 911 was called.

"What was the last thing Kent said to you?" Moriarty asked Boyd.

"I can't remember the exact words," he replied, "but it was just more in line with, 'See you later. And-- and I thought I would."

"What do you think happened to him?"

"I don't know," said Boyd.

Boyd told "48 Hours" that he returned to the parking lot later that night after learning about the crime. A man, who appears to be Boyd, can be seen a photo taken at the crime scene crime. Curiously, police never interrogated him, even though he was the last known person to see Heitholt alive.

"Did they ever check your car, check your clothes, ask you take a polygraph?" Moriarty asked.

"No. They never asked me to do anything," said Boyd.

"Ask for DNA? Fingerprints?"

"No," Boyd replied. "Nothin', not a thing."

Boyd, who has always cooperated with investigators, denies having anything to do with the crime.

"Did you fight with Kent that night? Did you have anything to do -- with this murder?" Moriarty asked Boyd.

"No, ma'am. No, ma'am," he replied.

Zellner believes police never looked at Boyd as a suspect because they were focused on those men that the janitors saw.

"They have this tunnel vision. They were only investigating white males," she said.

She thinks those young men at the scene could have been college kids, cutting through the lot after the crime.

"They saw a body. And they probably leaned over to see how badly he was hurt. They're just passin' by," said Zellner.

"Do you believe that Charles Erickson or Ryan Ferguson were those two young men?" Moriarty asked.

"No. They were not," Zellner replied. "They'd left the bar, got in Ferguson's car and drove off just like Ferguson said they did. ... Ryan Ferguson should never have been tried for this murder."

And, she says, she intends to prove that at Ryan's new hearing.

"It's a life or death situation for Ryan's future," Zellner said. "Life in prison or freedom."

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[ldiz37]

What if there was a particular key that the killer was interested in? probably not but its a thought. What if the killer took them as a souvenir? It would be good to know what every key was for. Also if the watch was broken during the killing then the killer could have taken it so as not to show time of death.
A sober person could think about these things. It happened so fast wouldnt the killer have to plan to take these things in particular? It couldnt have been quick or easy to take the belt off of such a large heavy man. The only person who would have had the time was the co-worker. Police need to search his house and car with a fine tooth comb to look for blood,keys and the watch. I cant think of his name but the co-worker was said to have stated he would not give his DNA sample to Zellner but would if the sheriff asked him.
Thats sounds shady to me. The co-worker said he was in his car listening to music when the victom came out of the building. Sounds more like laying in wait to me. This case is so screwed up!! I am going to JUMP for joy when Ryan is free THIS SUMMER!! Keep the faith Ryan and family!!

[rickyfur]

In Erickson's Nov. 2012 deposition (recantation), he still admits to committing the murder, and he still places Ferguson at the scene. His depo can be viewed here on youtube "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_RMinr-wrE". A major question that is still unanswered is why would Erickson voluntarily approach the police with his story, and why did he implicate his friend, Ferguson? The original case and the appeals do not seem as straightforward as some make it out to be. Ferguson's insistence that he was not at the scene is in direct conflict with Erickson's recantation. So do we simply pick and choose which part of the recantation to accept as true? I also find it surprising that all the uproar has been about Ferguson's conviction. Shouldn't there be an equal amount of sympathy for Erickson? It is heart-wrenching to listen to Erickson speak about his situation before the murder and how much he was hurting.

[d2bd2b]

We shouldn't pick and choose when to believe Erickson. We should throw out Erickson's ramblings old and new and look at the objective evidence. Here's the thing....there is NONE against Ferguson (or Erickson). There is nothing to corroborate any relevant claim Chuck made at trial. His story never made sense and still doesn't. This is what happens when you black out. It's easy to fill the memory void with false information. Blank slate.

[Compassionate_Reader]

This case reminds me of the West Memphis Three case that I have followed for years. Three innocent teens spent over eighteen years in prison based on a coerced confession from one of them (a mentally-challenged seventeen-year-old at the time) and the testimony of three teenaged girls who claimed to have "overheard" one of the teens confess. There was no physical evidence linking them to the crime, and all biological evidence since tested has excluded them.

Luckily, the three have been freed (but not exonerated) on an Alford plea. We are still working for their exoneration and for the investigation of the real culprit of the heinous murder of three eight-year-old boys in 1993. Freedom for the innocent, although important, is not the end. The guilty must be punished, too. And, in the West Memphis Three case, the innocent must be exonerated and their rights restored to them.

Hopefully, Ryan's new attorney will eventually achieve exoneration and freedom for Ryan. One reason that the West Memphis Three were freed was that they all agreed not to sue the State. I believe that the fear of a civil suit is one reason that "Judge" Green denied Ryan's appeal in this case. Sad, but, given the economic condition of this country, true.

The state of "justice" in America is pretty ridiculous when innocent people like Ryan Ferguson and others can languish in prison while those responsible for their incarceration (mainly corrupt judges and/or prosecutors) feather their nests. The judge in the West Memphis Three case is now a State Senator. The two prosecutors are now judges.

There are really a lot of similarities in these two cases. I wonder, did the authorities ever run the prints at the scene through CODIS? Or, was it once again like the West Memphis Three case - once they had a coerced confession, they did nothing to pursue any other suspects?

When will attorneys, the good ones (there ARE a few) band together to change some of the rules (like police interrogation tactics that allow leading questions) so that people are truly presumed innocent? This case, like the West Memphis Three case, are true travesties and black eyes on the legal systems of their respective states. It boggles the mind! Hopefully, Ryan will soon be free.

[rothenbj]

I agree as I've followed both closely.

[DebbyStadler]

Worst case on injustice. There should be standards set when a case must be reversed. It seems a judge is just not accountable. Please let me know what I can do to assist in getting this innocent person released.

[Wildwood1966]

When Ths happened I was convinced they wre innocent - how sad - I was hoping this time it would be differnet - I will sign the petition below - hoping this helps

[radish23]

For anyone who's interested, there's a petition you can sign to ask that Ryan be freed, or at the very least, be given a new trial:

http://www.change.org/petitions/please-grant-ryan-ferguson-a-new-trial-or-freedom

[kbbpll]

The prosecutor is now a judge - sounds exactly like the Tim Masters case in Colorado.

[gotcha-2095]

More and more people are being proved innocent today.This case involves a young man spending 8 yrs. in prison.Check out the case of David Camm in Floyd County, Indiana.Prosecutorial misconduct has happened in the past and continues today.These prosecutors who seek re-election or higher Political Office are not concerned with justice,only concern is making a name for themselves.The David Camm case is interesting because Camm was a former Indiana State Police Trooper and not just one prosecutor made mistakes,but the new prosecutor compounded those mistakes in many different ways. Sad part is an innocent man has spent 10 yrs. for killing his wife and 2 children.The first trial Camm was convicted without a key peice of eveidence being thouroughly investigated.After a conviction and sentencing and a new trial was ordered due to prosecutors misconduct.In preparing for the second trial,the key peice of evidence from the first trial was identifide to a career criminal that was released 2 months before the killings.More and more is to this story,but it confirms that a lot of people are in prison that are innocent.The big media news agency's should follow this case.It is an eye opener to how "liars for hire" abuse the Justice system and a lot of other problems with our Judicial system that need corrected.

[1st-crackerhead]

why are there no intergation tapes ? where was the other kids parents ?It really sounds like a very bad nightmare. I know we are alone in this world the only thing a cop can do is the paper work after the fact. most of the time they screw that up to.

[rothenbj]

There are interrogation tapes available on the web. Erickson is spoon fed information after hours of information and told either he or Ryan will take the fall. The kid was verbally abused for hours and said whatever they wanted to hear at the end.

[realtyasis]

Prosecutes, Judge Green, Kevin Crane etc. believe the trial verdict was right. They have to or the system they work in is flawed at best and completely bankrupt at worst. if you believe both witnesses an there is no reason you should not you had jury tampering by Kevin Crane and the Judge Green won't allow that to go forward because it's an automatic retrial. The Kevin Crane if guilty of jury tampering he most likely would be disbarred and lose his judgeship if he tampered with a jury and committed perjury. Ryan will not get very far working for a state re-trial. He will get resistance because they have to be wrong if he is write and as everyone has said they don't want to be wrong. Ryan needs to take this to a new court that can be right without someone in that court being wrong. Federal court for denying his constitution right to freedom. I believe that is how The Hurricane (Rubin "Hurricane" Carter) finally got out of prison. They filed a Writ of Habeas corpus in federal court. Making the System Wrong is an uphill battle having a new court look at doing what is right is a much easier battle. I'm no Lawyer and this is my reading of how the Hurricane got freed.

"Habeas corpus (English pronunciation: "may you have the body") is a writ (legal action) which requires a person under arrest to be brought before a judge or into court.[1][2] This ensures that a prisoner can be released from unlawful detention; that is, detention lacking sufficient cause or evidence. The remedy can be sought by the prisoner or by another person coming to the prisoner's aid. This right originated in the English legal system, and is now available in many nations. It has historically been an important legal instrument safeguarding individual freedom against arbitrary state action." From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

They may be waiting on this because it's a "Hail Mary Pass" or last resort and if they don't allow it, he won't get a new trial in state court. I can't believe how composed Ryan is, in his heart he must know the truth will come out. It's pretty sad that all his is asking for is a fair trial his constitutional right and he can't even get that.

[thetruthwillout]

Very sad story. I would take this to a higher court, if that is possible. I think Zellner is right, the prosecution was not out for justice; they just wanted to win. The judge seemed very "sketchy" to me. I would call for a new trial.