Comments on: 48 Hours Mystery: The Lost Night
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- 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:
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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. - Reply to this comment
- 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!
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- 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. - Reply to this comment
- 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.
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- 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.
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- 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!
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- 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. - Reply to this comment
- 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!
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