Dream Killer

(CBS News)  Produced by Gail Zimmerman

This story originally aired Feb. 18, 2006. It was updated on April 17, 2008.

For two years, police investigated the brutal 2001 Halloween night slaying of newspaper editor Kent Heitholt in Columbia, Mo. They had no viable suspects and the victim's family had come to terms this crime might never be solved.

But then police heard that a young man told a friend that he had dreamed he participated in the killing and also named an accomplice to the murder: his good friend, Ryan Ferguson.

48 Hours correspondent Erin Moriarty reports on this mysterious murder investigation, and the subsequent trial.

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It's not unusual for a father to miss his college-aged son but, in this case, Bill Ferguson's 21-year-old son Ryan is in jail. He was arrested for the 2001 murder of the Columbia Tribune's sports editor Kent Heitholt, after Ryan's alleged accomplice talked to friends about the crime.

"It just tears at your heart. And knowing that he's going through this," says Bill.

Bill and his wife, Leslie - now separated - have put aside their differences to fight for their son and help prove his innocence.

"This is something that I never thought our family, our child, would ever have to go through," says Leslie. "And it's scary."

"It was so sad, and just such a shock. I just remember thinking 'Well, they obviously have the wrong person,' " says Ryan's sister Kelly.

Kelly and Ryan grew up in Columbia, Mo., an affluent college town deeply rooted in family and tradition. Their father made his mark in real estate; their mother is a reading coach.

Asked to describe Ryan, Leslie says her son is "loving," "laid back" and has a "good sense of humor."

Even Kelly has only good things to say about her kid brother. "He's just got such a good heart. Being an older sister, I put him through hell, growing up. And he would always be my friend, no matter what."

Ryan, not much of a student, was more focused on the social side of high school; Kelly says her brother was always with a girl, no matter what.

Ryan says the murder charge is one big terrible mistake and he's counting on his family to help him prove it.

"They're doing everything they can for me. And I love 'em so much for that. I'm just glad that they can see that I am innocent," he says.

In 2001 when the murder occurred, Ryan often hung out with Chuck Erickson, a high school buddy who, like Ryan, loved to party.

That Halloween night, Kelly offered to sneak the two boys into the dance club.

"I know that Ryan was underage, I shouldn't have gotten him in the bar. But I just thought, maybe, you know, he'll have fun," she recalls.

"It was extremely crowded," Ryan remembers, "And there were people in costumes running around. Everyone was having a good time. I enjoyed it."

Just a few blocks away from the bar where Ryan and Chuck were partying, Kent Heitholt was at work. The Columbia Tribune's sports editor often worked into the wee hours, as he did that night. After he left his office, he went to his car and began his nightly routine.

Kali Heitholt says her father always took the time to feed a stray cat that roamed the lot, keeping a box of cat food in his car.

"Every night before he left, he'd pour a little on the concrete slab for the cat to come and eat," she says.

Kent fed the cat that night, but never made it home. Kali and her mother were fast asleep when police came knocking on their door.

"They say to my mom like, 'There's been a horrific act committed against your husband,' " Kali remembers.

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[roxannjr]

It is only safe in America to stay home with a call to the local police telling them you where-abouts every few minutes. If you don't, a friend may dream you did something terrible and you will end up in prison. This case is an embaressment to our justice system and the detectives should be fired. We are not safe. At any moment we could end up in prison with absolutely no evidence against us.

[l_n_s1994]

What? Where is the justice in this??? No evidence just his friends "dream" gets him convicted? This should have never even been taken to trial. The DA needs to pull his & the jurors heads out of their butts!!! What would you do if this was your son being railroaded??? This world is sooo messed up.

[krystalglen135]

I just finished watching 48 hours on ID, and all I can say is ARE THERE ANY ADULTS IN THE ROOM????

Is the DA insane? How could they convict two innocent boys, one that has no idea what he is talking about, while the other's story goes along with the evidence? And for 48 hrs to report this story and not insist that this case be thoroughly looked into by an outside court in completely ludicrous. Has the entire justice gone nuts?

DID ANYONE CHECK OUT THE JANITOR'S STORY?????? The evidence makes it clear that those two young men had nothing to do with this murder. If they were THAT drunk, how did they managed to get NO BLOOD evidence on them and walk away clean? You have hair at the scene, didn't anyone try to find who it belonged to????? I am neither an officer of the law nor a lawyer and even I got that much!!!!!

[jrreaves]

This case was so disturbing to me. I could have done a better job at defending these boys and I'm not an attorney. First of all why wasn't the DNA taken from the only witness I bet he the murder that man. I pray that something is being done to free those boys out of prison because even the blind can see justice was not served in this case.

[shellifsg]

This was one of the most disturbing things I've ever seen.
I believe, without a doubt in my mind, that Ryan Ferguson is innocent and had absolutely no involvement in this case, not only because of the lack of evidence, but because of Chuck's whole situation.
My brother was arrested a few years ago, at the age of 17 for certain reasons. Anyway, they placed him in a sort-of correctional facility/mentalcare facility, where for the next 3 years, the facility fed him false information and details about things they wanted him to admit to doing in order to keep him there and continue getting checks.
We finally got a lawyer and had him transfered somewhere else, but the problem was, they had already caused him to believe he really did horrible things, down to every last detail, and it wasn't until we transfered him, that we found out my brother had aspergers.
Certain traits can be present in a person, that allow them to believe they did things in which they didn't,that aren't there for the naked eye to see. Aspergers is very hard to detect. My brother had some troubles in school and was a little weird at times, but no one had any idea he had the problem until he had false memories placed in his mind.
Chuck did not mean to hurt his friend, but was convinced, by the police, that he had done such things. It is very unfortunately both for him, and Ryan that such things happened,and I just want to let the Ferguson family know that they have my prayers, and that there are people out there that don't just believe, but KNOW that he is innocent!!

[apf75]

This story really kept me up at night. There were so many inconsistencies in the prosecution?s case, and it was very obvious that the police questioning was guiding Erikson?s spotty confession. There was no forensic evidence either. Despite these blatant discrepancies (Erikson not knowing the true facts of the murder unless told by the police, Erikson stating they returned to a bar at 2:30AM when it closed an hour earlier, no DNA on Ferguson but different DNA hair on the victim, and a witness who initially stated he did not see who the boys were), Ferguson was convicted. I find it really disturbing that the aforementioned evidence counted less to a juror than ?the look? Erikson gave Ferguson when he pointed to him as his alleged accomplice. Unfortunately, these types of comments make me question the legitimacy of a jury system all together. I understand the authorities want somebody punished for this horrendous and inhuman crime, but it needs to be the right person with the right evidence.

[rubberbooter]

The jurer who said he had made up his mind before all the evidence was heard is, in my opinion, guilty of jury misconduct. Is'nt it fact that jurers are supposed to weigh all the evidence in reaching their decision. This jurer obviously did not. I am not advocating this young man's guilt or innocence. However, in light of this jurer's statement I believe this could and should be grounds for a new trial.

[convergingnow]

There is so much reasonable doubt in this case. One part of this documentary that sickened me was when one juror stated that he had made up his mind about the defendant's before he even testified. Anyone who has taken a psychology course on memory (I have a B.S. in Psychology, and did take such a course) would know that false memory is a real phenomenon. That notwithstanding, how could the jury believe the testimony of a disturbed young man with a history of deceit (forgery) is unimpeachable? I cannot say without a doubt that the defendant is innocent, but there is so much evidence to the contrary I believe that this was a case of guilty before proven innocent. My heart goes out to the families of ALL victims in this case; the accuser (a victim of his delusions), the victim, the victim's family, and the family of the defendant. If there is reasonable doubt that the defendant did this (there is MORE than reasonable doubt), this miscarriage of justice inexcusable on the part of the jurors.

[SusieParker]

It was the Janitor. Seriously. They were so focused on convicting two innocent guys they didn't bother to check the credibility of the "eye witness"

Kent left work and was feeding the stray cat. The Janitor hated it. They had words. The janitor lost it and went postal on Kent. When he saw all the blood realized that he killed the guy he decided to make it look like a robbery. Then - probably knowing the ineptitude of the police department - he figured he'd cover his tracks if he pretended to be an eyewitness and report the body.

The jurors admitted that they had already decided Ryan's guilt before hearing the evidence. Bad Jurors!!! Idiots.. I guess that's proof you don't want to live in a town full of imbeciles!

I hope Ryan's Dad reads this and gets a private investigator to look into the Janitor's DNA, and get it compared to the evidence!

[Bgub]

This is exactly what I think happened. And I think the weapon was tossed in the boiler in the basement. I really hope they check it out as well.

[krystalglen135]

What was this DA thinking???? we could told him all of this! They have hair at the scene. Find out who it belongs to!!!!

[mcgk]

I can't get over the lack of physical evidence. There happens to be one small detail I can't seem to let go of...transfer. If the boys actually did attack this reporter, would they not have blood transfer? I mean you are smashing someone in the head with a tire iron, the scalp bleeds profusely, you would be soaked in blood. Even if it was Halloween they were high school students, would their parents not notice blood soaked clothing in the house? would there not be transfer in the car? As for the witnesses...you cannot honestly expect someone to believe that four years later you would be better equipped to remember details or descriptions than you were the very night you witnessed it. It seems to me there is a ton of blatant ignorance to be shared between the prosecuters office and the jury box. There is way to much reasonable doubt here, that jury convicted a boy to prison based on emotion. I hope they sleep well at night.