Day 4 of Articles http://www.edinburghnews.com/ vote for retrial for Kenny here by Jennifer Veitch THE way John Butler remembers it, the fight was little more than a drunken scuffle, fuelled by too much to drink and too many male hormones. It had started at a party one hot summer night at his friend Hope Collins' apartment in Columbus Grove, Ohio. Her downstairs neighbour, Candy Barchet, was there with her boyfriend, Kenny Richey. John recalls after Candy flirted with him, he took her to the bedroom to have sex * with Kenny's approval. But when Kenny walked in on them, a fight broke out. Kenny punched a window in frustration, breaking his hand, but the two men made up and thought no more about it. Six months later, John found himself taking the stand to testify against Kenny for the murder of Hope's two-year-old daughter, Cynthia. Now John claims he was used by the prosecution to show that Kenny, who has spent the past 13 years on Ohio's Death Row, had a violent past. *We were sitting at Hope's kitchen table and we were drinking excessively,* John says, in the first interview he has given about the case. *I was sitting across from Candy and we were just drinking. She was taking her foot and just doing things. *It's supposedly Kenny's girlfriend, so I just looked at him and said, ?who is going to take her to bed, you or me?' He said, ?go ahead'.* John adds that he and Candy went to the bedroom, and Kenny walked in. *Anybody would be upset about that,* says John, now a tattooist in nearby Lima. *He got a little upset and grabbed a knife out of the kitchen. My buddy happened to see him and grabbed him and got the knife away. *We tussled a while, but it was not a big fight. What that had to do with anything Kenny was charged with makes no sense to me. I would have done the same thing.* A week later, the night of a similar drunken party at Hope's apartment ended in tragedy. On June 30, 1986, a fire broke out, and her daughter Cynthia died of smoke inhalation. Hope had left to go to another party at a friend's house, but told police that Kenny Richey had agreed to babysit. Kenny, who celebrates his 36th birthday today, still maintains his innocence, and denies he agreed to babysit Cynthia. Several witnesses saw Kenny, then 21, trying unsuccessfully to save the child. The fire was initially ruled an accident by the town's volunteer fire chief, Len Heffner, who said the cause was an electrical fan, and the contents of the apartment were cleared. However the investigation soon centred on the Kenny after witnesses, including Hope's neighbour and friend Peggy Price, claimed he had boasted he was going to burn down the apartment. On further inspection of the burnt-out remains of the home, fire investigators suspected arson. Fire Marshal Robert Cryer ordered the carpet to be retrieved from the county dump and tests revealed the presence of paint thinners and gasoline. Gregory DuBois, the expert enlisted by Kenny's defence to testify on the forensic evidence, failed to carry out independent tests on the samples, and agreed. Mr Cryer also noted the smoke detector in Hope's apartment was disconnected. The three judge panel who sentenced Kenny to death said he must have taken it down before the fire, *negating* his attempts to rescue the child. Kenny's lawyers now have evidence from experts that the fire was most likely started by discarded smoking materials. There is also evidence that the tests used were based on *unsound scientific principles*, and that Cynthia herself had a history of starting fires. Peggy Price has since recanted her statement that Kenny boasted he would burn the building down. Crucially, she says Hope Collins had disconnected the smoke detector on the evening of the fire. John, now 43, was not there on the night Cynthia died, but for many years thought that Kenny was guilty. But after looking into new evidence * which Kenny's lawyers are still trying to bring to a re-trial * he now has grave doubts that Kenny is guilty. *For several years I thought that he did it, but I didn't think he intentionally set that fire,* he says. *But after I read all that information they dug out, I didn't see why he was sitting in jail. *There are just too many unanswered questions for him to be on Death Row. It's ridiculous. *I personally think he is innocent, I don't think he did it.* John, who says he was Hope was a good friend of his, adds that it was not uncommon for the young single mother to leave Cynthia alone. *Hope was young, she was into men, alcohol and drugs. That was more fun than sitting home with a kid. *I never really heard Hope ask anybody, will you babysit? That's a bare fact. The kid really raised herself. There was no constant parental supervision.* Kenny's was the first capital case in Putnam County since 1874. John adds that he believes the assistant prosecutor, Randall Basinger, used the case to further his campaign to be elected county judge. John says it is significant that Kenny was offered a plea bargain shortly before his trial, but after Basinger's election, which would have meant he could have avoided the death penalty. *The case has got to be politically motivated,* he says. *It put Basinger in the limelight and he was going to pursue it regardless. *I went over to see Basinger and he asked me a few questions. I am not even sure what they were. I used the bathroom, came back and bang, there he was with a sub poena * I had to go straight in and testify. *I really feel he used me as a pawn to prove some kind of violent behaviour because me and Kenny got into a scuffle over that goofy broad. Now he has to go to bed every night knowing what he's done.* In Ottawa, a few miles from Columbus Grove, Judge Randall Basinger sits back in his deep leather chair behind his polished desk at Putnam County Court House. His office is next door to the court-room where he argued Kenny Richey was a violent sociopath. These days, Judge Basinger is reluctant to talk about the Richey case. In fact the only aspect he will comment on is the allegation that he used it to further his career. *That is an allegation that has been made before, that I had some political motivation in running for judge,* he says. *A quick check of the dates would show that I ran for judge in May 1986 and the murder happened at the end of June. *The election was over before the murder even happened.* A quick check of the dates with the local newspaper, The Lima News, tells a different story * according to their files, Basinger was elected judge in November 1986. Court transcripts from December 12 1986 also show Basinger was keen to ensure he tried the case personally. He asked the court to clarify whether Kenny intended to change his mind about waiving his right to a jury trial in favour of a three-judge panel. He said: *I am under some time constraints in that I would be out of the prosecutor's office in April, and should there be a last withdraw of that waiver would probably preclude me from trying the case.* Ten days later, the prosecution offered Kenny a plea bargain of 11 years and four months in exchange for a guilty plea to lesser charges. In spite of the risk of the death sentence, Kenny refused. His lawyer, Bill Kluge has since admitted he failed to use this as mitigation during Kenny's trial. He has also said he failed to look for another expert when he knew before the trial that DuBois would agree with Cryer. In previous interviews, Mr Kluge, a public defender in Lima, has said the case will for ever *haunt* him. However, when asked to talk about the case, he refuses to talk. *You're the Scottish reporter, right? I don't want to to talk to you,* he says, before hanging up the phone. Peggy Price Villearreal, who now lives in Ottawa, also refuses to discuss the case. *I don't want to get involved in it anymore,* she says. *It's been so long now that I really don't remember half the stuff.* But she will confirm one thing * that Hope Collins had disconnected the smoke detector on the night of the fire. *I remember that part * she definitely took it down,* she says. John Butler believes there are too many vested interests at stake for any of the Putnam County officials to admit mistakes were made in Kenny's case. With a slow shake of his head, he adds: *It's terrible that their pride is so big that they would let a man die rather than admit they were wrong.* ENDS RICHEY # 4 from jveitch * tie piece on prosecution PUTNAM County prosecutor Daniel Gerschutz and his assistant Randall Basinger built up a powerful case against Kenny Richey. On the night of the fire which killed Cynthia Collins, they argued, Kenny was in a jealous rage because his girlfriend Candy Barchet had rejected him for another man, Mike Nichols. Witnesses for the prosecution testified that Kenny boasted he would burn down the building. It was claimed Candy had ended the relationship because she was frightened of him. Cynthia's mother Hope Collins, who left for another party, testified that Kenny had agreed to babysit if she would let him sleep on her couch. After she had gone, the prosecution alleged Kenny stole cans of paint thinner and gasoline from a nearby greenhouse. Kenny, whose hand was in plaster, is then claimed to have climbed onto a 5ft high sloping shed, carrying the cans, onto the balcony outside Hope's apartment and set fire to her home. The fire was initially ruled an accident by the town's volunteer fire chief, Len Heffner, who said the cause was an electrical fan, and the contents of the apartment were cleared. After further inspection, arson was suspected. Fire Marshal Robert Cryer ordered the carpet to be retrieved from the county dump, and tests revealed the presence of paint thinners and gasoline. Gregory DuBois, the expert enlisted by Kenny's defence lawyer Bill Kluge to testify on the forensic evidence, failed to carry out independent tests on the samples, and agreed. >From jail, Richey wrote a letter to a friend, Roy Barclay, in which he recounted days of gang violence, including an incident where he shot a friend called *Gogs*. He also wrote he had found somone who had agreed *to do a hit on Basinger*. The letter was used as evidence against him in court, as were psychiatric reports which found he had a borderline personality disorder. Mr Basinger asked the judges to transfer intent. His argument was that although Richey meant to kill Candy and Mike, and had not intended to kill Cynthia, he should be found guilty of aggravated murder because Cynthia died in the process. In his closing argument, he described Kenny as sociopathic killer, saying: *The evidence in this case is irrefutable.* Mr Cryer had also noted the smoke detector in Hope's apartment was disconnected. The three judge panel said there was *unrefuted evidence* that Kenny had taken it down before the fire, *negating* his attempts to rescue the child. He was sentenced to death in January 1987. ends richey tie piece from jveitch THE case against Kenny Richey is based entirely on circumstantial evidence and flawed forensic testing, his defence argue. The prosecution alleged he had splashed petrol and paint thinners to set fire to Hope Collins' apartment, but no traces of either were found on his clothing. The owner of the greenhouse said he was unable to say whether any gasoline or paint thinners were missing. No witnesses saw Kenny setting fire to the appartment, but several saw him trying to rescue Cynthia. Witnesses, including Hope's neighbour Peggy Price, who said Kenny boasted he would set fire to the building testified he said it at different times. Peggy has since recanted her statement, and said she said *what she thought the lawyers wanted to hear*. The two men who picked up Hope Collins to go to another party could not recall hearing Kenny agree to babysit. Hope Collins had a history of leaving her daughter alone in the apartment, and Peggy could have testified that the child had a history of starting fires. Peggy had also seen Hope disconnect the smoke detector on the night of the fire * *She definitely took it down* * but was not asked about this during the trial. Kenny's lawyers also argue that his original attorney's defence was deficient. They claim Bill Kluge failed to find an expert to challenge the prosecution's evidence of arson, and failed to interview key witnesses, including Peggy Price. He also did not interview Chris Underwood, the former manager of the apartments, who could have testified Hope's husband had spilled gasoline on the carpet some months before the fire. Mr Kluge also failed to argue during the trial that the letter Kenny sent to Roy Barclay was a fake. Both Mr Barclay and *Gogs* * Gordon Jack * could have testified that Kenny had never shot anyone or threatened to kill anyone before. Mr Kluge has admitted that expert Gregory DuBois failed to carry out independent tests of the samples of debris taken from the fire. He knew before the trial that Mr DuBois' testimony would agree with the prosecution. Mr Kluge said he failed to introduce Kenny's refusal of the plea bargain as mitigation during the trial. He had also advised Kenny to request that a three-judge panel hear the case without a jury, because of the potential prejudice in the county. However, he did not request for the trial to be held in another county to reduce the risk of prejudice. Kenny's defence is also concerned that Mr Basinger questioned his father Jim Richey, about his other son, Tom, a convicted killer, in court. FBI fire expert Richard Custer has concluded that Fire Marshall Robert Cryer's opinion that the fire was arson-related was based on *unsound scientific principles.* He added: *Cryer's opinion ignored facts that make it just as likely, if not more so, that the fire was not incendiary. *There is a reasonable probability that the fire was caused by the careless discard or use of smoking materials.* The carpet removed from Hope's apartment for testing was contaminated after it was taken to the county dump. It was then laid in front of a police station for several days, near a fuel pump before it was tested. Forensic chemist Andrew Armstrong has concluded that two of the samples tested by Ohio Arson Crime Laboratory did not contain paint thinner as claimed in court. The defence argue there was no evidence that any crime was committed, and express concern that the intent to kill was transferred from Candy and Mike to Cynthia Collins. After the death sentence was passed, Richey was asked if he had anything to say. *Not really, if you want to find me guilty of a crime I did not commit.* ends Jennifer Veitch Deputy Features Editor Edinburgh Evening News 108 Holyrood Road Edinburgh EH8 8AS __________ EcoNews Service - Alternative News: Ecology, Consciousness & Universe Politics mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] USA http://www.ecologynews.com CZECH http://mujweb.cz/www/ecologynews/ UK http://members.tripod.co.uk/ecologynews/ Canada http://www.ecologynews.com <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. 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