March 24 MICHIGAN: Exonerated after execution, 100 years later----The case made headlines in the early 1900s; John Trestrail has been working on this case for 30 years DNA testing and science not available almost a hundred years ago is beginning to shed light on a case of a man tried and executed. Hawley Crippen, originally from Coldwater, Mich., was hanged for the murder of his wife Cora Crippen in London in 1910. Now, John Trestrail, a toxicologist from West Michigan, believes he might have exonerated Crippen. "I often refer to this as the O.J. Simpson trial of the early 1900s," Trestrail said. "This is the second most famous murder case in London, exceeded only by Jack the Ripper." It was a sensational trial with convoluted twists. Crippen's wife, Cora, was missing, and he was rushing across the Atlantic on a ship with his mistress. Meanwhile, back in London, a dismembered body was discovered, buried beneath his house and believed to be Cora. Crippen claimed the pair had a fight and she headed back home to the United States. However, the trial revealed gruesome details saying Crippen poisoned his wife, then mutilated her body, burying the remains with no head or bones. Trestrail, who works in foresic toxicology, thought something just did not add up. "The thing that kept me coming to the case was the dismemberment of his wife Cora," he said. "Because a poisoner is against what they normally do, poisoners are secret, visible killers. They like deaths to appear natural, then they walk away." On their way to Canada, the captain of the ship told Scotland Yard he had Crippen and his mistress, Ethel La Neve, who was diguised as a boy aboard the ship. Detectives greeted them when their boat landed. La Neve was aquitted, but Crippen wasn't as lucky. "The jury is out only 27 minutes," Trestrail said of the trial. "They come in and say 'Guilty.'" Throughout the trial, Crippen maintained his innocence. Now, 100 years later, Trestrail is armed with information about Mitochondrial DNA, which can prove lineage from mother to daughter and is a genetic blue print. Along with the help of a geneologist and a forensic biologist, the trio tracked down two half-grand nieces of Cora Crippen. The family members matched one another. The orginal slides with the remains of the body from the trial did not. "He called me and said it's done," Trestrail said. "I've done the test twice and got the same results both times. It's not her, and that kind of raised the hair on my arms because now there's more questions." More questions than answers, like whose body was discovered under the home? "He may have killed this person," Trestrail said. "Whoever it is, not (his wife Cora). But that's another trial." And if the body wasn't his wife, where did she go? These questions may not be solved. For 30 years, Trestrail has worked on this case, collecting antiquated newspapers or photographs, frozen into their yellowed pages as a glimpse into the past. A history he is hoping to help rewrite. "Like I say, 40 books have been written on this case," he said. "I suppose I'll have to write number 41." Trestrail was able to contact some distant relatives of Crippen who now live in Ohio. They want Crippen posthumously cleared of the crime. Trestrail is now working on a documentary with a film team from London this week. (source: WOOD TV News) PENNSYLVANIA: Allegheny Co. judge sentences landscaper to death for murder A Washington County man has been formally sentenced to death for killing an elderly Allegheny County woman during a June 2003 robbery. Allegheny County Judge David Cashman sentenced 29-year-old Patrick Jason Stollar, of Washington, on Monday for killing 78-year-old Jean Heck in her Upper St. Clair home. A jury ordered the death penalty a month ago. Cashman also sentenced Stollar to 2 consecutive terms of 10 to 20 years in prison for robbery and burglary convictions. Stollar acted as his own lawyer at trial and conceded he killed Heck. But he said he was mentally ill. (source: Associated Press) ILLINOIS: Death penalty sought in payday loan store slaying----Wisconsin man faces 3 counts of 1st-degree murder Prosecutors said in Lake County Court Monday they intend to seek the death penalty against Montago Suggs, a Wisconsin man accused of killing a clerk at a payday loan store last year. Suggs, 24, is charged with three counts of 1st-degree murder in the May 21 shooting death of Melinda Morrell, 22, of Round Lake Park in a robbery at the Check 'n Go in the 1100 block of North Green Bay Road in Waukegan, authorities said. Suggs also is charged with attempted armed robbery and attempted murder in an incident 5 days later at a Beach Park convenience store, authorities said. Suggs, who could face 21 to 45 years in prison in the Beach Park incident, stole about $2,000 from the Waukegan loan store, police said. Morrell's family has sued Check 'n Go, arguing the company should have had more security measures in place. (source: Chicago Tribune)
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----MICH., PENN., ILL.
Rick Halperin Mon, 24 Mar 2008 18:11:31 -0500 (Central Daylight Time)
