My family and their lack of relation.

My sister Shelly Wess

Detectives claim that during their investigation they spoke with one of my sisters Shelly, and that she described me as a “nightsalker” and a "lunatic", while making comparisons to my brother. Oddly there are no written statements made by Shelly, and no video or audio taped interviews documenting her alleged statements.

Under oath during a deposition, Shelly stated that she never made these comments to police and that they made it up.

This is another example of detectives making statements that are completely unsupported by the record or witness statements. It is unfortunate that Dateline failed to investigate this claim made by Detective Billy Carlyle before airing such unsubstantiated allegations.

My brother Patrick Denney

Many comparisons have been made between the murder my brother committed in 1990 and the murder of Corey Parker which I have been wrongfully convicted of. Any connection between the two is nothing more than wild speculation concocted by Detective Billy Carlyle and the prosecution. This is type of innuendo one would expect to see on Entertainment Tonight or read in the National Enquirer.

To set the record straight, I had just turned 9 years old when my brother was arrested for murder. His crime was terrible and horrendous. It took an innocent life and devastated my family. I was shielded from specifics of his crime, of which I still know very little of. Our age difference acted as a huge barrier.

My brother never spoke to me about, or confessed the murder he committed to me. I haven't spoken to him since the day he was arrested 26 years ago, and wouldn’t recognize him. After my arrest we did exchange a few letters but they were awkward and we have stopped communicating all together.

Sadly, people are stabbed to death all the time in America. Any similarities between the two crimes is an unfortunate coincidence, and not some horror movie plot of two brothers competing to commit brutal murders.

The fact that my brother is a killer does not make me a murderer. Since when do we convict people based on a crime their relative committed? Leave the ridiculous comparisons to the novel writers and quit persecuting me for my brothers’ crime.

This comparison was so outrageous and irrelevant that the trial judge prevented any mention of my brother during trial. Even the prosecutor admitted that such testimony was inadmissible.

***Next Post; Providing a voluntary DNA sample

In the begining of the dead ended investigation

How I became a suspect

Since Dateline focused on old information already proven untrue I will need to revisit these topics yet again. I would really have rather moved forward instead of staying focused on old out dated material. Moving backwards we go!

 Corey Parker was murdered November 26, 1998; Thanksgiving Day. In the week following her death, detectives interviewed everyone who lived in the area including me, multiple times. Investigators testified that I was cooperative and they did not consider me a suspect.

Over 2 months later on January 29, 1999, I lied to my co-workers claiming I had a son who died in a car accident. I lied because I wanted the weekend off work to party. My co-workers learned that I did not tell the truth and I lost my job and was kicked out of my apartment. A few days later I entered a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center.

To be clear, I am very sorry, ashamed and embarrassed for lying. It was a stupid thing to do. There is no excuse for my behavior, but I was only 17 years old and was using drugs and drinking heavily. However this occurred several months after Parker was murdered. Simply because I lied to get time off work does not make me a murderer.

A year and a half later a reward poster for $20,000 was circulating the community. Two of my former co-workers, Julie Sedgwick FKA Julie Snyder and Dane Hough saw a poster and meet at a party where they talked about me and the fact that I lived near Corey Parker and that I had lied to time to get off work. Also at the party was a police informant named William Rentschler (who has an interesting criminal history in core!). William Rentchler has never met me. William Rentchler over heard Julie Snyder and Dane Hough discussing me; subsequently providing my name to the police as a possible suspect. That is his extent to involvement in the case.

Unbelievably, Dateline presented an interview with William Rentchler where he claimed to be some sort of “bounty hunter” who conducted and independent investigation into the Corey Parker homicide. William Rentchler told Dateline that he interviewed witnesses and attempted to track me down. These claims are nothing more than fantasies of a wanna – be detective. Surprising Dateline did not investigate William Rentchler’s story. William Rentschler was not even allowed to testify at trial since he could only provide unsubstantiated hearsay.

Exhibit A

More disturbing are the claims made by Julie Snyder NKA Julie Sedgwick. Motivated by greed in the form of $20,000, Julie concocted a story that would almost guarantee my arrest. Julie told investigators that I lied to get out of work the same weekend Corey Parker was murdered. Even worse, Julie Snyder KNA Julie Sedgwick lied by stating the day I lied she saw scratches all over me and made false claims that I told her I was trying to date a girl who was a waitress and student while pointing towards Parkers apartment. If these claims were true (which they are not!) then any reasonable person would have called the police immediately, and would not have waited until a year and a half later to come forward after seeing a reward poster.

At trial Julie Snyder KNA Julie Sedgwick was impeached and had to admit that my untruthfulness occurred months after rather than days after the murder. She also backed off of her claim that I was covered in scratches since the lie made no sense. Unfortunately, she continued to imply that I attempted to date Corey Parker. Julie Snyder NKA Julie Sedgwick also admitted that she felt entitled to the reward money.

Exhibit B

Based off of this misinformation I became the sole focus of the police investigation. Soon after, detectives spoke with one of my sisters, Shelly Wess; the detectives then traveled to Easton, Maryland where I had moved to begin a career in the computer industry.

***Next post; my sister and brother and their connection, or lack of, to the investigation.

Editorial note ... while typing this blog post the proxy of the blog and the supporting family of the prisoner have made a startling connection. It is noted that Detective Billy Carlyle employed William Rentchler and Mr. Rentchler is related to Julie Snyder. What can be made from this connection is yet to be seen but will be looked into further. Did the Detective leak any information to his informant?

It should also be noted that the time period  in which Ms. Snyder made claims that while she was at Roberts apartment, Robert looked down into the neighbors window and pointed stating he wanted to date Ms. Parker, Robert had a girlfriend; Heather Champion. Julie ended up splitting the reward money even though she was impeached at trial for lying and we are not sure what the split was.

Lastly, of the 15 suspects from the case, a handful of suspects were never investigated even though they were called in the same day or the day after the murder. There is a gross negligence of work that was done that none of the advocates seem to be able to understand.Why the detectives never even followed up on so many first hand suspects (at all, we know of 4 very possible suspects that never submitted DNA samples) and then waited a year and half to zero in on Robert is yet to be understood.

Link from jacksonville.com

                  

Inconclusive Dateline show

Dear all, 

We are disappointed with the dateline show from last night regarding this case. Much of the information was old outdated and proven incorrect at trial regarding hearsay testimony. We prefer to focus on material evidence and will continue to disclose the facts only and not hearsay.

We feel like many of the original suspects felt bullied as well and have suffered some mental trauma and it may have caused lots of false information which may have lead to a tremendous amount of confusion. 

We have high hopes that this is just the beginning of datelines coverage of the case and that the newer material presented use only proven facts. 

Thank you for the kind words received, Robert really needed some cheering up considering the quality of what was covered.

Downloadable Documents; Zippo Lighter and Blue Shirt; read 4th (last post)

Police Coercion, Manipulation Result in Witness Falsely Attributing Evidence to Defendant…..

Law enforcement officials routinely use coercive and manipulative tactics to secure witness testimony which attributes physical evidence to a Defendant even when they know the witness is lying. In this case that witness is Heather Champion, my former girlfriend who falsely claims a Zippo Lighter and Blue shirt found in and outside of the crime scene belonged to me. Here are the facts surrounding her unbelievable testimony.

1.      A gold tone zippo lighter was found on the floor next to the bed Corey Parker was discovered on.

Exhibit A

2.      On the lighter was an engraved emblem with the acronym “NACTA” which stands for National Air Traffic Association.

Exhibit B

3.       In 1994 Zippo manufactured 50 of these lighters of which most were distributed in the Washington DC area and 6 sent to Houston Texas.

Exhibit C

4.       A blue shirt found wet and hanging in a tree above a dumpster was collected the day police discovered the scene.

5.       Over six years after Parkers murder and four years after my arrest Detective Billy Carlyle tracked down my former girlfriend, Heather Champion, who had turned criminal with warrants out for her arrest.

6.       Detective Billy Carlyle informed Heather Champion that he was not interested in her warrants as long as she would cooperate against me. She was eager to assist Detective Billy Carlyle. Exhibits out of lettering order from this point on.

Exhibit F

7.       Heather Champion was shown pictures of the zippo lighter and blue shirt, then stated they both belonged to me.

8.       At trial Heather Champion gave many stories and vacillated greatly as to when she claims to have seen me with the lighter and / or wearing the shirt. Specifically, she stated at one point that she saw me with both as late as January 1999 when I left Florida to return to Texas several months after Corey Parkers homicide. In addition, Heather Champion is the only person claiming these items belong to me.

Exhibit G

9.       There is absolutely no evidence linking me to the zippo lighter other than heather Champions claim. The lighter was tested for DNA with no results. A partial finger print was found on it that was of no value for comparison purposes. However, “unofficially” my attorney was told I was excluded.

Exhibit D  Exhibit E

10.   There is absolutely no evidence linking me to the blue shirt. In fact, there is no evidence linking the shirt to the murder. No blood was found on it. Fibers from the shirt did not match fibers from the scene.

11.   The collar and armpit areas of the blue shirt were tested for DNA by FDLE analyst Maria Puro with no results. Also 3 hairs from the shirt were tested by Labcorp, none of which match me and all came from different people.

Exhibit H  Exhibit I

Although it seems obvious that Heather Champion was lying due to Detective Billy Carlyles’ manipulation; the zippo and blue shirt was difficult to overcome at trial. The prosecution did not hesitate to use false testimony and made it a feature of the trial which contributed to my wrongful conviction.

Downloadable documents; Q4.1 Hair Root Evidence; read 2nd

Continued Release of Documents Corroborating Unreliability of Forensic Evidence

In an effort to substantiate the allegation I have made in this blog and in court appeals, I have started compiling record proof that the physical evidence in this case has been mishandled, contaminated and tampered with. The previous posting detailed the mishandling of the #19 blood sample. In this update I will address a hair root known as “Q4.1” that played a pivotal role in my wrongful arrest and conviction. 

Facts and Documents Relating to Q4.1 Hair Root. 

1.       After Corey Parkers' body was discovered November 27, 1998, Evidence Technician James Choate began collecting potential evidence from the scene. Of particular importance, Choate collected a pair of blue panties found balled up next to the victim. The panties were sent to the FBI laboratory in Washington DC.

2.       An FBI technician examined the underwear noting that it was “saturated in blood”.

Exhibit A

3.       The panties were labeled “Q4”. Several hairs and fibers were removed from the panties and were mounted on a microscope slide also labeled Q4. The slide was then sent to FBI Trace Analyst Max Houck.

4.       Houck examined the Q4 slide under a microscope and noted it contained several human head hairs. All but one of the hairs had been dyed an artificial brown color and were microscopically the same as Corey Parkers hair. These hairs had blood on them.

5.       The one odd hair was a brown Caucasian hair with a “follicular tag” commonly referred to as a root. Houck opened the slide and cut the root from the hair to be tested for DNA. This single undyed hair did not have blood on it. The root was labeled “Q4.1”

Exhibit B

6.       FBI DNA analyst Anthony Onorato received the Q4.1 hair root and was asked to compare the DNA profile from my spit collected out of rain puddle (Q28), to any profile he obtained from Q4.1

7.       On August 2000, Onorato issued a report stating that Q4.1 yielded a partial, mixed DNA profile, and that my DNA was a “major contributor” to the mixture.

Exhibit C

8.       It was later learned that this DNA soup contained DNA from up to 5 or more different people.

 Exhibit D

9.       After my arrest it was discovered that the FBI had destroyed / consumed the Q4.1 hair root in testing and failed to take any pictures of it. Thus it could never be retested.

Exhibit E

10.   Years later it was also discovered that the Q4.1 hair root was tested at the same time, and in the same place, just millimeters apart from Q28, my spit sample. The 2 specimens were tested simultaneously at all stages. This is a gross violation of laboratory protocol designed to prevent contamination.

Exhibit F

11.   In 2015 FBI analyst Anthony Onorato shocked my attorney when he admitted he was NOT the examiner who conducted the DNA testing of Q4.1, even though he led everyone to believe he had for over 14 years.

12.   Onorato informed council that another analyst named “Mackenzie” performed the testing and that he no longer works for the FBI. The FBI refuses to help my lawyer locate Mackenzie and Onorato refuses to write an affidavit

13.   In addition, Onorato conceded that Mackenzie tested Q4.1 and Q28 simultaneously, including placing the samples in a water bath overnight. Onorato admits that if this type of handling caused contamination, there would be no way to tell, and the safe guards in place at the time would not have detected it.

Onorato Weblinks

Onorato Weblinks 2 

14.   The Q4.1 hair root was the only hair root associated with any hair found at the crime scene. The state theorized that it was yanked out during the murder. A single forcibly removed hair is inconsistent with that theory because more than one hair would be pulled out during a struggle.

Exhibit G

15.   Former FBI analyst Max Houck left the FBI to become the Director of Forensic Sciences at the University of West Virginia. From there Houck became the Director of the National Laboratory in Washington D.C. Mr. Houck has since been forced to resign amidst numerous testing blunders that have placed his reputation and credibility in doubt.

Forced resignation

Continued resignation

Continued web links #3

***Next post – Hair & Microscope Slides Evidence