Use of Force And Self-defense Results In Too Many Bogus Prosecutions!

I have done this cases in many cities with incredible success.  It's my speciality!

William Heirens, is Near Death Today in a Chicago Hospice

Chicago, IL—Most of my readers know that I hate the death penalty and consider the American criminal justice system deeply flawed. Either the innocent are convicted or dangerous criminals are given freedom far too early endangering society. My personal quote is, “If justice happens it’s usually by accident and for all the wrong reasons.”

A single mother, who was most of the time only one step ahead of the Sheriff’s eviction team, raised me on Chicago’s North side. Just two years before I was born there were three ugly murders. My mother warned me about strangers and a man named William Heirens. Heirens was the proverbial boogyman.

Two adult women Josephine Ross, Frances Brown and six year-old Suzanne Degnan, were murdered. The Degnan killing was unusually depraved because she was cut up and her body parts dumped in various catch basins in the neighborhood.

William Heirens confessed to these crimes and entered a Guilty Plea in court avoiding Cook County Jail’s busy electric chair. The way that happened is shameful in a civilized nation that claims to be fair and just.

There were also incredible similarities between the Degnan murder and the Lindberg kidnapping murder decades earlier. A ladder was found leading up to her window at her North Kenmore avenue apartment and police found a poorly drafted ransom note.

William Heirens was a juvenile serial burglar. He was also a genius who went from a Catholic reform school to the prestigious University of Chicago. He became one of many suspects.

Three men were hauled in for the Degnan murder in series of dreadful arrests. A janitor, Hector Verburgh, 65 was arrested, beaten until he confessed, smeared in the press as a deranged killer and soon released when it was learned he was unable to write English. He sued the cops and was awarded a money judgment.

Sidney Sherman was a recently discharged WWII marine living in the South side Hyde Park YMCA, who became the next subject of a nationwide dragnet for the Degnan murder. He was hauled in, took and passed a polygraph test and had an alibi. They released Sherman.

William Heirens, was soon bagged by the cops, beaten and forced to confess to the Degnan murder. The incredible film noir photographs of Heirens above speak for themselves. Over the years Chicago cops gained a reputation of being proficient medieval torturers who could get anyone to confess to anything.

Heirens was subjected to the unprecedented forced administration of the drug sodium pentathol and interrogated under its influence. The drug was debunked as a “truth serum” many decades ago. Police also compelled Heirens to recreate the crimes for press photographers.

At the apartment of Frances Brown there was a bloody fingerprint left behind that was the subject of mixed opinions as to being left by Heirens. He was excluded initially and later implicated by latent print examiners. The Brown apartment was also where that infamous message written in Brown’s lipstick, presumably by the killer, “For heavens sake catch me before I kill more I cannot control myself.” The media used that passage to call Heirens, The Lipstick Killer.

There was yet another confession however there was no beating or coercion involved. That came from a convicted child molester, Richard Russell Thomas. Thomas was a Chicago musician, nurse and a song-writer who was in custody of the Phoenix, Arizona police for an unrelated crime. Thomas freely confessed to the Degnan murder and it was learned he was a regular at a used car lot very close to Degnan’s home at the time of the murder.

About fifteen years ago ABC World News Tonight asked me to track Thomas down if I could for a story they were doing about Heirens. I soon leaned that Thomas had passed away in Austin, Texas. I located living family members that confirmed the confession and were actually convinced Thomas, not Heirens killed the little girl.

On an interesting side note, Thomas’ family members told me that he wrote the song that became a hit record for Les Paul and Mary Ford called, Vaya Con Dios My Darling. Thomas sold the song to the person now credited for its origin.

At the time of the ABC News request, the renowned death penalty lawyer, Jed Stone, represented Heirens. I called Stone who was very busy working on clemency for Heirens for information for our story. Later I found myself blessed to be working as Stone’s investigator on important cases and today we are good friends.

I learned that Heirens was recently given a medical furlough from the Dixon Correctional Center medium security prison in Dixon, Illinois. I know he was blind, in a wheelchair suffering from diabetes. Today Heirens 83 years-old and has served more time in prison that any other inmate in Illinois to date.

I contacted Stone who sadly told me that Heirens was sent to the hospice, is receiving a morphine drip and is not expected to survive the week. Stone gave me the following statement:

“Bill Heirens has spent over six decades behind bars for crimes he did not commit. And yet it cannot be said that Bill's life was wasted. He earned a college degree and learned to paint. He worked within the prison walls and earned the respect of wardens and guards, chaplains and inmates.

Bill became skilled as a prison lawyer and has written more winning briefs than most lawyers I know. At his 1995 clemency hearing the audience contained many men, once prisoners, now free, there to express gratitude for Bill Heirens.

As a boy growing up on Chicago's North side, I was told that Bill Heirens was the boogieman. Many years later when I became Bill's lawyer, he became my friend. We have exchanged birthday and holiday cards. One of his watercolors hangs prominently in my office library. I am saddened by the thought that I could not win his freedom.”

Update, I woke up to the news that William Heirens died hours after I posted this article. He died at Chicago’s UIC medical center. This morning he is at the Cook County Morgue. I suspect that there will be a memorial service of some type and we will all learn about positive contributions to society by this man. Heirens was 83.

That watercolor Painting:



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You survived the deadly shooting and suddenly your next grave threat is inside the Criminal Justice System

Phoenix, AZ—It’s appropriate that we get specific to Arizona because they have a much better tolerance for people that use deadly force in self-defense or the defense of a third person. This is about the Golden Hours between and arrest and an Indictment by a Grand Jury. Once you’re arrested or otherwise labeled as a suspect the race begins to indict you for, Manslaughter or even Murder.

Needless to say you’ve not uttered a word to police beyond your name, date of birth along with a request for a lawyer.

The Golden Hours is a tiny time period where you can defeat a prosecution and spare yourself and family from Bankruptcy, divorce, home foreclosure, car repossession and even years in prison. Depending on complications prosecutors could secure an Indictment against you in just a day or two.

Aside from being a gun rights leader of our nation, Arizona has solid protections from abusive arrest and prosecution as well additional protection from bogus lawsuits. Just because that’s the law does not mean you will be spared a spin at the Wheel of Judicial Misfortune.

Judges, lawyers and prosecutors all think they understand the dynamics of lethal self-defense. They fact is most only got they education from Hollywood productions. Just because they are in the criminal justice business does not mean they understand what happened in a fight for someone’s life.

Unfortunately criminal defense lawyers are sometimes little help because real self-defense cases are very rare in the system. Assumptions are made that the violent event is the product of an argument rather than an attack based on race, robbery, mistaken identity, rape or a violent over-reaction to a driving infraction on some highway.

For example you shot a carjacker in the back. The police and prosecutors may understandably believe you simply played God and executed the hapless criminal. There are various things that happen in the split second of a shooting and a self-defense expert can often give a convincing explanation for the back wound. You can wait two or three years for a criminal trial and a jury to decide your fate or you can make a case before a Grand Jury.

These two case cites, are the law that creates your golden hours:

Herrell v. Sargeant, 189 Ariz. 627 (1997) holding that the state's failure to present a fair and impartial presentation to the grand jury of the facts that related to the justification of crime prevention required that the case be sent back to the grand jury.

Trebus v. Davis, 189 Ariz. 62 (1997) holding conditions where the state must inform the grand jury that the defendant is requesting to testify to the grand jury. The state must also present exculpatory information sent by the defense in a letter to the prosecutor.

The Trebus case is about a suspect giving testimony before the Grand Jury. Such testimony is nearly always a terrible idea and must be avoided. Trebus does force prosecutors to fairly present exculpatory information to a Grand Jury empowered to determine if you should stand trial on a felony accusation. Having a lawyer present Trebus material to a prosecutor is critical. Saying that, too many lawyers routinely let those Golden Hours slip away ignoring Trebus.

The big question is how can you save yourself from an unnecessary Indictment and criminal trial with the help of Trebus? That’s where I come in as a criminal defense private investigator.

First I must be called, retained and let loose to do my job. Your lawyer if you have one will be busy trying to arrange your bail. My responsibility is to respond to the scene and investigate on your behalf. I need to find possible witnesses and interview them right away on video or digital media before their stories get spun to what prosecutors want to hear.

I have to examine the scene of the incident looking for things the cops missed like, surveillance video sources, shell casings or suspected blood. I need to shoot still photos and video of the scene so defense lawyers can see what was there. Getting out late to a scene may be disastrous especially in construction areas.

I need to find those witnesses that the cops blew off because their stories did not match what they wanted to hear. Believe me that happens all the time. Either I find them early or they may never be found. I also must examine the backgrounds of witnesses for criminal or civil fraud history.

Police and prosecutors almost never turn over witness statements or for that matter any evidence to the defense until more than a month after an Indictment when it’s way too late to use this information.

I have to see what material the cops gave to the news media because often I find gold in what they provided to them and sometimes more importantly withheld. Police agencies love to flood the media with self-serving press releases about their “heroic” deeds connected with high profile arrests. Yes, any self-defense type shooting will qualify as high profile.

I have to remain in constant contact with your lawyer during the Golden Hours to make sure nothing is overlooked.

What happens next is any helpful information I find is reduced to writing in a “Trebus Letter” and delivered to the prosecutors before the Grand Jury is convened. Let me also say prosecutors are not necessarily evil; even they don’t like prosecuting innocent people. There are those cases where prosecutors want a jury to decide if your use of deadly force was really justified. The only problem is that may take years and all of your worldly assets.

I have seen more than one person jailed for years only to be tried and acquitted having lost everything while they were in jail pending trial. They leave the jail wearing the same clothes they had on when they were arrested. How sad is that?

Call me to do your investigation and perhaps I can help you choose a top-notch lawyer like Jed Stone or Joel Brodsky of Chicago or Richard Gierloff in Arizona.

You can visit my PI website at the top of this page on the right hand side. Simply click on hire me.

Gallows Humor at the Gallows, a True Story

Menard, IL--This is where a truly horrible man was executed on 22 November 1995. I'm no fan of the death penalty but I remember well a monstrous murder committed by three North side, Chicago lads my own age in December of 1965.

66 year-old, Fred Christensen went for a stroll on Waveland Avenue when he encountered three boys including a then,16 year old George Delvecchio armed with a .22 caliber semi-automatic rifle. The trio robbed and shot Christensen eleven times because he only had $11.00 to surrender.

This news story was big and the confessed killers said they were high on speed pills that were called "goofballs" back then.

This crime and its punishment was settled in a plea agreement for Delvecchio that committed him to a juvenile institution until he was 21. He was later transferred to an adult prison but was released after only serving eight years total. They said he had be reformed.

In December of 1977 Delvecchio met Karen Canzoneri and was briefly a guest in her home. Delvecchio left only to return later, uninvited as he forced his way into her home raping her after slashing the throat of her six year-old son Tony, killing the boy.

Delvecchio was profiled again in the news for yet another sensational murder. He went through the criminal justice system that was not so kind to him this time. Delvecchio was sentenced to a well-deserved death penalty for this unspeakable act.

In the 22 year fight to spare Delvecchio's life, was a young lawyer, who came to know the killer. Jed Stone. Stone said this fellow was now a different person and was worth receiving clemency. However, the appeals ran out and on 22 November 1995 George Delvecchio was set to take his last walk to the death chamber from his deathwatch cell.

Present was the warden, chaplain, guards and Jed Stone. Delvecchio was resigned to his grim fate and had given away his meager possession to other inmates like a radio he owned. He apologized to Stone he had nothing left to give him. Delvecchio discovered he had something after all, his inmate ID card! He offered it to Stone who thanked him for it as he placed it into his shirt pocket.

Soon Delveccho hugged the sad lawyer and the two began the walk to their respective places. Delvecchio headed to the lethal injection chamber and Stone to the witness room. Suddenly Delvecchio stopped and exclaimed, "there's a terrible mistake!" He said he was not in fact, Delvecchio and pointed to the astonished lawyer saying, "He's George Delvecchio and he has the ID card in his pocket to prove it!"

Amazingly Stone and his condemned client were very similar in age and appearance as the two photos above demonstrate. The ruse was accepted for what it was and Delvecchio was strapped down and killed. As always the executioner used a alcohol swab to clean the injection site to make sure the condemned man would not get an infection later.

I just had the great pleasure of working with Stone on a Chicago trial. Stone has distinguished himself in a great legal career that included the release of several notorious wrongfully convicted and condemned men such as Rolando Cruz in DuPage County.

This and other great stories are now in my briefcase and on their way to Hollywood.

Lindsay Lohan’s Defense Investigation Laundry List

Venice, CA—Lindsay Lohan is accused of the felony crime of Grand Theft. This was in connection with the temporary removal of a necklace from a jewelry store. The reasons for the removal are not all that clear nor is the intent to permanently deprive needed to establish a theft case.

As a criminal defense investigator these are what I would do to establish Lohan’s innocence:
1. Learn the reasonable value or worth for the necklace to see if it really meets the threshold minimum dollar amount required to classify this as a felony offense.
2. Interview every witness listed in the police or news media reports. The witnesses’ friends must be also interviewed to determine inconsistent statements. There will always be inconsistent statements in a case like this.
3. Conduct a full background investigation on every witness including examination of internet social networking sites visited by these people.
4. Examine the scene where this event took place.
5. Determine if any media leaks were the result of witness instigation or celebrity information commerce.
6. Establish any and all increased traffic to the “victim” business and their website after this story was published in the media and its influence on the witnesses.
7. Full investigation of prospective jurors and their social networking activities. This would continue throughout any trial.
8. Any other tasks though necessary by the defense counsel.

The defense lawyers have no choice but to fully test the evidence. Failure to do so could result in a wrongful conviction and years of unnecessary appeal work.

Lindsay Lohan cannot risk a serious conviction. It would affect her ability to work and for any future foreign travel.

I already believe the state’s theory is full of gaping holes and that Lohan should be very reluctant to seek any plea bargain that could damage her significantly. Of course that’s a decision she must make on her own after being fully advised by her lawyers.

The next question I have, are Lohan’s lawyers up to the task of trying this case? I’m not so sure of the answer. One of her lawyers, Blair Berk is a master at facilitating generous plea agreements. That’s however not the same as trying the case.

Me, I’d bring in Chicago Uber-Defender, Jed Stone. Stone is one of the better death penalty lawyers in America. He may be over-kill but he has special abilities to get the right information to the jurors in a way they can all understand.

In any even I hope this case plays out in a way that will make us proud of our Bill of Rights and the way we conduct criminal trials.

You never know when the victims show their real motives in matters landing in our criminal courts. Check out this one!