The Illinois Innocence Project is part of a nationwide network of attorneys who work to exonerate convicted felons who have been wrongly accused and incarcerated. Two attorneys from the Innocence Project will speak tonight at the McLean County League of Women Voters annual dinner, along with a former prisoner who is still working to have his murder conviction expunged. WGLT's Judy Valente has this report. - See more at: http://wglt.org/wireready/news/2015/04/08040_04-22InnocenceProject_105419.shtml#sthash.HoAGuinc.dpuf
http://wglt.org/wireready/news/2015/04/08040_04-22InnocenceProject_105419.shtml
Dear Aphrodite Jones and Producers of the Aphrodite Jones Television Show,
Recently I saw the program on Tyrone Hood (Menard Prison IL) who served twenty years behind bars for a crime he did not commit, based on the flimsiest of circumstantial evidence. I was struck by the similarity of another inmate at Menard, my nephew Barton McNeil, who is serving life without parole (now at sixteen years) for purportedly killing his three year old daughter, Christina McNeil. The Illinois Innocent Project is now working on his behalf, based on hasty and erroneous judgments by investigators, lost crime scene videos, assumptions, and failing to look for another perpetrator responsible for the crime. They are now firmly convinced of his innocence.
Bart’s case is unique in that he always maintained that his ex-girlfriend Misook Kim (Nowlin) (Wang) killed his child one night, after a violent break up, by entering a bedroom window and asphyxiating his daughter. DNA left behind (blood, two different urine stains, hair) was never tested, nor was a finger print lifted from the broken screen window, or a key piece of new evidence--- investigating the web re-building habits of a spider. At the DNA hearing, Arachnid experts from the Smithsonian Institute, testified that spiders do rebuild cobwebs after twenty minutes of destruction, and unknowledgable police investigators decided the next day that the presence of a spider-web could only mean no one entered through the window.
It was never proven that Bart was a sex offender, collected pornography, or treated his child inappropriately. Yet perverted conduct was, none-the-less, heavily suggested by the prosecutors. Nor did computer forensics find damming evidence of sexual interest of young children. Bart was convicted by a bench trial (no jury) advised by his incompetent lawyers who did nothing to contest a ‘Limine’ judgement excluding an alternative killer theory. Without a second person theory, Bart was hopelessly undefended. The legal system was adamant in their conviction that no one else could have entered his room.
The pivotal point in the case occurred in 2011, after sixteen years in prison with no further appeals, a huge break in his case opened. His Korean ex-girlfriend, Misook Kim, murdered again, avenging her husband, Don Wang, who wanted a divorce. In a premeditative manner, similar to the first murder, she asphyxiated. Linda Tyda Wang, in Crest Hill IL, for the same avenging motives. Misook Wang is now in prison, but refuses to admit other crimes.
Misook failed the polygraph, and her alibi in the 1998 homicide (McNeil) for that evening relied heavily on two testimonies: (1) Her new boyfriend at the time, Don Wang, whom she later married, and (2) Her brother Dongson Wang, visiting in Korea at the time. Records showed that he lived in more than four U.S. residences with Misook. The two second call to Korea was based on suggested time of death (around midnight), yet toxicologists now say that the stomach contents could be off by several hours.
The full story on Barton McNeil can be read on FreeBart.Org which includes audio tapes, investigative reports, interviews, newspaper articles, and timelines. I hope you will consider this story for your program.
Jeanne Ross
Bart needs modest financial help for snacks, underclothing and socks, toothpaste, brushes, combs, tennis shoes, etc. Prisoners receive no income other than what friends and relatives can send.
Use J-Pay and search for Barton McNeil, Menard Correctional Center IL, his prison numnber. #K75924
Then follow guidelines for setting up a payment.
Exerpts from Bart McNeil's letter dated 17 Dec 2014
“Upon my return to this prison (Menard) from my initial court hearing in April, I’ve been in the same cell house and in the same cell with the same cellmate for eight months. But that’s a good thing. While I’d been in this same cell house for a few years some time ago, I’m pleased to be back here again after recently having been housed in some less-then-desirable cell houses. With a little older inmate population, this cell house is a little more peaceful and less noisy than the other 4 cell houses at this maximum security prison. Thus we are a little less subject to lock downs and other punitive measures. By far this is the best of the cell houses and I was lucky to end up back here again.”
http://www.centralillinoisproud.com/story/d/story/mcneil-family-celebrates-small-victory-with-dna-ap/19118/fUA3m8L9wUauChcCp4HTew
BLOOMINGTON - A team, working to free a Bloomington man serving a long prison sentence for the alleged murder of his daughter is celebrating a small victory.
Earlier this month, the Illinois Innocence Project held a hearing in McLean County to bring new evidence into play for Barton McNeil. At the hearing, they asked for fingerprints found on the window screen, as well as the bed sheets and pillow cases to be tested for DNA evidence.
As we first told you Tuesday, the team learned that all except for a night shirt and underwear of McNeil’s daughter, Christina will be tested. The family agrees, it gives McNeil’s case for a new trial more legs.
"We think that any evidence that might have been found, DNA touch evidence, skin cells that were left on the night shirt or the underwear might have been extremely important and valuable,” said McNeil’s cousin Christopher Ross.
The defense team says new evidence against McNeil’s former girlfriend should be considered with the DNA evidence. The DNA testing should take about six to nine months to complete.
Convicted child killer maintains innocence, says new evidence could prove ex-girlfriend guilty
By WEEK Reporter
July 31, 2014 Updated Aug 1, 2014 at 10:49 AM CDT
MENARD, Ill. --June of 1999 Bloomington man Barton McNeil was convicted of killing his 3-year-old daughter Christina McNeil.
For years McNeil firmly believed his ex-girlfriend Misook Nowlin committed the crime, but his claim fell on deaf ears. It turns out, years later in 2012, his ex-girlfriend was convicted of killing her husband's mother.
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With a turn of events and additional DNA testing, McNeil's defense says it could prove his innocence.
FOR VIDEO
http://www.cinewsnow.com/news/local/Convicted-child-killer-maintains-innocence--says-surfacing-evidence-points-elsewhere-269488261.html
June 16 1998, Barton McNeil's life had changed forever. It was that day he found his 3-year-old daughter dead.
The original 911 transcripts reads:
911 operator: 911. What's your emergency?
McNeil: I need an ambulance! I need it fast! ...My daughter's dying I think!
The death of Christina would eventually condemn him at the Menard Correctional Center, a maximum security adult male prison. His conviction: two counts of first degree murder and 100 years in prison.
"If this is my fate, God forbid I live this long," said McNeil. "I'm sentenced to death by prison."
All for a crime he says he did not commit. It is a murder mystery that begins in Bloomington-Normal, after a break up argument with his former girlfriend, Misook Nowlin.
"She was stalking me at every turn. She would demand I spent time with her. She threatened to kill herself," said McNeil. "She had this maniacal jealousy of Christina, the primary object of my affection."
The morning after the breakup, McNeil was horrified by what he saw.
"I woke to find my daughter dead in her bedroom," explained McNeil.
She was suffocated -- bruises around her body.
The original Bloomington Police crime scene footage shows the window screen had been cut above the latches.
"I'm absolutely convinced of this... that her killer was already in the room for the purpose of killing my daughter," said McNeil.
However, the court said the evidence did not qualify as proof. Cobwebs and dust showed an undisturbed area. The decision reads, "There is no evidence that someone else entered the home at any time." McNeil's cousin, Chris Ross, has been studying the case for years.
"The prosecution was able to put in place this Motion in Limine that made it impossible for Bart to utter Misook's name in his defense," said Ross.
Any evidence regarding Misook had to be thrown out. The successful Motion in Limine disallowed McNeil a defense that another person committed the crime. Legal authorities say McNeil was, therefore, the only one who could have been in the apartment and was guilty by default. McNeil was losing hope.
"I'm staying here probably until I die," said McNeil.
Then, a turning point. In 2012, Misook Nowlin was convicted of killing her mother-in-law. Nowlin's husband had been wanting a divorce.
"It was an intricately planned crime," said Ross.
She lured her husband's mother, Wenlan Tyda, to a location where she strangled her to death.
"Had this murder not come to the attention of the public, Bart would be sitting in prison without hope and awaiting his eventual death," said Ross.
As of now, he is and will be. But Nowlin's conviction in the Tyda case also caught the attention of the University of Illinois Springfield's Innocence Project.
"They're extremely selective, they maybe take one in every hundred letters they receive," said Ross.
Two lawyers and a team of law students are fighting for McNeil's freedom. They have already petitioned for the approval of DNA testing of new evidence--blood stains, fingerprints and more. It is evidence lawyers believe could clear McNeil's name.
"Justice will only be served if my daughter's killers will be prosecuted for what they did," said McNeil.
Friday McNeil will have a hearing at the Mclean County Courthouse that will determine what evidence will be tested further.
Rally urges DNA testing in old cases
DAVID PROEBER, The Pantagraph
Several people rally outside the McLean County Law and Justice on Friday, calling for DNA testing for Jamie Snow and other people believed to be innocent.
11 hours ago • Edith Brady-Lunny eblunny@pantagraph.com
BLOOMINGTON — Advocates for defendants who have challenged their convictions rallied in front of the McLean County Law and Justice Center Friday, asking the state's attorney to move forward with DNA testing in two cases.
Supporters of Jamie Snow, convicted in 2001 of killing gas station attendant Billy Little, urged prosecutor Jason Chambers to approve ballistics testing on evidence. Tammy Alexander, organizer of a group to exonerate Snow, also argued that several witnesses proved unreliable.
Organizing the rally with Alexander was Andrew Dubois, a Bloomington man who served a dozen years in prison for a sexual assault he maintains he did not commit. He is working to clear his name.
"There's not one shred of evidence to back up the victim's account" of an assault," Alexander said of Dubois' case.
About 25 people attended the event, which included Chicago lawyer Alan Mills, who has handled high-profile class action lawsuits on prison issues. Also attending was James Kluppelberg, exonerated of arson after serving 25 years.
Mills urged DNA testing in the Snow and Barton McNeil cases. McNeil was convicted in 1998 of killing his daughter. He has maintained his innocence and argued his former girlfriend Misook Nowlin, convicted of murder in an unrelated case last year, is a solid suspect.
"The state's attorney is the only one with control over who goes into prison. The time is right, the movement is coming, so let's do it," Mills said of the testing.
In a statement, Chambers said he agreed to test blood and urine in the McNeil case but is not convinced that testing - aimed to link Nowlin - is necessary.
Nowlin was McNeil's girlfriend "and of course her DNA is going to be in his apartment," said Chambers.
In order for forensic testing to be done, results must produce new evidence that is relevant to the case, he said.
Chambers, who has been in office about 18 months, previously said he inherited the decisions made in their cases. But Chambers also said he does not believe his three predecessors "would have let someone remain in prison if presented with evidence of actual innocence. I would not, either."
There was no place to make comments on this article.
State agrees to some DNA testing in 1998 murder case
BLOOMINGTON — Lawyers for a Bloomington man convicted in 1999 of killing his daughter said Wednesday they will expand their request for DNA testing of evidence they believe will point to the child's real killer: a woman serving 55 years for killing her mother-in-law in 2012.
Barton McNeil is serving 100 years for the 1998 death of his 3-year-old daughter, Christina.
McNeil's lawyers with the University of Illinois-Springfield’s Downstate Innocence Project said they will file an amended petition soon seeking to add a window screen from the victim's bedroom to the list of items they believe should undergo forensic testing.
McNeil has maintained his innocence in the 1998 death, claiming his former girlfriend, Misook Nowlin, was responsible for smothering the girl. Nowlin was convicted in 2012 of strangling her mother-in-law, Wenlan Linda Tyda, during a September 2011 dispute in Bloomington.
Defense lawyer John Hanlon asked Judge Scott Drazewski for a quick turnaround on a hearing date to finalize the initial testing.
Noting that McNeil is represented by the Innocence Project -- a group that assists people with innocence claims -- Hanlon said "we would like to keep things moving for his sake."
Meanwhile, State's Attorney Jason Chambers said the state will agree to DNA testing on blood and urine stains found on the victim's bed sheet, but will oppose other testing that he is not convinced will produce new evidence. Chambers said he may be persuaded to support more testing depending upon what the first round of tests show.
Calling Nowlin "a convenient and unsympathetic person you can point to" as a possible suspect, Chambers said it's likely Nowlin's DNA could be detected at McNeil's home given their prior relationship. The prosecutor acknowledged, however, that if Nowlin's DNA is matched blood stains on the bed sheet "then we might be willing to test some of the other items."
For McNeil's lawyers, the similarities between the girl's manner of death in 1998 and Tyda's murder 13 years later should convince the state to approve the testing.
"We have a case where not only can we say our person is not guilty, we can say here's the person who did it," said Hanlon.
The cost of the DNA testing expected to be completed by Orchid Cellmark in Texas will be covered by the Innocence Project, said Hanlon.
A March 26 hearing is set to review the case.
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When mistakes are made, and innocent people are harmed, we as a society must move quickly to redress the wrongs.
Can you imagine what Mr. McNeil has been through? His crazy ex-girlfriend murders his daughter, and instead of having time to mourn her death, he is presented with a mountain of an obstacle in having to defend his innocence.
If this is true, and there seems to be significant evidence pointing in that direction...Wow....just wow. One can only begin to imagine what Mr. McNeil has been through.
Should anyone involved in this process read this comment, as a taxpayer, might I ask that this matter be expedited and moved forward at minimal cost? It would seem that if this is true, it is going to cost us a goodly sum. If so, then we should move it along as quickly as reasonably possible, in order to minimize costs to the taxpayer, and redress the wrong.
Let's get this moving!
Thank you for your time.