{"id":1596,"date":"2021-03-25T06:39:32","date_gmt":"2021-03-25T12:39:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/freebart.org\/?p=1596"},"modified":"2021-07-09T01:01:23","modified_gmt":"2021-07-09T07:01:23","slug":"march-18-2021-davis-vanguard-court-watch-article","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/freebart.org\/?p=1596","title":{"rendered":"2021 March 18 Comprehensive News Article – A Chance of Freedom for Wrongfully Convicted Man Serving 100 Years for the Death of His 3-Year-Old Daughter (Davis Vanguard Court Watch)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\nhttps:\/\/www.davisvanguard.org\/2021\/03\/a-chance-of-freedom-for-wrongfully-convicted-man-serving-100-years-for-the-death-of-his-3-year-old-daughter\/\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Published March 18, 2021<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Lovepreet Dhinsa, Linhchi Nguyen, and Kathryn Wood <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

BLOOMINGTON \u2013 After 23 years of serving in prison,  Barton Monroe McNeil will finally have the chance to be acquitted in an upcoming retrial after being wrongfully convicted for murdering his three-year-old daughter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the morning of June 16, 1998, McNeil discovered his daughter, Christina, lying dead in his bedroom. Evidence surrounding the event led him to believe that Christina was murdered by his ex-girlfriend, Misook Nowlin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, despite his constant attempt to communicate to the Bloomington Police Department in order to bring justice to his daughter, prosecutors and police turned on him instead, while allowing for the true murderer, Nowlin, to escape and commit another murder of her own mother-in-law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McNeil\u2019s cousin, Chris Ross, was able to provide much of the information for this article, including McNeil\u2019s post-conviction petition, court transcripts, and his own testimony of what occurred. Ross has been involved with this case since 2010, where he has since followed closely the evidence and progress of McNeil\u2019s petition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Death of Christina McNeil<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On June 15, 1998, Bart McNeil was taking care of his three-year-old daughter, Christina McNeil, over at his apartment. After a long day of taking her out to eat at McDonald\u2019s and watching a Disney movie together, he put her to bed in his room around 10 p.m. and went to rest on the living room couch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, later in the night, he heard some voices through the bedroom door, causing him to return to the room and check on Christina. As he opened the door, he saw Christina, sitting upright in her bed with an open book and babbling to herself. There didn\u2019t seem to be anyone else in the room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Chris Ross, McNeil then told Christina to go to bed early, so she could attend daycare the next morning. He took her book, tucked her in, and left the room. This was the last time McNeil saw Christina alive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Around 7 a.m. the next morning, McNeil opened the room to find his daughter, lying lifelessly on the bed. Her body was cold and stiff to the touch, with one eye partially open. In a frantic response, McNeil dialed 911 to call for help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI need an ambulance! I need it fast\u2026My daughter is dying I think,\u201d McNeil cried through the phone. According to the 911 call transcript, his voice was \u201cquivering, in hysterics, and sobbing between words\u201d as he tried to explain his situation to the police.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the dispatcher tried to transfer the information to a rescue unit, McNeil was heard crying and yelling out \u201cChristina\u201d multiple times, his voice clearly mixed with grief through the audio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few moments later, the paramedics arrived, but unfortunately, Christina was pronounced dead at the hospital. Her death was initially thought of as a result of natural causes, perhaps related to her severe asthma attacks that she had the year prior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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However, as McNeil returned to the apartment and looked more closely at the details of his surroundings, he realized a different reason that may have caused his daughter\u2019s death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inside his bedroom where she slept, there was a fallen window fan on the floor. There were also scuff marks and trampled plants outside below the window\u2014things that McNeil knew were not there before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most importantly, he noticed two holes cut into the window screen right above the latches, which were unlatched. The holes were small and discreet, but big enough where someone could have stuck their fingers through. It occurred to McNeil that someone had intentionally removed the screen to gain access to his daughter\u2019s room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coincidentally, 12 hours before Christina\u2019s death, McNeil had had a dramatic fight with his ex-girlfriend, Misook Nowlin, at a public restaurant called Avanti\u2019s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During this event, Nowlin, who worked as a translator for a mobile phone company at that time, angrily presented McNeil with his own telephone transcripts which she illegally searched from her job. The transcripts revealed McNeil to be communicating with a woman in the Philippines, which caused Nowlin to lash out in jealousy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This wasn\u2019t the first time that Nowlin showed jealous and violent tendencies toward McNeil. Her tumultuous relationship with him started approximately three years prior when they met through a mutual friend at a Red Lobster, where McNeil worked. Despite already being married to Tita McNeil, the mother of his child, he decided to divorce her to go out with Nowlin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They eventually moved in together, which is when signs of Nowlin\u2019s aggression began to appear. \u201cWe had many fights,\u201d McNeil explained to a police detective in one of his interrogations. \u201cThe police were over at our house on three, maybe four, separate occasions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Ross, even the neighbors would report to the police about observing \u201can Asian woman pounding on his door during late hours of the night.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McNeil added that, \u201c[Misook\u2019s] motive is a maniacal desire to have me at any cost. And she has told me this many times, \u2018I will kill myself if I cannot have you.\u2019 I gave way to three or four different people\u2026who have confirmed that they have heard her say this on numerous occasions, that she will kill herself, [or] she will kill somebody else.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During one of their fights involving the police back in 1997, Nowlin was charged with assault after getting into a physical altercation with McNeil in front of Christina. McNeil expressed that he was fearful for his daughter\u2019s safety. The Bloomington Police Department arrested Nowlin and, later, the court made her attend anger management classes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, fast forward to the day of their fight at Avanti\u2019s, and \u201cthis was a monumental day\u201d for Bart because he finally said, \u2018This isn\u2019t going to work out between me and Misook. I need to break up with her formally, once and for all,\u2019\u201d stated Ross.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It also just so happened that Nowlin was one of the first people to show up at McNeil\u2019s house immediately after the paramedics and police arrived around 8:15 in the morning. \u201cTo me, as a lay person,\u201d said Ross. \u201cThis sounds like a type of person who wants to micromanage what\u2019s going on and kind of control the investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Placing all these clues together, McNeil came to the conclusion that Christina was murdered by no other than Misook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an interview with Scott Reeder, a host for an NPR podcast, called \u201cSuspect Convictions,\u201d McNeil mentioned that before he ultimately identified Nowlin to be the culprit of Christina\u2019s death, his ex-wife already faced some suspicions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe first person to suspect that Misook might have had anything to do with Christina\u2019s death was not me. It was Christina\u2019s mother, Tita, who saw Misook\u2019s car parked in front of my apartment,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indeed, Tita was also the one who noticed some strands of hair attached to Christina\u2019s hands, which appeared to be longer than Christina\u2019s own hair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once McNeil suspected Nowlin, he quickly called the police again on that same day at around 6 p.m., begging them to bring in a homicide detective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy name is Bart McNeil,\u201d he told the first police officer in the call. \u201cMy daughter was found dead by me this morning at this address. The detectives were here, the coroner, everything. I need a detective here, the homicide detective please. I have reasons to believe now that she was murdered, and I need a detective here immediately. I don\u2019t know if they saw this or not, but I just discovered this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McNeil made this call three more times to the Bloomington Police Department, urging them to send him a homicide detective right away. Finally, the department sent an investigation team to inspect the crime scene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the evidence recovered from the apartment include Christina\u2019s stained bedding, pillow case, nightshirt, underwear, fingerprints on the window sill, hair collected from the pillowcase, some skin cells, and the window screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of the spots on the sheet were never tested for DNA profiles, neither was the pillowcase, Christina\u2019s clothing, nor the fingerprints. However, the detectives did notice that when they were taking out the window from its wooden frame, the screen completely fell out, indicating that the screen may have been misplaced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bart McNeil\u2019s Interrogations<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few days after McNeil had called the Bloomington Police Department, McNeil was called into the police station around 9 p.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Bloomington Police Department is fairly inexperienced with murder cases, with only about one murder case every two years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McNeil was not aware that he was now a suspect in his daughter\u2019s murder, and multiple police officers took turns asking him a litany of questions. McNeil was asked the same questions by each police officer, until he asked them to \u201call show up at the same time\u201d or to \u201cturn on the camera,\u201d so he didn\u2019t have to constantly repeat himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Most of these interviews were transcribed by a detective, which can be prone to significant error, especially with the overwhelming amount of repetition. This was proven in the detective\u2019s narration of the first interview with multiple officers, which was inherently different from that of the recording. Nowlin\u2019s interview was also recorded and transcribed, both of which had large amounts of discrepancies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, some of these transcriptions were later utilized by the prosecution when they presented evidence in court to convict McNeil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In one of the interviews, McNeil was shown to be placed into an uncomfortable, ice-cold interrogation room, where he was only wearing shorts and a t-shirt. Unfortunately, the subsequent interview that followed, which lasted for over seven hours, was not taped, despite McNeil\u2019s insistence that it should.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At that time, there were no laws requiring all interviews to be recorded, so the Bloomington Police Department did not feel obligated to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McNeil explained to the police that he could get Nowlin to confess if he was placed into the same room with her. Although the police complied, this ended up not being an ideal situation for McNeil as he was engulfed with emotional rage after hearing about Christina\u2019s autopsy report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was revealed that Christina had died from smothering, asphyxiation, and she was also sexually molested or assaulted (which was concluded from the traces of blood on her undergarments).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an effort to make Nowlin confess, McNeil lashed out and accused her of committing these crimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After this situation, the department decided to continue interrogating McNeil, while Nowlin was able to go home and eliminate any incriminating evidence. Two days after this interview, the police department acquired a search warrant to collect sexual aids, which Nowlin had made certain to dispose of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within this interview, the Bloomington Police Department tortured and attempted to coerce McNeil to confess to a crime he did not commit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Misook Nowlin\u2019s Interrogations<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, Nowlin\u2019s interrogation differed significantly from McNeil\u2019s, in several ways. While McNeil was hunched over in his chair speaking with officers to plead his case, Nowlin had the complete opposite experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her legs and arms were crossed in the entire duration of the interrogation, demonstrating a calm demeanor. She also used hand gestures when explaining information and was comfortably swiveling in her chair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the detectives left the room for a nine-minute break, the tape recording captured Nowlin picking up an address book on the table for about one minute and reading it through it before she resumed her previous position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was also noted that while Nowlin was being questioned, the detective would answer the question for her in numerous instances throughout the interrogation. Therefore, before Nowlin was even able to provide a response, and possibly incriminate herself, the detective would either talk over her or prompt her to give a specific answer that would further incriminate McNeil or fill up the time with irrelevant questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As shown in the images below, the posture and questioning style of the detective was far more relaxed than the detective in McNeil\u2019s interrogation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Nowlin was also administered a polygraph test that summer, while McNeil was not. Nowlin had given inconsistent statements throughout that entire test, in which she failed the four key questions of \u201cdo you know when, do you know how, were you there, and did you do it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The notes of the lead detective in the case showed a \u201cD\u201d for deception on each of these four key questions. However, her exam results were masked as being inconsistent due to \u201clanguage barrier issues,\u201d despite the fact that she had lived in the United States since 1989 and worked as a Korean\/English translator for a mobile phone company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bart McNeil\u2019s Arrest and Trial<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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After McNeil\u2019s seven-plus-hour interrogation on June 16, 1998, he was arrested and taken into custody for the murder of Christina, despite his repeated explanation that Christina was probably smothered by Nowlin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The prosecution\u2019s case was based significantly on proximity, in which there was no substantial evidence directly pointing to McNeil being involved in the murder of his own daughter. The prosecution additionally denied evidence that could point to Nowlin as the murderer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead, their case was rooted in the spider webs and holes in the window screen. The prosecutor concluded that the spider webs on the window indicate that the windows were not tampered with, within 24 hours. This was proven false later on by multiple expert witnesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The prosecution also ignored the fact that the window screen in the daughter\u2019s room had a gaping hole in it, which was large enough to poke fingers through. Instead of exploring this further, the prosecutor concluded that these holes could have been there before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The entire trial lasted a 2.5 days, even though there were multiple witnesses, expert witnesses, and investigators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, McNeil was not given a fair defense because of his defense attorney and detective, who were inexperienced in handling felony murder cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Detective Larry Shepherd, who was assigned to McNeil\u2019s case, was the head of the Juvenile Crimes Unit, but had limited experience in investigating a murder case. Later, Shepherd was also involved in Nowlin\u2019s second case, in which Nowlin was the lead suspect. This occurred within less than 90 days after this investigation, which only further exacerbated the conflict of interest in this case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for McNeil\u2019s defense attorney, Tracy Smith had never been a lead attorney on a murder case. On top of that, Smith was responsible for exchanging McNeil\u2019s entire case file with the prosecution for some documents that explained the felony battery charge against Nowlin, all of which was done without McNeil\u2019s permission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In stark contrast to the defense, the state called on 15 witnesses of their own to testify against McNeil. The defense attorney only called on three witnesses, and their entire direct testimony only took up about 62 pages, the majority of which was McNeil\u2019s own testimony, compared to 262 pages from the prosecution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to McNeil, his own testimony would have been lengthy; however, the defense attorney did not intend to call McNeil until McNeil specifically insisted. Because of the unplanned testimony, the defense attorney never prepared nor discussed what it would entail for McNeil to take the stand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not only did the attorney compromise the privacy of McNeil, but a large amount of evidence was overlooked in the initial investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For one, there was evidence of McNeil\u2019s windows being broken into. This was presented by a reporter from the Pentagraph, named Steve Arney, who personally took photos of the window screen, showing that when the screen had been removed, an area appeared clean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This evidence could have substantiated McNeil\u2019s belief that the killer had entered Christina\u2019s bedroom window, but it was never turned in by McNeil\u2019s attorney.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second, McNeil was precluded from presenting any evidence pertaining to Nowlin\u2019s involvement in this offense, including her past charge for assault in front of McNeil and Christina.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy trial was a lightning quick 2.5 days. I was muzzled because I could not speak of Misook murdering my child,\u201d McNeil once said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And due to an agreement, unbeknownst to McNeil, between the attorneys and Tita to allow Christina to be cremated, McNeil was unable to get a defense pathologist to collect the evidence from Christina\u2019s body. They were only able to rely on the autopsy provided by the prosecution, which later turned out to be flawed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, a crucial piece of evidence, which was a videotape recording of significant findings in McNeil\u2019s apartment, was missing in his case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This videotape included various shots of the crime scene, including the two distinct holes on either side of the window screen and scuff marks under the bedroom window. This video would have shown proof of purposeful tampering of McNeil\u2019s apartment and plants in the front yard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Even though McNeil insisted to his attorney, Tracy Smith, to review this evidence, he was never able to obtain it. Records showed that this tape went from the coroner\u2019s office to the Bloomington Police Department, even though the attorney\u2019s only response was that \u201cit wasn\u2019t in their possession.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Misook Nowlin\u2019s Murder of Her Mother-in-Law<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After McNeil\u2019s trial, Nowlin went on to commit more violent crimes, which include causing great bodily injury to a child through suffocation and murdering her mother-in-law, which ultimately exposed her culpability over Christina\u2019s death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, evidence of Nowlin being a threat to her own daughter, Michelle, surfaced when the daughter\u2019s school principal testified in court in March 1999. The principal revealed that Nowlin had pinched her daughter\u2019s nose shut, covered her mouth, and beat her with a wooden dowel in the pelvic region, which caused significant bruising. Nowlin also threatened to kill her daughter, \u201cjust like [how] Christina died.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michelle\u2019s stepmother also attested to this abuse, stating that Michelle told her about Nowlin hitting her and threatening, \u201cI\u2019m going to kill you. You\u2019re going to die tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, Michelle even went to school with bruises along her hip, thighs, and buttocks. She admitted to her principal that \u201cher mother had put her hand over her mouth, and she couldn\u2019t breathe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following these series of events, the principal turned Nowlin into the Department of Children and Family Services, where an investigator confirmed that Nowlin was an \u201cunfit parent.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On June 18, 1999, the court found Nowlin guilty of domestic battery on nine-year-old Michelle, after attempting to suffocate her on multiple accounts. Nowlin later wrote a letter to Michelle, explaining how her motivations for her violent acts were due to her husband\u2019s affair which \u201cdrove me crazy,\u201d and she wrote that her \u201cheart just couldn\u2019t stand the loneliness.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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(A mugshot of Misook Nowlin provided by the Illinois Department of Correction photos is provided.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, on Sept. 4, 2011, Linda Tyda, Nowlin\u2019s mother-in-law, was murdered. Nowlin pleaded guilty in court, stating that she attempted to cover up the homicidal death by \u201cburying Tyda\u2019s body in a shallow grave in a forest preserve.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the trial, the evidence displayed Nowlin luring Tyda to the crime scene after having someone pretend to give Tyda $500 to drive them to the airport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nowlin also tried to declare that she killed Tyda as an act of self-defense, but the court convicted Nowlin of first-degree murder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In McNeil\u2019s petition for a retrial, his attorneys pointed out the striking similarities between the deaths of Christina and Tyda. In both cases, Nowlin was infuriated after her romantic relationships ended, especially when she suspected that they had cheated on her. On both accounts, she even searched their phone records to scope out if there was evidence of their cheating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The weeks before both murders, Nowlin was seen banging on her partner\u2019s doors late at night.  In both instances, Nowlin blamed the victims for the fallout of her romantic relationships and intended on ruining her ex-partner\u2019s lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nowlin told her sister on a recorded jailhouse phone call regarding her partner: \u201cI\u2019ll get every single thing from him, I\u2019ll completely ruin him, completely.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, in both cases, Nowlin threatened or actually took her partner\u2019s child away. With McNeil, she allegedly killed his child, and with her husband, she threatened him that, if they got a divorce, she would take their son to California.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, both victims were the closest female relative to the ex; Christina was the daughter of McNeil, while Tyda was the mother of Nowlin\u2019s husband.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In both murders, the evidence presented in court displayed that the victims were strangled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Christina\u2019s case it was originally claimed she was killed by asphyxiation, while in Tyda\u2019s case, Nowlin wrote a letter to Michelle detailing, \u201cI started to lose control of myself too and pushed Linda away. After that we came into a situation where we were strangling each other. I was really out of my mind. Oh my God. What have I done? When I came to myself again the whole world had changed into a different one. I had become a murderer, and the dead body of Linda before my eyes was turning me into a devil.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lastly, in both cases, after the police questioned Nowlin, she shifted the blame away from her framing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Michelle Nowlin\u2019s affidavits, she noted that McNeil \u201cnever treated [her] badly\u2026never did anything inappropriate to [her],\u201d and she \u201cnever saw Barton do anything inappropriate to Christina McNeil.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Linda Tyda\u2019s funeral, Michelle mentioned that Don Wang, her stepfather, told her that Nowlin \u201conce told him that she had killed Christina McNeil in 1998.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, Dawn Nowlin, Michelle\u2019s stepmother, attests to this, claiming that at the funeral, Don Wang also stated to her that, when he was in a fight with Misook, \u201cMisook admitted to killing Christina McNeil.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Out of the three friends that testified on Nowlin\u2019s behalf, none of them were able to give an alibi for the time frame associated with the death of Christina.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Post-Conviction Petitioning Process \u2013 Hopefully a Happy Ending for Bart McNeil <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

McNeil has endured a long petitioning process over the course of being incarcerated. After being sentenced to 100 years in prison, McNeil\u2019s pro se motion in 2002 to reconsider his sentence and take into account other important evidence was denied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This sentence was affirmed on appeal and McNeil\u2019s petition for leave to appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court was struck down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2003, McNeil \u2019s pro se motion for post-conviction DNA testing was denied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2005, McNeil\u2019s pro se post-conviction petition for ineffective assistance of counsel, as well as his jury waiver not being voluntary, failed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2013, McNeil filed a post-conviction request for DNA testing and DNA analysis from objects in Christina\u2019s bedroom, as well as her clothing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2014, the Court agreed and tested \u201cthe stains on Christina\u2019s underwear,\u201d \u201cthe stains on Christina\u2019s t-shirt,\u201d a latent fingerprint \u201cfound on the inside of the bedroom window in Christina\u2019s room,\u201d the screen of the window, \u201cthe bedsheet,\u201d and \u201cthe pillowcase.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally on Feb. 23, 2021, after a prolonged period of paperwork and collecting evidence, lawyers from the University of Chicago Law School\u2019s Exoneration Project and the Illinois Innocence Project successfully filed a 65-page petition and four volumes of exhibits for McNeil, who is now able to have a retrial to defend his innocence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group of attorneys representing McNeil plan to challenge key evidence used by the state to convict McNeil during his four-day bench trial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New Evidence That Has Been Discovered <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within McNeil\u2019s petition for post-conviction relief, newly-discovered evidence is revealed to prove McNeil\u2019s innocence and acquit him of his charges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two issues that are included in the appeal refer to one, how the trial court erred in excluding the evidence proving that Nowlin had both the motive and opportunity to kill Christina. And, two, they argued that McNeil\u2019s life sentence should be eliminated because the statute that he was sentenced under was unconstitutional.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The petition indicated that, after a series of post-conviction DNA testing, Nowlin was found to be heavily correlated with the scene of Christina\u2019s death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three hairs were retrieved from the scene from Christina\u2019s arms, hands, and bed. Although two of the hairs were claimed to be unsuitable for testing, the third hair, which was found inside Christina\u2019s pillowcase, was linked to Nowlin\u2019s DNA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the bedsheet was tested, DNA from Christina, McNeil, and Nowlin appeared. The DNA analysis displayed Nowlin\u2019s DNA on six areas of the sheet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The TrueAllele probabilistic genotyping software determined the ratio of the DNA mixtures from Nowlin, Christina, and McNeil and found that it is 7.81 quadrillion times<\/strong> more likely that the DNA on the sheet was from Nowlin compared to any other person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, DNA on the pillowcase appeared 7.39 million times<\/strong> more likely that the DNA was Nowlin\u2019s DNA compared to anyone else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, Nowlin\u2019s DNA was present at the scene of Christina\u2019s crime on multiple places on Christina\u2019s bed sheet. With this newly-discovered evidence, it proves that Nowlin was much more likely to be the suspect for Christina\u2019s murder, not McNeil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reinterpretation of Autopsy Reports<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The initial autopsy of Christina\u2019s body was conducted by pathologist Violet Hnilica. She reported that Christina had contusions on her mouth, forehead, chin, left thumb, and mid-back. Additionally, Hnilica indicated that she had petechiae, small round spot on the skin representing ruptured capillaries in her lungs and thymus, as well as blood spots on her clothing and bed sheets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hnilica concluded that the three-year old was smothered, with evidence of sexual trauma concluded to have been caused by McNeil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, according to the petition, modern medical science refutes these claims and identifies them to be \u201cbaseless.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Andrew Baker, a forensic pathologist and Chief Medical examiner for Hennepin, Dakota, and Scott counties in Minnesota, has a wide range of experience in this field and specializes in child abuse and child deaths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Baker stated that Hnilica\u2019s autopsy examination was heavily flawed, reporting that \u201cnothing about the autopsy findings in Christina McNeil\u2019s case supports an objective, independent, diagnosis that she was smothered or that the manner of death was a homicide.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Baker focused on how the initial findings from the autopsy conducted by Hnilica from the standard of modern science today displays that they were \u201cbaseless and unsubstantiated.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To begin, Dr. Baker explained that the petechiae observed in the initial autopsy \u201coffer no evidence that Christina was smothered.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Baker disproved Hnilica\u2019s discussion of bruises, indicating that there were no injuries on her back during the initial examination, and the noted injuries were observed after the funeral director handled her body, which was in the beginning process of decomposing, and the results were postmortem consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, the facial injuries that Hnilica mentioned by Dr. Baker\u2019s account were \u201cnon-specific, and microscopically were not confirmed as actual injuries.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u201creliance on these injuries to support a diagnosis of smothering was completely unfounded,\u201d he affirmed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Baker also added that \u201c[l]ike the biopsies of the back, these facial findings appear to have been biopsied after Christina\u2019s body had been prepared by a funeral director.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In terms of the cause of death, Dr. Baker found that based on modern science standards, he \u201cwould have certified the cause of death as sudden unexplained death in childhood (SUDC) and the manner of death as undetermined.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hnilica\u2019s initial autopsy also pointed to the claim that Christina\u2019s stomach contents suggest that she died two hours after her last meal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Dr. Baker acknowledged that stomach contents cannot be used as a reliable measure for the time of death and includes that \u201cmeals of higher caloric and osmotic content are known to empty from the stomach more slowly,\u201d making it a hard rule of thumb and \u201cliable to mislead the investigator and the court.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, based on modern science, Hnilica\u2019s conclusion about Christina enduring sexual molestation and abuse was \u201cscientifically inaccurate and utterly baseless.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Nancy Harper, the Director of the Otto Bremer Trust Center for Safe and Healthy Children in the Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine and Child Abuse at the University of Minnesota Masonic Children\u2019s Hospital and Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Minnesota, specializes in child abuse and sexual molestation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She stated that \u201cthere are no findings considered indicative of acute anogenital trauma or the residua of prior anogenital trauma.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead, Dr. Harper claimed that \u201cthe examination as documented in the forensic pathology report and in the photos is a normal anogenital examination in a prepubertal female.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, she asserted that \u201cthe hymenal appearance is considered a normal variant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt the time of the postmortem examination\u201d of Christina, \u201cthere was debate in the literature on the significance of the transverse or horizontal measurement of the hymen,\u201d however, \u201cthe current scientific literature does not support an association between the transverse diameter of the hymenal opening and child sexual abuse,\u201d Dr. Harper stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The hyperemia and redness that was examined in the initial autopsy as reported by Dr. Harper is \u201ca common finding in girls with or without a history of sexual abuse.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, the anal dilatation in the initial findings \u201cshould be considered an expected finding that is not the result of trauma or sexual contact.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, modern science standards reject the initial autopsy results conducted by Hnilica involving Christina\u2019s alleged sexual abuse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reinterpretation of Spider Web Evidence<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite what the prosecution held on the significance of the spider webs outside of Christina\u2019s window, spider web experts refute these claims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ross reached out to Fitz Volratz, a spider web expert, and shared pictures that the police captured of the spider webs outside of Christina\u2019s window.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following the initial police visit, the police came back to McNeil\u2019s house the second time and took pictures of the cut window screen 8-10 hours later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Volratz mentioned that \u201ca spider coming out of hiding and spinning a web and repairing its web\u201d was completely likely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Volratz referred Ross to Dr. Jonathon Coddington, a lead entomologist and Director for Science at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, and Dr. Todd Blackledge at the University of Akron.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shortly after, the Illinois Innocence Project was contacted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An important note made by the experts indicated that when a spider web gets broken, the spiders will come out of hiding and repair their web. According to Ross, Dr. Blackledge testified in 2014 that there could have been an \u201cintruder that entered through this window\u201d and \u201cthe presence of spider webs\u201d when the police arrived the second time does not prove anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, relying on the Bloomington Police Department to report what they observed that evening and drawing conclusions based on this evidence is insufficient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead, spider web experts should have been initially involved on behalf of McNeil\u2019s defense in order to refute the police department\u2019s flawed claims and prove that there could have been an intruder, regardless of the fact that there were spider webs on the window.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How is Bart McNeil\u2019s Case Reflective of the US Criminal Justice System?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

During an interview that The Vanguard conducted with Ross, he was asked about how he thought McNeil\u2019s case was reflective of the US criminal justice system. Ross responded that McNeil\u2019s case is a great example of \u201chow the system is broken\u201d and \u201cneeds to be changed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe didn\u2019t get a fair trial, [and in] Bart\u2019s instance there was a lot of exculpatory information that was not handed over to the defense\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen police and prosecutors work together, they really want to try and find as quick as possible the individual that they think can be likely to convict successfully [because] their constituents want to sleep well at night [and] know that the person who is perpetrating crimes or murdered someone\u2026is off the streets\u201d Ross added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ross claimed that \u201ctheir investigation is only going to go so wide and so deep until they have the person that they feel fits and has a motive.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McNeil was convicted \u201con circumstantial evidence alone, [and] there is nothing that ties him to Christina\u2026there\u2019s nothing that connects him to her death\u2026yet they were able to convict him on circumstantial evidence.\u201d Ross mentioned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In applying McNeil\u2019s case to the bigger picture, he added that \u201cnow we have the giant privatization of prisons [and] 2.3 million incarcerated people in America. Of that incarceration number\u2026we have 25 percent of the entire world\u2019s prison population, [and] many of these prisons now are being run for profit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also suggested that \u201cthere needs to be accountability with prosecutors, state\u2019s attorneys, and detectives. Bart is not alone\u2026with 2.3 million people, you are going to make mistakes\u2026you are going to make a lot of mistakes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere are loved ones that are living out their lives\u2026maybe decades at a time or lifetime imprisonment who die in prison who were not guilty, and they were able to be successfully prosecuted and convicted,\u201d Ross stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat a travesty\u2026it\u2019s impossible for anyone to ever walk in Bart\u2019s shoes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conclusion <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bart McNeil will be represented by attorneys from the Illinois Innocence Project and University of Chicago Law School\u2019s Exoneration Project in his upcoming trial on Wednesday, April 14, at 1:30 p.m. at the McLean County Courthouse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The presiding judge will be Judge William A. Yoder, who, interestingly, was the McLean County State\u2019s Attorney during McNeil\u2019s re-sentencing hearing in 2002 and when Nowlin was charged for first-degree murder in September 2011. No doubt, he will have some familiarity in hearing about McNeil\u2019s case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

To sign up for our new newsletter \u2013 Everyday Injustice \u2013 https:\/\/tinyurl.com\/yyultcf9<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Published March 18, 2021 By Lovepreet Dhinsa, Linhchi Nguyen, and Kathryn Wood  BLOOMINGTON \u2013 After…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"link","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1596","post","type-post","status-publish","format-link","hentry","category-current-news-articles","post_format-post-format-link"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":"","thumbnail":"","medium":"","medium_large":"","large":"","1536x1536":"","2048x2048":"","covernews-featured":"","covernews-medium":""},"author_info":{"display_name":"chris.ross","author_link":"https:\/\/freebart.org\/?author=3"},"category_info":"Current News Articles<\/a>","tag_info":"Current News Articles","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/freebart.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1596","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/freebart.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/freebart.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freebart.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freebart.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1596"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/freebart.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1596\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1981,"href":"https:\/\/freebart.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1596\/revisions\/1981"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/freebart.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freebart.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1596"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freebart.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}