The Case That Keeps On Giving

It was night time..

We had spent an entire day going over the case, We were all down in Bee Bee and Sofia's apartment

Since they lived in the largest apartment...studying...   There was plenty of food....Sofia had made Chilli

and we had Tostitos and ice cold Cokes...

''Is Larry Ray Wiggins guilty of Capital Murder? I asked the group... Wiggins attorney,

Yvette Jones, of  Philadelphia, and forensic pathologists,

including Dr. Hazel Baylor, strenuously believe that he is not.  Hazel looked over the original forensic evidence and concluded. “No rational and intellectually honest person can look at the evidence and conclude Larry Ray Wiggins is guilty of this horrible crime.” , Our Friend,

B.L. Benz of Hard Bottom said. “He may not be a saint, but Wiggins does not deserve to die for someone else’s crime.”

Bee Bee said..

"The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit is not concerned one way or the other about Larry Ray Wiggins guilt or innocence. The appeals court has long held that the execution of an inmate who has demonstrated “actual innocence” does not offend federal due process of law. The appeals court, however, recently stayed Wiggins pending execution and ordered a hearing to determine (1) if state prosecutors engaged in prosecutorial misconduct and (2) if he was adequately represented at trial by defense counsel. See: In Re: Larry Ray Wiggins,  Judge Dennis Aikens said. " We cannot conclude whether Mr. Wiggins is innocent or guilty. Our intent is to lay out the legal and factual background of his case so we can draw a conclusions based upon the evidence we’ve gleaned from the public record and court decisions. "She read..

"Ms. Yvette I see that you filed his first state habeas corpus application. You raised ten claims for relief. The court of criminal appeals directed the trial court to make factual findings and legal conclusions on the writ application. The trial court heard, and rejected,  all 10 of your claims. The appeals court adopted the trial court’s ruling  a little later...

I see you also filed his first federal writ of habeas corpus in the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Pennsylvania. You argued that there had been insufficient evidence presented at his state trial that he killed Mary Louise Trenson during the commission or attempted commission of either a kidnapping or a sexual assault. 

The district court denied habeas relief but issued a certificate of appealability authorizing you to appeal to the Fifth Circuit. 

You appealed to the Fifth Circuit raising the insufficiency of evidence claim and putting the appeals court on notice that you intended to file a future “actual innocence” claim. The Fifth Circuit was not impressed by either issue. Only July of the next year, the court denied the habeas claim and warned you that if you intended to file an “actual innocence” claim, you should do so promptly...Did you?" asked Sofia.

We were face timing her from our apartment to hers, a few blocks away..

Where she and Josie were looking at practically the same thing...

''Not exactly, but if you'll look , you'll see that I filed motions again in state appellate  court in the fall of that year seeking additional DNA testing of certain evidence and requesting an evidentiary hearing on the matter. 

The trial court denied these motions in April of the next year.. I appealed this decision to the State Court of Criminal Appeals. That court upheld the trial court ruling in February of the next year."said Yvette.

''Dang!  I see that you filed his third state application for writ of habeas corpus. The State Court of Criminal Appeals determined that the trial court should enter file factual findings and legal conclusions on six of the claims presented in the habeas application. 

The trial court heard, and rejected, all six claims, and the court of criminal appeals adopted the trial court’s ruling in January of the next years..So Four years after his conviction and death sentence this was still dragging on."said Kahlil..

"It was the case that kept on giving Kahlil...I moved on to other cases...other things...and I kept trying to get his death sentence overturned ….Meanwhile his poor mother got sick and she died....and his father was dead within in a year and the money they shelled out stopped flowing....

I filed a fourth state application for writ of habeas corpus raising another six claims for relief. The State Court of Criminal Appeals  found that four of the claims were an “abuse of the writ” but remanded two of the claims to the trial court for factual findings and legal conclusions. The two claims dealt with whether the state had withheld exculpatory evidence and sponsored perjured testimony...I never thought that Rockland had done that knowingly, but I was certain somebody involved had indeed lied during the trial.."said Ms. Yvette..

 ''Well, what happened with that?" I asked.

 "I can answer that..."said Bee Bee, who had done her research of the case well..
The trial court heard, and rejected, the two claims dealing with prosecutorial misconduct, and the court of criminal appeals adopted the trial court’s ruling in December of that Year." she said.

"That's right..."said Yvette, who was so proud of us and the work we had done...

"His execution date must have been looming, huh?" said Josie..

"It was...He was facing execution within the coming month....So Ms. Yvette filed motions in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals for leave to file a second federal petition with the court and for a stay of his pending execution. She raised seven claims for relief in these motions, including the “actual innocence” claim. The appeals court  granted the motions with respect to two of the claims: 1) whether the state sponsored perjured testimony and 2) whether Wiggins had been denied effective assistance of counsel. Naturally, it had not."said Sofia.

"He was granted an indefinite stay of execution...That was five years ago.."said Kahlil.

"With no more money coming in....The firm ordered me to move on....They said I had done all I could do...I gave Larry Ray the names of some local attorneys who might represent him...and I never saw or heard from him again...He thanked me for everything I tried to do..and I moved on....I had forgotten all about his case until the day I got these dockets in the mail and a reminder that his execution warrant has been signed by the Governor and he's due to get a needle in weeks.."said Yvette.

"Looks like you did all you could do.."said Bee Bee...

II-

After we finished facetiming  Ms. Yvette...

Ms. Jade  who was across the street from us in her apartment began facetiming her..

The wonders of Modern Technology..

"Let's look at the facts, what we do know..."said Ms. Jade.. "Larry Ray Wiggins apparently met Mary Lou Trenson on  a  brisk winter Sunday in December, at  Montgomery County Community College, where they both attended... They talked at great  length. Wiggins, even though he was married managed to get Mary Lou's telephone number. 

They made plans to see or talk with each other the next day. Wiggins bragged to his co-workers and fellow student that he would be taking Mary Lou to lunch. But Mary Lou did not show up for the meeting. Wiggins explained to his co-workers that he had called Mary Lou and learned she had to take a test. They did not believe him. They teased him about being “stood up” by Mary Lou.

 Wiggins was livid and was reportedly angry the rest of the day. On an evening in  December .. Wiggins finished work at the food packing plant in South Philly. 

He was accompanied by two acquaintances, Brian Fisher and Billy Bosch. Wiggins told Fisher and Bosch that he was going to meet Mary Lou the next day – and if everything went okay, they would have lunch together. 

Later that evening at Fisher’s house Wiggins called Mary Lou and talked about meeting her for lunch and helping her study for an exam. The following day,  Wiggins met Mary Lou at approximately 1:30 p.m. at the Montgomery County Community College library . 

Mary Lou was eating lunch she had purchased from the school’s cafeteria. The couple sat around a computer talking amicably before leaving the library together at around 2:00 p.m. 

Mary Lou's vehicle remained the college parking lot. Five minutes after exiting the library, Wiggins returned a page he had received. He told the calling party he would call back later because he was having lunch with a friend. Wiggins returned to his truck and left sometime between 2:00 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. He returned again to his RV sometime before 5:30 p.m. 

He asked his landlord some questions before leaving again to pick up his wife, , from her mother’s house. This time period was uncertain but was placed at sometime between 4:30 and 5:30 p.m. A neighbor saw Wiggins truck coming and going that afternoon but could not see who got in or out of the vehicle because of its tinted windows. " said Jade.

Gary was at Yvette's house...

"I remember this case.. I was working Homicide then...I was a Lieutenant...I forget the Detective who actually worked the case." he said..

"It wasn't Lt. Tragg?" joked Jade..

"No it wasn't." laughed Gary...

Jade continued..

"I located Fisher and Bosch and they basically told me the same story they testified to at trial...

When Larry Ray Wiggins returned home with his wife, she noticed a pack of  Newport cigarettes and a red lighter on top of the television. The items caught her attention because neither she nor Larry Ray smoked. 

But evidence revealed that Mary Lou smoked Newports. Later, during the evening in December  

Wiggins called a former girlfriend named Polly Mason and told her that he was in trouble. 

He said the police might be after him. Wiggins was arrested in December in connection with several outstanding warrants unrelated to the Mary Lou Tresson case. 

While being handcuffed, he told the police that his wrists and ribs were sore from a bar fight he had been in a week earlier. 

Mary Lou Tresson's body was found in Fairmont Park a month later. A piece of pantyhose, still tied as a ligature, was around her neck. 

The body was on its back in a pile of bushes. Her right arm was above her head and slightly to the left. Her top and bra had been pulled up under her arms, leaving her breasts and back exposed. 

The body had creases running from the neck to the waist, probably caused by lying on the pile of bushes. Mary Louise  had on jeans at the time of her death. The pants were open but the fly was closed. A right rear pocket had been torn downward, exposing part of her buttocks and red lace panties.

 There were no scratches on the body’s exposed skin which indicated she had not been dragged to the spot where the body was found. She had on one shoe, and the other lay nearby. There was no soil on the shoes, indicating she had not walked to that location in the forest. "said Jade..

"Have you talked to Kahlil and Sofia?" asked Yvette..

They had been looking at the autopsy and crime scene photos.

"I did....and they got this from the M.E.'s office..

"The location of Mary Louise's body was in a heavily wooded, secluded, and remote area. The police had searched the area three times before without finding a body.

One had to be within 20 feet of the body to see it. Wiggins was said to be familiar with this area. He had previously driven his ex girlfriend Polly around this forest area a few months earlier in his pickup.

An autopsy revealed Mary Lou had died from asphyxia due to lacked of oxygen caused by ligature strangulation. The nylon ligature was cut from a pair of the pantyhose. The matching portion of the pantyhose was found in Wiggins home during a police search.

However, two previous law enforcement searches had failed to discover the matching pantyhose I am currently trying to obtain DNA testing of the matching pantyhose.

The autopsy also revealed a sharp-forced injury on Mary Lou's neck that had been inflicted before she died and while her blood continued to flow. This area of injury also had animal tooth marks and activity around it. There were no defensive wounds, such as broken fingernails, on the body. This suggested the nylon ligature had been tied around Mary Lou neck after she was unconscious. This suggestion was premised on the theory that a struggling Mary Lou would have fought hard against attempts to wrap the nylon ligature around her neck and caused defensive wounds.

Despite the body’s advanced stage of decomposition, the autopsy revealed that the left side of Mary Lou;s face was much darker than the other side. The report concluded this darken area had been caused by a bruise to that side of the face, indicating she had been struck in the face before her death.


Fibers were removed from Mary Lou's body. These fibers were similar to fibers found on Wiggins jacket, on the seat and headliner in his truck, and on the carpet in the master bedroom of his trailer. Fibers found in Wiggins truck were also similar to fibers found on Mary Lou's jacket. There were hairs found in Wiggins truck that appeared to have been forcibly removed from Mary Lou's head. The contents of Mary Lou's  stomach revealed what appeared to be some form of potato, chicken, and a small amount of greenish vegetable material. These contents indicated Mary Lou had eaten a recent meal before her death. 

It was clearly established that she did indeed have lunch with Wiggins on December 8. While in jail, Wiggins reportedly sent a letter written in Spanish to his mother. Wiggins had used an English-Spanish dictionary to compose the letter and gotten a cellmate to copy it. The letter, purportedly written by someone named “Rosanna” and addressed to “Larry,” stated someone other than Wiggins killed Mary Louise. 

The translated letter read: ”I have information that I need to tell you about Mary Lou and Juanita. I was with the murderer of Mary Louise, and with the one that took Juanita from work. I am not sure what he did with Juanita, but I saw everything that happened to Mary Lou. He was talking to her in the parking lot. They went to school together is what he told me. “We drove for awhile, and then we went and had breakfast. I began to talk about sex when she said she had to go home.” He hit her in the left eye, and she fell to the floor of her car. He took her to the woods and began to choke her with his hands at first, then he jerked (jalar is slang) her to the bushes. He cut her throat to make sure that she was dead. Her shoe came off when he jerked (slang) her into the bushes. Her jabear (cannot make out/ no such word in Spanish) was torn. I am in love with him, and I don’t want him in jail."

 "Oh that was the absolute stupidest thing he could have done..." said Yvette...who remembered the letter controversy...

"The letter went on to say..The man in jail doesn’t deserve to be in jail, either. To make sure that you know, I am telling you the truth. She was wearing red panties when this man. murdered her. He choked her with his hands first, but he used A piece of rope the truck from his truck; he had a piece of black rope that he used in his boat to anchor it, or something, he said. When he dragged her from the car, he put her in the shrub on her back. I know that I should turn him in, but he told me that he would kill me, too, and I believe him. He has told about this murder to 3 other women in the past, will tell you that he smokes, and he smoked with her at the college at 2:30 and drove a blue truck. His hair is blonde and brown and lives here. His name is Ronnie, but that is all I can tell, if you want more information, say it on paper and I will continue to write, but I want to come in.”

 "He was such a dope..They soon found out that his cellie wrote the letter and that he dictated it...It didn't help his appeals at all.." said Yvette..

"For what it's worth and from what I've seen from the actual evidence in the case...being a former homicide detective and all..At best, the evidence against Larry Ray Wiggins was circumstantial. " said Gary..

"The State  Court of Criminal Appeals on direct appeal conceded at much. The state’s highest appeals court pointed out that the forensic evidence was “inconclusive” and the expert witnesses could not conclude that any one given explanation on this evidence was more likely than any other.

For example, the experts could not positively state that there was a bruise or a knife wound on Mary Louise's body, or that she had been unconscious when the ligature was applied. As for that dumb ass fabricated Spanish letter, the court said it was not a “confession” and the jury could view it any way it wanted. That was the one break we got!!

The court, however, did point out that while the letter contained information inconsistent with the rest of the evidence, it stated information consistent with the “undisputed facts” of the case such as the cause of death, location of the body, and the color of Mary Louise's panties. The letter also supported the State’s theory that it was Mary Lou's rejection of Wiggins sexual advances that “began the cycle of violence that led to her death.” admitted Yvette..

''I filed an actual Innocence claim  It was the last thing I did for him...Since his conviction, I had secured testimony from at least three current and former Chief Medical Examiners and another forensic pathologist who have concluded that Mary Louise's body had been in the woods no less than 3 and no more than 15 days before it was discovered.

Dr. Gibbons said Mary Louise's body had been in the woods and deceased no more than 3 to 4 days.

Dr. Hazel Baylor concluded the body had been in the woods for 10 to 15 days but was “some place else before that.” Dr. James Amin, an entomologist, stated that the body was “stored someplace cold” [“frozen”) before being placed in the woods based on different decomposition of the body from one end to the other. Finally, and more recently, Dr. Lloyd Bridges concluded Mary Louise had been dead no more than two or three days when her body was found. This post-conviction forensic evidence is bolstered by an October  affidavit from former  Chief Medical Examiner Joyce Cahil, who testified at Wiggins trial that Mary Louise's body had been in the forest for approximately 25 days. Cahil's testimony supported the State’s theory that Wiggins killed Mary Lous around the first of December and dumped her body in the forest that same day. Dr. Cahil's affidavit states she re-examined the autopsy evidence and changed her opinion. She states that had she been given additional forensic evidence that was not available to her prior to trial, she would have concluded that Mary Lou’s body had been in the forest no more than 14 days. Since Wiggins was arrested on December 11th and in jail at the time these forensic experts state Mary Louise's body was deposited in Fairmount Park., "

"I argued that these experts make a compelling case of Wiggins “actual innocence.” In granting the stay of execution, two judges of the Fifth Circuit panel were not so convinced and were actually dismissive of the “actual innocence” claim presented by the  experts – both from a factual and constitutional perspective. 

Judges James and DeMoses at the outset pointed out that the Fifth Circuit “does not recognize freestanding claims of actual innocence on federal habeas review.” . As for the new forensic evidence, the judges took particular pains to stress that while each expert shared the opinion that Mary Lou's body was not placed in the forest on when it was originally stated, the differences in their opinions as to how long her body had been in the forest before it was discovered “undermined the credibility of their conclusions.” 

The refusal of these two judges to give credibility to the new forensic evidence was bolstered by the state’s post-conviction “entornological evidence” that Mary Lou's body had actually been “colonized by the fly Cynomyopsis Cadavarina, a secondary colonizer, on or around the first week of December,” supporting its theory that her body had been placed in the forest that day. Finally, the judges noted that there was no expert testimony that weakened the link between the contents of Melissa’s stomach and the meal she had eaten with Wiggins..I couldn't get a break." sighed Yvette..

Josie passed Yvette something..

"A Judge wrote this after your final appeal Ms. Yvette.." she said..

As I stated at the outset, we do not have enough information to draw a firm conclusion on Larry Ray Wiggins  guilt or innocence. It is difficult to see the conflicting conclusions drawn by the medical experts as a “silver bullet” of innocence when compared to the indisputable evidence that Larry Ray Wiggins was the last person seen with Mary Lou Tresson while she was still alive and that he was aware of the undisclosed “red panties” evidence as he stated in his fabricated Spanish letter. 

Neither sets of evidence—one favoring innocence, the other guilt—is “compelling” enough for us to draw a firm line in the sand on either issue. However, we join with his attorney Ms. Yvette Jones that there has been enough “clear and convincing” medical evidence produced since Larry Ray Wiggins conviction to warrant further forensic testing and to prevent the condemned inmate’s execution. No one should be executed when doubts about guilt/innocence clutter the decision-making process. " read Josie.

Yvette smiled....

"I see why you're so valuable to Olivia and Beverly....I didn't see this...I can use this to try and save him..." said Yvette..

"Good Night guys!" she said to Jade and perhaps to us.. as she powered her laptop down..

At our apartment...Bee Bee and I

were already in her bedroom, the door locked..Clothes off..

making sweet sweet love..

and Kahlil and Sofia were already kissing passionately in the living room on the couch by the time

Bee Bee and I had retreated to her room...

They were already in Sofia's bedroom, door locked, clothes off..

Making sweet sweet love...

Josie's Boyfriend, Paris had come to pick her up...

She was happy to see him...They were going to her place tonight...

No doubt they'd be making sweet love soon...





III-

Gary looked out at the moon...

He looked at Yvette's quiet street...It had been awhile since he'd spent the night here...She seemed to always come to his house...He liked it here..

Gary looked at his girlfriend...

"Wow....it's nearly 1:30 am...Shame you can't get  any overtime pay for this...."said Gary...

"I know right? I'm way over my billable hours.." laughed Yvette..

"That's how I fell in love with you...when I saw how much you care about everybody and everything around you..."said Gary...

''And all this time I thought it was because I was good in bed." joked Yvette, leaning into Gary's chest..

"That too!" Gary laughed...and hugged her..

.

"Oh of course, that too!" she laughed...

She gently stroked his penis, which got as hard as a brick...

She smiled at him....

"Ouuuuuuuuuuu.. oh my god...ouuuuuu look at that!" she exclaimed..

"You made it that way.." Gary exclaimed..

She kissed him slowly...savoring every second...and softly..

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.." he moaned...

She took him by the hand and led him into her bedroom and closed the door...

"Ask Rockland if you can have Wednesday and Thursday off....I want you to take the train ride with us to Stanga…"said Yvette...

As they kissed each other passionately and slowly, both breathing deeply..

"I already took the rest of the week off...I had the time..."said Gary...

"Awwww thank you babyyyy."cooed Yvette..

Soon they were on Yvette's bed making sweet love....

EIGHT TO NINE HOURS WORTH! 

Yes, she was going to be late tomorrow...but she didn't care..

The  Bed  was squeaking...headboard rattling...and Yvette was  getting emotional again and crying...... 

Sweat running down Gary's back as he slowly lost his mind...

 "Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu....Ohhhh Gary, Oh My goodness..." she cooed softly.

. "Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Yvette...Yvette...Oh My god!" he moaned... 

"Ummmm Gary...lawddddd!" she sighed.. 

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Yvette...Yvette...Oh My god!" was all he could say.. 

"You like it daddy?" she said.. 

"Ummmmmm hummmmmmm!" he said..

 "Ouuuuuuuuu I like it too...ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.." she cooed softly into his ear!


Her bed was shaking something crazy and her headboard was rattling...

Gary was moaning deeply...

"Mmmmmmmm Vettie you're driving me crazy...."Gary moaned...

She was cooing softly.....

"You like it daddy?  Do you really like it?" Yvette asked..

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu yeah." said Gary.

''Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Gary...." she cried out...Cumming so hard , she couldn't believe herself...

as a harvest moon shone over her neighborhood..

IV-

She was indeed late the next morning, but so were we...

 Ms. Yvette ran and jumped on the elevator just as the doors were closing...

She smiled and looked very devilish...

"Wellllll look at this...." she said..

 I looked at her sheepishly....

"Uh, we sent a message to your phone saying we uh were running late."I said.

"Sorry Ms. Yvette!" said Bee Bee laughing shyly....

''Forget about it...Look at me.." said Yvette, laughing sheepishly...

 "Guess we are uh all busted huh?" said Sofia..

"Cold Busted."said Kahlil...

We were all guilty of having marathon sex the night before and over sleeping...

"No you're not....Forget about it..." said Ms. Yvette...

We got off the elevator and walked into the office..

Where Jade and Josie had coffee poured for us..

and doughnuts laid out..

 "Hey Sleepy Heads.."laughed Jade..

"Hi Guys." said Josie..who looked as sexy as ever...I don't know who had the sexiest staff, Olivia or Ms. Yvette...

''Awww thanks guys..I can use some coffee..."laughed Yvette...

"I ordered the round trip train tickets on line for us last night and printed them out this morning..."said Josie, who gave Yvette two, one for Gary..

and one a piece for Sofia, Bee Bee ,Me, Kahlil and Jade...

 "Gee Thanks Josie.."said Sofia.

 "You're on time Josie."said Bee Bee..

 "Thanks."I said..

"You got it girl.."said Kahlil...

"Thank You Josie." said Jade.

Yvette smiled..

"I see why Olivia and Beverly value you so much..." she said to Josie..

We then sat down and went over the case from top to bottom... while drinking coffee and munching on the doughnuts..We really had a tough road ahead of us and not much time...

A game of life and death!


(TO BE CONTINUED)