Three Men, One Conversation, Three Different Stories

By Mrs. Eileen Hunter — about the author.

Two informants claimed to have overheard the same jailhouse conversation. Compare their accounts, from the trial record. The date: Comanche said July 17; Kennedy said early August. The weapon: Comanche heard “the .22” discussed at length; Kennedy, asked if he heard any weapons mentioned: “No, sir.” The room: Comanche described four or five men present; Kennedy said only Jody Rucks, asleep. Comanche vs. himself: hidden behind a blanket in his statement; sitting openly beside Nelson at trial — and when confronted, “more than one conversation… several cells.” (Full comparison with citations.)

The third informant, Christopher Wiggins, claimed a direct confession — and named the weapons as “a .38 and a 9 millimeter.” The murder weapon in evidence was a .22. (R. 2139.) And the man both “overheard” accounts ran through swears the conversation never happened at all. (The Nelson file.)

The other half: the jury heard every contradiction through cross-examination and convicted; the Second Circuit held the accounts were direct evidence and affirmed. The contradictions are on the face of the record — weigh them yourself.