Rise From The Ashes – Audrey George – Albis and Witnesses XI

Posted on November 10, 2013 by thefairbanksfour

“Love one another and you will be happy. It’s as simple and as difficult as that.” ~Michael Leunig

Location became central to the investigation into the night of October 10, 1997. No location is mentioned more frequently in study of the case than the wedding reception that took place at the Eagle’s Hall that night.

A wedding is a time for celebration. The joining of hearts, of families, of paths. The beginning of children, futures, sorrows and happiness unknown – and a promise by two people to stick together through whatever may come. A wedding is a a time when people gather to witness love, to share in love, to be a part of that hopeful moment when two lives are woven into one.

We have spoken before about the pain and the shame that came with this case and how it touched so many in our community. When the Fairbanks Four were wrongfully accused, investigated, interrogated, and convicted of the murder of John Hartman, what should have been a night remembered as all brides remember their wedding was transformed into a criminal investigation. One wedding guest, while being interrogated for hours and hours, answered simply when he was being pressed about why he wanted to attend the reception, “Because Audrey is my family – because, I love her.” And it should have been love, after all, that was remembered of that night, without the shadow of pain and a complicated web of deception and hardship.

For Audrey McCotter and the late Vernon Jones, whose wedding became central to the Hartman investigation, there would always be something in the background of those happy wedding photos. No one knew, as they danced and laughed, smiled and cut cake, reunited with friends and family gathered there to celebrate – no one knew that this night would change lives. That a series of events was about to be set into motion that would change the Native community of Fairbanks and force the examination of society, of the concept of justice, and ignite a struggle to assert a place in it. That night, it was just a wedding between two people who loved each other dearly. Yet by morning, things had changed. In the police theory the Fairbanks Four were accused of having met up at the wedding reception, left briefly to commit a murder, and return to dance as if nothing had happened. On the day that her wedding announcement should have appeared in the local paper, Audrey’s wedding reception was referenced over and over in articles about a brutal killing.

Audrey speaks out below for the first time publicly about how her life intertwined with this case, about her wedding night, her personal struggle with the events that unfolded, and the heartbreaking loss of her late husband Vernon Jones.

We applaud Audrey for her courage. She is taking a brave step onto a new path. Knowing her personally I can assure all of our readers that Audrey’s hardships have made her a person of incredible strength and compassion. The gifts she has given to those around her after rising from the ashes of her own pain are incredible. We are grateful for her support, and humbled by the strength it took to share this deeply personal part of her life with the world. Here is her story, in her words:

My marriage began and ended in blood. Our wedding was in Fairbanks but we lived in Unalakleet so it was hard to plan long distance but we did it. A lot of special family members were there that are passed on now such as Teddy Luke, Morris and Thelma Thompson, and James Grant, Sr. My whole family and my husband’s whole family from the Koyukuk River area were there. We planned it during dividends so our family could afford to fly into Fairbanks to celebrate our happy day. It was precious to us, but that day has been remembered for something entirely different. It was October 10, 1997 the day John Hartman was murdered and subsequently when the Fairbanks Four were found guilty of murder.

One year and eleven months later my husband committed suicide. Life is not fair. I started a battle the day he died. I battled depression, alcoholism and thoughts of suicide. I’ve been sober eleven years now, I’m remarried, my two children are happy and healthy. I consider my life to be blessed and I’ve not only survived trauma but I’ve excelled.
I want the Fairbanks Four to rise from the ashes of loss and destruction and be blessed and excel as well, but they are still in the battle. I am no legal eagle, so my support of the Free the Fairbanks Four Movement will have to be my weapon.

Public humiliation and shame will now be turned around back on the courts. We did nothing wrong. I got married and my guests were happy young people celebrating with us. An important and less known fact is that Marvin Roberts, one of my guests at the reception, had a reputation as a responsible young man who was sober that night and he wasn’t known to get into trouble the way kids occasionally do. We will continue to celebrate when they all walk again as free men. I’m tired of death and injustice when it’s within our power to stop it. Treat others as you wish to be treated and we have not treated these four men well.
~Audrey (McCotter/Jones) George

We know this much is true: the story of the Fairbanks Four will ultimately be remembered as a story of the power of love and truth. Someday, a story of the enormity and power of love will be the one in the background of those wedding photographs, as it should be. It is love we fight for and with. Thank you Audrey for being part of the fight.

State of Alaska Seeks to Delay Response in Fairbanks Four Case Until May 2014

Posted on November 9, 2013 by thefairbanksfour

Yesterday the State of Alaska filed their response to the post conviction relief application filed on behalf of the Fairbanks Four by the Alaska Innocence Project. In their response the State of Alaska asked for the court to extend their allotted 45 day response time to May 15, 2014 – over seven months from the date of the Alaska Innocence Project filing.

The filling by Innocence Project contained two matching confessions, one given by Jason Wallace in 1997, the second given in 2011 by William Holmes, and alluded to the existence of a third confession filed under seal for court consideration. These confessions represent only a fraction of the evidence contained in the filing supporting the innocence of the Fairbanks Four and the guilt of the other men. William Holmes and Jason Wallace implicate themselves, Rashan Brown, Shelmar Johnson, and Marquez Pennington – all men with lengthy criminal records. Three of the five named are behind bars for unrelated multiple murders, and the remaining two reside in the greater Fairbanks area.

State Prosecutor Adrienne Bachman, who is the prosecutor assigned to the case by the state, filed to motion requesting an extension until May 2014 and made the unusual and striking choice to list one of her reasons for delay as her personal long-standing vacation plans. She also went on to explain that it would take the state time to familiarize themselves with the original case (their case) and that after the lengthy review of their original files they would look at the new information presented in the filing.

When the state of Alaska was handed information that strongly implicated their own employees in conduct that resulted in the death of at least six people, the 16-year long wrongful imprisonment of four young men, a complete breakdown in public faith in the system, they made a press release assuring the public that they were sure they were right, but would “independently’ investigate themselves. When this press release came out there was a significant response from the citizens of Alaska and their leaders, concerned that the tone of the press release was dismissive. The State was then handed resolutions from the largest tribal organizations in Alaska and a letter from the Senator Lisa Murkowski, all containing polite but direct requests for the case to be given the full attention of the State. With all of this in hand, they ASKED FOR A SEVEN MONTH EXTENSION.

For the first month following the filing by Alaska Innocence Project, the state did nothing. Literally nothing. Thirty-seven days into their allotted forty-five day response time, the State announced that they had just begun their review.

On the last day remaining in their response time, the State of Alaska asked for the lengthy extension, which contained their plans for the second month of the seven months the requested to investigate: NOTHING. Nothing, that is, pertaining to the case. The second month will be used to accomadate the long standing vacation plans of Prosecutor Adrienne Bachman.

The state of Alaska has at their disposal the investigative might of the Alaska State Troopers, Alaska Bureau of Investigation, City Police, the Attorney General’s office, hundreds of attorneys, boundless access to the prison system, and virtually unlimited spending capacity. Clearly, the State of Alaska can use the tax dollars its citizens contribute to expedite the handling of this case to a timeframe that reflects the seriousness of the charges levied in the Alaska Innocence Project Filing.

Their response is obscene. The idea that a state paid attorney is perhaps at this moment fanning herself on a sandy beach while four innocent men sit in prison is offensive to humanity. I wonder, while she watches her own children play, if she ever considers the children of other women. I can think of a few.

John Hartman, for example, who was kicked so brutally that he was left nearly unrecognizable, thrown on the side of the road, and died a unthinkably painful death.

Teacka Bakote, whom Jason Wallace beat to death with a hammer before he lit her on fire.

Hakeem Bryant and Christopher Martin. William Homles left them on the side of the road, dead, just five years after they left Hartman the same way.

Julie Ann Wilde. Rashan Brown shot her in cold blood.

Victor Torres. He was only 19 years old when Rashan Brown murdered him.

All of those people were human beings, who will never take a family vacation. Their mothers will never hear their voices again. They will not be coming home for Christmas.

George Frese, who will fall asleep tonight behind the concrete walls of Alaska’s highest security prison. George’s daughter, Tiliisia, who has celebrated 16 birthdays without her father.

Marvin Roberts, a high school valedictorian who was headed to study engineering in college on scholarship when he was sent to prison for a crime he didn’t commit.

Eugene Vent, who was only 17 years old when he last saw his family. He is in his thirties now.

Kevin Pease, whose mother Carol died in a fluke accident in 2006. Kevin was, of course, not able to take a quick vacation from prison even to bury his mother.

And the faceless. The missing. The victims not yet named.

The State of Alaska is an institution, but it is a human institution. The Governor, The Attorney General, The Prosecutor, The Lead Investigator – these are all just titles. Surely, at home, someone calls these people Mom, Dad, Grandpa, Auntie, and the like. They are all human beings, and I wonder, does it ever cross their mind that the words and names and numbers and deadlines on their desk are just titles, and that behind them, human beings? That these are other people’s children?

Behind the cry for justice is a simple proclamation: we are human beings. Just as significant as you, our children just as precious and loved as your own.

We are all human beings. And when human beings are at stake in every possible sense, there isn’t time for vacation. It is time for as many hands a possible. This investigation should be handled with as much precision, care, accuracy, and urgency as possible, because human lives are at stake. That doesn’t mean that they investigation should be rushed or done poorly. It doesn’t mean that no one should take a vacation or get to enjoy their family. It simply means that this case should be handled in a manner which reflects the seriousness of the situation, the stakes, and the resources the state has at hand.

We wish, for these people in power, that they may come to understand the importance of the work they do, and with that understanding, proceed into their work with dignity as well as perfect memory for their own humanity and the humanity of those around them.

Sen. Murkowski on Fairbanks Four Case – Leave No Stone Unturned

Posted on November 1, 2013 by thefairbanksfour

According to attendees of the Alaska Federation of Natives conference where a large demonstration took place in support of the Fairbanks Four, LIsa Murkowski voiced her support of the efforts to overturn the controversial convictions of Marvin Roberts, Eugene Vent, Kevin Pease, and George Frese.

In the wake of Assistant Attorney General Adrienne Bachman’s comments yesterday that she believed her review would take “many months,” and indication that the state intended to first review the original case material prior to investigating the new information in the murder of John Hartman, Murkowski’s office made a press release that included the letter below.

We applaud all who take a stand on this case, for justice in any circumstance, and agree wholeheartedly with Sen. Murkowski that this case must be investigated properly, swiftly, and in the interest of true justice.

“Men make history and not the other way around. In periods where there is no leadership, society stands still. Progress occurs when courageous, skillful leaders seize the opportunity to change things for the better.” —Harry S. Truman

State of Alaska Fails to Investigate ‘Fairbanks Four’ Case In 45 Days, Says They WIll Take “Many Months”

Posted on November 1, 2013 by thefairbanksfour

When the Alaska Innocence Project submitted an application for Post Conviction Relief on September 25, 2013 the clock began ticking on the State of Alaska. They were given the standard forty-five days to respond to the filing. Many residents of the interior Alaska community of Fairbanks wished that they would act more swiftly, given that the contents of the filing indicated that not only had four young men been wrongfully incarcerated for sixteen years, but three of the five men named as the true killers of John Hartman had gone on to commit brutal murders of unarmed civilians within a small handful of years following Hartman’s death. Perhaps more disturbingly, the other two alleged by the filing to have viciously beaten John Hartman to death for Saturday night amusement are free and still roaming through the streets of Fairbanks, Alaska. The gravity to the allegations – that the state had wrongfully imprisoned four innocent men for sixteen years, that in doing so had allowed killers to go free, and that a slew of brutal murders came as a result of the state’s actions – left hope among many in the community that the state would respond to the grave allegation swiftly.

The first indication that the State of Alaska did not intend to act with a sense of urgency came a few hours BEFORE the filing, when Police Chief Laren Zager indicated to reporters for KTUU Channel 2 Anchorage that the filing was not credible and would not gain traction, BEFORE having read the filing or seeing the evidence it contained. This concerningly early statement was an early indicator of how the powers that be were likely to respond. These early remarks were uninformed and dismissive. Supporters remained hopeful that the future official response would show more awareness of the gravity of the issues at hand and take a more informed position.

Just over a week after the filing, with 37 days remaining until the state’s response to the Innocence Project would be due, the State of Alaska issued a press release through the Department of Law regarding the post conviction relief filing.

“Although there has never been any credible or serious allegation about the integrity of the investigation, or the prosecution, which led to these convictions, the department will conduct an independent review,” the State said in its press release. They went on to reassure the public that they were confident the right people were in jail, and that they would soon begin an “independent review” of the case themselves.

The press release was met with disgust by supporters of the Fairbanks Four, who found the statements attacking the credibility of Tanana Chiefs Conference, Alaska Federation of Natives, and the Alaska Innocence Project disheartening. But the content of the release that drew the most criticism was the promise of an “independent review.” The offer for an “independent” review was misleading, since the State of Alaska investigating itself is of course not an independent investigation, but an internal investigation. The complete dismissal of the independent review that had taken place was also poorly received.

The National Innocence Project entered into the Fairbanks Four case as neutral third party tasked with completing an independent investigation of the convictions of the four men. As with any other case that the legal nonprofit decides to complete a thorough investigation and review of, the Innocence Project enters the situation as a completely neutral party well qualified to review the prosecutions in a case, the original investigative materials, evidence used to obtain convictions, and any pertinent new information. When the State issued their press release they failed to acknowledge that the one and only independent investigation ever launched in the Fairbanks Four case had already been completed, and its findings filed in the form of an application for post conviction relief claiming complete innocence, thereby verifying that the Fairbanks Four had been wrongfully convicted.

The tone of the press release was once again uninformed and dismissive. The press release further indicated that the State intended to take longer than the allotted 45 days, and restated the continued confidence the State had in its original convictions.

In an email to Alaska Dispatch in response to the State press release, Executive Director of the Alaska Innocence Project Bill Oberly said the state’s tone was disappointing. “We hope the negative tone of their press release is not indicative of their approach to this case.”

In response to the tone and content of the State response supporters of the Fairbanks Four and concerned Alaskans flooded the Governor’s office with letters asking for Governor Parnell to expedite the review. The governor’s office was sent over 4,000 signatures on a petition asking for clemency or the timely review of the allegations of corruption and wrongful conviction in the case. The Alaska Federation of Natives, the largest organization of its type in the Alaska, unanimously passed a resolution on October 27, 2013 asking the State to review the new evidence in the filing immediately. Crowds of hundreds of protesters gathered at at least four separate events to protest the continued wrongful imprisonment of the Fairbanks Four and urge the state to act swiftly in the case.

Four days after hundreds of protesters gathered to demand an expedited response from the State that was in line with the seriousness of the situation, the state announced that with only eight days remaining in their 45 day response time, they had just begun looking at the case. They further indicated that it would take them “many months” to review the convictions, and that not until they were finished reviewing their OWN investigation and materials they have had in hand for the past sixteen years, that they would begin to look at the new information on the case. (READ ARTICLE HERE)

Supporters are calling for interference from the Federal Bureau of Investigations to investigate the original investigation, the allegations of corruption and institutionalized racism, evidence fabrication, and public corruption that have long flanked the Fairbanks Four case. They are also seeking allies from national and international justice organizations to call for an open and efficient investigation of the case, and an investigation of the state officials, police, and prosecutors involved in all stages of investigating and litigating the case, from 1997 to present.

We deserve better than leaders who are uninformed.

We deserve better than a justice system that is dismissive,

We deserve to live in a community where transparency is valued.

We deserve to live in an Alaska where there truly is JUSTICE FOR ALL.

We hope that the State investigation is full of integrity, is appropriately swift, and is as independent as an internal investigation can be.

To those who seek to further justice by impartial and ethical practice, we will always support you, and fear not, the light is coming.

To those who still seek to stand in the way of justice – THE LIGHT IS COMING.

Forensic Expert Contends Fairbanks Four Footwear Did Not Cause Injuries of John Hartman

Posted on October 20, 2013 by thefairbanksfour

WARNING: THIS POST CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGES OF INJURIES USED AS A COURT EXHIBIT. CONTENT MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR ALL READERS.

During the trials of George Frese, Eugene Vent, Kevin Pease, and Marvin Roberts, known collectively as the “Fairbanks Four,” there was only one physical exhibit. The exhibit was a transparency of George Frese’s boot print laid over a photograph of the injuries on John Hartman’s face.

When the Fairbanks Four were arrested their footwear, clothes, and an incredible array of other belongings were sent to the lab to be examined for DNA evidence and examination to determine whether or not any of the footwear could have been the causative instrument/agent in the kicking death of John Hartman. Ultimately, the state lab was not able to make any determination that the footwear caused the injuries.

As part of their examination of evidence, they made prints of the shoes and boots belonging to the Fairbanks Four. These images were created by the state forensic lab, and therefore were marked with a lab logo. The lab created these prints in order to use them to compare against the injuries on the victim, They made the comparison and were not able to link the footwear of the Fairbanks Four to the injuries, and the prints were ultimately not useful to create a scientific exhibit that supported the guilt of the four accused.

The lack of corroboration by any outside source of the police theory that George Frese had injured his foot by kicking John Hartman was hugely problematic to the prosecution’s case. Without ANY physical exhibits created by a scientific source and no DNA evidence of any kind, prosecutor Jeff O’Bryant and police officer Aaron Ring made the unorthodox decision to make their own exhibit to demonstrate a correlation between the victim injuries and the boot of George Frese.

Although Frese had come to the emergency room with an injury to his left foot (read George’s timeline HERE), which the police and prosecutors contended was evidence of his guilt in the crime, they used an image of his right foot to make the exhibit. This exhibit was made overnight in a hotel room by O’Bryant and Ring, and introduced to trial the next day. The exhibit consisted of the transparency of George’s boot taken by the state, and laid over a photograph of the victim’s face. The exhibit bore the state lab logo, creating the appearance that the exhibit had been created by a lab and was scientific in nature. In reality, the exhibit had no more scientific merit than an average craft project, And it was, essentially, no more than a craft project. Neither O’Bryant nor Ring had any training of any kind in forensics, let alone in the highly specialized field of causative instrument forensics. (Read about their exhibit-making HERE)

Court Display

During the first trial, the trial of George Frese, the exhibit was introduced unexpectedly. Frese’s attorney, Robert Downes, made no objection to the exhibit. This is surprising, given that the exhibit was nonscientific, and even common sense would indicate that it was not a valid piece of evidence. However, Downes had more to rely on than just his own common sense and judgment in making the determination of whether or not to object to the admission of this exhibit. His own hired expert, a man named John Cayton later filed a detailed affidavit you can read HERE expressing his concerns about both the unscientific evidence allowed into court and the conduct of Frese’s attorney, told Downes as soon as the prosecutor attempted to introduce the exhibit that even without any preparation he could successfully argue against its admission because it was so grossly misleading and without scientific merit.

John Cayton was not allowed to testify, oddly blocked by the same attorney who hired him to help defend Frese. In a 2003 interview with reporter Brian O’Donoghure, Cayton said, “In 30-plus years, I can’t think of other trials where such techniques were used to convict a suspect.”

Downes declined to object or allow the testimony of his own expert against the exhibit. This choice, along with the choice to not call any witnesses on behalf of the defense, coupled with the fact that Downes worked as a prosecutor for many years prior to being assigned to represent George Frese, and the fact that he was appointed a coveted judgeship in Fairbanks following the guilty verdict in the Frese trial, has long created speculation by supporters of the Fairbanks Four that Downes did not properly defend Frese, and the more troubling speculation that he may have failed to represent his client deliberately.

Critics of the prosecution in the Fairbanks Four case have long pointed to the exhibit made by Ring and O’Bryant as a deceptive exhibit, and argued that it may have played a significant role in the wrongful conviction of the four men. The request for post conviction relief based on a claim of innocence submitted on behalf of the Fairbanks Four by Alaska Innocence Project contains the affidavit of a renowned causative instrument forensic scientist Lesley Hammer (read her qualifications HERE) who concludes that there is no correlation between the boot of George Frese and the injuries on the victim.

Hammer’s report, alongside the affidavit of Bill Oberly, also unveils a disturbing series of events that took place during the investigation by Alaska Innocence Project in this case. According to the filing, Alaska Innocence Project requested access to copies of the court exhibit and victim photographs, and were denied access to them by the Fairbanks Police Department. Fairbanks Police Chief Laren Zager has been consistent in his public statements regarding this case that the police intended to behave with transparency and would cooperate with the Innocence Project. However, the filing makes it clear that the one and only request made for reasonable access to the evidence used to convict the Fairbanks Four was denied by the Fairbanks Police Department. The actions of the FPD police chief are in direct contradiction to his previous statements. Not only did he not encourage transparency and a careful look at this case, he actively prevented men whose claim of evidence is backed by representation from the Innocence Project, thousands of community members, community leaders, and social equity organizations from having access to the materials used to convict them.

Expert Lesley Hammer goes on to draw a number of other concerning conclusions, including that the late Dr. Fallico, medical examiner for the state of Alaska during the Fairbanks Four trials, did not demonstrate even the most basic understanding of the procedures, techniques, and evaluative processes of causative instrument forensics, including the basic standards used to create footprints and make comparisons.

Causative instrument forensics is a complex and highly specialized field. Human skin is elastic, and marks made on human skin have to be very carefully evaluated in consideration of force, skin condition, temperature, and many other factors. For lack of a better example, consider the task of determining what knife caused a stab wound. It is not as simple as holding a knife up to a picture of the wound and deciding these are about the same size, so this must be the wound. There is a lot involved – serration, knowing what the scale of the photograph is so you can accurately understand size, depth of the wound, etc. Determining what object caused an injury is a complicated scientific task. There are many experts qualified to make these determinations. The expert whose findings are contained in the filing is a well known causative forensic instruments specialist. Those involved in the Fairbanks Four case were not. The only testimony given regarding the “match” of the injuries to Frese’s boot was Lt. Paul Keller, who had no forensic training of any kind.

The observations on the inadequacy of the people involved in collecting and evaluating the evidence is concerning and raises questions about the potential problems with the validity of procedure and testimony in other criminal cases as well as the Fairbanks Four case. The revelation that Police Chief Zager refused access to the materials is equally disturbing. However, those elements of the filing are incidental.

The central and most important conclusion in the filing regarding the court exhibit and footprint evidence is simple and straightforward: First, the exhibit presented at court was indeed completely unscientific. Second, even without access to the best possible materials, the causative instrument forensic specialist was unable to make any correlation between the boot of George Frese and the injuries on John Hartman. The bottom line is that for the first time a truly qualified specialist has made a comparison between the boot print and the injuries central to this case and determined that the boot of George Frese does not match the injuries on the victim. The report concludes by saying that more accurate, definitive results could be achieved and the report completed if the expert is allowed to access the actual evidence.

READ THE ENTIRE PCR FILING, INCLUDING THE FORENSIC EXPERT AFFIDAVIT HERE

*We feel it is necessary to always address an aspect of reporting on this case that remains troubling to all of us, which is the explicit discussion of the manner, cause, details, and, in this post, photographs, of the injuries to and death of John Hartman. We apologize to any who knew and loved him, as we know that the continued discussion of his death must bring you terrible pain. We want to take a moment to tell readers that one of the hardest parts of discussing this case will always be revisiting the heartbreaking suffering and death of John Hartman. We recently posted about that HERE and encourage all readers to hold this boy in respect and love, with prayers and healing thoughts for his family and all who suffered because of his death.

The Most Famous Man In The World

Posted on May 15, 2013 by thefairbanksfour

One of the hardest things about attracting support for wrongful conviction is that it makes people uncomfortable. Stories of wrongful conviction are unsettling and full of things that human beings like to turn a blind eye to. Murder. Evil. Corruption. No one wants to think about innocent people persecuted and guilty men free. It makes us fear our neighbors and shakes our view of justice. No one finds comfort in considering that the world may be very different than it appears to be – that perhaps the people and institutions we have been led to believe are good and trustworthy are sometimes dark and corrupt. In general, people turn away from the troubles of others when they are afraid to turn toward them.

Wrongful conviction is also not familiar. It is easy to raise money for hungry children. Everyone can relate to the plight of a hungry child. It is fun to raise money for education. Nothing unsettles us about a bake sale for a field trip, or a car wash for new cheer leading uniforms. Wrongful conviction is a very important social issue, but one most people turn from in discomfort. You don’t see many wrongful conviction bakes sales and car washes. We would like to change that.

Through months and months of raising awareness about the case of the Fairbanks Four we have often wished for a way to make wrongful conviction familiar so that the general population could understand how terribly important it is and could relate. We even wished for a famous example of wrongful conviction or imprisonment…..more famous than Gandhi, more understood than even Martin Luther King. It just seemed like if there was a wrongfully convicted person whose story was well-known – whom billions believed absolutely was innocent, whose story was woven into the fabric of society – that perhaps people be more willing to take a stand on wrongful conviction. And then, we remembered someone. Guess who?

Here are a few hints:

24.9 million people search his name on Google in an average month.
About 40% of the books printed in the history of the world are about him.
There are 7 billion people on the planet. It is estimated that greater than 6 billion of these people know his life story. 2.3 billion of them worship him.
76% of Americans participate in a religions whose primary objective is to learn from this man’s life and lessons.
He was wrongfully convicted of a crime by a corrupt court.
He was found guilty, in part, with the false testimony of an associate of his who had some small thing to gain with the lie.
One of his closest friends denied knowing him to avoid being associated with the situation.
He was beaten, tortured, and executed.
He was then exonerated. He rose back up from his execution. All of this, according to the Bible, to teach the people on Earth. Lessons on judgement, kindness, compassion, and justice. Ultimately, to teach them that it is important not to turn away from suffering and injustice but to live a life that opposes it.

The most famous man to ever walk the Earth is Jesus Christ. He was also a wrongfully convicted man. His wrongful conviction is not an aside or interesting plot twist – it is the central event in the story. If a story that 76% of America studies and believes is literally a story of wrongful conviction, it is a fascinating hypocrisy that most of his modern-day followers turn in disgust when the same story plays out.

So, am I comparing the Fairbanks Four to Jesus? Yep. Isn’t that the point? That Jesus was only a human being, sent here to suffer through the worst trials and pains a human being can encounter? And wasn’t all of this suffering deliberate and intended to make the world and its people better able to live just and kind lives through the understanding of his life?

In his time, Jesus was simply a wrongfully convicted man. Most who witnessed his unfair trial stayed quiet or looked the other way. Much of the crowd cheered at his crucifixion.

Today, many of his followers say things underneath articles about the Fairbanks Four case in the local Fairbanks Daily Newsminer like, “they had a trial, let them rot.” Or, “bypass Fairbanks if you are ever release,” or, “These men should be hung…scratch that, the electricity it would take to put them in a chair would be less expensive. They aren’t worth the rope it would take to hang them,” or, “I’m going to start my own website, ‘Fry the Fairbanks Four.” A recent one read, “I pray these men never see the light of day and suffer ten times more than the victim, in Jesus’ name.” Wow, I bet Jesus really dug that.

The examples are endless.

These people are statistically very likely to be self-identified Christians. As a matter of fact, 80% of Alaskans identify themselves as followers of Jesus Christ.

The great tragedy of organized religion is its complete departure from the tenants on which it was founded. The great tragedy of humanity is that we almost always choose inaction when we encounter the kind of suffering that makes us uncomfortable.

Nearly every person in Fairbanks, Alaska who has taken the time to wish the Fairbanks Four dead, send death threats to their supporters, refuse to look at the facts, and insist that wrongful convictions are not real, also profess to believe that the most important story ever told was that of a wrongfully convicted man and that understanding it the key to heaven. How ironic. How typical. How sickening.

If the Fairbanks Four had been drug through the streets of Fairbanks, tortured, beaten, and crucified in 1997, much of the crowd would have been cheering. Most of the crowd would have been self-proclaimed followers of Jesus Christ literally cheering at a crucifixion.

This post is not in any way meant to be an attack on religion. Many of our supporters are Christian people who DO see the importance of taking a stand against injustice. This post is, however, intended to call out the members of our community who show sickening racism, hate, ignorance, or an unwillingness to acknowledge the existence of wrongful conviction while worshiping a wrongfully convicted man. We hope you will take some time to think about that. We hope the church leaders who offer support in private but are afraid of offending their congregations by talking about wrongful conviction from the pulpit will consider that every single one of those people is coming to church to hear a story of wrongful conviction.

Maybe it’s time to tell a new one.

Maybe it’s time to talk to your church leaders, or seek church leaders who walk the walk and talk the talk.

We hope that this post reaches the 80% of the Fairbanks population who, apparently, should be very familiar and comfortable with the injustice of wrongful conviction. And the next time any of you want to condemn these men, or take no action, think for a moment how familiar your role in the story is. Anyone who professes faith in Jesus should be ready to acknowledge the existence, importance, and injustice of wrongful conviction.

Injustice in Black and White

Posted on February 27, 2013 by thefairbanksfour

In the end, you always return to the beginning. It’s human nature, I think, to attempt to understand things by walking through them over and over.

It is hard not to still sit back and wonder how something this awful happens. There are of course a lot of decisions, a lot of coincidences, a lot of ordinary things that add up to an extraordinary outcome.

We have a box of photocopied stories from the newspaper about the Fairbanks Four case. Marvin’s sister Sharon diligently saved every clipping, every single word that filled the outrageous life-altering days that followed her brother’s arrest. I can imagine her collecting these pieces, trying to make sense out of something that did not make sense. Hoping it would be over soon. Not knowing these days would always elongate, stretch, grow to span a decade and a half.

On October 22, 1997 the Fairbanks Daily News ran an article about the four men pleading innocent. They had been marched into the courtroom the day before wearing orange jumpsuits and chained together. It was not standard for FCC prisoners to wear orange, or for defendants to be chained. The only private defense attorney present, Ken Covell, objected immediately, calling it grandstanding. And at that point, it was already all a play. The case against the four never added up. Nothing was corroborating the confessions, the dozens of people contacted all gave timelines that chipped away at the theory that these boys had committed a murder. In retrospect it is easy to see the case as troubled and insubstantial even in those first days. But at the time the public sentiment was not skeptical. The public was outraged and hungry for justice. The response to the innocent plea of the four men was indignation and disgust.

In the stack of clippings from October 22nd was a page from the paper that seems like a very poigniant, albeit accidental, commentary on the climate of Fairbanks in 1997. It’s a back page, where the headlines are continued. The words in bold are Prepare for Racial Incident. DEATH: pleas, HOLOCAUST, Natives:Meet. Prepare for Racial Incident.

Accidental poetry.

Prepare for Racial Incident. There had been a study of the racial climate in Fairbanks area schools in early 1997, and the results just released revealed that most of the students and staff in the school district rated the level or racism inside the schools as high. The district discussed its plan, which was not focused on responding to racial incidents, but to teach respect and tolerance. The social climate of the time likely contributed to the arrest of the four, and the public’s willingness to immediately accept their guilt with little to substantiate it. What if the policy back then had been that an openly known highly racist culture was not okay and that incidents should be responded to? What if we were, actually, prepared for a racial incident?

NATIVES: Meet. The Alaska Federation of Natives met that week, and the article on the convention talked about the availability of books on Native culture, and announced the meetings on Native youth issues. The largest and best federation of indigenous Alaskans did not discuss this case. They did not discuss the increasingly apparent problems within the justice system, or the accusations piling up against a few investigators in the Interior. It would be ten years and more before they did. What if they had?

DEATH: pleas. John Hartman had died in one of the most brutal and memorable murders in Fairbanks history, and the four men accused of the crime appeared in court and spoke only their names, and their plea: INNOCENT. His death and their pleas went unanswered. What if they had been heard?

HOLOCAUST. It is defined many ways, one is the great destruction of humans by humans, resulting in massive loss.

That Wednesday back page of the local paper is a snapshot of Fairbanks circa 1997. That is who we were in 1997, and that is the town in which this wrongful conviction was born.

An Open Letter to Chris Stone

Posted on November 19, 2012 by thefairbanksfour

When people first appraoch the story of the Fairbanks Four they are inevitably left with many questions. If there is one thing that inspires the most theories, emails, and conversations, it is the role that Chris Stone played in the investigation and the fateful evening that John Hartman was killed. Read a timeline of that night and the puzzling role Stone played in it HERE.

There have been tremendous inconsistencies in his statements over the years. In his last media interview he ultimately stated that anything could have happened that night, that he remembered it like a bad dream, all a “blur.”

In the last few days we have been innundated with emails asking about his role, the inconsistencies, and a lot of offers to contact him directly. We ask that supporters of the Fairbanks Four be suportive of the official effort by Alaska Innocence Project to exonerate the four and do not contact Chris Stone or his family, but leave that if or when it becomes necessary to the legal experts working hard on this case. That said, we understand the desire to reach out and have decided to make an open and lasting request of Chris Stone directly here on this post. If any reader knows him, please pass this along with kindness.

Dear Chris,

How to begin? Let us begin by saying that we believe in you. That we understand that you were only a kid in 1997, and that clearly life was hard on you. That the story about your life that came out of all of the pages and pages and pages of interviews and trial transcripts and newspaper articles – it was a sad story. That we are sorry about that.

We sorry you were hurt. By people that were close to you, by strangers, by a lot of people. We are sorry that you lost things. Childhood, innocence, time, freedom, your friend. We are sorry that you were scared, by police, by bad people that hurt you, by proximity to a murder, by a beating, by a world that can be harsh.

Sometimes life throws hard things your way for a reason. We don’t know why life was so hard on you, we don’t know how our paths crossed with yours, and we don’t know the higher purpose, but this much is clear – you know a lot of loss, of betrayal, of pain, and of fear. You know a lot more than a person your age should know about suffering. So did many of us, so do the four men in prison, and that is where our compassion for you comes from. You have suffered greatly, which means that you have an incredible capacity for compassion. That you understand what it is to suffer, and that someday, hopefully some day very soon, what will rise from all of your suffering is compassion is bravery, courage, and a willingness to stop suffering in this world when you can.

It seems – it has always seemed – that you know more about what happened to your friend John Hartman than you have ever said. It haunts other people, you know, troubles their sleep, this idea that you might hold a key – that you might know or suspect who really killed your friend. John’s mother, in her nightmares you stood between her and her knowing who had hurt her son. Marvin’s mom, George’s mom, Kevin;s mom, Eugene’s mom – you are in their dreams too. You are in the dreams they have when someone comes forward and reveals the truth about this case. You are the hero of those dreams, when their sons are set free, when John Hartman is finally allowed to rest in peace because his true killers are behind bars.

You are in the thoughts of Marvin, Kevin, Eugene, and George as well. You are in the thoughts and prayers of them and those that love them. You are in the thoughts and prayers of many people, and we pray this – that if, as it seems, you know more than you have said, that someday these prayers will reach you, heal you, give you courage. That you understand that you were forgiven long ago. That many people believe in you, believe you will come forward someday, and wait for the gift of truth from you.

“There are two mistakes one can make along the road to truth…..not going all the way, and not beginning.”

Only you know your truth, only you know if you made any mistake, and if you did if it was the mistake of not beginning or not going all the way. But please, if it is within your power, be the hero of this situation. We KNOW that the truth will someday set Marvin, Kevin, Eugene, and George free, from their prisons of concrete and barbed wire. But concrete and barbed wire cannot prevent the love and faith of many from reaching them, and in some ways we understand your prison is colder, lonelier. The prison that you live in is a different kind of prison, but we think the truth could set you free from your cage as well. Until that day, please just remember that we have waited a long time, we will wait as long as we need to, but even if you don’t believe in yourself, we do. And when you come forward we will be grateful and proud.

You can call Bill Oberly at the Alaska Innocence Project anytime at 907-279-0454. You can write a letter, send an email, send a facebook message – do anything you like. We hope and believe you will.

Love,

Many thousands of people still believing in you and the innocence of the Fairbanks Four

The Fairbanks Four in the Press: the 49th Report

Posted on November 14, 2012 by thefairbanksfour

The story of the Fairbanks Four was seen for the first time by many in Anchorage tonight on a KTUU Channel 2 Special called :”The 49th Report: The Fairbanks Four.” This thoughtful program did a good job of scratching the surface of the story of the Fairbanks Four. We hoped that this program would inspire many people to dig deeper, and it did. Over 2,000 people have visited this site in the hour since the program ended.

Because the program led so many new readers to our blog we wanted to take a moment tonight to welcome you. and to express a deep an sincere appreciation of you and your willingness to dig deeper. Justice depends upon the ability of the common man to act on curiosity. To ask questions. To seek the truth. To have watched the program and come to this site shows that you have that ability.

We would also like to ask something of you:READ THIS BLOG. Start at the first posts and read this story.

Later tonight we will repost our very first blog entry. In it we said that we believed that the truth, if spoken, would travel. That people would come to it. That people feel the truth, and see injustice, and that everyday people can indeed be trusted with the truth, and that through their actions, their reading, their gathering, their storytelling, their facebook posts, their phone conversations with friends, simply through their existence, that the truth would travel with them, beyond us, and would ultimately right a terrible injustice.

We still believe that. We KNOW that.

Thank you for coming, for reading, and for carrying with you a truth that will someday defeat thousands of lies.

The Sun Never Sets on Injustice – Summer Solstice in Downtown Fairbanks

Posted on June 26, 2012 by thefairbanksfour

The saga of the Fairbanks Four began on the streets of downtown Fairbanks, Alaska fifteen years ago. In October of 1997 one of the most notorious murders in Alaskan history took place on these downtown streets, during a very different season, when the snowy avenues were empty and cold. Four young men would ultimately be convicted of that murder despite a complete lack of physical evidence and their uninterrupted assertions of innocence. For all of these fifteen years the Fairbanks Four have maintained their innocence. Each year a little more light is shed on this dark chapter of Alaskan history – their support grows, as does the credible information against alternative suspects, and more and more evidence of racism and police and court corruption is unearthed.

This summer solstice some of the supporters of the Four marched through those same streets underneath the midnight sun, a time in which the avenues are packed with people celebrating and every corner and crevice is well lit. They marched to remind their neighbors, community members, and visitors of the dark and heartbreaking injustice perpetrated against the Fairbanks Four.

Below are some pictures and a brief video of that march. If this is your first time to this site, start with the oldest post and read forward to hear this incredible story of injustice on the last frontier. And please take a moment to sign our online petition by clicking HERE.