How do you feel when your brother or son convicted of murder when you are convinced that they are innocent? We meet three women who have fought for years to prove the innocence of their loved ones
Wendy Cohen based on a coffee table full of propaganda. There are photographs of the time took a bus to the prison to celebrate the 21st birthday of his son Sam, press interviews, a documentary with Trevor McDonald. All this helped to clear the name of Sam Hallam last year.
Hallam was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Essayas Kassahun apprentice cook in a gang attack in East London in October 2004. He was one of two men convicted of murder after a "joint venture" in which no charges initially nine accused. The joint law is rigid and inflexible: if your presence, knowledge or actions lead to a serious crime like murder, you may also be responsible for the
Cohen says Hallam was an innocent - young for his age, smaller than his other children. I was 17 when Kassahun, 21, was killed, and always said he had not been implemented. He was arrested on Wednesday and the next day, the mother of one of the boys arrested with him came to the door and said Sam Cohen was not there. Then the woman went to the police with your child to do the same thing, but it made no difference. In October 2005, Hallam, then 18, was sentenced to life imprisonment and jailed for a minimum of 12 years.
Cohen, broken and helpless, not knowing what to do. So she did nothing. She stopped going out and started to drink alone. When, in 2007, lost an appeal Hallam, collapsed. "I was crying by the courts, and Robert Fortune QC said there was nothing more I could do." Paul May, who had campaigned in favor of the Guildford Four and Birmingham Six, appeared in the court to support the family. "Paul said," Come to the tavern. I did, and he said: "This is where you come in." "
May
suggest two things: first, to examine all the evidence. Part of the problem is that the alibi was inconsistent Hallam. Questioned by police two weeks after the crime, he has his dates confused when asked what he did that night. He said he had played football with a friend, who told police he did not. In fact, Hallam had been in the bar with his father, but nobody had remembered.
Second, in May said they had to advertise as much as possible. Thus began a formal campaign group and created a number of media stunts. Cohen said pictures of people jumping from a plane and a program for a play on Hallam event held at the headquarters of the King in Camden. There are photos of the day we all went to Birmingham to present their new evidence of the commission of the Criminal Cases Review. "I had no idea what she was before Sat CCRC was convicted," said Cohen.
May
realized they needed the TV coverage. Sam's best friend was Bobby Hopwood, a nephew of actor Ray Winstone. Winstone was on board, and at the corner of fame tonight with Trevor McDonald decided to make a series of Hallam.
The campaign was effective and seemed inevitable CCRC grant a second appeal. Cohen said the turning point came when the new Thames Valley Police investigation. Ultimately, it was not difficult to erase the name of Sam the two witnesses who said he saw the scene of the crime, he changed his story several times and finally told the Old Bailey, "I was looking for someone to place the blame." Another said Hallam was "the only white boy I know Hoxton, I told him that it was Sam." There was no forensic evidence to Hallam bind to the scene and was previous good character. After all, it is his cell phone, the police had all the time, which provided a crucial corroborating evidence - a photograph he had been at the helm with her father that night
In October 2010, a report in The Independent suggested Hallam was likely to be cleared on appeal. The next day, Terry Hallam father hanged himself. Three years later, Cohen still make sense. The couple had separated a few years before Sam was charged, but remained on good terms. Terry was optimistic said. She was prone to depression. "Terry was the newspaper report in his pocket when he hanged himself." She babbles and bites her lip. "Now. Just when things looked promising. Mad. "
Hallam was informed of the death of his father by the chaplain of the prison and attended his funeral. "It broke his heart and could not even wipe her eyes or nose, as he was handcuffed both sides."
Hallam
was finally canceled his sentence May 17, 2012. After seven years in prison and 24 years, it still looked like a teenager. "The whole court was crying and mourning Can Paul left," Cohen said .. "One of my friends who is a size eight, I had - and I'm heavy Sam looked at the ceiling and the judge asked if included: "Someone should explain to Mr. Hallam what happened?" Everybody was crying. "
known errors of justice often come with a number: the Guildford Four, the Birmingham Six, Three Cardiff. Then there are people who spend decades unjustly imprisoned: Barry George, Stefan Kiszko, Winston Silcott, Kenny Richey. In almost all cases, were family members who were in charge of making convictions overturned. But what does this mean for the sister, brother, mother or father who sacrifices everything to fight for your beloved?
Brigitte Boucher is back on the scene. It is a very different stage of their struggle - still trying to convince the world that his brother is not guilty of the murder horrible he was convicted. Thirty-nine years, Dawn Walker was discovered near the River Lark in Suffolk, in February 2005. She was partially nude, with a shaved head, she was immersed in water and left to die of hypothermia, then burned in an attempt to destroy evidence, and abandoned by the river
Six weeks later, the brother of the butcher, Kevin Nunn was responsible for the murder of his ex-girlfriend. Butcher still working part time as a nurse, but a large part of his time is devoted to proving the innocence of Kevin. Look at the evidence, she said: "It's all circumstantial."
Walker Nunn was divided Wednesday, February 2, 2005, and Walker had not been seen since. They had a relationship for two years. They lived separately, but I enjoyed holidays together, walking, exercise, cooking. Nunn, a seller of welding, has two children from her marriage, which ended in divorce 12 years earlier. He was known as a quiet man, someone who prefers to stay away from one scene to face. Even after his indictment, he was not considered a danger to the public. In October 2005, he was released on bail and was able to live independently and connect to a police station every day until the trial was held at Ipswich Crown Court a year later.
The prosecution argued that Nunn had gone mad with jealousy because he thought Walker would support an ex boyfriend. Nunn has always maintained that separation was inevitable and amicable. Who had separated before and had talked for a while about how things were not going as planned
Walker was found on February 4, and the police went door-to-door surveys tomorrow. A neighbor said he saw a family car money on Walker's house at 4:45, February 3. Another first said they had not seen Walker for about two weeks, but then told police he heard a fight with her boyfriend the night in question about 4:50 and saw a car with family money out of his home and two men dragging a heavy object in what looked like a carpet rolled to the back of the car.
When Nunn was charged, so it was Nigel Hill, a colleague of Walker, who has had a relationship with his family and had a silver car. Nunn and Hill said it was true that he had visited the house to look separately after being missing (they do not know). Nunn told police that he and Walker had been enthusiastic walkers were back on their favorite walks to try to find her. One of the places he visited was near where his body was found at the time on a trail along the river. The police examined the area and, unsurprisingly, found boot prints Nunn. It is an essential part of the evidence against him.
Another important piece of evidence is the fact that Nunn had a key to the house of Walker. From the beginning, he told police he did not have the key Walker - a few months before, the couple had separated briefly, she asked her corset and made a copy of it. He told police he was the key that was used to enter her house looking for her after her disappearance.
Butcher is as far as you can in a field along the river before turning the wheels in the mud. It rains a lot. We lowered by brambles and networks so close to where Walker was found that we can get - a challenging hike, bruises, nobody could imagine how a man with a body in his arms
Butcher
Two things can not understand the trial of his brother. Firstly, the case against Hill, who was accused of helping dispose of the body Nunn was scrapped when the judge of the court of Justice Laura Cox decided that there was insufficient evidence. At this point, the butcher took the same decision will be made on Nunn. It was not.
But the oddest, he said evidence of sperm. Only six weeks before the trial, the prosecution informed the defense that semen had been found on the thigh Walker. Butcher believes himself to clear his brother's name. "Kevin said," I do not know if this is relevant, but I found semen in her body and said, "This is great. Such is our get-out-of-jail card because he had a vasectomy. It can produce semen, but no sperm. "It has been tested and indeed there is no sperm. But at trial, the prosecutor rejected the sperm" tertiary "evidence - in other words, irrelevant. He argued that Walker had collected sperm in a bank in the gym locker room to the golf club and Nunn had attended separately later separated. (The prosecution claimed Walker had used the men's room changing that night because the woman had been painted a demand remains controversial today.)
Butcher
is incredulous. "This is a respectable golf club is an open room change. 'm Sure the men do not come to masturbate after her shower with everyone coming and going. "She laughed." It is not true, right? This is supposedly sitting on the bench in this huge flow of sperm failed on the leg. Absurd. " Prosecutors dismissed the possibility of a sexual murder, saying that Nunn had killed because he was jealous.
Butcher
never believed that her brother is guilty? "No, I still think they realize they made a big mistake." Even after being convicted in November 2006, was convinced that the sale has been used in a few months. "I have no idea what, seven years later, we would still fight for forensics." Butcher recently given hope when the Supreme Court granted a hearing on the non-disclosure in this case, but she knows that this is far from being a new call.
Kevin had already been in trouble before? She shakes her head. "I got a speeding ticket, and once bought a motorcycle he knew had been stolen. We came from a council flat, mounted, and better than I could. My father was a truck driver and 30-40 years before a farm worker. My mother was very proud. "She looked embarrassed." I always thought he was better than everyone, and in the end I think he thought. Donna My sister has a beautiful house in France, Kevin had his home and while he was divorced, had two beautiful children. "
The family moved to Bury St Edmunds been sentenced Nunn. His hometown is too small, the inevitable crime. "I know people in other campaigns can not work .. are depressed and can not function Believe me I understand that there have been difficult times, but we must continue to fight, if I do not win. Already took the life of Kevin car. "
Butcher is not only an activist, she has become a sort of detective. She believes that the only way he can prove his brother's innocence is to prove that someone else killed Walker. They often spend the weekend with her friend Carol investigate a real detective, asking people if they know something about the crime. "People knock on the face, because they think the police are doing the right thing or do not want to get involved."
Butcher
Nunn remembers very well when he was sentenced. "I ran into the hallway, throwing everything I had in my hands and shouting. I looked at my father and I thought, what really happened? "She swallowed." We had all our prepared statement - "Thanks to the jury to make the right decision." We were not so sure. "
Boucher said his family struggle for justice can be lonely. While her sister and her parents have campaigned for Nunn, his wife was a witness, describing him as a jealous man, and his children showed no interest in campaigning for him. She knows that her family tracing upsets Walker, who believe Nunn guilty, but says he must continue the search for evidence to undermine the prosecution. She thinks she knows who killed Walker, but, of course, whenever the police or CPS to hear his version of events is different.
Nunn
She and write to each other all the time. She tells him what is happening in your life, create a sense of belonging in the world, he will ask the coaches or socks, or draw diagrams of what he thinks actually happened, or tell your sister you create have discovered a new piece of the puzzle and ask if they can search.
set rings. It Nunn. It is the speaker phone, and within seconds he makes his case. "I want the facts on the murder dawn I was not involved I'm innocent ... It was a fantastic event that was put in this room I have only a few seconds, sorry .. I call Friday is better than I can do. "
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