Case Synopsis
Key: TT =
Trial Transcripts
PR = Police Reports
PS = Signed Police Statements
MH = Motion Hearing Transcripts
I.
Summary of events regarding Jeff's role 3/5/81 - 3/6/81AM
On March
6, 1981, at about 5:45 AM, Duane McCormick was found dead in the apartment that
he and Jeff Howard had shared at
Earlier
that week, late Monday night, March 2, 1981, Jeff had "borrowed"
Duane's car, car keys, and $20-$25 while Duane slept, leaving him a note saying
that he would be back the next day. Jeff went to
Jeff came
back to
When they
got to the apartment, Jeff says that he asked Duane for his backpack as a trade
for the remainder of the rent Jeff had already paid for the month of March and
that Duane agreed. Jeff packed some things for the road and left his duffel bag
with clothes and some other things for Duane to send when Jeff sent him some
money. Jeff says he gave Duane back the car keys and then Duane dropped Jeff
off about one mile away at the McDonald's on
Jeff
walked up the street through an alley to Darrell "Pete" Farley's
house at
Sometime
after 1:30 AM, Jeff, Massey, Wayne Manu and Bob "Doc" Stroh, drove
out to Manu's house where they drank some more. Then Stroh, Jeff, and Massey
left and went to Stroh's house at 1518
Jeff and
Massey partially cooked some pheasant, ate it, and watched TV. Then Massey went
to bed while Jeff went to sleep on the couch.
II.
Summary of events 3/6/81 at Pete Farley's house
The next
morning, Vicki Marshall got up around 8:00 AM and saw Jeff asleep on the couch.
Farley was already up. Wayne Manu came over around 9:30 - 10:00 AM to get
Massey for work . They were to be at a job site at
10:00 AM, somewhere in
Around
1:00 - 1:30 PM, Manu and Massey arrived back from work. Farley, Vicki and Jeff
went in Manu's truck to the food-stamp office so Jeff and Vicki could pick up
food stamps. When they got back, a short time later, Manu took Jeff to the
"Tea" exit, south of
III.
Summary of events from Police Reports/Statements & Trial Transcripts
Meanwhile,
back at the apartment, after Duane's body was discovered by Dennis Hagemeyer, the police found that the kitchen window on the
east side of the apartment had been broken into and was probably where the
intruder entered. The front door to the apartment was ajar when Hagemeyer arrived, so that is probably where the intruder
left. The police fingerprinted around the window and a little in that area of
the kitchen. No fingerprints were found (TT 118-20, 131). They found a screen
outside that had been thrown that matched the window. They did not fingerprint
it. On the stand a detective testified that they did not test the screen
because the wood was old and would not take fingerprints like the window frame
on which they had found no fingerprints (TT 132). Yet, on the stand the same
detective testified that when he put his thumb print on the window sill, it DID
take his print (TT 119). Also, no fingerprints were taken on the front door
where the intruder had exited (TT 132-3); the room where the body was found (TT
120, 131); around any other area of the kitchen, including the spoon and knife
that were taken into evidence and used as evidence that whoever had been there
had likely shot up with drugs. (What reason would Jeff have to wipe off
fingerprints at a place where he had lived up until that night)? No hair and
fiber samples were taken from anywhere in the apartment (TT 136-7, 139).
On March
7, Renae Ellis and Ronnie Schmidt called the police
station to report who they felt was responsible for the murder of Duane
McCormick (PR 3/7/81 Boos). They named four names, among them, Todd Mueller.
The police dismissed Renae Ellis as an unreliable
witness ( TT 484, 491). Yet on March 9, this same Mueller
was caught breaking into the apartment. When Detective Larson interviewed him,
he was puzzled by the way Mueller changed his story about how he heard about
the murder, and felt that Mueller knew more about the murder than he let on.
Mueller said he had known Duane and said that Duane had told him that if
anything ever happened to him (Duane), Mueller could have his "stash of
narcotics and his stereo" (PR 3/9/81 D. Larson; PR 3/9/81 Sgt. Thorstenson; PR 3/9/81 Canter). This conversation between
Mueller and Duane took place a couple of weeks before the murder - before Jeff
and Duane's falling out. (Why was Duane worried about something happening to
him? Did he have other enemies?). Sergeant Thorstenson
did a follow-up interview, but nothing else was done to check out his story and
Mueller no longer remained a suspect.
Lieutenant
Knott testified on the stand that he had not seen any footprints at the scene
of the crime (TT 120). When he was asked why he hesitated in his answer, he
stated that it was mostly blacktop around there (TT 128-9). Yet, when Mueller
was caught breaking into the apartment, he was identified by the footprints he
left in four places around the apartment. Some were very clear (PR 3/9/81 Sgt. Hoier; PR 3/9/81 Wydra #34). Were
some of them left there from the time of the murder? It doesn't appear that
anyone checked for footprints after the murder.
When
Duane's body was found, it was also discovered that his car was missing. The
car was discovered by an officer on 3/7/81 about two blocks from Pete Farley's
house. It looked as if it had been in the process of being vandalized (PR
3/7/81 Roeman). Only one neighbor was home at the
time, and he said he thought he remembered seeing it the afternoon before. (Why
weren't more neighbors questioned about what they might have seen and when they
noticed the car's appearance?) Also, no tests were done on the car for
fingerprints or hair and fiber samples. The car was given back to the family
shortly afterwards (PR 3/7/81 Roeman).
On March
7, several people voluntarily came in to the police station together with Pete
Farley to give their statements about what happened around the time of the
murder. In Farley's testimony, Farley stated that he had seen in the newspaper
that morning that a blunt instrument had been used to kill Duane so the first
thing he did was to look in his kitchen drawer for his hammer and he found that
his hammer was missing (PS 3/7/81 Folkerts). There
was nothing in the newspaper article that indicated the murder weapon might be
a hammer or the size and details of the injury. (Why would he mention a
hammer?) In a police report dated 3/26, Farley does say he found his hammer in
his basement. Pete Farley's hammer was never tested, even though the lab report
on a hammer found at the scene raises reasonable doubt as to the validity of it
being the actual murder weapon.
On July
1st, four months after the murder, Pete Farley turned a key over to Captain Skadsen, saying Jeff had given it to him when he left
saying he could take Duane's stereo (PR 7/1/81 Johnson). In the same police
report, he says he did not turn it over sooner because he had neglected to or
"perhaps there was some alternative motive of he was intending sometime or
another to go up and retrieve this stuff which Jeff Howard had
indicated..." (PR 7/1/81 Johnson). On the stand,
Farley testified that he did not keep the key to burglarize the house (TT 364)
but that he kept the key in order to not incriminate Jeff (369). The police
went back to the door of the apartment, but of course, the lock had been
changed so it could not be compared with the original lock. It does not appear
that the police tried to contact the landlord to see if he still had the
original key that they had borrowed from him to secure the apartment right after
the murder and later returned to him. (PR 3/11/81 Lt. Knott).
Besides the fact that Farley changed his story on the stand, it is palpably
untrue that he did not want to incriminate Jeff. Every statement he made to the
police incriminated Jeff. (If Jeff had just killed Duane, why would he give
someone a key to the apartment? First, it could incriminate him and second,
they would find the body).
About
June 23 or 24, Farley was subpoenaed for the trial. Farley claimed he had
amnesia. Pete Farley was the prosecution's key witness. On June 30, a motion
hearing took place to ask the judge if Farley's police statements could be used
in the trial in lieu of Farley himself, since Farley was claiming he had
amnesia. The judge asked if Farley was an important witness. The State's
Attorney, Steve Miller said "...without Pete Farley the State, I would
have in my own mind, I don't think we have much of a case. I'm not going to say
that I don't expect to get to the jury at the trial, but I will say that we
would have a very difficult time obtaining a conviction without Mr. Farley's
testimony. I cannot tell you what I would do, whether I would dismiss or
whatever..." (MH 32). Later that same day, when
the state prepared to run tests on him, Farley admitted he was lying and did
not have amnesia.
Farley
had some charges pending in
There are
many times that Pete Farley's testimony does not add up if you compare the
trial transcripts with his statements to the police and other documents:
Farley
said he lied about having amnesia because someone had come up from behind him
in an alley in
The
Identification Sheet from
This was
not the first time Farley had used loss of memory as an excuse not to testify.
Ten days after the trial was concluded, John Gridley, Jeff's defense attorney,
received anonymously by mail a copy of a confidential pre-sentence
investigation report (PSR) on Pete Farley as a material witness for a prior
conviction in the state of
In
Farley's police statement (PS 3/7/81, Folkerts), he
states that while Jeff was looking at his (Farley's) picture of the electric
chair "he (Jeff) said "and I am quoting 'They can only put you in
there once.'" This is an attempt by Farley to put words into Jeff's mouth
which were actually written on the back of the picture prior to this
conversation. Farley is using this to further incriminate Jeff. The actual
words on the back are "You can only sit in it once" according to
Farley on the witness stand (TT 359, 376).
When
Farley turned over the key to the police department (PR 7/1/81, Johnson), he
said that Jeff had given him (Farley) the key and "told me that there was
some stuff up on the apartment which he had previously occupied with the
deceased Duane McCormick, located at 210 S. Spring, such as a stereo and other
things which he, Darrell, could have." This conflicts with his statement
at trial when he talks about Jeff's leaving on 3/6/81 from his house. He says
here he asked Jeff "...what about your stuff...I asked if he wanted me to
go over and get them...and he said 'all I really have over there is my stereo.'
He pulled a key off a key ring and handed it to me" (TT 361).
Farley
also lied to the police about the length of both of his hospitalizations when
he had his head injury in
Farley
said at the trial that he only met Jeff about three weeks before the murder (TT
352). Jeff says that he met Pete Farley when they did time in the penitentiary
together in 1978. They did not know each other very well, but they did know who
each other was.
During
the trial, Farley testified that he has not had "the experience of
cooperating with law enforcement officials to get a lesser sentence or
recommendation" (TT 378). In the previously mentioned Pre-sentence
Investigation Report (PSR) on Pete Farley, page six, under Future Plans if
Granted Probation, it states, "if granted probation, he would finish work
that he is doing for the Iowa Law Enforcement Officials and he would then
attempt to get relocated." On page eight under References, "Sheriff
Robert Raffey (who was interviewed regarding the
PSR), stated that the defendant has been cooperative and helpful to his
department. He further stated that he feels the defendant has been honest in
his dealings with the Sheriff's Department."
The
hammer that was used in evidence as the possible murder weapon had no blood or
human substance on it, and no fingerprints were found on it. A lab report shows
that synthetic and plant fibers and animal hair were present on the claw of the
hammer. This would indicate that it had not been washed off and could not have
been the murder weapon (TT 721). Nonetheless, the hammer was still used as
evidence at the trial. Also, the hammer head was never measured and compared
with the wound. The prosecutor referred to this hammer several times in his
closing arguments and called it the murder weapon (TT 702).
One of the
arguments used against Jeff during the trial was that Jeff was using needles in
his drug use and there was a spoon sitting out on the counter with caffeine
residue in it. Jeff admitted that he had previously used the spoon for shooting
up, yet not at the time of the murder. Detective Folkerts
testified he remembered seeing a cover to a syringe on the floor. Yet it was
not taken into evidence and Lieutenant Keena who
searched the apartment again on 3/9/81 thoroughly testified he found no drug
paraphernalia (PR 3/9/81; TT 64, 69). A police report on 3/6/91 states a bong
and black case with drug paraphernalia were confiscated, but no syringe or
syringe cap. Yet the prosecutor focused on the spoon found on the counter as
evidence that Jeff had been present at the murder. The spoon was not
fingerprinted and there was no evidence that the last person to use the spoon
was Jeff. The evidence of other drug paraphernalia present indicates there
could have been other drug users present at the apartment the night before the
murder.
The
prosecutor said in his closing remarks that "The murderer had to shoot up
on drugs on that same scene. You don't know of anyone who does that except the
defendant" and "the only person we know of in this entire case who
shoots up is Jeff Howard" (TT 689). The only other person connected with
this investigation that was tested for needle marks was the victim (TT 680) who
did not show needle marks. No other witnesses, suspects or anyone else for that
matter were tested for needle marks.
The
prosecutor used untrue statements in his closing remarks. He stated several
times that Duane slept in front of his door during the few days Jeff was gone
with his car because he was afraid of Jeff (TT 670, 665, 666, 686, 698). Yet, the actual recorded testimony of the witnesses
state very clearly that he was afraid he would not wake up when Jeff came back.
It was also testified to that Duane was a very sound sleeper (TT 162, 182, 183,
201-3, 232, 415-418). The prosecutor actually misquoted witnesses in order to
make his point.
One of
the inferences made against Jeff during the investigation was that he left town
on March 6, leading the police to suspect him because he fled. First of all,
Jeff had been planning to move out of town for some time. This is stated by
others in police reports and at the trial. He had planned to move to
IV.
Did Jeff Howard receive a fair trial? Was his guilt proven beyond a reasonable
doubt?
The
police did not do a thorough job of investigating the crime. A brief review is
in order: 1) No fingerprints were taken on the door handle that was found ajar.
2) No fingerprinting was done in the bathroom or livingroom/bedroom
where the body was found, or of the kitchen sink fixtures (TT 120, 131, 133. 3)
No vacuuming or gathering of fibers or hair samples took place in any of the
rooms, at the east window, or in the car (TT 100, 134, 136, 139). 4) No
examination was made of the molding where the suspected murder weapon (hammer)
was found (TT 100). 5) No other tests were done on the car including a check of
the car's gas gauge (TT 34). 6) Other neighbors near where the car was found
were not questioned to see if anyone saw when the car appeared (TT 34-35). 7)
The billfold was not fingerprinted or taken into evidence (TT 28, 35-36, 95,
134). 8) The syringe cap spotted my Lt. Folkerts was
not placed into evidence (65- 66). 9) No fingerprinting was done on the screen
to the east window that was thrown across the parking lot (TT 138). 10) No one
checked for footprints outside the apartment (120, 128-9). 11) No one searched
Farley's house where the defendant had spent the morning after the crime. This
could have turned up evidence that incriminated Farley. 12) Police failed to
look further for a murder weapon when the crime lab report showed that the
hammer in evidence could not be the murder weapon.
V.
The Roads that were Never Followed
The lack
of evidence collected ruled out finding evidence which could have possibly
pointed toward another suspect(s). It looks as if the police decided Jeff
Howard had done it and did not seriously consider other suspects.
Even
before Jeff was brought back from
There was
a report of a man in
Why was
Bob Welker not questioned and subpoenaed to back up Jeff's testimony that he
had been planning to move to
Why was
Gary Massey not located to testify at the trial? He was subpoenaed but the
prosecution was told he was in
Why were no character witnesses called for Jeff? Jeff had others
he worked with and knew that could have testified on his behalf. There were
others who knew of his plans to move to
Police reports
show that several other witnesses besides Pete Farley lied on the stand. Wayne
Manu testified at trial that he did not receive any food stamps from Jeff as
Jeff was leaving town. But, a police report shows that Manu's girlfriend, Terry
Graham brought in a book of food stamps that were determined to have been
issued to Jeff (PR 3/11/81 Lt. Downs; TT 289). The trial testimony also states
that Manu was granted immunity from revocation of his parole (he had been with
other people with records the night of 3/5/81, which is violation of his
parole), in return for his testimony. If Jeff's attorney did have access to
these reports, why didn't he try to impeach Manu's credibility? Even so, the
prosecution allowed their witness to perjure himself regarding the food stamps?
Two
prosecution witnesses, Cindy Keiser and Mark Geones,
testified at the trial that Jeff had said he wanted to kill Duane. Yet, neither
one said anything to this effect in their statements to the police shortly
after the murder happened. Mark Geones states in his
police report that Jeff told him he wanted to "beat him (Duane) up"
(PR 3/6/81 McKelvey). Geones
did not volunteer this information at the trial -- it was only after Jeff's
attorney (carelessly) asked him if he had ever heard Jeff say he "was
going to kill Duane" that Geones said yes he did . When Geones was questioned
at first by the prosecution, he said at that time that Jeff had told him he
should have beat him up (TT 208).
In
Cindy's report to the police (PR 3/6/81 Boos), she said that on the evening of
March 5th, 1981, "at approximately 6 o'clock p.m. Mark and Pat Geones arrived at her residence...Then at approximately
7:30 p.m. the suspect Jeff Howard arrived...Then at approximately 8 o'clock
p.m. the victim Duane McCormick arrived at her residence..." On the stand,
Cindy said Jeff was at her apartment before Mark and Pat Geones
arrived (TT 412-13). At the trial, Cindy testified to something that was not
even mentioned in her report to the police. She said that she recalls that Jeff
said he wanted to "kill that little f---ing
white-haired kid..." and that these were his exact words. This is pretty
strong language to not have remembered right after the murder. Her report to
the police doesn't make any reference to any kind of threat made by Jeff about
Duane (or anyone else). Also, since the time of Jeff's arrival is now testified
to that it was just she and Jeff there, it is
convenient for her to add this information. Jeff's attorney did not point out
the discrepancy in their stories while they were on the stand. In Pat Geones' report to the police (PR 3/6/81 Boos) he states
"...he and his brother Mark drove to Cindy Keiser's residence to visit. He
then stated when they arrived Cindy was alone, and shortly thereafter Jeff
arrived..."
Information
recently received from the State's Attorney's files revealed that Pete Farley
was paid $700 to relocate after the trial because he owed people money and was
afraid to stay in Sioux Falls. This had nothing to do with Jeff's case.
Witnesses are only to be paid for trial expenses and maybe for moving expenses
if related to the trial. This information would have been useful, along with
all of the other information about Farley, in showing that he was not a
credible witness. (Remember that when Farley claimed he had amnesia, the
prosecutor said that they would not have much of a case without his testimony).
With all of Farley's lies and compromise, how could he have been considered a
more reliable witness than Renae Ellis?
Vicki
Marshall Farley took a polygraph test on July 1, 1981, before the trial and
lied on two of the three questions. This information could have been useful to
the defense in impeaching her testimony had they known about it. (Pete and
Vicki were married 22 days after the murder and later were divorced a few
months after the trial).
On
Tuesday, June 11, 1996, in a conversation between Vicki Farley, who is now
residing in
Jeff has
heard from several people over the years that have told him that Pete Farley
admitted that he killed a man and sent another man to prison for it. (Pete
Farley committed suicide on September 24,1983).
Affidavits were collected from these people between 1984 -
1987, but as they were not considered the most reliable witnesses, no
follow-up was done on them by the previous habeas attorney, Pat Reipel, except for affidavits. Three of these people are
now also dead. Jeff received a letter from Rick Zabel
in December 1983, three months after Farley committed suicide. Zabel told him he was sorry that he did not speak up about
what he knew. Zabel had been out of town the night of
3/5/81 while the partying was going on in his home. He talked to Farley the day
after the murder when Farley told him that he was the one who had killed Duane.
Zabel had agreed with Farley before Farley told him,
that he would keep his secret. Zabel, living in
VI.
The Aftershocks Continue
Shortly
before Pete Farley's suicide, his son, Jason Farley, overheard his father
telling somebody that he had killed someone with a hammer and sent an innocent
man to prison for it. Jason Farley was about 12 years old at the time. After
his father's death, Jason told his mother and stepfather what he had overheard.
His mother, Pam Prestage, got in touch with the
public defender, Pat Reipel, who was handling Jeff's
case at the time. An interview was set up for Reipel
to meet with Jason, but it never happened. In the winter of 1994, Jason Farley
told Judee Reeves (Howard) that he did overhear this conversation his father
had. The information was relayed to Jeff's attorney, Martin Oyos,
who also spoke to Jason. An affidavit was not taken. Jason Farley shot and
killed himself in May of 1995. On a recent trip to
Jeff was
convicted on purely circumstantial evidence. Jeff was accounted for the night
of morning of the murder until at the very least 4:30 am. (He arrived at Pete
Farley's with Massey between 3:30 and 3:45 am and they cooked a pheasant
part-way and ate it and talked). Jeff is supposed to have walked a mile back to
the apartment in his intoxicated state and murder Duane, then come back to Pete
Farley's house and fall asleep on the sofa. Remember too, that the bulk of the
evidence points to the time of death at 3:00 - 3:30 AM. While it may never be
known who the actual murderer was, there was certainly reasonable doubt as to
whether or not Jeff killed Duane McCormick. Especially in light of the fact of
so many lies told on the stand by the state's key witness, Pete Farley and the
lies told by other witnesses. These lies and other information that cast doubt
upon the credibility of these witnesses were almost all unknown to the jury.
They did not have all the facts when they made their decision.
Here are
some quotes from an article in the Argus Leader, Sioux Falls newspaper the day
after Jeff's conviction: Steve Miller, prosecutor, in defending the police
investigation "I didn't even respond to those accusations because the jury
was smart enough to figure it out...the police did investigate it right. To
bring in the DCI...and the FBI would have been a waste of money." Juror
Hahn "said the jury gave no credence to defense's charge that the police
did an inferior job. 'That wasn't our part to think
about (that). It wasn't brought up in our deliberation at all.'" Much of
the credit was given to Miller's closing arguments, which as shown on page
seven of this summary, contained gross misstatements. "Moreover, Miller
said, a witness testified McCormick feared Howard and slept by the door so he'd
hear him come in." This was a serious misstatement to find in his closing
argument!
A habeas
hearing was held in 1996 where Jeff's relief was denied. The attorney filed the
case with the State of South Dakota Supreme Court -- but it was one day late
and the courts denied a hearing. Jeff's attorney appealed it because it was not
Jeff's fault, but the Supreme Court refused to consider a hearing. Papers were
filed by Jeff (without an attorney at this point) to have a hearing in Federal
Court. The Federal Court refused to consider the habeas because we had not
exhausted our state remedies. The case seems "dead in the water at this
time."
There are
many questions about this case that are left unanswered at this time. Jeff
Howard did not commit this murder. He has always maintained his innocence and
has tried for the past 20 years to have the truth be known. It is frustrating
to work within a system where all that was left to him was to overturn his
conviction on trial errors -- not innocence. While Jeff would welcome relief
from his unjust sentence in almost any way, it is frustrating to not have the
truth matter and then to be able to clear his name.
Over the
years Jeff has written to legislators, the Governor, the Board of Pardons and
Parole, and various others for help. It is hard, if not impossible, when you do
not have outside help. We have even had a friend of the family talk in person
with the Secretary of the Department of Corrections - nothing came of that
conversation. Even when nothing is happening on his case, Jeff does not just
sit around. He has worked hard to turn his life around and to prepare for his
eventual release -- he has always believed the truth will eventually come out.
He has been involved with the AA and NA programs for more than fifteen years.
He turned his live over to Jesus Christ and helps with spiritual programs
behind the walls. He continues to work hard to better himself.
Jeff has
a life sentence. Unless he is pardoned, or his sentence is commuted by the
Governor, he will spend the rest of his life in prison unjustly. He has already
lost more than 20* years of life on the outside. Please help him to live the
rest of his life in the free world.
This
synopsis contains the information on the case up to 2001. Recent events
are found at Why We Care
and then our blog .
Jeff's story [Introduction]
[Jeff's
Background] [Case Synopsis]
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