Oklahoma

March 15, 2005

The state of Oklahoma is scheduled to execute Jimmie Ray Slaughter, a white man,  March 15  for the 1994 murder of Melody Wuertz and his 11-month-old daughter Jessica Wuertz in Oklahoma County.  Post-conviction developments now undermine the key evidence which was presented at trial.  Slaughter maintains his innocence. He was convicted largely on what now consists of circumstantial evidence, and the testimony of prison informants and unreliable eye witness testimony.

Dennis Dill, a retired Edmond police office and initial lead investigator on the case,also concedes Slaughter may be innocent.  He reportedly stated if the state were to carry out the execution, they will be killing an innocent man. “If they do this, they might just as well take him out and lynch him” Dill stated.  He contends he was taken off the case because he didn’t feel the investigation was being conducted properly and that police had wrongly focused on Slaughter to the exclusion of other suspects. 

An FBI scientist testified the manner the murder was carried out suggested the crime was an act of domestic violence.  There was another suspect who had both a sexual history with the victim and a history of domestic violence.  His alibi was shown to be false and he disappeared a few days after the crime.  This lead was not further investigated.

The physical evidence which may have pointed to Slaughter at trial has since been refuted or called into question.  During the trial, the prosecution argued that a hair found at the crime scene belonged to Vicki Mosley.  However, DNA testing of the hair conducted by Mitotyping Techonologies, an independent lab hired by the defense, has shown it did not belong to her.  The state appeals court did not allow this new DNA evidence to be added to Slaughter’s latest appeal because the deadline had passed. 

Similarly, the technology used to establish that the bullets located at the crime scene came from the same batch found in Slaughter’s possession is now unreliable.  The state used a process known as Comparative Bullet Lead Analysis to determine the origin of the bullet.  Experts have called this type of analysis into question citing it as unreliable.    

Slaughter also presented an alibi at his trial.  He was stationed in Fort Riley, Kansas in the U.S. Army Reserve approximately a four hour drive from Edmond Oklahoma.  Slaughter’s ex-wife, Nicki Bonner and her two daughters testified he was with them all day.  A salesperson at a nearby shopping mall recalled seeing Slaughter buy a T-shirt.  A receipt verified the purchase.

Slaughter’s attorneys are arguing that a new science called “brain fingerprinting “ proves Slaughter is innocent.  This technology, while still in an experimental phase, shows Slaughter has no memory of vital information the person responsible for the murders would know.   

The death penalty is always an inappropriate response to violence. However, it is particularly disturbing when “evidence” against a defendant is highly disputable and unclear.   Please contact the state of Oklahoma requesting a halt the Jimmy Ray Slaughter’s execution.