Brandon Woodruff was convicted in 2009 of murdering his parents in 2005. I was unfamiliar with this case until today. Arguing for the soundness of the conviction is the finding of a dagger (claimed to have his father's blood, but see below) in the parents previous home that might have been in Mr. Woodruff's possession. Arguing against is the lack of a motive and a tight timeline. The fact that both a knife and a gun were used in the killings argues against a single killer.
Mr. Woodruff's homosexuality may have swayed some jurors, as noted in this ABC story. From another link, "Poggensee said a phrase repeated over and over at Woodruff’s trial was, “If he could lie about being gay, he could lie about killing his parents.” But that ignores the fact that Woodruff was out to his father, who accepted him. And it’s not clear if he was out to his mother yet."
From the second link: "And the timeline devised by investigators gave Woodruff about 14 minutes inside his parents’ home. That’s 14 minutes to overpower both his mother and father, then clean all the blood off of himself, leaving none in the bathroom. And Woodruff would have to have cleaned himself up so well that no DNA evidence was found in the bathroom, nor was any found in the car or on his clothes. No DNA evidence was found on the knife they allege Woodruff used in the attack, either."
The dagger has some problems. From the denial of appeal document, Brandon had been attending Abilene Christian University and had kept a dagger in his dormitory room.6 When the room was searched after the murders, the police did not discover the dagger. Kathy Lach, Brandon‘s aunt, discovered the dagger in the barn at Dennis and Norma‘s residence in Heath, Texas,7 two and a half years after the murders. The dagger was approximately sixteentoeighteen inches long with a twelve-inch blade. Eric Gentry admitted he had previously told the Texas Rangers that the knife blade of Brandon‘s dagger was only about sixinches long, but testified he was absolutely certain the dagger introduced into evidence was Brandon‘s. A spot of Dennis ‘blood was discovered under a skull located on the guard of the knife. Although the police searched the barn after the murders, they did not find the dagger." I don't know the resolution to the paradox of how it was claimed to be Dennis's blood if there was no DNA.
Hair in one of his mother's hands was not tested (IIUC there was also hair in her other hand, which was tested). Mitochondrial DNA testing alone cannot distinguish whether it came from her or Brandon, but it would almost certainly give a different result for the murderer, assuming that it is not Brandon. Autosomal testing is more discriminating, if it can be done. The Texas Innocence Project has taken up his case.
Mr. Woodruff's homosexuality may have swayed some jurors, as noted in this ABC story. From another link, "Poggensee said a phrase repeated over and over at Woodruff’s trial was, “If he could lie about being gay, he could lie about killing his parents.” But that ignores the fact that Woodruff was out to his father, who accepted him. And it’s not clear if he was out to his mother yet."
From the second link: "And the timeline devised by investigators gave Woodruff about 14 minutes inside his parents’ home. That’s 14 minutes to overpower both his mother and father, then clean all the blood off of himself, leaving none in the bathroom. And Woodruff would have to have cleaned himself up so well that no DNA evidence was found in the bathroom, nor was any found in the car or on his clothes. No DNA evidence was found on the knife they allege Woodruff used in the attack, either."
The dagger has some problems. From the denial of appeal document, Brandon had been attending Abilene Christian University and had kept a dagger in his dormitory room.6 When the room was searched after the murders, the police did not discover the dagger. Kathy Lach, Brandon‘s aunt, discovered the dagger in the barn at Dennis and Norma‘s residence in Heath, Texas,7 two and a half years after the murders. The dagger was approximately sixteentoeighteen inches long with a twelve-inch blade. Eric Gentry admitted he had previously told the Texas Rangers that the knife blade of Brandon‘s dagger was only about sixinches long, but testified he was absolutely certain the dagger introduced into evidence was Brandon‘s. A spot of Dennis ‘blood was discovered under a skull located on the guard of the knife. Although the police searched the barn after the murders, they did not find the dagger." I don't know the resolution to the paradox of how it was claimed to be Dennis's blood if there was no DNA.
Hair in one of his mother's hands was not tested (IIUC there was also hair in her other hand, which was tested). Mitochondrial DNA testing alone cannot distinguish whether it came from her or Brandon, but it would almost certainly give a different result for the murderer, assuming that it is not Brandon. Autosomal testing is more discriminating, if it can be done. The Texas Innocence Project has taken up his case.
via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/7eKyPNO
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