Post by Scumhunter on Dec 15, 2015 12:36:26 GMT -5
(Above Photo Credit: crimewatchdaily.com)
Rodney Lincoln has been imprisoned in a Missouri prison for 32 years for a brutal murder of a mother and sexual assault of her two daughters. Incredibly, thanks to the new syndicated crime show "Crime Watch Daily", Lincoln may soon be exonerated. I will recap the episodes on the case, they were both a full hour so this may be a somewhat lengthy post, I also warn some details may be disturbing:
On April 27th, 1982, JoAnn Tate was found murdered in her apartment in St. Louis, Missori. She was stabbed and sexually assaulted. Daughters Melissa, 7, and Renee, 4, were found with JoAnn. Melissa was stabbed 10 times; Renee had her throat cut. Both girls survived. Melissa identified Lincoln as the attacker from photo and live line-ups.
Lincoln was a grocery store truck driver who had dated Joann the previous year. In addition to that, Lincoln had previously killed a man in a bar fight 9 years prior.
In addition to Melissa's testimony, a loan hair on a blue blanket is believed to be Lincoln's Lincoln is sentenced to two life terms plus 15 years.
Decades later, true crime water Diane Fanning is writing a book on convicted serial killer Tommy Lynn Sells. In 2000, Tommy Lynn Sells is convicted of the 1999 murder of 13-year old Kaylene Harris and the attempted murder of her 10-year old Krystal Surles. Sells had cut both of their throats. He is convicted in 2000.
It wasn't Sells only murder however. He drops a bombshell to a Texas Ranger named John Allen when he says
"I guess you want to know about all the others". Sells then claims to have killed 70 people in 10-12 states.
Allen believes Sells is telling the truth about at least 22 of the 70 murders he's claimed to have committed. Sells had traveled the country working for carnivals and as an auto mechanic. Many of his double homicides included mother-son and mother-daughter homicides.
Fanning sees a story on the news about Julie Ray Harper. Harper was convicted in the state of Illinois of stabbing her 10-year old son, Joel Kirkpatrick to death. She claimed an intruder enter her home and she was injured but police don't buy it.
Fanning asks Sells in written correspondence about the case to which he replies "Was that murder a couple of days before the one I committed in Springfield, Missouri?" He then responds "a lot of crimes I've committed other people are in jail for and I don't care."
Bill Clutter, a private investigator who investigates innocence claims reads Fanning's book about the case and eventually Harper is granted a second trial and found not guilty. Sells is never charged.
Fanning asks Sells if he ever killed anyone in the St. Louis area to which he says a number of cases closed in the area other people are in prison for but he stopped talking because he had family in St. Louis.
It is revealed there are many reasons to believe Sells committed Joanne Tate's murder, and the attack on her daughters and not Lincoln. Among the reasons to believe Sells did it:
-Sells can be placed in St. Louis at the time of the crimes. The murders happened around 4 am and Sells usually attacked in the middle of the night. Sells was known to use a weapon from the house and insert the objects into his victims, which happened in this case. Reports are the murderer drove a white Volkswagon. Sells at the time was working for a family member who owned a VW repair shop.
Among to reasons to doubt Lincoln's guilt:
-Lincoln's alibi that he was home was corroborated by two witnesses including his girlfriend. A bloody fingerprint found on a knife at the scene did not match Lincoln or any of the other victims. And the most damning physical evidence? The hair found on the blanket? 80's DNA testing wasn't as sophisticated. 25 years after the initial testing, the hair was re-examined after a request from the Midwest Innocence Project and found NOT to be Rodney's.
As for Melissa's testimony, it's mentioned she was only 7-years old and likely under a lot of pressure. Over 70 percent of wrongful convictions involve eyewitness misidentification
Rodney sits down with Crime Watch Daily's Michelle Sigona (formerly an America's Most Wanted correspondent) for an interview and says he had a sexual relationship with Joann Tate, but when they broke up he had no hard feelings. He admits he's no angel, he killed a man in a bar fight, for which he served 68 months in prison, but that he would never harm a child.
The episode ends with Melissa, (her last name as an adult is Deboer), still convicned in Rodney's guilt saying "No way it can be anyone but Rodney."
After the airing, incredibly, Melissa recants. Images of Tommy Lynn Sells mugshot when she watched the initial program start to upset her. They cause Melissa to look back and she has an epiphany that it was Sells and not Lincoln who had murdered her mother. She reaches out to her family who also had expressed their own doubts. Melissa then calls Rodney's daughter Kay Lincoln to recant.
Crime Watch Daily re-interviews Rodney and surprises him when it turns out Melissa is in the room. The two embrace. Despite Melissa putting who she now believes is an innocent man in jail, Rodney has no animosity towards her, letting her know it's not her fault.
A St. Louis attorney from the Prosecutor's office says while Melissa's recanting of her testimony doesn't necessarily exonerate Lincoln, they will look further in the case. Lincoln could theoretically be out on bond before Christmas, or Prosecutors could decide to re-try the case. Lincoln just wants to be out before May of 2016 so he can see the birth of one of his grandchildren, as he's missed out on many special events in the over 30 years he's been in prison.
Thoughts? I will post the Crime Watch Daily and other links below. (P.S. there's a lot of links). This is obviously the case with the most hope towards a resolution of the ones we've posted so far, thanks in large part to "Crime Watch Daily." Lincoln admits he's no angel, but the murder he admits to committing wasn't premeditated and was the result of a bar fight for which he served his time. For him to sit in a jail for a murder it now appears he didn't commit is completely unfair. Basically, once the hair on the blanket was ruled out, only Melissa's testimony was keeping Lincoln in jail. Now there's not even that. The chances are very good that Lincoln may be exonerated soon, but after 32 years, it would be nice to speed things up and make it sooner rather than later.
Links:
Crime Watch Daily Segments:
Rodney Lincoln- Episode 1- Part 1: crimewatchdaily.com/videos/0-uyoxr1v7/
Episode 1- Part 2- crimewatchdaily.com/videos/0-ntucka2r/
Episode 1- Part 3- crimewatchdaily.com/videos/0-xylpnhqv/
Episode 1- Part 4- crimewatchdaily.com/videos/0-oy5vr0a3/
Episode 1- Part 5- crimewatchdaily.com/videos/0-9gdu6tuq/
Episode 1- Part 6- crimewatchdaily.com/videos/0-4usignk8/
Episode 2- Part 1- crimewatchdaily.com/videos/0-3ds0lf4u/
Episode 2- Part 2- crimewatchdaily.com/videos/0-lo8r4bvh/
Episode 2- Part 3- crimewatchdaily.com/videos/0-6jj1tat6/
Episode 2- Part 4- crimewatchdaily.com/videos/0-nm70y86u/
Episode 2- Part 5- crimewatchdaily.com/videos/0-app3056i/
Other Relevant Links:
www.freerodneylincoln.com/
www.facebook.com/FreeRodneyLincoln/
murderpedia.org/male.S/s/sells-tommy-lynn.htm
