Erick Westervelt

16 January 2012 - Answered a number of questions raised by "deepblue" about the trial of Erick Westervelt.  See www.erickwestervelt.proboards.com.

21 August 2011 - Added another Erick Observation - The Perfect Crime.

11 August 2011 - over 10,000 page views on this site since January.

23 July 2011 - Why I believe Erick is innocent

While I believe Erick is innocent of the murder of Timothy Gray, I encourage the reader of this site to come to his or her own conclusion.  And I would encourage anyone who has a different opinion to post that opinion on the Erick's proboard site: www.erickwestervelt.proboards.com.  Here is a partial list of why I believe Erick is innocent:

1) No physical evidence at the crime scene linking Erick to it.
2) No physical evidence in his car or home or clothes or anything else linking Erick to the crime.
3) The confession has more statements that are inconsistent with the crime than are consistent with it.

    a) The clothes Erick described in his statement were found in his home not thrown away.
    b) The souvenir tomahawk was found in a shed at the Westervelt home, not thrown away.
    c) The souvenir tomahawk showed no signs of being used to commit a crime.  There was no blood or recent markings on it.
    d) The dog was found running loose, not in the house.
    e) The description of the blows Erick gave in the statement did not match the autopsy.
    f)  If the "Italian" note was printed at a library, the note would have had prints on it.

4) Detective Bowdish testified that he and Erick wrote the statement together. It took almost 2 hours to write that out!!!
5) I believe that Erick's analysis of the crime is basically sound (see Erick's Observations).
6) The technique for obtaining Erick's statement are consistent with Jeffrey Deskovic. Right down to the "failed, voluntary" lie detector test.
7) Erick cooperated completely with the police rather than put up barriers right from the start.
8) His parents both testified that Erick was at home that night watching a Yankees game on TV and playing video games with his brother.
9) Corrections Officer Moffre's statement is impossible to believe.
10) The Bethlehem police denied Erick access to an attorney when he asked for one.
11) The two tomahawk theory just doesn't hold up to the giggle test.
12) At trial, the defense arguments were weak at times. They neglected on multiple occasions to object to things that should not have been allowed. They failed to get exculpatory evidence presented.
13) The same firm representing Erick was representing a high profile client in another murder case at the same time. They could not give Erick's case the attention it needed.

Bill

3 July 2011 - Erick's Observations

As mentioned in an earlier post, Erick has sent me his observations.  I've posted two. 

1) The first deals with the crime itself.   It is hard to reconcile the fact that there was a loud conversation, followed by a scream to a single attacker scenario.

2) The second deals with harassment.   Was Erick harassing Timothy Gray up to the date of the attack?    The phone records would suggest otherwise. 

See these observations on the right navagation panel.

28 June 2011 - New Discussion Forum Open:

We have created a forum for anyone to post comments about our efforts to exonorate Erick from this crime he did not commit.   Please visit: Erick Westervelts Wrongful Conviction Forum (http://www.erickwestervelt.proboards.com) to participate.  You will need to register to post.  The registration process takes less than a minute.   We look forward to hearing from you.     

21 June 2011 - Website Editor's comments:

I was reminded today that  6 years ago, on June 20th 2005, Erick's trial began.   Did you know that Erick's own mother was prohibited from seeing all of the prosecution's testimony?   The judge required her to sit outside while her own son was on trial for a crime he did not commit was underway.   

I have a couple of packets of thoughts from Erick himself.   I will be posting this data in the near future.  Keep your eyes open for Erick's own insight.  

Bill

Background

On the night of October 5, 2004, while Erick Westervelt sat at home watching a Yankee game with his Father, Timothy Gray, a young man,  was brutally murdered at the home of Jessica Domery.    With no physical evidence to link Erick to the crime, the police brought him in for questioning and before they were done with him, he confessed to a crime he did not commit and was convicted.   He is currently serving a 25 years to life sentence for a crime that he could not have done.

Our Purpose

This site is set up to help with the efforts to get Erick freed from this wrongful conviction.  We hope to help the public in general understand what happened to Erick and how this can happen to anyone.

About This Site

f you want to know more about Erick, go to the links on the left "Main Menu".

If you want to read up on his case, including trial transcripts and his attempts to appeal his conviction, you may follow the links on the right.

Many erroneous things have been said about Erick's case in the media and he has tried to address the misconceptions through a televised interview.  To read and view this material follow "The Media" links on the left.

Finally, we have provided other website related links in the blue tab at the top of this page.

Where Things Stand

Erick's current legal appeals have run their course.  There are many supporters who are working to establish new avenues of awareness and work towards his release.  This website is just one example of that.