Reasons Why Tony Is Innocent

Circumstantial Evidence

Tony was convicted based solely on circumstantial evidence. These include friends of the victim saying that she sometimes felt uncomfortable around Tony, a perjured statement by a detective, and intentionally misleading information about blood samples. These were the pieces of circumstantial evidence used to send Tony to death row for 38 years.

Same Blood Type As Victim

During the trial, the prosecutors exclaimed to the jury that Tony had the same blood type as the blood found at the scene of the crime. This was the only connection that they could establish linking Tony to the victim physically. However, it was revealed to the defense after Tony's conviction that Tony and the victim had the same blood type, meaning the blood samples could have easily been that of the victim's rather than Tony's.

Other Suspects Were Not Investigated

A long list of potential suspects with connections to the victim were not investigated and not disclosed to defense at trial. The victim had a violent ex-boyfriend and an attempted rapist as a former tenant. There was an attempted robbery across the street the night of the murder. The victim's exterminator had a copy of her house key. As a midwife, she frequently hosted young parents into her home and often gave them copies of her key. The victim also hosted dozens of men who she did not know at her home for wine and cheese parties that she found by posting male wanted ads in the local paper.

Detective Committed Perjury

Tony asked a detective prior to his arrest if he could let him know if he would be indicted so that he could let his mother know himself. Upon testifying, the detective stated that Tony asked “when” he would be indicted, portraying the question as an admission of guilt. After Tony’s conviction, the detective’s notes revealed that Tony did in fact use the word “if.”

Speed Of Trial

Within six weeks of the night of the crime, Tony was arrested and charged with murder and rape. Tony was sentenced to death just over 100 days after the crime. The rushed nature of the investigation meant not pursuing leads that would have complicated the narrative that Tony was the perpetrator.

DNA Evidence Excludes Tony From The Crime

Decades after Tony’s conviction, slides of DNA from the crime scene were tested and revealed that Tony did not commit the rape as he had asserted all along. Since the state professed both crimes were committed by the same person, this evidence led to Tony’s release from death row.