Episode 33: The Four Unfortunate Sailors
Episode description
In 1997 four United States Navy sailors 25-year-old Danial Williams, 27-year-old Derek Tice, 21- year-old Joseph Dick, Jr., and 21- year-old Eric Wilson collectively known as “The Norfolk Four,” confessed to the brutal rape and murder of 18-year-old Michelle Moore-Bosko, the wife of a U.S. Navy man, in Norfolk, Virginia. The four were sentenced based on their declared false confessions, as they were subjected to high-pressure interrogation tactics, including threats of death penalty and questionable use of lie detector tests., The details of Williams, Dick, Tice, and Wilson’s confessions did not match the crime scene, and furthermore there was the confession of the real rapist and killer of Michelle Moore-Bosko. All DNA and forensic evidence only pointed to one man, Omar Abdul Ballard, and his confession was the only confession that matched the physical evidence found at the crime scene. Ballard also swore under oath that he committed the crime alone. So, were these four sailors whose case involved police misconduct, false confessions and unconstitutionally suppressed evidence wrongfully convicted?
References:
The Disturbing Case of the Norfolk Four - TIME
Case Timeline | The Confessions | FRONTLINE | PBS
"Norfolk Four" Pardoned 20 Years After False Confessions | FRONTLINE (pbs.org)
Freedom for the Norfolk Four - The CrimeWire
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