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Fishmonger Dave
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Here's the highlights of the dep that jumped out at me:
Summary of evidence against TH - considering all of this, Gitchell says he should have been a "person of interest" and Gitchell has "no comment" as to why he wasn't more thoroughly investigated:
17 Q If in 1993, while you were 09:47:18
18 investigating the Robin Hood Hills murders, 09:47:21
19 would you have wanted to know if any of the 09:47:25
20 parents of the victims had a history of 09:47:29
21 violence? 09:47:32
22 A Yes. 09:47:32
23 Q Would you have wanted to know if any 09:47:33
24 of the parents of the victims had a history of 09:47:35
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1 sexual abuse of children or others? 09:47:38
2 A Yes. 09:47:41
3 Q Would you have wanted to know if a 09:47:41
4 stepfather of one of the victims had been 09:47:43
5 visually placed with the victims on the evening 09:47:47
6 of their disappearance? 09:47:50
7 A Yes. 09:47:52
8 Q Would you have wanted to know and 09:47:52
9 consider if there had been DNA evidence 09:47:56
10 consistent with a stepfather of the victim found 09:48:04
11 in the ligature binding one of the victims? 09:48:07
12 A Sure. 09:48:11
13 Q Would you have wanted to know if there 09:48:11
14 had been DNA found at the crime scene that was09:48:13
15 consistent with a friend of one of the 09:48:17
16 stepfathers of the victims and the stepfather 09:48:18
17 had been with the friend on the night in 09:48:22
18 question? 09:48:24
19 A Sure. 09:48:25
20 Q Would you have wanted to know if one 09:48:25
21 of the stepfathers of one of the victims was 09:48:27
22 unaccounted for for several hours on the 09:48:30
23 evenings that the victims went missing? 09:48:32
24 A Yes. 09:48:36
1 Q Would you have wanted to know if the 09:48:36
2 stepfather or a stepfather of one of the victims 09:48:41
3 had given multiple different accounts about his 09:48:45
4 whereabouts and actions on May 5th of 1993? 09:48:46
5 A Sure. 09:48:50
6 Q Would you have wanted to know if one 09:48:50
7 of the stepfathers or if a stepfather of one of 09:48:52
8 the victims had said he was searching for his 09:48:56
9 son for four hours straight, but that there was 09:49:00
10 credible evidence that he was actually at a 09:49:02
11 friend's house playing guitar for an hour? 09:49:06
12 A Sure. 09:49:09
13 Q Would you have wanted to know if a 09:49:09
14 stepfather of one of the victims was found to 09:49:12
15 have a pocket knife of his stepson that the rest 09:49:14
16 of the family believed would have been with the 09:49:17
17 victim at the time of the death? 09:49:21
18 A Sure. 09:49:23
19 Q Would you have wanted to know if the 09:49:23
20 stepfather was credibly accused of doing 09:49:25
21 laundry, including the drapes and beddings in 09:49:28
22 the house, within 24 hours of the time that the 09:49:32
23 children went missing? 09:49:36
24 A Sure. 09:49:37
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1 Q If all of those pieces of evidence 09:49:43
2 that I just walked through, which were not 09:49:46
3 available to you or at least were not found by 09:49:49
4 the police in 1993 or '94, if those were 09:49:52
5 available to you when you were investigating the 09:49:56
6 Robin Hood Hills murders, would you, as a 09:49:59
7 seasoned or experienced investigator, want to 09:50:03
8 take a look, as we've been using that phrase, at 09:50:06
9 that stepfather?
21 If all that evidence were available or 09:51:09
22 available to be considered about one of the 09:51:15
23 stepfathers of the victims of the Robin Hood 09:51:19
24 Hills murders in May of 1993, is it fair to say 09:51:21
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1 that the police, internally at least, would have 09:51:28
2 had to consider that stepfather a person of 09:51:31
3 interest? 09:51:34
4 A Yes, they would have. 09:51:35
1 it appears that the 09:52:51
2 West Memphis Police Department and the 09:52:53
3 prosecutors have never looked at Terry Hobbs, one09:52:56
4 of the stepfathers of one of the victims, 09:53:00
5 seriously as being a person of interest or even a 09:53:03
6 possible suspect in this case. And I know you've 09:53:07
7 been gone for a long time. Do you have any 09:53:16
8 understanding of why that is or any explanation 09:53:16
9 of why that would be? 09:53:16
10 A I really can't comment on it. 09:53:18
The investigation into the murders is still open:
6 Q Tell me, in the terms of what the West 09:12:20
7 Memphis Police Department considered, was the09:12:26
8 investigation into the Robin Hood Hills murders 09:12:30
9 still open at the time that the prosecutors 09:12:34
10 began trying the West Memphis Three for the 09:12:37
11 crimes? 09:12:40
12 A Yes, it was. 09:12:40
13 Q Do you have an understanding of when 09:12:41
14 that investigation into the Robin Hills murders 09:12:42
15 was closed? 09:12:45
16 A I don't think it's closed to this day.
The claims I've seen (anyone have a cite or a link?) that the WMPD (et al) said "if you knew what we knew, you'd think they're guilty" are false. Gitchell says there is no evidence that's not in the public record:
Q So, there's not a secret bag or pocket 09:22:41
4 of information that the West Memphis Police 09:22:44
5 Department or the prosecutors have that 09:22:47
6 convinces them that the West Memphis Three are09:22:49
7 guilty but that the rest of the public can't 09:22:50
8 know? 09:22:54
9 A Right. There's no -- there's no 09:22:55
10 secret in there whatsoever. It's just -- as I 09:22:57
11 mentioned before, it's the perception people 09:22:59
12 received from media and HBO.
all that evidence is in 09:24:10
15 the public domain as far as you know? 09:24:11
16 A Yes. Yes. 09:24:14
Family should be looked at when child is murdered
4 Q In a -- in a homicide investigation in 09:26:24
5 general, is it appropriate to -- for the police 09:26:28
6 who are investigating the homicide to look at 09:26:32
7 people close to the victim as potential 09:26:36
8 suspects? 09:26:40
9 A You would look at -- you would look at 09:26:41
10 people close, especially family. You would look 09:26:43
11 at them first of all -- first, right off the 09:26:46
12 bat. 09:26:48
13 Q And why is that? 09:26:49
14 A Because I think statistically it's 09:26:50
15 proven that victims are usually a result of 09:26:56
16 family, close friends, known acquaintances. I 09:27:00
17 believe that's where -- that's where you pretty 09:27:05
18 much start from and expand from there. 09:27:08
19 Q And when you talk about family in the 09:27:10
20 instance of a homicide of a child, would that 09:27:12
21 include the parents of the child as potential 09:27:15
22 suspects? 09:27:18
23 A As -- as much as you would hate to go 09:27:18
24 down that path as an investigator or police 09:27:22
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1 officer, you've got to go down that path. 09:27:25
2 Q When we are talking back and forth
Can you 09:38:14
3 explain to them why you haven't kept up, and on 09:38:18
4 the flip flop of that, why you've actually tried 09:38:20
5 to forget the events related to the murders and 09:38:22
6 the convictions of the West Memphis Three? 09:38:25
7 A Well, first of all, it was a 09:38:26
8 horrendous case. Pulling the bodies out of that 09:38:28
9 water, there's not a day goes by that I don't 09:38:35
10 think about it. That's why I've tried to forget 09:38:44
11 it. 09:38:52
12 Q
Believes the WM3 are guilty, but the new evidence should be closely looked at in the event of a new trial:
If you were the 09:39:52
8 one -- and I know you're not, but if you were 09:40:04
9 the one responsible for determining today 09:40:06
10 whether the West Memphis Three either received a 09:40:09
11 new -- let's just say received a new trial as a 09:40:12
12 result of new evidence, would you want to look 09:40:15
13 at that new evidence closely? 09:40:17
14 A If -- yes. To give you a short 09:40:21
15 answer, yes. But to even say something a little 09:40:23
16 more to add to this, every day during that trial 09:40:28
17 I said a prayer, and that was: "Let us have 09:40:30
18 justice, and let the vengeance be that of the 09:40:34
19 Lord." So, I wanted to make sure we would 09:40:38
20 investigate properly, and whomever was involved, 09:40:44
21 whoever was -- and arrest the correct people. 09:40:47
22 If I did not feel in my heart these were not 09:40:58
23 (sic) the correct people, I would probably still 09:40:58
24 be there working on it, until they just kicked 09:41:00
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1 me out the door or I died one. So --- 09:41:04
2 Q Well -- sorry. Go ahead. 09:41:06
3 A I feel very confident we have the 09:41:08
4 right people. There's no doubt in my mind. 09:41:11
5 I've not lost any sleep over that aspect of it; 09:41:13
6 I have just thinking about the three little 09:41:17
7 boys. The -- I know without a doubt we have the 09:41:20
8 right individuals. 09:41:23
if you were still at the West Memphis 09:41:51
2 Police Department charged with investigating 09:41:55
3 murders and the Robin Hood Hills investigation 09:41:58
4 was still under your purview, would you want to 09:42:02
5 look at any of this, quote, new evidence to 09:42:05
6 assure yourself that the West Memphis Three were 09:42:10
7 the right guys? 09:42:11
8 A Yes. And I would want them -- I'm 09:42:14
9 gone from there, and I would still want them to. 09:42:16
10 Yes.
Acknowledges that questioning of TH in 2007 shows WMPD still looking at case:
they did question Terry Hobbs with 09:46:06
16 regard to his whereabouts on May 5th of 1993 09:46:09
17 and they did this questioning in June of 2007, 09:46:13
18 would that suggest to you that the West Memphis 09:46:18
19 Police are still investigating as new evidence 09:46:20
20 becomes available or as requested? 09:46:24
21 A As reque -- yes. And I believe West 09:46:27
22 Memphis Police Department would always do that 09:46:29
23 on any case.
If new evidence clears WM3, they should be freed:
9 Now, if there's new evidence, fine. 09:56:46
10 But don't -- don't put that monkey on my back 09:56:48
11 that I've said something incorrectly over 16 09:56:51
12 years that I may or may not remember, that 09:56:54
13 they're going to be entitled to a new trial for 09:56:56
14 something I said. No. That's why I'm not going 09:57:00
15 to discuss the case. 09:57:01
16 Q Fair enough. 09:57:02
17 A If they have new evidence, hey, I'm 09:57:02
18 all for it. Go for it.
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