The Norfolk Four are a group of four members of the US Navy who suffered a miscarriage of justice by their conviction for rape and murder in 1997. The Norfolk Four moniker came about when they worked at the Navy base in Norfolk, Florida.
Shoddy investigations by the police led to false confessions that saw them incarcerated for a decade.
While the person who committed the crime was arrested and charged, the Norfolk four wasted their life in prison for a crime they did not commit.
Danial Williams
Danial Williams was the first of the four men to get arrested.
A friend of Michelle mentioned to the police that Williams was obsessed with the murdered woman. Williams also lived in the same apartment with his newly wedded wife.
He was immediately arrested and taken to the police station for questioning.
The Norfolk detectives interrogated Williams for over 10 hours until he caved and confessed to committing the murder.
Later on, Williams recanted his confession. He said the prolonged interrogation made him feel harassed, humiliated, and convinced he was a criminal.
For the torture and threats of the death sentence to end, all he had to do was confess.
With his confession on record, Danial Williams was indicted and arraigned in court in August 1997.
The Norfolk police did not collect additional corroborating evidence such as DNA or search William’s house for the murder weapon or bloody clothes to show in court. At the time, the confession was all they required.
Months after the case had commenced in court, the police discovered that William’s DNA did not match the perpetrator.
However, they kept the information secret and let the case against Danial Williams continue.
When Danial William and his lawyers discovered that the DNA did not match, the police and prosecution offered them a plea bargain, which they refused.
Consequently, the police realized they needed a new suspect as they did not have concrete evidence against Danial William. It led to the arrest of Joe Dick.
He was not released and was still in court as a suspect.
Joseph J Dick Jr.
Joseph J Dick Jr, or Joe, was Danial William’s roommate and a fellow sailor. These circumstances led to his arrest.
At questioning, Dick had an alibi. He said he was on duty at the ship at the time of the murder.
However, the police did not believe him. Also, they did not investigate the alibi further. They did not check with the Navy base for records of whether Dick was on duty that night.
Like Danial Williams before him, Joseph J Dick Jr was also questioned for hours until he confessed to the crime and charges instituted against him.
The police presented him in court as the new suspect in the murder of Michelle Moore. The prosecution relied on the confession and the assertion that he was not on duty at the ship.
Fortunately for him, and unfortunately for the police, eleven weeks after his arrest, the DNA test confirmed that Joe Dick’s DNA did not match the perpetrator.
He was not released and went on to get convicted.
Eric Wilson
With William and Joe now off the hook, the police needed new suspects.
Therefore, they coerced Joe Dick to provide them with the names of other suspects.
One of the men he mentioned was Eric Wilson. However, this time, the police conducted a somewhat deeper investigation, as they ruled Wilson out since his DNA did not match that at the crime scene.
However, he was still tried and convicted for the crime.
Eric Wilson was also a Navy officer.
Derik Tice
Another suspect provided to the police was Derik Tice. Joe Dick picked him from army officer photos and claimed he was also involved in the rape and murder of Michelle Moore.
At the time, Derik lived in Florida, and the Norfolk police went to arrest him at his home.
Like the other three men before him, Derik Tice was interrogated for over ten hours and eventually admitted to the crime to end the torture.
However, a DNA test also ruled out Derik Tice as the culprit.
Four additional suspects in the crime were arrested but did not confess and got released before getting to court.
These four innocent men got prosecuted and convicted for a crime they did not commit.
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