California to execute man who may actually be innocent of slaughtering Chino Hills family
- 8 years ago
CHINO HILLS, CALIFORNIA — After California lifted a moratorium on executions last November, the state is now set to execute Kevin Cooper despite the fact that several federal judges say Cooper may be innocent.
On the night of June 4, 1983, the Ryen family and an 11-year-old boy staying with them that night was brutally hacked to death at their ranch in Chino Hills, California. The sole survivor was an 8-year-old boy.
By tracing two phone calls made from the home, police discovered that Cooper, a convicted burglar who recently escaped from a minimum-security prison, had been using the house next door as a hideout. Evidence at the murder scene, including a footprint from a prison-issued shoe and a small amount of blood on the wall, suggested that Cooper had been at the scene.
Everything seemed to point to Cooper as the killer. The blood, the shoeprint and testimony from Josh Ryen — the sole survivor — all supported this theory.
However, after the verdict was announced and Cooper was placed on San Quentin's death row, there were doubts. There were questions about how one man was able to overwhelm five people, one of whom — 41-year-old Douglas Ryen — was an ex-Marine.
Also, there were three murder weapons: a hatchet, a knife and an ice pick, according to CBS News. Three weapons would be difficult for a single person to use all at once, but prosecutors argued that Cooper was ambidextrous.
According to NBC News, two witnesses say they saw three white men drive a station wagon on the road leading away from the home the same night of the murder. This corroborates young Josh Ryen's initial statements about how he saw three to four white or Latino men murder his family.
And calling into question the prosecution's most damning evidence, NBC News reports that Cooper's original blood sample was re-tested in 2004 by accident and was found to contain DNA from two different people, suggesting the sample was tainted.
Cooper has no more court appeals lined up before his execution, and he has filed a last-ditch appeal to California Governor Jerry Brown.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Welcome to TomoNews, where we animate the most entertaining news on the internets. Come here for an animated look at viral headlines, US news, celebrity gossip, salacious scandals, dumb criminals and much more! Subscribe now for daily news animations that will knock your socks off.
Visit our official website for all the latest, uncensored videos: http://us.tomonews.net
Check out our Android app: http://bit.ly/1rddhCj
Check out our iOS app: http://bit.ly/1gO3z1f
Get top stories delivered to your inbox everyday: http://bit.ly/tomo-newsletter
Stay connected with us here:
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/TomoNewsUS
Twitter @tomonewsus http://www.twitter.com/TomoNewsUS
Google+ http://plus.google.com/+TomoNewsUS/
Instagram @tomonewsus http://instagram.com/tomonewsus
On the night of June 4, 1983, the Ryen family and an 11-year-old boy staying with them that night was brutally hacked to death at their ranch in Chino Hills, California. The sole survivor was an 8-year-old boy.
By tracing two phone calls made from the home, police discovered that Cooper, a convicted burglar who recently escaped from a minimum-security prison, had been using the house next door as a hideout. Evidence at the murder scene, including a footprint from a prison-issued shoe and a small amount of blood on the wall, suggested that Cooper had been at the scene.
Everything seemed to point to Cooper as the killer. The blood, the shoeprint and testimony from Josh Ryen — the sole survivor — all supported this theory.
However, after the verdict was announced and Cooper was placed on San Quentin's death row, there were doubts. There were questions about how one man was able to overwhelm five people, one of whom — 41-year-old Douglas Ryen — was an ex-Marine.
Also, there were three murder weapons: a hatchet, a knife and an ice pick, according to CBS News. Three weapons would be difficult for a single person to use all at once, but prosecutors argued that Cooper was ambidextrous.
According to NBC News, two witnesses say they saw three white men drive a station wagon on the road leading away from the home the same night of the murder. This corroborates young Josh Ryen's initial statements about how he saw three to four white or Latino men murder his family.
And calling into question the prosecution's most damning evidence, NBC News reports that Cooper's original blood sample was re-tested in 2004 by accident and was found to contain DNA from two different people, suggesting the sample was tainted.
Cooper has no more court appeals lined up before his execution, and he has filed a last-ditch appeal to California Governor Jerry Brown.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Welcome to TomoNews, where we animate the most entertaining news on the internets. Come here for an animated look at viral headlines, US news, celebrity gossip, salacious scandals, dumb criminals and much more! Subscribe now for daily news animations that will knock your socks off.
Visit our official website for all the latest, uncensored videos: http://us.tomonews.net
Check out our Android app: http://bit.ly/1rddhCj
Check out our iOS app: http://bit.ly/1gO3z1f
Get top stories delivered to your inbox everyday: http://bit.ly/tomo-newsletter
Stay connected with us here:
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/TomoNewsUS
Twitter @tomonewsus http://www.twitter.com/TomoNewsUS
Google+ http://plus.google.com/+TomoNewsUS/
Instagram @tomonewsus http://instagram.com/tomonewsus