aThousandYearsWide
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On July 13, 1988, Pamela Dreher was running her newly-opened tropical fish store in Delgado Square on Wrightsville Avenue.
The 32-year-old wife and mother was working alone when she was shot and killed execution-style just before closing time. A neighboring shopkeeper found her face down in a pool of blood, and investigators found $173 missing from her cash register.
The City of Wilmington is being sued by a man who spent 28 years behind bars for a murder he has always maintained he did not commit.
Johnny Small's conviction was overturned last year after a key witness from the 1988 murder of Pamela Dreher recanted his testimony and other elements of the case against Small fell apart.
As Small's attorneys prepare to take the city to court, we are learning more about why Small and others blame the Wilmington Police Department for sending the wrong person to prison.
David Bollinger, the state's main witness in the trial, is speaking to reporters for the first time.
Bollinger claims retired WPD Detective JJ Lightener threatened to arrest him for murder and seek the death penalty if he didn't falsely testify against Small, who was his best friend.
Bollinger, who was 19 at the time this happened, says he lived in fear for years. But after finding the courage to come forward with the truth, he's trying to make things right in part by publicly voicing his concerns about corruption at the WPD.
"If this was common practice back then, how many people are in jail for something they didn't do? How many people were forced to tell something that's not true?" Bollinger wonders.
Bollinger and other witnesses who testified for the state in the 1980s now say the WPD suppressed evidence that was favorable to Small. Small's attorneys say had that evidence been presented in 1989, it would likely have led to a different outcome at his trial.
Small was only 15 at the time of his arrest for the crime but was tried as an adult and sentenced to life in prison. At the age of 44, he was released on house arrest after a judge heard the recanted testimony and new evidence about questionable practices of the 1988 Wilmington Police Department.
Due to insufficient evidence to try the case again, prosecutors dismissed all charges against Small in September 2016.
www.wect.com
The 32-year-old wife and mother was working alone when she was shot and killed execution-style just before closing time. A neighboring shopkeeper found her face down in a pool of blood, and investigators found $173 missing from her cash register.
The City of Wilmington is being sued by a man who spent 28 years behind bars for a murder he has always maintained he did not commit.
Johnny Small's conviction was overturned last year after a key witness from the 1988 murder of Pamela Dreher recanted his testimony and other elements of the case against Small fell apart.
As Small's attorneys prepare to take the city to court, we are learning more about why Small and others blame the Wilmington Police Department for sending the wrong person to prison.
David Bollinger, the state's main witness in the trial, is speaking to reporters for the first time.
Bollinger claims retired WPD Detective JJ Lightener threatened to arrest him for murder and seek the death penalty if he didn't falsely testify against Small, who was his best friend.
Bollinger, who was 19 at the time this happened, says he lived in fear for years. But after finding the courage to come forward with the truth, he's trying to make things right in part by publicly voicing his concerns about corruption at the WPD.
"If this was common practice back then, how many people are in jail for something they didn't do? How many people were forced to tell something that's not true?" Bollinger wonders.
Bollinger and other witnesses who testified for the state in the 1980s now say the WPD suppressed evidence that was favorable to Small. Small's attorneys say had that evidence been presented in 1989, it would likely have led to a different outcome at his trial.
Small was only 15 at the time of his arrest for the crime but was tried as an adult and sentenced to life in prison. At the age of 44, he was released on house arrest after a judge heard the recanted testimony and new evidence about questionable practices of the 1988 Wilmington Police Department.
Due to insufficient evidence to try the case again, prosecutors dismissed all charges against Small in September 2016.
Witness says police forced him to lie in murder trial
The City of Wilmington is being sued by a man who spent 28 years behind bars for a murder he has always maintained he did not commit. Johnny Small's conviction was overturned last year, after a key witnesses from the 1988 murder of Pamela Dreher recanted his testimony.
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