GUILTY NC - Tim Hennis on trial in the '85 Eastburn murders, Fort Bragg

[SMK]

I really wish I could be convinced that Hennis is guilty. I'd rather believe that, than to feel, as I do, that the evidence never matched and the DNA was allowed to be stored with his saliva and was contaminated or downright fabricated.

He has been facing this for a second time since 2005. He has been locked up for 6 years. In the beginning he missed being a young husband and father. Now he is missing being a grandfather.

I really wish I could become convinced of his guilt. I wonder if Whisnant's book is too biased? Did it persuade me , or is it the truth? I came to the case late, so I am obsessed at a time when most have dropped it . 😄😝

 

[msvick66]

I've been following it for a very long time and I'm still obsessed too. I do not believe he did this. The woman they tried to say he stopped by for a, shall we say, booty call, lol, actually only said he made a 'passive pass'. Maybe that was just her interpretation. But at any rate, she also said that he was a cuddler, that he was sexually conservative. Doesn't sound like the savage rapist and slaughterer of women and innocent children to me. You did watch the Death Row Stories episode didn't you? Did you notice the box that had Hennis Homicide written on it? And in the 20/20 the box says Suspect Hennis, but it's the box the vaginal swab and other evidence is stored in. I think they kept it all together in the same box which fuels the possibility of contamination, whether accidental or deliberate.

Guess what? I just found the film on yt. Better hurry because they take it down promptly every time anyone puts it up. I'm just about to watch again.

 

[SMK]

You're right. I do recall the old girlfriend saying that, and he does not fit the profile at all.
Yes, the labeling was blatantly biased ‼️ Yes, I will go to Youtube for the film. Thanks for the tip!!!

Thank god someone else is obsessed, lol....... I wish something could be done for him right now. It is the DNA which should be challenged, going after the army just makes him look like he did it, but wants out on a technicality.

 

[SMK]

Was just watching the movie. It's so unreal that you were actually seeing this as a jury member, all the testimony and witnesses.

 

[sundrop]

Flawed NC SBI lab

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[SMK]

Flawed NC SBI lab

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What can be done to argue this in a timely, speedy fashion before a federal court? If he waits to exhaust the military appeals he will be 70 years old. Justice should be timely. What can be done? He has sat for six years already....

 

[sundrop]

His case is not federal but military

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[SMK]

He has already petitioned to get his appeal out of the military court system but the judge denied him. He will never get justice there. He will grow old and die before they do anything. He needs the DNA challenged .....ah, well.......what a travesty. I would rather believe he's guilty than that the DNA thing is allowed to clinch an innocent man.

 

[sundrop]

No that's not correct, the federal appeal has only got to do with the break in service argument, not anything to do with his military conviction

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[SMK]

OK. Will the DNA be challenged?

 

[SMK]

In 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review Hennis' arguments. Other civilian federal courts have ruled it would be inappropriate to consider jurisdiction during Hennis' military appeals.

But those appeals could take decades, according to Hennis' lawyers, who cited the average length of a death sentence appeal in military courts to be 27 years.

http://www.fayobserver.com/news/cri...cle_2ee1bdd9-8f03-55ca-9d9d-00bd6320b782.html

So what is the point? As per above, some civilian federal court must view it otherwise, and go against the military. It's his sole hope. Unless something new and radical is done, and aid comes from outside of the military courts, he won't live to see justice. If he's innocent, it matters.

 

[SMK]

So it's not going to be the DNA ; the argument will turn on if the military had jurisdiction to try him. They'll never rule against themselves, will they? I assume that's why he was reaching out to the federal and civilian judges. I think the faulty SBI lab/ DNA should be the crux of it, but what do I know?:thinking:

 

[msvick66]

There needs to be some sort of action taken that can force them to enter the DNA profile from the towel (and the fingernail dna if it is enough markers to qualify) into CODIS. Without some sort of media fueled and social media driven demand akin to "Serial", Making a Murderer, and the West Memphis 3, it isn't going to happen. There is no excuse for not entering the towel dna if it's a full profile. It shows they don't want it to undermine their case. They would rather a triple murderer go free than admit they railroaded an innocent man, again. He deserves that type of exposure more than the subjects of the others I mentioned, at least Serial and MAM (though Brendan was definitely treated unfairly and needed help). Even if they want to maintain that Hennis is involved, the other dna suggests at the very least an accomplice. How do they get away with not looking for him? They know if they find the donor of that DNA it's going to blow their case against Hennis.

 

[SMK]

There needs to be some sort of action taken that can force them to enter the DNA profile from the towel (and the fingernail dna if it is enough markers to qualify) into CODIS. Without some sort of media fueled and social media driven demand akin to "Serial", Making a Murderer, and the West Memphis 3, it isn't going to happen. There is no excuse for not entering the towel dna if it's a full profile. It shows they don't want it to undermine their case. They would rather a triple murderer go free than admit they railroaded an innocent man, again. He deserves that type of exposure more than the subjects of the others I mentioned, at least Serial and MAM (though Brendan was definitely treated unfairly and needed help). Even if they want to maintain that Hennis is involved, the other dna suggests at the very least an accomplice. How do they get away with not looking for him? They know if they find the donor of that DNA it's going to blow their case against Hennis.

Well said. And they could have tested the DNA years before they did. They knew it didn't belong to Hennis. For years, they were OK both with Hennis being free, and with knowing that likely 2 or more suspects had gotten away was the slaughter of the Eastburn children and mother since 1985. It is unconscionable and horrendously evil. The only possible excuse I can make for them is that they really in their hearts believe Hennis is guilty, and believe the towel and fingernail DNA is meaningless and would only muddy the waters. But how could that be? Who would that DNA be from, which would mean nothing but cause confusion?

YES Hennis absolutely deserves that kind of pressure, more than anyone I can think of, from the public and social media. What can be done? If I thought I could help, I'd do it.

 

[SMK]

Addendum: The Innocence Project, which was embarrassed by the DNA findings in 2006 and Hennis' subsequent conviction in 2010, should have the fortitude to come to his aid on the DNA.

 

[SMK]

In the end, it likely will have to be some division such as the Innocence Project which will help Hennis; some credentialed person should contact them. If the unknown profiles were to point to Patrick Cone or an association of Julie Czerniak, it would pretty much reveal that the Hennis DNA was contaminated. I think he knows he never had any sex consensual or otherwise with Mrs Eastburn. Even if Patrick was cleared, it could still be an accomplice ; I find it telling that the SBI won't release his polygraph results about using the Eastburn bank card.

The courts don't seem terribly interested that he may be being railroaded. The Army has discharged him dishonorably and cut all his pension and benefits, causing his wife and family to suffer after his years of service.

If he's innocent, Gary Eastburn should want to know the identities of who robbed him of his wife and children in 1985. And Hennis would be owed retribution by the state of North Carolina.

 

[msvick66]

Ahhh, you just hit on another big reason they won't enter that DNA into CODIS or honestly look at other suspects. If it is proven what they have done to him, he could file a tremendous lawsuit. I also think it's awful that the pension he already earned can be taken from his wife and children. The service was completed and his compensation for it is rightfully his. The unjustness of this case is staggering. I don't think they should have been able to call him back in to service just to charge him in the first place and then to take away what was already earned is basically theft on the part of the army. It is mindblowingly ironic that Tim served the country to protect the Constitution and he doesn't even get the benefit of being protected by the provisions guaranteed to any US citizen within the document.

 

[SMK]

Yes, even if he were guilty, the case is problematic in terms of his constitutional rights . As it stands, he is probably innocent so as you say the injustice becomes staggering. If innocent, then the situation he and his family find themselves in is horrifying on many levels. The military can drag this on for decades, and its obvious that if he is to see justice, then it must be soon and it must come from outside these quarters, from some party like the Innocence Project. The federal courts refuse to get involved. I wonder if sundrop as a doctor of forensics has the freedom (or willingness)to contact them?

 

[SMK]

Here is the link and address for the Innocence Project which I believe could help Hennis, by having their attorneys push to have those DNA profiles tested.

I hope Sundrop, being a qualified forensic scientist who has worked for Hennis' defense, would consider submitting the case ( unless for some reason this is not allowed or is considered bad form).

http://www.innocenceproject.org/submit-case/

 

[sundrop]

They won't take it because his case is currently under appeal in military court

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