An Arizona woman was set free after being on death row for over two decades. An ex-inmate was able to post bail for her conviction in the death of her 4 year old son with the money of “supporters”?! Hit the jump for more detail!
Debra Milke was convicted in 1990 of the death of her 4 year old son. She allegedly killed her young son Christopher for a $5,000 insurance policy, going as far as: “dressing the boy in his favorite outfit in December 1989 and telling him he was going to see Santa Claus at a mall before handing him over to two men who took the child into the desert and shot him”
The Maricopa County Sheriffs Jail in Arizona let the woman go after she was able to post her bale of $250,000 and a judge ruled that “there was no evidence directly linking her to the murder of her son”. She was able to “raise” the bail money from her supporters.
Those in support of Milke include residents from her mother’s current home town Switzerland. Milke’s mother married a U.S military policeman in Berlin and has gained support since from many in Germany as well as Switzerland. One of her main advocates include Max Krucker, former president of the Swiss community in which Wilke’s mother now lives.
“Krucker was among the organizers of an effort in the Swiss town of Emmetten to support Milke, including by establishing a bank account that collected donations to aid in her defense. The account eventually netted about 200,000 Swiss francs, or about $213,000 today. It’s now nearly drained, he said.”
49-year old Milke’s husband believes that she is guilty of the murder, and prosecutors denied to respond on the case. At the time 25 year old Milke”s had been an insurance company employee during the time her son was murdered.
“No civilized system of justice should have to depend on such flimsy evidence, quite possibly tainted by dishonesty or overzealousness, to decide whether to take someone’s life or liberty,” Chief Judge Alex Kozinski wrote for the court
“The court noted four cases in which judges threw out confessions or indictments because Saldate lied under oath and four instances in which cases were tossed out or confessions excluded because Saldate violated the suspect’s constitutional rights” MyFox
