William Bradfield/Susan Reinert murder
Martha Sprowles
I was curious to find out exactly what the "prosecutorial misconduct"
was that caused Jay Smith's conviction for first degree murder to be
overturned, and for the state supreme court to rule that there should be
no retrial. This man was on death row when he was released.
Turns out that it was a case of the prosecution's not turning over to
the defense all the evidence they had which might have been helpful to
the defense case. Shades of deja vu, huh?
For anyone who forgot, or who never knew about this case, here is a
précis, excerpted from yesterday's Philadelphia Inquirer:
(William Bradfield died the other day from an apparent heart attack in
his cell in Graterford Prison, Philadelphia, without ever talking about
his part in the murder of Susan Reinert and her two children. His cell
was searched for any clues, and nothing was found.)
George Bochetto, a lawyer for former Upper Merion High School principal
Jay C. Smith, who also was convicted of the killings but later freed by
the state Supreme Court because of prosecutorial misconduct, said, "It's
a dman shame that he died without disclosing where the two children are
and what happened to them. The family certainly deserves to know."
Bochetto also said he had wanted to question Bradfield as part of the
libel suit Smith has filed against Joseph Wambaugh, the author who wrote
a best-selling book about the case, _Echoes in the Darkness_.
(Btw, I finally remembered the last name of the Mary who also wrote a
book about this: Walton. Can't recall the name of her book, though.)
The man who prosecuted Bradfield, Richard L. Guida, said he didn't
believe a secret had died with Bradfield.
"In my opinion, he had no idea" where the children's bodies were, Guida
said. He declined to elaborate.
At the 1983 trial, Guida--who would later become a criminal defendant in
a drug case--argued that Bradfield had plotted the murders to collect
the insurance money and Reinert's $200,000 estate, which she had willed
to Bradfield, but that an "unnamed accomplice" had done the killing and
disposed of the bodies.
-------
(Richard F. Maffett Jr., Bradfield's last lawyer) had a theory about why
Bradfield, unlike Smith, appeared to have stopped struggling to get out
of prison or to clear his name.
"One of his literary heroes was Ezra Pound, and Ezra Pound spent a great
deal of time, not in a prison, but in a mental institution. I think he
saw himself as sort of like Pound, and maybe that's why he didn't
challenge his conviction after his direct appeals were up," said
Maffett.
Bradfield, who once taught English and Latin at Upper Merion High, had
been at Graterford (since 1985).
----
Reinert, 36, also taught English at the school.
The divorced Reinert and Bradfield were having an affair, and she had
taken out more than $700,000 in term life insurance, naming Bradfield as
the beneficiary in the months before her death.
She also had told friends that she and Bradfield were planning
marriage. She described him on her life-insurance policy as her
"intended husband."
Her naked and bruised body was found in the tire well of her 1978
Plymouth Horizon just before dawn on June 25, 1979, in the parking lot
of what then was called the Host Inn Motel outside Harrisburg.
Authorities determined she had died from a massive overdose of morphine.
The children's bodies have never been found. They were declared dead
several years ago.
----
The other defendant, Smith, spent six years on death row. The
Pennsylvania Supreme Court, however, threw out Smith's conviction on
Sept. 18, 1992, saying the state had engaged in conduct during the trial
that was so improper Smith should not be retried for the crimes.
The court said the prosecution failed to disclose evidence that might
have benefited Smith's defense and violated "all principles of justice
and fairness."
Martha Sprowles
Firefly192
Martha Sprowles <spro...@nospam.erols.com> wrote:
>I was curious to find out exactly what the "prosecutorial misconduct"
>was that caused Jay Smith's conviction for first degree murder to be
>overturned, and for the state supreme court to rule that there should be
>no retrial. This man was on death row when he was released.
>
>Turns out that it was a case of the prosecution's not turning over to
>the defense all the evidence they had which might have been helpful to
>the defense case. Shades of deja vu, huh?
>
>For anyone who forgot, or who never knew about this case, here is a
>précis, excerpted from yesterday's Philadelphia Inquirer:
Thanks, Martha. Wonder where Jay Smith is now, and what he's up to.
Nervous,
Steph
Lo52964
>Martha Sprowles <spro...@nospam.erols.com> wrote:
>Turns out that it was a case of the prosecution's not turning over to
>>the defense all the evidence they had which might have been helpful to
>>the defense case. Shades of deja vu, huh?
Every ADA & ASA in the country should have "Brady v. Maryland" tatooed on his
forehead.
" Don't talk to me about justice, it is bad enough to be mixed up with the
law."
LO5 2964