Garr Keith Hardin: Jeffrey Dewayne Clark: Kentucky; Momentous Development. Kentucky's highest ocurt vacates their "satanic abuse} convictions and orders a new trial. (May the authorities quickly throw in the towel and put an end to this madness. HL)..." "The evidence seemed compelling: a broken chalice, a blood-soaked rag and a single hair on a lifeless body in what prosecutors described as a gruesome human sacrifice to Satan. It was enough for a jury to convict Jeffrey Dewayne Clark and Garr Keith Hardin at the height of the satanic abuse scare of the 1980s and 1990s, sending them to a Kentucky prison for more than 20 years. But since their 1995 trial, DNA evidence has shown the hair didn't belong to Hardin, and the blood wasn't from a sacrificial ritual but from Hardin cutting himself on the chalice's jagged edge."..." During the trial, prosecutors said Hardin and Clark were devil worshippers and they killed Warford as part of a satanic ritual. To support this theory, they showed the jury a broken chalice and blood-soaked rag found in Hardin's bedroom. They said the blood came from an animal that Hardin had sacrificed. And Detective Mark Handy testified that Hardin had told him he "got tired of looking at animals and began to want to do human sacrifices." The only evidence prosecutors had tying Hardin to the scene was a single hair found on Warford's sweatpants that an expert testified "matched" Hardin. But the science behind that analysis has since been discredited, and DNA analysis years later showed the hair did not come from Hardin. Also, DNA analysis showed the blood in the rag was Hardin's blood, not an animal that had been sacrificed to Satan. Plus, it was later revealed that Handy "testified falsely under oath" in another trial that resulted in the false murder conviction of another man, who was not exonerated until 2009."

STORY: "Kentucky court orders new trial in satanic killing case," by reporter Adam Beam, (AP), published by ABC News on August 24, 2017.

GIST: "The evidence seemed compelling: a broken chalice, a blood-soaked rag and a single hair on a lifeless body in what prosecutors described as a gruesome human sacrifice to Satan. It was enough for a jury to convict Jeffrey Dewayne Clark and Garr Keith Hardin at the height of the satanic abuse scare of the 1980s and 1990s, sending them to a Kentucky prison for more than 20 years. But since their 1995 trial, DNA evidence has shown the hair didn't belong to Hardin, and the blood wasn't from a sacrificial ritual but from Hardin cutting himself on the chalice's jagged edge. On Thursday, Kentucky's highest court vacated Clark and Hardin's convictions and ordered a new trial........."We hope this decision will persuade Commonwealth's Attorney David Williams to realize that this case was based on nothing more than far reaching conjecture that has now been completely discredited by DNA evidence and should be dismissed once and for all," said Linda Smith, Clark's attorney and the supervising attorney for the Kentucky Innocence Project. Just after midnight on April 2, 1992, Rhonda Sue Warford left her home in Louisville and never returned. Authorities found her body three days later about 50 miles away in Meade County. She had been stabbed multiple times "following a close-range, violent struggle" according to the medical examiner. Warford was dating Hardin at the time, and Clark was one of Hardin's close friends. Warford's mother told police she believed all three were involved in satanism. During the trial, prosecutors said Hardin and Clark were devil worshippers and they killed Warford as part of a satanic ritual. To support this theory, they showed the jury a broken chalice and blood-soaked rag found in Hardin's bedroom. They said the blood came from an animal that Hardin had sacrificed. And Detective Mark Handy testified that Hardin had told him he "got tired of looking at animals and began to want to do human sacrifices." The only evidence prosecutors had tying Hardin to the scene was a single hair found on Warford's sweatpants that an expert testified "matched" Hardin. But the science behind that analysis has since been discredited, and DNA analysis years later showed the hair did not come from Hardin. Also, DNA analysis showed the blood in the rag was Hardin's blood, not an animal that had been sacrificed to Satan. Plus, it was later revealed that Handy "testified falsely under oath" in another trial that resulted in the false murder conviction of another man, who was not exonerated until 2009. Prosecutors have pointed out that Hardin later confessed to the murder in hearing before the parole board and Clark has confessed to helping Hardin move the body. But the Supreme Court ruled those confessions had little merit because they were "insincere and contrived admissions, which are induced solely by the yearning to be free."

The entire story can be found at:

 http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/court-orders-trial-satanic-killing-case-49398430

See this Blog's post - on the $3.4 million compensation awarded   to Fran and Dan Keller  earlier this week, at the link  below: "

Dan and Fran Keller; Texas; Momentous Development...Wrongly convicted in 'satanic day care case,' they will receive $3.4 million compensation, The American Statesman reports..."The Keller case made national news after three children accused them in 1991 of leading ghastly satanic rituals that supposedly included desecrated graves, videotaped orgies, dismembered babies and tortured pets. No evidence of such activities was discovered at their in-home day care facility, and the case against them collapsed about two decades later when the only physical evidence of abuse was acknowledged as a mistake by the examining physician. Freed on signature bonds in 2013, the Kellers launched an effort to clear their names. Hampton argued that the Kellers were the victims of “satanic panic” — a belief that swept the nation in the early 1990s that a national network of secretive cults was preying upon day care children for sex and other horrors. The Kellers also were harmed, he argued, by the combined efforts of inept therapists, gullible police and an investigation that spiraled out of control, producing a suspect list of 26 ritual abusers, including many of the Kellers’ neighbors and a respected Austin police captain. Children who reported no problems at the day care were ignored, and leading psychologists and criminology professors provided affidavits saying improper interview techniques and subtle encouragement by therapists produced believable-but-false memories in the children who accused the Kellers of abuse. Taped interviews of a Keller accuser, a 3-year-old girl, made at the Travis County sheriff’s office have since been used in lectures by a top specialist in assessing and treating crime victims to illustrate common interviewing mistakes."

https://smithforensic.blogspot.ca/2017/08/dan-and-fran-keller-texas-momentous.html

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy; Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog;