Tuesday, October 5, 2021

Bart McNeil: Illinois: Special event this evening: (Tuesday 5 October: 7.00 EST PM): Live panel; panelists closely connected with case. (Listed below) Should give us lots of insights. Link provided below to FreeBart Facebook Page: (It's a Facebook Live event); Will be watching! HL.


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THE LINK TO THIS EVENING'S EVENT: 

Bart’s FreeBart Facebook Page 

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PUBLISHERS NOTE: I recently highlighted this extraordinary case of innocence  which I have been following for years at: 

https://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2021/10/international-wrongful-conviction-day.html

Tonight's panel, which is scheduled to begin at 7.00 EST PM, precedes a public screening   of the Oxygen Network’s 2-hour premiere special “Snapped: Behind Bars” chronicling the Barton McNeil and Misook Nowlin Wang murder cases.

At 10:15 EST there will be an 11 minute audio from Barton McNeil addressing the attendees.  Big news here.  While this part of the Live Stream is happening the panelists will be coming up on stage and be given mics with the Q&A then to follow for an estimated 30-45 minutes concluding the Live Facebook event at 11 pm EST (10 pm Central).

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THE PANELISTS: 

KEVIN McCLAIN
Since 1998, Kevin W. McClain Investigations, Ltd. has provided con dential, comprehensive, professional
investigative services to the legal, corporate, and insurance communities, as well as discerning individuals
on a local and national scale, including Barton’s legal team.

EDITH BRADY-LUNNY
Local area legal news reporter for National Public Radio, local a liate WGLT. From 2007 to June 2019,
Edith covered crime and legal issues in Central Illinois for The Pantagraph, a daily newspaper in
Bloomington, IL.

PAUL CIOLINO
Famed private investigator, author and president of The International Association of Forensic Criminologists
(IAFC), Paul is often relied on for expert commentary in high-pro le murder cases.

SCOTT REEDER
A veteran journalist who hosted the 2018 14-episode National Public Radio (WGLT) Podcast series
“Suspect Convictions” that featured the Barton McNeil case. He has won numerous national and state
journalism awards including an Investigative Reporters and Editors Medal.

CHRIS ROSS
Cousin to Barton McNeil and Chief Advocate. Chris is a trademark licensing consultant who for ten years
has led the charge advocating Barton's innocence.

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At 10:15 EST there will be an 11 minute audio from Barton McNeil addressing the attendees.  Big news here.  While this part of the Live Stream is happening the panelists will be coming up on stage and be given mics with the Q&A then to follow for an estimated 30-45 minutes concluding the Live Facebook event at 11 pm EST (10 pm Central).

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HOW TO ACCESS 'SNAPPED': The feed will become a placeholder image from 8:15 to 10:15 pm EST as this is when the show will air and can only be shown to the local audience.  Anyone however can go to Oxygen.com and create a login profile and password and receive 3 free credits to watch any of their episodes during this time.  Search under "Snapped: Behind Bars" and look for the one that shows Misook's face and that's the one featuring Bart's case.  It is S1 Ep 2 (Season 1, Episode 2).
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BACKGROUND: "On June 15th, 1998, a divorced father, Barton Monroe McNeil, also known as Bart, had custody of his daughter Christina for the night, per child care arrangements with this ex-wife, Tita McNeil.  Tita worked the third shift at the local hospital. Proud to be such a large part of raising three-year old Christina McNeil, Bart routinely had custody of his daughter, sometimes four or five days a week. Around 10:30 on this particular night, Bart put Christina to bed after her supper. Inexplicably, a few hours later, Bart found Christina awake in the bedroom smiling and talking. Not overly concerned with this behavior, Bart told Christina she needed to get some sleep and tucked her back into bed. Bart awoke at 7:30 the next morning and followed his regular routine. After calling to Christina to get up and get dressed and receiving no response, Bart went into her room to check on her. Bart found his daughter lifeless in her bed. He immediately called 911 and attempted to perform CPR, but to no avail. Paramedics arrived and confirmed the worst: three-year old Christina was dead. It was later indicated by the coroner that she had been smothered to death. Initially, Bart had no idea what could have caused his daughter’s death. But as he observed the state of Christina’s room, Bart began to notice something wasn’t right. The window fan that had been in the first floor bedroom’s window had fallen to the floor. There were two holes cut in the window screen right above the latches, which were unlatched. Bart started to believe that someone had intentionally removed the screen to gain access to his daughter’s room. Two days after Christina’s death, the criminal investigation began to center around Barton McNeil. Bart was charged with two counts of first-degree murder in connection with her death. As Bart awaited trial for the murder of his daughter, he and his attorneys began to piece together what had happened to Christina. The day before Christina’s death, Bart ended his increasing dysfunctional relationship with his girlfriend, Misook Nowlin. Christina was murdered less than twelve hours after Barton’s dramatic showdown with Misook in a public restaurant. Among the items of evidence recovered from the scene were the window screen, a fingerprint located on the inside of the window frame, Christina’s stained bed sheet and pillowcase, and Christina’s stained clothing.  Most of the spots on the sheet were never tested for DNA profiles, and the stains on the pillowcase, and Christina’s clothing, too were not tested.  Nor was any DNA work done on the fingerprint or window screen. At trial, Bart was precluded from presenting evidence regarding Misook’s involvement in this offense.  In July of 1999, Barton McNeil was found guilty of first-degree murder of his three-year old daughter and sentenced to life in prison. As Bart worked to prove his innocence through appeals, Misook Nowlin was making news. In September 2011, Mistook Nowlin made headlines for the murder of her mother-in-law, Wenlan Tyda. Tyda’s murder occurred shortly after Misook’s new husband asked for a divorce, under eerily similar circumstances. In December of 2012, Misook Nowlin was convicted of strangling Tyda and sentenced to 55 years in prison. The realization that Misook is in fact capable of murder under extremely similar circumstances, coupled with the incomplete forensic evidence presented at Bart’s original trial, has prompted the Illinois Innocence Project to review Bart’s case and assist him in his pursuit of proving his innocence. 

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LATEST DEVELOPMENT IN CASE: (HL):


"After lawyers with the Exoneration Project and Illinois Innocence Project unearthed dramatic new forensic evidence, a judge has ruled that McNeil - serving a 100 year sentence on murder charges in the 1998 death of 3-year-old Christina McNeil - can take the next step in his quest for a new trial, WGLT (Reporter Edith Brady-Lunny) reports..."McNeil’s petition seeking a new trial in the 1998 death of his young daughter will move forward in McLean County court, a judge has ruled, in a decision that recognizes potential new evidence that may support McNeil’s innocence. McNeil is serving 100 years on murder charges in the suffocation death of 3-year-old Christina McNeil. McNeil claimed he found the child’s lifeless body in her bed at his Bloomington apartment, maintaining his innocence while encouraging police to investigate his former girlfriend, Misook Nowlin, as a suspect. Nowlin was later convicted in the 2011 strangulation of her mother-in-law, Linda Tyda. In February, lawyers with the Illinois Innocence Project and The Exoneration Project filed a 65-page petition asserting McNeil’s innocence of the murder. Newly developed scientific evidence challenges claims by former pathologist Dr. Violette Hnilica that the child was molested before she was smothered. Authorities relied upon an accusation that McNeil molested his daughter to support their theory of a motive for her death. “The bottom line is that modern science completely repudiates Hnilica’s testimony regarding any alleged motive,” said the defense motion. Forensic tests performed after McNeil’s conviction on hair collected from inside the child’s pillowcase showed the hair was consistent with Nowlin’s DNA, the defense argues. Nowlin also could not be excluded from DNA collected from a bedsheet."


https://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2021/08/bart-mcneil-illinois-major-development.html


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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;

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FINAL WORD:  (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases):  "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."
Lawyer Radha Natarajan:
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
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FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions.   They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they’ve exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;

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FINAL, FINAL, FINAL WORD: “It is incredibly easy to convict an innocent person, but it's exceedingly difficult to undo such a devastating injustice. 
Jennifer Givens: DirectorL UVA Innocence Project.
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