More perpetrators possible in firefighters'
deaths, feds say
Link to Investigation Summary
(PDF)
A federal review prompted by stories in The Kansas City Star has
found new evidence that additional perpetrators may have been
involved in a 1988 arson that killed six Kansas City
firefighters.
The same federal review, however, found "no credible support" for
allegations by numerous witnesses quoted in The Star that they lied
or were coerced by investigators during a 1997 trial in the
case.
Federal officials, however, said any new suspects in the case
would have committed the crime along with the five people already
serving life sentences, and the new information does not call into
question the guilt of those five.
A Justice spokeswoman in Washington, D.C., declined to say
whether the department is investigating the new-found evidence in
the case.
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Who else helped kill 6 KC
firefighters?
July 28, 2011 Kansas
City Star
by Yael T. Abouhalkah
The summary of a new Justice Department report indicates
other people also were involved in causing the huge 1988 explosion
that killed Six KC firefighters.
Who were they? When is current U.S. Attorney Beth Phillips going
to try to prosecute these new suspects? Her refusal Wednesday to
answer questions about the case and the surprising new information
was a dereliction of duty.
The government's report was prompted by questions raised by The
Star's reporters about the conviction of five people in the 1988
blast.
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Becky Edwards' affidavit in firefighters
case
This is an affidavit
signed by Becky Edwards, a key witness in the 1997 trial of five
defendants charged in an arson that caused the death six Kansas City
firefighters. In the affidavit, Edwards says she was intimidated by
federal investigators and made false statements in the case.
Statement of U.S. attorney Beth
Phillips
Kansas
City Star July 27, 2011
Editor's note: A statement by U.S. attorney Beth Phillips on
the federal review of the firefighter case:
In July 2008, this office requested that the Department of
Justice conduct an independent review of allegations raised by The
Kansas City Star concerning the prosecution of United States v.
Sheppard, et al. A team of experienced attorneys from the
department’s Criminal Division conducted an exhaustive review of
the records and evidence in the case. The team traveled to Kansas
City on multiple occasions to interview trial witnesses, law
enforcement officers, and other individuals involved in the case.
Their findings are compiled in a 20-page report that has been
presented both to myself and to the Office of the Deputy Attorney
General. Due to privacy requirements and the amount of confidential
investigative material contained in the full report, a summary of
the report has been released to the public.
Firefighters' case demands
justice
Kansas
City Star July 14, 2011
It has been three years since the U.S. Department of Justice
opened an investigation into a controversial prosecution that
resulted in life prison sentences for five Kansas Citians after an
explosion that killed six firefighters.
That's an unreasonably long time to complete a report. The
defendants, one of whom has died in prison, were convicted in 1997
of causing the tragedy in 1988. Questions about evidence and an
investigator's tactics have left lingering suspicions that the
defendants were wrongfully found guilty.
Read More
Justice Department review of 1988
explosion is taking its time, and that's raising
questions
Kansas
City Star Mon, Aug. 23, 2010
