dream confession

In a plea for DNA testing like that which cleared JonBenet's parents after 12 years of persecution, the family of convicted killer Ryan Ferguson is using the media to turn up political pressure to check for genetic material on evidence from the 2001 murder of much loved family man and Tribune Sports Editor Kent Heithol. Ryan's conviction is based on the now infamous 'dream confession' by Ryan's high school buddie. Ryan's family convinced that a lack of Ryan's DNA on the clothing combined with no other physical evidence would help to exonerate their son - -

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Ferguson makes DNA plea
Published in the Columbia Daily Tribune
By Brennan David

"The family of Ryan Ferguson and his attorneys are challenging the Boone County prosecuting attorney to allow them to perform “touch DNA” analysis on the clothing of slain Tribune Sports Editor Kent Heitholt.

The family wants the state to release or agree to escort the evidence to the Bode Technology laboratory in Lorton, Va., for touch DNA analysis.

Experts say the technique can help develop fresh leads in unsolved cases and is most widely known for clearing the family of JonBenet Ramsey in the 1996 murder of the 6-year-old Colorado girl.

Gregory J. Davis, professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine, told USA Today in 2008 that, “In select cases, this has the potential to find a person’s DNA when it couldn’t be found before..."[read more]