Manifest injustice : the true story of a convicted murderer and the lawyers who fought for his freedom

In this remarkable legal page-turner, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Barry Siegel recounts the dramatic, decades-long saga of Bill Macumber, imprisoned for thirty-eight years for a double homicide he denies committing. In the spring of 1962, a school bus full of students stumbled across a mysterious crime scene on an isolated stretch of Arizona desert: an abandoned car and two bodies. This brutal murder of a young couple bewildered the sheriff 's department of Maricopa County for years. Despite a few promising leads—including several chilling confessions from Ernest Valenzuela, a violent repeat offender—the case went cold. More than a decade later, a clerk in the sheriff 's department, Carol Macumber, came forward to tell police that her estranged husband had confessed to the murders. Though the evidence linking Bill Macumber to the incident was questionable, he was arrested and charged with the crime. During his trial, the judge refused to allow the confession of now-deceased Ernest Valenzuela to be admitted as evidence in part because of the attorney-client privilege. Bill Macumber was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison. The case, rife with extraordinary irregularities, attracted the sustained involvement of the Arizona Justice Project, one of the first and most respected of the non-profit groups that represent victims of manifest injustice across the country. With more twists and turns than a Hollywood movie, Macumber's story illuminates startling, upsetting truths about our justice system, which kept a possibly innocent man locked up for almost forty years, and introduces readers to the generations of dedicated lawyers who never stopped working on his behalf, lawyers who ultimately achieved stunning results. With precise journalistic detail, intimate access and masterly storytelling, Barry Siegel will change your understanding of American jurisprudence, police procedure, and what constitutes justice in our country today.

In this remarkable legal page-turner, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Barry Siegel recounts the dramatic, decades-long saga of Bill Macumber, imprisoned for thirty-eight years for a double homicide he denies committing. In the spring of 1962, a school bus full of students stumbled across a mysterious crime scene on an isolated stretch of Arizona desert: an abandoned car and two bodies. This brutal murder of a young couple bewildered the sheriff ’s department of Maricopa County for years. Despite a few promising leads-including several chilling confessions from Ernest Valenzuela, a violent repeat offender-the case went cold. More than a decade later, a clerk in the sheriff ’s department, Carol Macumber, came forward to tell police that her estranged husband had confessed to the murders. Though the evidence linking Bill Macumber to the incident was questionable, he was arrested and charged with the crime. During his trial, the judge refused to allow the confession of now-deceased Ernest Valenzuela to be admitted as evidence in part because of the attorney-client privilege. Bill Macumber was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison.

The case, rife with extraordinary irregularities, attracted the sustained involvement of the Arizona Justice Project, one of the first and most respected of the non-profit groups that represent victims of manifest injustice across the country. With more twists and turns than a Hollywood movie, Macumber’s story illuminates startling, upsetting truths about our justice system, which kept a possibly innocent man locked up for almost forty years, and introduces readers to the generations of dedicated lawyers who never stopped working on his behalf, lawyers who ultimately achieved stunning results. With precise journalistic detail, intimate access and masterly storytelling, Barry Siegel will change your understanding of American jurisprudence, police procedure, and what constitutes justice in our country today.

Bill Macumber has been in prison for 38 years for murder and The Arizona Justice Project wants him freed Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Barry Siegel tells the gripping legal drama of a man who has spent almost forty years in prison for murders he denies commiting and the tenacious lawyers who believe in his innocence. The journey begins in 1962 when the murder of two young people on an isolated lovers' lane in the desert bewildered the inexperienced sheriff's department of Maricopa County, Arizona. Despite a few promising leads--including several chilling confessions from a violent repeat offender--the case went cold. More than a decade later, an ambitious new clerk in the sheriff's department told investigators that her estranged husband was the man responsible. And though scant evidence aside from his soon-to-be ex-wife's accusation linked Macumber to the crime, he was found guilty. The Macumber case, rife with extraordinary irregularities, attracted the... ϡ쯦랠 In the spring of 1962, on an isolated stretch of Arizona desert, an abandoned car and two bodies were discovered. This brutal murder of a young couple bewildered the sheriff's department of Maricopa County for years; despite a few promising leads the case went cold. More than a decade later, a clerk in the sheriff's department came forward to tell police that her estranged husband had confessed to the murders. The case, rife with extraordinary irregularities, attracted the sustained involvement of the Arizona Justice Project. Macumber's story illuminates startling, upsetting truths about our justice system, which kept a possibly innocent man locked up for almost forty years, and what constitutes justice in our country today Tells a story that illuminates the troubling nature of our justice system, which has kept a possibly innocent man locked up for forty years, and introduces you to the lawyers who are working to fix the system. The author may change your understanding of American jurisprudence, police procedure, and what constitutes justice in our country. The legal drama of a man who'd spent almost forty years in prison for murders he denied committing and the tenacious lawyers who believed in his innocence