Part I: NOT JUST, BUT AN INNOCENT MAN
Kenneth G. Middleton - Inmate #179112 is a convicted murderer (1st Degree Murder & Armed Criminal Action) who has served 28 years of a life sentence plus 200 years. A proper sentence for a guilty man but Ken Middleton didn't kill his wife Katherine "Kathy" Middleton. The Blue Springs Police Department walked into an accidental self-inflicted shooting and conveniently ran to the Jackson County Prosecutor with a murder suspect. If you give me a little time, this keyboard tapping, non-versed law and ignorant-about-state-statues writer will tell you the story of Inmate #179112. I'll explain how he landed behind bars, why it hasn't been corrected for the past 28 plus years, and the reasoning science, that's supposed to protect the innocent, failed in this case.
More importantly, I'll prove to you that Kenneth G. Middleton is not guilty and that the State of Missouri has knowingly kept an innocent man locked up. I will also go one step further and tell you that Mike D. Sanders, Jackson County Prosecutor at that time, is personally responsible for Middleton's past 13 years of captivity.
Funny thing, if the Feds looked into this case they'd see what everyone else does, but Sanders' story might need a name change that reads like this
It's OK if you're saying to yourself, "Here we go again, another convict claiming his innocence after a jury of his peers put him away - where he's supposed to be!" I completely understand those views and sentiments. I said the same thing for 20 years before taking a look at the case, the facts, and the documents associated with the unfortunate events of February 12, 1990. Today I'm disgusted that someone with authority hasn't done something, to right this wrong - this gross injustice. But maybe, just maybe, someone will notice that an unversed man of the law could argue the points of the case better than the attorney who represented Ken Middleton nearly 28 years ago, paint a picture of innocence which might lead to freedom.
Ken's son Cliff Middleton has been my best friend for nearly 40 years. It took me nearly 20 years to even ask him about his father's case because I didn't think there was any reason to ask about it. The court said he was guilty and I believed it. What I'm going to share with you is going to make you say, "No way, that can't happen, not with the technology of today and the science at hand." But it did happen and all of us should be scared because if it can happen once to him it could also happen to you. Hopefully when I'm done you too will demand justice for Kenneth G. Middleton. Please read this story...
If a friend, your mate, or God forbid your child accidentally shot themselves or committed suicide, right now, in the other room you'd be at the mercy of the situation. I think of the confusion and emotion that would immediately engulf an individual with the startling sound of a single shot. A bang that would send shivers down your entire body. I think you would immediately take a roll call, head count. Maybe you would yell out, "What was that?" After the confusion, I would think one would investigate and secure the space. If it was what you thought then you would take on the role of a first responder after your call to 911 - rendering aid and comforting until help arrived.
I'm not sure how I or anyone else would react. I hope I never have to face that scenario, the real-life nightmare that Ken Middleton found himself in on February 12, 1990. A nightmare that started nearly thirty years ago, the day Kathy Middleton his wife, accidentally shot herself. If you saw him on the street you could ask him about it and get details. Unfortunately you won't see him today or tomorrow because the Blue Springs Police had Ken charged and convicted of first degree murder and armed criminal action. The sentence was life plus 200 years. Ken, wrongfully convicted, has done 27 years of that wrongful conviction. Mr. Middleton needs help getting a fair trial. I'm going to help him and so can you. Let me explain.
That Horrible Day - Monday February 12, 1990
On Monday morning February 12, 1990, Ken Middleton wasn't feeling good. He had been fighting an illness for some time and he had just started antibiotics. It was his mother, Oshia, and his sister, Lorene, both of whom lived in Arkansas that urged Ken to take medicine because of the coloring of his skin. They were certain he was on the verge of pneumonia or something similar due to his symptoms. Ken's mother and sister Lorene had each played their part in raising him so he listened to them that weekend he was visiting Arkansas.
I tell you this fact about Ken because the illness would bring Kathy home from work that afternoon but just as importantly to show how one, who's accused of murder, has all their moves scrutinized. But I want you to think about something. This weekend you may go to your mother's home and have breakfast with her or possibly your dad or both. Some of you might run them to the store, the pharmacy or even to your house. Every day chores and errands that others will break down if come Monday you're under suspicion or charged with a homicide. Ken's moves and story have been broken down, scrutinized, studied, and validated. He was just doing his thing.
Why was he in Arkansas the previous weekend? - Building on his home where he was going to retire one day.
Why did he have a gun sitting out at his house? - He had brought that gun from his home in Arkansas to his Blue Springs residence. He hadn't touched it in sometime and it was starting to rust so he was going to clean and oil it.
Why did he own a gun? - Kenneth G. Middleton grew up a country boy in Arkansas. Guns were the norm.
Why wasn't it properly stored away before Kathy arrived home that afternoon? - He was going to clean it then put it away but dozed off in a recliner in the living room. It was established, he had no clue Kathy was coming home to check on him. He was sick.
This fact, that Katherine Middleton came home from work unbeknownst to Ken, makes all the sense in the world to me. I grew up with all girls and I was the baby of the family. When I got married they didn't stop babying me. It was often an issue in my marriage. They'd, my sisters, would make comments or do things, intentionally, to make my wife feel like shit, as if she wasn't taking proper care of the boy/man they loved. Your clothes could be brighter, does she do laundry or know how? You're looking skinny is she feeding you? Why doesn't she help out more? I took an extra job to make ends meet, why isn't she? You're pale as a ghost, did she give you anything for that? Women!
I'm sure when Ken told Kathy he started taking something because his mother and sister told him to, that she made up her mind that she was going to take great care of her man, get him fixed up. So when they called like they always did, she'd say, "He's just fine ladies, Mama has it handled!" Ken had talked to Kathy that morning and informed her it wasn't getting better, his illness. I can see her leaving work, coming home, and insisting on taking him to the doctor. As well, I can see Ken waking to the sound of the garage door opening. I vividly see and hear Kathy saying, "Why is that gun out? You're in no shape to be cleaning on a gun, I'm putting it away and calling the doctor to get you an appointment!" Sadly, those would be Kathy's last words.
Kathy had picked up the telephone from the wall-mounted phone on the wall that separated the kitchen and dining room. It's important to remember that Ken was in the living room, no where near the shooting, scientific tests would prove that true, that part is for certain. What's not for certain, if Kathy was going to use the phone with the gun in her hand right then or if it had rung and she tried answering it, but a split second later, a shot rang out and Kathy was on the floor in a pool of blood. Somehow, she either dropped the gun and instinctively grabbed for it or it struck a chair. In either case, the gun discharged and she was mortally wounded. She was killed instantly. (Based on police officers re-tracing her drive from work, they estimate that Kathy had been in the house for approximately 2 minutes.)
Ken frantically called 911 immediately 3 times. Would you like to hear them? It will blow you away, Ken sobbing and pleading for the 911 operator to come and save his wife Kathy.
I can't play that tape for you. It was around long enough for the authorities to transcribe it but it was lost before trial. We could ask the jurors if they thought it was moving the way the assistant prosecutor read them with no emotion and in a monotone voice. "Please send help for my wife". It's also important to note that when Ken went to trial the prosecutor and officers deny that there was ever a phone on the wall. This was where they start selling the jury that it's all lies from Middleton. There was a phone, there wasn't any photos. They intentionally cut out the phone but they made a mistake. They took a picture with the cord dangling in the picture.
When the police entered the home they found Kathy next to the dining room table. Ken was sobbing uncontrollably. He wasn't making sense as he was mumbling. Frantically he was asking about Kathy's condition. I'd like to let you hear those tapes the officers made when they entered the scene. Ken confused and crying. Now those are impactful and a must hear. But there wasn't any tape made. All those men and women there, first responders, but they never turned in their tapes. The investigation launched in the 1400 of N. 48th St. was getting suspiciously sloppy in the first minutes. But just wait.
The situation I described in the beginning of this tale, yesterday, an accidental shooting or planned suicide is the same as what happened here in Middleton case. Before I tell you more, did you know that there's nearly 45,000 suicides each year in the US and half involve firearms. Accidental fatal shootings are also high in number. That being said, it never occurred to me that you'd be a person of suspicion should you be in the same location where a gun goes off and someone is shot. I could never imagine that you'd get jammed with a life sentence plus 200 years. Ken immediately became that person of interest in the accident. The Blue Springs Police Department quickly determined, Ken was a guilty man. before they started investigating.
Case Resolution - Accident, Suicide, or Homicide
Normally, when a shooting occurs, that takes a life, both the police and coroner are dispatched. This is the first line of protection for the innocent. The roles of law enforcement officers and coroners are slightly different at a death scene. Law enforcement officers are concerned with whether a crime has occurred. They approach each unknown death scene with the idea that a crime has occurred and they work backward from that premise. Once they have established that a crime has not occurred, their mission has been fulfilled. The role of the coroner is broader in nature. The coroner is concerned with establishing the manner and cause of death in all unknown-cause deaths.
The importance of the coroner’s investigation is not diminished if a crime has not occurred. The difference between a suicide and an accident can often be very important to the victim's family. Many insurance policies will not pay off on a suicide. Also, some life insurance policies pay double or triple the value of the life insurance policy if the insured's death is ruled an accident. Thus, the coroner's role is more extensive than that of law enforcement officers. There are two major considerations for coroners in their relationship to law enforcement personnel and agencies: cooperation and independence. Cooperation between the coroner and law enforcement personnel will be mutually beneficial. The coroner will benefit from the experience, expertise and resources provided by law enforcement officers. Law enforcement personnel will benefit from the coroner's experience and expertise in establishing manner and cause of death.
The Very First Officer
This scene was violated horribly right when the first person, officer, arrived. He picked up the gun and hid it behind a television set. Bad, but he could have rebounded back or been forgotten if Dave Link wouldn't have had Ken pick it up behind the television and place it back where he thought it was. Bad. For forensic purposes bad, but having Ken grab and put his prints on it after the fact if they thought there was a homicide, bad for Ken.
Dermal Nitrate Test
The first part or start of an investigation usually relies on the two agencies to conclude whether or not a crime has occurred. Since the two, the police and the examiners, look for the same things with different views it's important to get to a resolution - a crime or an accident. Above I wrote that Ken was immediately their suspect. How would I know this? Well, at the beginning of an investigation it's imperative to the investigators and coroner to collect evidence to jointly come to a case resolution. The most important evidence is the physical type. That would include weapon(s), fingerprints, fluids, and in this case, gunshot residue (GSR) determined by a Dermal Nitrate Test. This test is the scientific get-a-way car for the innocent. If the only GSR is on the victim, well you can almost come to a 100% conclusion that the victim accidentally or intentionally shot themselves. This is what is known as a safe-guard for those who happen to be on the property when a fatal shot is fired. There's a special examiner who administers the test. this is so important that there's special protocol for the testing. There's a witness who watches the test being administered, there's guidelines for the administration, and special instructions on how to transport the tests. Most importantly there's paperwork to ensure it's done correctly. But this was the city of Blue Springs, they had their own way of doing things in 1990.
Lets stop for a second
Would you test one or two hands of the person you might suspect could have done this? You're exactly right - both hands. You would have to because you wouldn't know if they're left or right handed. On the victim, would the examiner or certified tech swab just one or two hands? Remember a person's life relies on the GSR Test to prove their innocence. Yes! Right again, both hands of the victim would be tested. This ensures that if there's no GSR on the suspect or their clothing, more than likely it was the victim who handled the firearm before taking their life or accidentally firing a self-inflicted shot. This conclusion would be verified through the testing of course. Procedures to protect nearly 20,000 individuals who may be at the wrong place at the wrong time when a self-inflicted or accidental gunshot is fired.
No Show
The Jackson County Examiner never arrives on the scene. The Blue Springs Police are heading this investigation. So they proceed to clear up this case, give it resolution, but from a criminal point of view. Both, Mr. Middleton and Mrs. Middleton had their hands tested. It was documented as such and it even has Mrs. Middleton's hands being covered with bags to preserve them and any particles underneath the nails. Thank God the police department has a certified tech their to handle the tests, right?
Unqualified, Breaking Procedure
More troubles begin when the officer in charge, Sergeant Jeff Rogers, insists that he take the GSR Tests personally. This move is questionable because the technician, Dave Link, is there and ready to do the tests that he's certified for. He is ordered to stand down, which he does, and he and other officers watch Rogers test both hands of the suspect and victim. I call Ken a suspect, because that's what it reads on the document, green in color, that accompanies the tests to the crime lab. This test, again, helps with case resolution. There's things that officers are trained to do and see. Just as they're trained to see things that might be there, they'e also well versed in things that aren't there to help eliminate suspects. Who was suspect, within the department in my view? Sergeant Rogers for implementing the tests then taking them from the crime scene himself. Wrong. Lets remember he's running the show.
Ken was wearing a white long sleeved shirt when the officers arrived. To be certain that they had an innocent man, officers took Ken's clothing away for testing. They also confiscated the boots he was wearing. If he was anywhere near that gun when it went off there was going to be blood spatter deep within the fibers of the shirt as well as GSR.
To protect an innocent man naturally you are going to need the victims clothing to test as well. Since you're positive they'll be doing an autopsy, it goes without saying that a professional who is trained should take off the clothing of the deceased at the coroner's office, far from the area, the scene. So not to disturb the shooting scene right? Wrong, this is Blue Springs.
Coroner Does It Better
The police decide they are the ones who need to take off all of Kathy's clothing right there. A group of Protect & Serve officers disrobe Mrs. Middleton right there on the spot. Unprofessional in my view and very distasteful. But, there's individuals on the scene who are documenting everything right? Yes. BUT the rolls of film, all of them, are suspiciously destroyed or in their words, didn't develop correctly when the trial of Mr. Middleton approaches. There's only the word of criminal investigators to go by that everything was done correctly and to the letter of the law. But that's wrong as well. If so, they would have caught the button that flew off of Kathy's blouse and landed directly next to her - When the Blue Springs PD. disrobed her, Ken, in French or Street, was majorly fucked! Did Kathy's clothes have any GSR on them? Who knows, they never had them tested, they just had her lay there naked for hours while they worked. So horribly inhumane. So sad.
The gun in question was a .357 Magnum. A very high velocity weapon that slows down for nothing. If it is fired into your face from 4 inches away, like the prosecutor contends, it is making impact, exiting and going to go through the next thing besides the victim. This particular gun was funny and had a hair trigger. They say it wasn't supposed to, they say it's impossible to have a hair trigger. We'll never know - me, you, Ken, his attorney, the State, the judge, jury. Why? I'll tell you in a minute, but are you getting all this? This man has been sitting in prison for this accidental shooting. If I tell you things get worse would you believe me? Believe me my brother and sister, you're not going to believe anything I say after this story is over because I'm just going to be that guy with TALL stories, but this shit is true! It gets way, way, way, worse - life plus 200!
Side Note - My brother-in-law growing up was a police officer. I was a kid and had a lot of questions for him. One of them was, "How did the department decide on their weapons?" Back then it was a revolver, the .38 special, and it fired special bullets. Nick often would say that if the gun was any bigger and didn't have special bullets, that he'd have to be careful when shooting it because the bullets would go straight through the body and strike someone behind the criminal. This was true of the .357 Magnum. This will be an important side note in a few.
Abuse It He Can't Use It
This gun that was on the scene and the apparent gun that shot Kathy, the .357 Magnum, was just too much for those officers to look at. So what do you think they did? No, they didn't dispose of it they did one better. They broke it down, took it apart. No biggie if you were letting Ken go because they decided it was an accident. Far from it, they had already made up their minds, he was guilty! It made no difference to them about breaking it down, regardless that there was a crime lab with all the tools to aid in a crime investigation. Problem is when they'd charge Kenneth G. there wouldn't be any science they'd be able to use to clear him. This would be important for deciding Ken's fate.
Geometry is very important when deciding the trajectory or path of the bullet. In this case the entrance of the bullet isn't in dispute. It shot Kathy in the face and exited the back of her head. They claim Ken was just 4-8 inches away with the nozzle of the gun when it fired. That's disputable for two reasons. First, if you shot that close the bullet rips through and exits and goes out the back of the house. Second, Ken Middleton would have been covered in blood. The residue and blood would have had him covered. This man had no blood on him. Could have showered you say? They timed everything and got it down to how long she was in her home, 2 minutes. The police were there in a second. The bullet and distance? The bullet was found in the corner of the room. It went through Kathy and hit a door frame ricochet to ceiling with very little impact and landed in the corner.
This is crucial. The bullet lands in the corner of the room. Kathy dropped the gun and as she reached for it, it was close to the floor or on the ground, back just enough that when it hit her that it lost speed hit the door frame lost even more speed then hit the ceiling losing even more speed that it dropped in the corner of the room. The State theory - point blank - it would have went out the wall and down the street. Dropped and further from face, lets say 4 feet vs. 4 inches, lands in corner of room.
cor·pus de·lic·ti
/dəˈlikˌtī,-tē/
noun
LAW
the facts and circumstances constituting a breach of a law.
concrete evidence of a crime, such as a corpse.
This term above is the reason we have Prosecutors. The medical examiner and the police are supposed to go through a scene of a fatality and see if a crime occurred. If there's a body laying cold from a gunshot and the gun is gone - CRIME. Take fingerprints and find additional prints on the gun - CRIME. A fatality that appears to be a heart attack and you find a stab wound - CRIME. The investigating forces pick up the telephone and call the prosecutor's office - Be certain they're calling it a CRIME.
Take GSR Tests and no residue on the man that was laying in the other room but there is residue on the deceased - NO crime. You have a gun that tore through an individual and find a man who is wearing a white shirt but has no blood or residue on it - NO crime.
When the tests came back there wasn't any GSR on Ken's hands nor was there any blood on or in his clothes and boots. Under normal circumstances Ken would be getting a possible apology, a hug, or a ride away from the accident scene. But this wasn't the case.
Problem #2
When the police department received the test results back from the crime lab, it was missing the left hand results taken from Kathy. They had the documents for both, Ken and Kathy, showing that the test were done. Where were those results? That green document that was so important and had protocol procedures, had been altered showing that only one hand, the right one, had been tested. Huh? Well it had been altered with white out but the writing was recognizable - L & R hands tested. I'm just speculating but I think, Dave Link, the certified tech was confident that the coroner would have gotten those tests a second time during his autopsy of Mrs. Middleton. So as it stood now, Ken Middleton wasn't going to be off any list until there were answers. Middleton remained a suspect.
Summary of Problems
1. No Jackson County Medical Examiner
2. The GSR Tech isn't allowed to do his job
3. The results of GSR is missing Kathy's Left Hand
4. Documentation proving test was done on both hands is altered
5. There's no answer for white out
6. The investigation wasn't documented, all photos were destroyed
7. Officers took off Kathy clothes
8. The gun was tore apart
9. The first officer on scene hid gun
10. Officer Link had Ken Middleton at the scene after deciding he was a suspect and possibly contaminating the scene
11. The officers, Prosecutors deny telephone on wall
What if I tell you that Ken's attorney didn't make an opening statement? Never made an objection? Never called an expert witness? Maybe never called a witness. There's an affidavit stating he never looked at the case file. He said there's no motive there's no conviction!!! There was a conviction and 27 years later after being convicted and sentenced to life plus 200 - they didn't need a motive.
On the next episode of 27 Down, Life Plus 200...
1. Ahead of the Curve - Dubai
2. Judgeville
3. I Made A Mistake, Now Go
4. His Name Is Alford, Do Plea
5. Inmate Sanders, Mike D.
6. Begging for Mercy On The 27 Months (Mike Sanders)
6. Who Do You Tell
7. He's My Best Friend, I'll Fucking Fight With Him
8. It Has To Be Dunn
9. How Do You Like That Steak Son?
“We sleep safely at night because rough men stand ready to visit violence on those who would harm us.”
Winston S. Churchill
If you should ever fall under the suspicion of murder, mark my words, you'll be the first person escorted off the property, the crime scene grounds. But apparently, if you were in Blue Springs, Missouri in the early 1990's and the authorities thought you may have committed a homicide it was common practice to let you stick around and touch as many things as possible. At least this was the policy that was applied towards Kenneth G. Middleton in 1990. Today he is better known in and around circles as Inmate #179112. Mr. Middleton's son, grandchildren, relatives and friends have the Blue Springs Police Department (BSPD) to thank for that.
When I think about Ken and the unbalanced justice they served him and the injustice that is still on the menu today, I'm sickened. But more importantly, it makes me furious. The method that was used to turn Ken into a convicted killer makes me angry and confused. Did BSPD know that if they messed up test results, broke the procedures, ruined the film, violated the accident scene, that a jury would side with them, regardless if Ken wasn't the shooter? I don't see how they could but they did and it worked. The botched investigation, in my view, was enough that any jury or Judge should have seen that he wasn't given a fair field to fight for his life. Not guilty, no charges, no missing 27.
I wrote about Kathy this week and it upset me badly. To think someone(s) unclothed her and had her naked on the floor while the tedious investigation into murder was conducted. I am pissed off. In some ways I feel like family to her even though I never met her. I feel it an honor to tell this story. I know that Kathy is looking down and begging and pleading for someone to do something to wrong this right. Cliff, a faithful and loyal son, has been standing next to his father, united, since this accident happened. Fighting for his Father since day one. But today Cliff needs reinforcements, additional forces. This fight is coming to a conclusion. This fight needs to be a force, a movement, to cut those chains off Kenneth G. Middleton. He was convicted of murder and the wheels of justice move incredibly slow but nearly 28 years of wrongful incarceration is way too many. If they've made a mistake, the State, we can live with that. Just let Ken go.
(Un) Just My Opinion (Read Quote Above) - The Blue Springs PD hadn't had a homicide for 9 years and they needed one. This scenario couldn't have been better - no need to lock your door or windows, keep the kids from school, or worry the perpetrator got away. They had their suspect and the were going to show their people that all is good, that all is safe, and that all could sleep well, all the while throwing a bone to their troops, their men in the field, the BSPD because without their rough men visiting violence, they might get weary, weak, and rusty. The BSPD was on the case even if they had to sacrifice an innocent man. Plus if you have a city with no homicides eventually everyone will want to move there. The city of Blue Springs couldn't have that because it was where the politically connected lived. No room for outsiders.
The homicide investigation started that first day, when the BSPD arrivedon the scene. Sgt. Rogers would tell the local newspaper, The Examiner, "we have the weapon used in the shooting" and continue with "it doesn't appear to be the result of a robbery or suicide." That statement was made while The Examiner was there on the scene, minutes after the call came in to 911. To time that statement, the paper snapped a photograph of Ken while he laid out on the front stairs in disbelief and pain from his loss, the death of Kathy.
I want to tell everyone that I was looking for a way to tell this story in words like I do when I talk about this matter. I hardly ever use 29.15 ineffective counsel or use habeas corpus, corpus delicti, or any other Latin word. I use terms like "Brother isn't that unimaginable? It gets worse people, think about this..." I tell you this just encase it seems to those reading these shorts, that I'm not serious enough or that I think life is a giant playground with words - which I do think. I wanted to relay this story like two friends talking over a beer or soda. I need this story to get out. Please share it or talk it out. Anything you can do to help. Ken, Cliff, and I need your help. More people that realize these things did really happen the quicker we can get more people helping us help Ken.
“INJUSTICE ANYWHERE IS A THREAT TO JUSTICE EVERYWHERE"
PART II:
It Just Can't Happen Right?
Narrator:
Disclaimer: This story is NOT fiction. I was going to change the names to protect the innocent but then I thought, WHY? Ken Middleton is innocent of murdering his wife Kathy but that didn’t stop a jury of his peers from handing down a guilty verdict along with a life sentence in prison plus 200 years.
FADE IN:EXT. May 26,2005 KANSAS CITY MONUMENTS, FOUNTAINS, PARKS, THE COURT HOUSE —DAY
CUT TO:
INT. JACKSON COUNTY COURTHOUSE UNKNOWN FLOOR, COURTROOM, BACK JUDGE’S CHAMBERS, KANSAS CITY - LATE AFTERNOON
The place smells old and beat down from the years and from tears. One feels guilty just standing there inside the building but safe inside the Judge’s chambers. The short lady standing in front of the mirror, adjusting her robe, has an enormous amount of grey on her head. The room is quiet and still but eerily one can sense the sadness that bellows from the location.
Bailiff
It’s show time Judge Messina
TIME KENNETH MIDDLETON HAS SERVED SO FAR: 14 YEARS THREE MONTHS 5 DAYS
CUT TO: PEANUT GALLERY SOMEWHERE
Whoa, Whoa, Whoa - stop right there! Did you say he has been behind bars over 15 years and he didn’t do it? Was he or wasn’t he found guilty? Yes? That’s enough for me partner, if the Commonwealth of Missouri says he’s guilty – he’s guilty!
Narrator: But 365 plus days ago that conviction was vacated as was his life plus 200 years sentence. So you could say that he was guilty then he wasn’t? But in about five minutes from that narration he’ll be back to guilty.
Judge Edith Messina announces to the vacant courtroom, her decision on the case before her, Ken’s claim of abandonment during his post-conviction, a 29.15 proceeding. A proceeding that he wins, Messina agrees that he was abandoned and she grants Middleton his new trial 14 years after he was convicted. The Judge vacates the conviction and sentence. The next day Ken applies with the state to have his bond reinstated and he is getting ready to go home. But the state says – nope. The Prosecutor who offered him his freedom has appealed Judge Messina ruling based off the Standards of Review. He claims that Middleton shouldn’t get a new trial because Messina made a mistake taking a look at the case. Until it is sorted out, Middleton will have to wait in prison. Nearly 13 months.
That there Prosecutor of Jackson County, Mike D. Sanders just received 27 months in Federal Prison for crimes he committed while holding office in Jackson County Missouri. The sentence was handed down on September 19, 2018, he reports to jail on November 5, 2018. Supposedly he was begging the Judge, (this is false, pumped up for radio) an apparent friend of his to give him less time than the 27 months. It’s rumored that he screamed, “There’s no way I can do that amount of time Jimmy, I mean Your Honor, 27 months is a life sentence, didn’t Mary talk to Georgia, she said it was handled, the house arrest…Please Jimmy, Your Honor I mean…You owe me you son of a bitch…”
The Defense Lawyer Representing Sanders, 2018, former Appellate Judge, the Honorable Ronald Holliger, the guy that agrees and sides with Sanders’ appeal, regarding the new trial granted to Middleton in 2005, and the one who reinstates Middleton’s original conviction and sentence. Life, Plus 200 - Hear me loud: The judge who took away Ken’s new trial, a trial granted by the original trial judge, Honorable Edith Messina, (I’M REALLY YELLING AT YOU NOW) is now Mike D. Sanders lawyer. Judge Ron Holliger ruled in favor of Sanders appeal, not siding with the Judge that knew this case best, the Judge that more less admitted she made a mistake 14 years earlier. Ken Middleton can’t catch a break, so it seems.
Let’s rewind and go back to Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Pat Peters, Doctor Death, and who was also part-time Disc Jockey. I wonder if Peters, shortened Doctor Death and possibly went by “DD the DJ” - PROBABLY NOT.
Lets visualize the night of February 12, 1990, the day when everything dropped for Mr. Middleton. Pat Peters pulls up to the scene in a, let’s say, E190 Mercedes. His tunes are popping. It’s a new rock band with a different sound: Pearl Jam. Peters, Patrick, has a different sort of look than maybe yesterday, he’s looking a little, +, grungy?
1. Peters arrives in the City of Blue Springs, to the Middleton home, let’s guess – 5:00 pm. Peters knows the lay of the land well, he grew up there.
2. His father, The Honorable William J. Peters raised young Patrick in a community within the Blue Springs City called Lake Tapawingo.
3. The Honorable William J. Peters is newly retired from the 16th Circuit Court of Jackson County, Missouri. He also lives there in Blue Springs, Mo.
4. Instead of getting out of law completely the Judge has taken up as Special Counsel for a local law firm in Blue Springs called Cochran, Oswald, McDonald, Graham & Roam PC.
5. A partner in the law firm of Cochran Oswald McDonald Graham & Roam – Robert McDonald is the Blue Springs City Attorney
6. The Blue Springs Police Department is represented by Cochran, Oswald, McDonald, Graham & Roam PC.
7. Robert McDonald is also the Judge at Lake Tapawingo (located in Blue Springs), a position he’ll hold onto for 46 years when he retires in 2018.
8. Sgt. Rogers who handled the GSR Test for the BSPD, tests that were altered with white out, lost or that disappeared, and headed the investigation becomes Alderman at Tapawingo then becomes the Chief of Police in a year or two. He rose to the top less than 2 years after the Middleton shooting. Hmmm, home of the Assistant Prosecutor, multiple judges, attorneys, and policeman. A friend indeed or in need?
If you're not getting a small taste of what’s about to happen to Mr. Middleton from a Assistant Prosecuting Attorney (APA) who is back in his old stomping grounds. An APA who has a father that is a retired Judge and who also happens to live in Blue Springs and who works at a law firm that could possibly handle a civil law suit if his son, the prosecutor, discovers that Ken And Kathy have money. If his son calls him quickly enough. This was going to be bad for Ken and no one could have predicted the deep-seated ties that the Peters family had in the community along with all the other Judges and attorneys who also called The City of Blue Springs home.
I have to stop right here. But if I was to tell you that Ken ends up on trial in Judge William J. Peters old court room where there is a photo of him starring down, would you believe me? If I told you that his defense attorney Robert G. Duncan represented a portion of the alleged Mafia Family in Kansas City in the 70's and 80's would you believe it? Or that his attorney also was about to be indicted for charges that could take his much needed concentration away from Ken? So much so he didn't make an opening statement, call an expert witness, nor object throughout the trial? It gets bad, real bad.
9. And if we go back to the opening of this Act or chapter, Ken is offered his immediate release in 2005, he just has to sign the Alford Plea in front of him, it says, more less, he isn’t not guilty and he can’t sue the State, County, City or anyone tied to the case: No thanks he says – Ken Middleton’s decision spoke volumes, I am not guilty, I am innocent of these charges, and I’ve been incarcerated for too many years to let you Jokers go off without someone answering to the wrongful conviction and incarceration. It’s coming up on 28 years in February since he’s had a gulp of fresh air as a free man. Ken Middleton was in his 40’s when he went in and today in his 70’s. 28 years of his life that’ll never be refunded. 27 DOWN, LIFE PLUS 200
)
Part III: Collusion...I mean Conclusion
'm bothered, blown away, and shocked beyond words that no one has stood up and fought for Ken Middleton, a Blue Springs man who has had to call Crossroads Correctional Center home for the past 29 years because his wife died from a self-inflicted accidental gunshot wound to the head. A horrible tragedy that turned into miscarriage of justice that possibly the worst miscarriage of justice ever noted in the fighting the judicial system from behind bars for his freedom and honor. The honor of his wife, himself, and that of their family name. Especially when those who choose to make a career in law Middleton is behind bars due to a wrongful conviction that should have never went to trial in 1991. The first degree murder and armed criminal action conviction stemmed from a self-inflicted accidental shooting involving his wife, Katherine Middleton. Kathy, as family and friends called her, was putting away her husbands gun when something happened from the living room to the dining room. It's been speculated that she was going to get the phone on the wall when the gun fumbled in her hands or she dropped the hand gun, which ever scenario is unclear, what is known is that one bullet fired, mortally wounding Mrs. Middleton. If the police department hadn't destroyed the gunshot residue test that was taken off Mrs. Middleton:
1. Ken's name would be cleared from the first degree murder conviction the State handed him along with a life sentence plus 200 years. name cleared and his Mr. Middleton who was represented by an attorney that was found ineffective counsel four times during 1989 - 1992. Middleton's trial was in 1991 and he too was found to have ineffective counsel but his as convicted of killing his wife in 1990 but had representation from a lawyer that . He has been in prison nearly 28 years for that crime but during this that there isn't one that no one within the legal community has has stood up for Kenneth G. Middleton, Inmate #179112, for being the victim of a wrongful incarceration. I've been looking at this document I'm trying to draft up but tall for Ken Middleton except his son and a few other family members and within the law community hasn't The past two nights have been horrible. I'm having a dream, a reoccurring nightmare, about being thrown into prison for no reason. I keep yelling out but no one seems to care about me. I call home and there's no answer. I wait in my cell for my family but no one ever arrives. They never show show up to get it straightened out. Every time I hear the keys jingle, I think it's someone for me but the sound fades away. It's so real and possibly the scariest dream I've ever had.
This is the exact same nightmare Ken Middleton's been having for the past 27 years. But that nightmare is his reality because Mr. Middleton, Inmate #179112, is dying just a little more each day in prison for a crime he didn't commit. The man is tough as nails
nothing more than being a ily in prison for no reason . having inally been worked out, the mix up is over, but nothing happens until I wake. Even then I'm still questioning if for someone toa crime I din't commit. I see nothing but evil when I'm in there and the feeling of hopelessness is so great and so real that I think it's ve had horrible nightmares of being held prisoner for a crime I didn't commit. It was so real, that I had to opened my eyes just to check my surroundings to make certain that it was a dream. The dreams, the nightmares, are connected to all the time a result of the time I've been spending on the Ken Middleton case. I am I'm having are because has to do with the fact that I'mare is because I'm working on the Ken Middleton wrongful conviction case incarceration had to look around to see I wasn't still in wake up and the heart stops pounding, the hopelessness is gone, and the the past two mornings frantically thinking that I was about being in Kenneth G. Middleton, Inmate #179112. Middleton is an inmate at Crossroads Correctional Center in Cameron, MO. I've known Ken for many years because I've been best friends with his son, Cliff Middleton, for nearly 40 years. I've decided that I am going to play a big part in getting Ken released from that prison and this nightmare, very soon. "Right!" - you're probably saying out loud or maybe to the person next to you - I guarantee it. you that very soon. of Cameron Correctional Fhow horrible I feel knowing an NEED YOUR HELP PLEASE - These are solely my opinions, views, and thoughts but what I write regarding the case are factual my reasoning is speculation. But I have to get this out. Help me if you can spread the word about Kenneth G. Middleton.
I am heavy with emotion this morning as I write. My thoughts are with Kenneth G. Middleton, Inmate #179112, and how dreadful he must feel spending his 27th Christmas behind bars. Unpleasant might be the right word if he was guilty of the crime he was convicted of in 1990. Dreadful is the word I'd use if I was somewhere else rather than home this holiday season. I keep hearing him say, "How many more days, weeks or holidays can I take in here?" I promise you we'll have you out very soon. This I guarantee, on top of that promise, this will be your last last holiday season behind bars.
I believe that the things we see in life are of:
1. Natural Occurrences – Acts of God, the natural process
2. Aided Occurrences – Things that are going to happen regardless but entities/groups use them to their advantage - the lion trainer with a stick to direct or guide the animal/the flow
3. Fabricated Occurrences – A whole scene or environment is staged or made to trick one or more people
I believe Ken Middleton was targeted, not Ken specifically, but the accident scene. The city of Blue Springs needed a murder/homicide in their town
'm bothered, blown away, and shocked beyond words that no one has stood up and fought for Ken Middleton, a Blue Springs man who has had to call Crossroads Correctional Center home for the past 29 years because his wife died from a self-inflicted accidental gunshot wound to the head. A horrible tragedy that turned into miscarriage of justice that possibly the worst miscarriage of justice ever noted in the fighting the judicial system from behind bars for his freedom and honor. The honor of his wife, himself, and that of their family name. Especially when those who choose to make a career in law Middleton is behind bars due to a wrongful conviction that should have never went to trial in 1991. The first degree murder and armed criminal action conviction stemmed from a self-inflicted accidental shooting involving his wife, Katherine Middleton. Kathy, as family and friends called her, was putting away her husbands gun when something happened from the living room to the dining room. It's been speculated that she was going to get the phone on the wall when the gun fumbled in her hands or she dropped the hand gun, which ever scenario is unclear, what is known is that one bullet fired, mortally wounding Mrs. Middleton. If the police department hadn't destroyed the gunshot residue test that was taken off Mrs. Middleton:
1. Ken's name would be cleared from the first degree murder conviction the State handed him along with a life sentence plus 200 years. name cleared and his Mr. Middleton who was represented by an attorney that was found ineffective counsel four times during 1989 - 1992. Middleton's trial was in 1991 and he too was found to have ineffective counsel but his as convicted of killing his wife in 1990 but had representation from a lawyer that . He has been in prison nearly 28 years for that crime but during this that there isn't one that no one within the legal community has has stood up for Kenneth G. Middleton, Inmate #179112, for being the victim of a wrongful incarceration. I've been looking at this document I'm trying to draft up but tall for Ken Middleton except his son and a few other family members and within the law community hasn't The past two nights have been horrible. I'm having a dream, a reoccurring nightmare, about being thrown into prison for no reason. I keep yelling out but no one seems to care about me. I call home and there's no answer. I wait in my cell for my family but no one ever arrives. They never show show up to get it straightened out. Every time I hear the keys jingle, I think it's someone for me but the sound fades away. It's so real and possibly the scariest dream I've ever had.
This is the exact same nightmare Ken Middleton's been having for the past 27 years. But that nightmare is his reality because Mr. Middleton, Inmate #179112, is dying just a little more each day in prison for a crime he didn't commit. The man is tough as nails
nothing more than being a ily in prison for no reason . having inally been worked out, the mix up is over, but nothing happens until I wake. Even then I'm still questioning if for someone toa crime I din't commit. I see nothing but evil when I'm in there and the feeling of hopelessness is so great and so real that I think it's ve had horrible nightmares of being held prisoner for a crime I didn't commit. It was so real, that I had to opened my eyes just to check my surroundings to make certain that it was a dream. The dreams, the nightmares, are connected to all the time a result of the time I've been spending on the Ken Middleton case. I am I'm having are because has to do with the fact that I'mare is because I'm working on the Ken Middleton wrongful conviction case incarceration had to look around to see I wasn't still in wake up and the heart stops pounding, the hopelessness is gone, and the the past two mornings frantically thinking that I was about being in Kenneth G. Middleton, Inmate #179112. Middleton is an inmate at Crossroads Correctional Center in Cameron, MO. I've known Ken for many years because I've been best friends with his son, Cliff Middleton, for nearly 40 years. I've decided that I am going to play a big part in getting Ken released from that prison and this nightmare, very soon. "Right!" - you're probably saying out loud or maybe to the person next to you - I guarantee it. you that very soon. of Cameron Correctional Fhow horrible I feel knowing an NEED YOUR HELP PLEASE - These are solely my opinions, views, and thoughts but what I write regarding the case are factual my reasoning is speculation. But I have to get this out. Help me if you can spread the word about Kenneth G. Middleton.
I am heavy with emotion this morning as I write. My thoughts are with Kenneth G. Middleton, Inmate #179112, and how dreadful he must feel spending his 27th Christmas behind bars. Unpleasant might be the right word if he was guilty of the crime he was convicted of in 1990. Dreadful is the word I'd use if I was somewhere else rather than home this holiday season. I keep hearing him say, "How many more days, weeks or holidays can I take in here?" I promise you we'll have you out very soon. This I guarantee, on top of that promise, this will be your last last holiday season behind bars.
I believe that the things we see in life are of:
1. Natural Occurrences – Acts of God, the natural process
2. Aided Occurrences – Things that are going to happen regardless but entities/groups use them to their advantage - the lion trainer with a stick to direct or guide the animal/the flow
3. Fabricated Occurrences – A whole scene or environment is staged or made to trick one or more people
I believe Ken Middleton was targeted, not Ken specifically, but the accident scene. The city of Blue Springs needed a murder/homicide in their town
. to keep the troops occupied or interested in their job because there hadn’t been a murder in 10 plus years. I think this was thought of within the department for some time and it was put into full effect when the prosecutor’s office employee, Assistant Prosecutor Patrick Peters, arrived onto the scene. I’m not sure if this accident and scene was their top pick for their murder in the city, but to try out their thinking process they called the prosecutor’s office and reported a possible homicide. Much like the military might call a Def-con 5 Alert. The troops in the field aren’t sure if it’s a drill or an actual threat until their superiors call out “Stand down, it’s a false alert, or This isn't a drill!”.
Patrick Peters was a big shot in 1990 when he rode up on the Middleton scene. Peters’ nickname was Dr. Death for the death penalty convictions he had secured, seven total I believe during his time in office. His ticket was going to get even hotter in 1992 when he ran for Prosecuting Attorney of Jackson County. If my math is right, his age in 1990 was around 34 years old. If his high school had a 15 year reunion, he was just at it the year before and he was ready to let the state, world, know that Patrick W. Peters was ready to run the legal world of Jackson County Missouri.
Pat Peters was the man on the rise, in addition to his career as a prosecutor; he was also in the night club scene with a famous radio DJ, Johnny Dare, in the DJ-for-hire business. Peters was stacking up convicts and hitting any woman he wanted in KC. That Peters was a “hot shot” or if we were in a Trump locker room he’d be called the “Cock of the Block”. My question for Blue Springs PD, if you thought that this scene was important enough to have a prosecutor on scene why wasn’t the County Coroner Office/Medical Examiner called as well?
As soon as he walked up on the house, the rumors started flying that Middleton was trying to wash off his hands and the gunshot residue by faking an illness. This, in my opinion, was the reason Ken was picked as the fall guy in Blue Springs for a homicide. If he wasn’t already being eyed as the Blue Springs Murderer it was secured when Peters heard about this.
“That piece of shit was trying to get the gunshot residue off?” Peters’ voice screaming, “That poor woman must have been suffering for years, I promise I’ll get him fellas - I’m doctor death!”
It was just about then he headed out to visit his mother and father, the retired Honorable William J. Peters, who lived down the road in Lake Tapawingo. Mother always had tacos on Monday and he was going to go knock out a few of those ground beef delectable’s with a side of that scrumptious box rice and picante salsa.
William J. Peters who retired from Jackson County’s 16th District Circuit Court was “The Man” of the bench for years. He was now a consultant for a law firm in Blue Springs called Cochran, Osborne, McDonald, Graham and Roam. This law firm who represented the BSPD and whose law partner McDonald, was the City Prosecutor for Blue Springs and Judge of Lake Tapiwingo for 46 yrs. when he retired in 2017. This is who Ken Middleton was going to box with; the Honorable William Peters, McDonald, and the home of countless Judges and high profile attorneys in the state of Missouri. The trial of Kenneth G. Middleton would take place in division 16 of the 16th Circuit Court of Jackson County, prosecuted by Patrick W. Peters, in the former courtroom of Hon. William J. Peters. As a tribute to the former Judge he has his painting hanging in the courtroom, the court room where Ken Middleton receives Life plus 200 years.
A murder examination is a time-consuming affair. Everything in the scene is first photographed and videoed. Then we get down to the details. Every footprint, partial footprint, trace of footprint, must be diagrammed, measured, photographed with scales. Every area of blood has to be assessed – is it spatter? Drops? Smears? - measured, diagrammed, and photographed. Blood samples have to be taken from all areas – and the exact position must be recorded, both in diagrams and photographs.
You’ve got several hours work there two CSI’s at a minimum, three more likely, and a Crime Scene Manager deciding strategy and directing operations. This scene only had one, Dave Link. Then the hard work of fingerprinting, or recovering items for lab work. Most murder scenes will take several days to process properly. Quite apart from the work done by the CSI’s, outside experts will often be called in - Medical Examiner’s Office, a Pathologist, to look at the body in situation before it’s taken for a full post-mortom, a Blood Pattern Analysis expert, and a Ballistics expert because there was a gun was involved. Since the gun was there at the scene, it required special treatment from a Firearms Officer because it was mandatory for a conviction…or was it?
The supposed crime scene - the mistakes or mistaken crime scene:
· Blue Springs Police Department (BSPD) moved evidence when the very first offer arrived, compromising the scene immediately
· BSPD undressed the late Mrs. Middleton and left her nude in the room for hours, never turned in her wardrobe until a later day for testing for GSR
· The suspected murder weapon was taken apart at the scene, not at the lab, making it impossible for the defense to test it in condition that the gun went off, no ballistic expert, just officers taking a looky loo.
· Crime scene photos were all destroyed due to shutter or aperture malfunction, not one photo developed, had to be recreated on a different day so nothing was actually documented. Hundreds of photos of scene not one came out? Railroaded…?
· Gunshot Residue Test was taken on both Mr. Middleton and Mrs. Middleton. This test clears nearly 22,000 people each year for false charges of homicide. Mr. Middleton’s results were negative, no residue. The tests of Mrs. Middleton if positive would prove that she alone had handled the gun. The test of her left hand went missing and the document was later whited out and no one could or would confess of any knowledge to it. The BSPD never produced the test result of her left hand.
· The certified tech to test for GSR was not allowed to test as protocol suggested, his superior officer did the testing
· BSPD denied that there was a telephone on wall where the gun fired, even though they documented that Middleton had used said phone to call 911. This missing photo when crime scene was reconstructed, was basis that Middleton was “Nothing but a liar” – they purposely left out phone
·When the crime scene was wrapped up the BSPD never had the Medical Examiner at the scen
· Next day coroner notified head officer of scene that he’d be forced to rule scene Middleton case a homicide if no other evidence was turned in. (That additional evidence would have been left hand of GSR Test, suspiciously it went missing. Did it disappear so not to interfere with coroner ruling?
The trial was coming up and the Law office of Cochran, Oswald, McDonald, Graham and Roam had already slapped Ken Middleton with a civil lawsuit. Did Prosecutor Peters really call his father that quick where they wanted to have him in court faster than the Prosecutor’s Office?
Well Middleton’s attorney Robert “Bob” Duncan would surely have a field day with all those mistakes during the investigation. Right? Well he never made an opening statement, never cross examined the Prosecution’s expert witnesses, never called a witness, and never objected. Ken was convicted quickly. Then Ken hired Duncan’s buddy to get the appeal process going and he turned in a 3 page brief, compared to the 80 page the next guy did to remedy that mistake.
Then when he finally got to go in front of Judge Edith Messina for his evidenciary hearing in his 29.15 new trial fight. After the judge hear all the facts Kenneth was forced to sit down for a year waiting for that decision. Ken’s spirit was high and his hopefulness was at its peak. That grew even more when the Jackson County Prosecutor Mike D. Sanders arrived with a deal an offer for his release. Sign an Alford Plea and get an immediate release.
- Alford Plea - is a guilty plea of a defendant who proclaims he is innocent of the crime, and admits that the prosecution has enough evidence to prove that he is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Ken declined that Alford Plea all together. He said, “Why in the hell would I admit guilt to a crime that I never committed?” Mike D. Sanders would really play dirty now. He appeals that decision Judge Messina comes back with. That decision was a new trial, vacated conviction, and sentence. Ken would have to wait nearly a year in that hole of a cell that he was placed in and wait for Mike D. Sanders’ friend, Judge Holliger to rule whether or not that the decision Messina brought about was valid or not. Guess what? The Judge who is Mike Sanders’ lawyer today, along with two other judges ruled that Judge Messina had no jurisdiction to look at the case and they quickly throw out the case and never talk about the merits of it, that Kenneth G. Middleton is innocent. Poof! Gone like the dreams Ken had for his first night out. The legal community seemed to be fine that an innocent man has been locked up for 27 years.
28. Sanders was a big disappointment and so was the attorney he suggested that Ken hire to file the brief, a brief that cost nearly $30,000. I've read his briefs and they're absolutely the best briefs I've ever read but a $30,000 brief? Mike D. Sanders' recommendation, Jonathan Laurans, was rude and wouldn't ask Mike D. Sanders for a counter offer after Middleton declined on the Alford Plea. The pain in the ass plus 30K? It was as if Laurans was absolute on the Alford Plea too, maybe more than Sanders and the state.
- In 2006, Sanders was elected Jackson County Executive defeating Charles Wheeler. Sanders was re-elected to second and third terms 2010 and 2014.
Upon taking office in 2007, Sanders inherited a budget crisis of a $6.3 million shortfall in the County's General Fund - a deficit that threatened to shut down County operations. Ken Middleton’s release and ultimate lawsuit would have been very bad. So much so I think Sanders, the natural born salesman, would have sold the doom and gloom scenario to almost anyone and they too would have agreed – keep that son of a bitch Middleton behind bars regardless if he’s innocent or not! By overseeing cuts to the County budget each year, the County's finances were in order by the 2010 independent Jackson County Legislator audit. – Wikipedia
Money Ball
Peters’ was determined to feed the law firm of Cochran Oswald McDonald Ken because whatever his dad, Hon. William J. Peters, would make it’d eventually make its way to him through an inheritance. Big conflict of interest. So says law State vs. Ganger – the prosecutor cannot serve two different masters. One master being the people and the other his pocket.
I believe BSPD was guilty of this because every high end big shot in legal community lived in Blue Springs. If they had no crime, major, then everyone would eventually relocate in Blue Springs. Then the big shots would have moved elsewhere, they the City of Blue Springs, would lose…Money.
Robert Duncan was doing any and all cases he could because of - MONEY.
Wrongful Conviction Review Panel 2018 – If Middleton gets out he sues for Money!
Extra Extra – If he isn’t released by Jackson County officials and he gets out by, let’s just say, the Feds, and rumors start flying about Sanders and his dirty ways, there could be a mass hell of vacated convictions. Costing Jackson County gazillions for other wrongful convictions. If released tomorrow with Prosecutor’s assistance, Prosecuting Attorney Baker could and should be hailed as the Person of the Decade, forever noted as a hero who rescued Middleton.
Patrick Peters was a big shot in 1990 when he rode up on the Middleton scene. Peters’ nickname was Dr. Death for the death penalty convictions he had secured, seven total I believe during his time in office. His ticket was going to get even hotter in 1992 when he ran for Prosecuting Attorney of Jackson County. If my math is right, his age in 1990 was around 34 years old. If his high school had a 15 year reunion, he was just at it the year before and he was ready to let the state, world, know that Patrick W. Peters was ready to run the legal world of Jackson County Missouri.
Pat Peters was the man on the rise, in addition to his career as a prosecutor; he was also in the night club scene with a famous radio DJ, Johnny Dare, in the DJ-for-hire business. Peters was stacking up convicts and hitting any woman he wanted in KC. That Peters was a “hot shot” or if we were in a Trump locker room he’d be called the “Cock of the Block”. My question for Blue Springs PD, if you thought that this scene was important enough to have a prosecutor on scene why wasn’t the County Coroner Office/Medical Examiner called as well?
As soon as he walked up on the house, the rumors started flying that Middleton was trying to wash off his hands and the gunshot residue by faking an illness. This, in my opinion, was the reason Ken was picked as the fall guy in Blue Springs for a homicide. If he wasn’t already being eyed as the Blue Springs Murderer it was secured when Peters heard about this.
“That piece of shit was trying to get the gunshot residue off?” Peters’ voice screaming, “That poor woman must have been suffering for years, I promise I’ll get him fellas - I’m doctor death!”
It was just about then he headed out to visit his mother and father, the retired Honorable William J. Peters, who lived down the road in Lake Tapawingo. Mother always had tacos on Monday and he was going to go knock out a few of those ground beef delectable’s with a side of that scrumptious box rice and picante salsa.
William J. Peters who retired from Jackson County’s 16th District Circuit Court was “The Man” of the bench for years. He was now a consultant for a law firm in Blue Springs called Cochran, Osborne, McDonald, Graham and Roam. This law firm who represented the BSPD and whose law partner McDonald, was the City Prosecutor for Blue Springs and Judge of Lake Tapiwingo for 46 yrs. when he retired in 2017. This is who Ken Middleton was going to box with; the Honorable William Peters, McDonald, and the home of countless Judges and high profile attorneys in the state of Missouri. The trial of Kenneth G. Middleton would take place in division 16 of the 16th Circuit Court of Jackson County, prosecuted by Patrick W. Peters, in the former courtroom of Hon. William J. Peters. As a tribute to the former Judge he has his painting hanging in the courtroom, the court room where Ken Middleton receives Life plus 200 years.
A murder examination is a time-consuming affair. Everything in the scene is first photographed and videoed. Then we get down to the details. Every footprint, partial footprint, trace of footprint, must be diagrammed, measured, photographed with scales. Every area of blood has to be assessed – is it spatter? Drops? Smears? - measured, diagrammed, and photographed. Blood samples have to be taken from all areas – and the exact position must be recorded, both in diagrams and photographs.
You’ve got several hours work there two CSI’s at a minimum, three more likely, and a Crime Scene Manager deciding strategy and directing operations. This scene only had one, Dave Link. Then the hard work of fingerprinting, or recovering items for lab work. Most murder scenes will take several days to process properly. Quite apart from the work done by the CSI’s, outside experts will often be called in - Medical Examiner’s Office, a Pathologist, to look at the body in situation before it’s taken for a full post-mortom, a Blood Pattern Analysis expert, and a Ballistics expert because there was a gun was involved. Since the gun was there at the scene, it required special treatment from a Firearms Officer because it was mandatory for a conviction…or was it?
The supposed crime scene - the mistakes or mistaken crime scene:
· Blue Springs Police Department (BSPD) moved evidence when the very first offer arrived, compromising the scene immediately
· BSPD undressed the late Mrs. Middleton and left her nude in the room for hours, never turned in her wardrobe until a later day for testing for GSR
· The suspected murder weapon was taken apart at the scene, not at the lab, making it impossible for the defense to test it in condition that the gun went off, no ballistic expert, just officers taking a looky loo.
· Crime scene photos were all destroyed due to shutter or aperture malfunction, not one photo developed, had to be recreated on a different day so nothing was actually documented. Hundreds of photos of scene not one came out? Railroaded…?
· Gunshot Residue Test was taken on both Mr. Middleton and Mrs. Middleton. This test clears nearly 22,000 people each year for false charges of homicide. Mr. Middleton’s results were negative, no residue. The tests of Mrs. Middleton if positive would prove that she alone had handled the gun. The test of her left hand went missing and the document was later whited out and no one could or would confess of any knowledge to it. The BSPD never produced the test result of her left hand.
· The certified tech to test for GSR was not allowed to test as protocol suggested, his superior officer did the testing
· BSPD denied that there was a telephone on wall where the gun fired, even though they documented that Middleton had used said phone to call 911. This missing photo when crime scene was reconstructed, was basis that Middleton was “Nothing but a liar” – they purposely left out phone
·When the crime scene was wrapped up the BSPD never had the Medical Examiner at the scen
· Next day coroner notified head officer of scene that he’d be forced to rule scene Middleton case a homicide if no other evidence was turned in. (That additional evidence would have been left hand of GSR Test, suspiciously it went missing. Did it disappear so not to interfere with coroner ruling?
The trial was coming up and the Law office of Cochran, Oswald, McDonald, Graham and Roam had already slapped Ken Middleton with a civil lawsuit. Did Prosecutor Peters really call his father that quick where they wanted to have him in court faster than the Prosecutor’s Office?
Well Middleton’s attorney Robert “Bob” Duncan would surely have a field day with all those mistakes during the investigation. Right? Well he never made an opening statement, never cross examined the Prosecution’s expert witnesses, never called a witness, and never objected. Ken was convicted quickly. Then Ken hired Duncan’s buddy to get the appeal process going and he turned in a 3 page brief, compared to the 80 page the next guy did to remedy that mistake.
Then when he finally got to go in front of Judge Edith Messina for his evidenciary hearing in his 29.15 new trial fight. After the judge hear all the facts Kenneth was forced to sit down for a year waiting for that decision. Ken’s spirit was high and his hopefulness was at its peak. That grew even more when the Jackson County Prosecutor Mike D. Sanders arrived with a deal an offer for his release. Sign an Alford Plea and get an immediate release.
- Alford Plea - is a guilty plea of a defendant who proclaims he is innocent of the crime, and admits that the prosecution has enough evidence to prove that he is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Ken declined that Alford Plea all together. He said, “Why in the hell would I admit guilt to a crime that I never committed?” Mike D. Sanders would really play dirty now. He appeals that decision Judge Messina comes back with. That decision was a new trial, vacated conviction, and sentence. Ken would have to wait nearly a year in that hole of a cell that he was placed in and wait for Mike D. Sanders’ friend, Judge Holliger to rule whether or not that the decision Messina brought about was valid or not. Guess what? The Judge who is Mike Sanders’ lawyer today, along with two other judges ruled that Judge Messina had no jurisdiction to look at the case and they quickly throw out the case and never talk about the merits of it, that Kenneth G. Middleton is innocent. Poof! Gone like the dreams Ken had for his first night out. The legal community seemed to be fine that an innocent man has been locked up for 27 years.
An injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere - Come on guys and gals, a sit in? A march? A rally? A shutdown? I need some help. Listen to me. Ken Middleton has been locked up for 27 years and 9 months. I just spelled out the facts of the case:
Face the Facts
1. Ken’s wife accidentally shoots herself
2. GSR Tests would prove he didn’t do it
3. GSR Tests are destroyed
4. Evidence Tech is not allowed to do GSR Test, the lead at the scene demands to take test himself, huh?
5. Ballistics on the gun could have possibly shown the gun had a hair trigger
6. The BSPD dismantled the gun, huh?
7. Photos of the crime scene could proved or possibly yielded a clue
8. All photos were never developed, ruined they say - are for real? The photographer/tech ruined them all?
9. 911 tapes could have proved the emotional state Middleton was in
10. 911 tapes are freakishly destroyed before the trial, just after their transcribed
11. The evidence of GSR on Kathy Middleton would prove Ken was speaking the truth
12. GSR Tests document on Mrs. Middleton is altered and any test on left hand gone, no explanation given. Someone put white out trying to hide the fact tests were done
13. Kathy is disrobed and the evidence is breached but they allow her to lay undressed as they investigate and in my opinion further destroy the scene, but worse yet, they let her lay unclothed - sad and enraged that they'd do that to a man's wife who just passed - horrible
14. Kathy’s clothes are not packed up at the time she is undressed, they forget to take them, have to come back for them at a different date
15. Medical Examiner is a no show
16. Although Ken has no GSR, like all others who aren’t charged around the US, Ken is charged with First Degree Murder & Armed Criminal Action – Life plus 200 Years.
17. Lawyer Robert Duncan
A. Gets indicted the following year for Federal Crimes his mind is preoccupied with his own shit, it's obvious that he is somewhere else and an insult to the Middleton family
B. Doesn’t make an opening argument
C. Doesn’t object once
D. Never deposes state's witnesses, was ill prepared on what to ask them. Bullshit - he was so dumb to their knowledge of anything he looked stupid, embarrassment to Kenneth G. Middleton.
E. DOESN'T CALL ONE WITNESS - EXPERT, FAMILY, OR FRIEND!
F. Only after being pressured does he visit the Middleton home to evaluate his own theory, not an experts - his theory
G. Defends multiple death penalty cases and capital cases all at – ONCE
H. They say in the legal community – one death penalty case - one is too much, two – two is too many…Three, four, five, six…just a criminal act and possible sign one's about to be indicted
Face the Facts
1. Ken’s wife accidentally shoots herself
2. GSR Tests would prove he didn’t do it
3. GSR Tests are destroyed
4. Evidence Tech is not allowed to do GSR Test, the lead at the scene demands to take test himself, huh?
5. Ballistics on the gun could have possibly shown the gun had a hair trigger
6. The BSPD dismantled the gun, huh?
7. Photos of the crime scene could proved or possibly yielded a clue
8. All photos were never developed, ruined they say - are for real? The photographer/tech ruined them all?
9. 911 tapes could have proved the emotional state Middleton was in
10. 911 tapes are freakishly destroyed before the trial, just after their transcribed
11. The evidence of GSR on Kathy Middleton would prove Ken was speaking the truth
12. GSR Tests document on Mrs. Middleton is altered and any test on left hand gone, no explanation given. Someone put white out trying to hide the fact tests were done
13. Kathy is disrobed and the evidence is breached but they allow her to lay undressed as they investigate and in my opinion further destroy the scene, but worse yet, they let her lay unclothed - sad and enraged that they'd do that to a man's wife who just passed - horrible
14. Kathy’s clothes are not packed up at the time she is undressed, they forget to take them, have to come back for them at a different date
15. Medical Examiner is a no show
16. Although Ken has no GSR, like all others who aren’t charged around the US, Ken is charged with First Degree Murder & Armed Criminal Action – Life plus 200 Years.
17. Lawyer Robert Duncan
A. Gets indicted the following year for Federal Crimes his mind is preoccupied with his own shit, it's obvious that he is somewhere else and an insult to the Middleton family
B. Doesn’t make an opening argument
C. Doesn’t object once
D. Never deposes state's witnesses, was ill prepared on what to ask them. Bullshit - he was so dumb to their knowledge of anything he looked stupid, embarrassment to Kenneth G. Middleton.
E. DOESN'T CALL ONE WITNESS - EXPERT, FAMILY, OR FRIEND!
F. Only after being pressured does he visit the Middleton home to evaluate his own theory, not an experts - his theory
G. Defends multiple death penalty cases and capital cases all at – ONCE
H. They say in the legal community – one death penalty case - one is too much, two – two is too many…Three, four, five, six…just a criminal act and possible sign one's about to be indicted
i. Most attorney's will go an entire career without ever being found ineffective, Duncan was found to be ineffective on four cases including Middleton's from 1989-1992.
J. Kenneth G. Middleton's conviction, out of all the ineffective counsel rulings, is the only conviction still intact, all the rest were reversed. WTF, huh?
K. The blood spatter and trajectory from an Independent Expert, after the fact, pointed towards Middleton's innocence. After the fact.
18. Impossible odds convincing Judge for new trial same Judge who convicted 13-14 years earlier
19. Gets a new trial from same trial judge of original proceedings - the first of its kind
20. But before the decision the state offers deal for immediate release: Alford Plea
21. Prosecutor outraged over rejection of plea and that decision of judge, he appeals new trial, vacated conviction, vacated sentence
22. Case is heard before good friend of Sanders - Judge Holliger, and two other judges
23. Middleton is denied new trial or anything else
24. Judge uses a rogue ruling to make decision the same day the same judges rule on the exact same kind of case or same topic and rule the other way. For Ken it was a Jurisdiction issue for the other convict it was an Erroneous Review or vice versa.
26. The judge also neglects to mention that Ken was wrongly convicted because everyone can see what happened
27. Mike D. Sanders appeals Messina's ruling then announces that the Attorney General (AG) has to take over. Why? Conflict of interest: Female attorney in his office once worked on Middleton case in 90’s. Why wasn’t that revealed in the first trial? The AG wouldn’t have appealed the judge’s decision but Sanders did because of personal reasons - maybe a mind full of corruption and bad thoughts towards Middleton for neglecting the Alford Plea. (A freed Middleton is almost guaranteed a big payday, rightfully so, but it appears there's many people in the justice system that thinks that leaving a man behind bars is OK as long as it's protecting the City of Blue Springs, Jackson County, and the state of Missouri. 28 years for the sake of money? I'm so ashamed of those who say, "An injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere" - Ken Middleton is worth fighting for!
18. Impossible odds convincing Judge for new trial same Judge who convicted 13-14 years earlier
19. Gets a new trial from same trial judge of original proceedings - the first of its kind
20. But before the decision the state offers deal for immediate release: Alford Plea
21. Prosecutor outraged over rejection of plea and that decision of judge, he appeals new trial, vacated conviction, vacated sentence
22. Case is heard before good friend of Sanders - Judge Holliger, and two other judges
23. Middleton is denied new trial or anything else
24. Judge uses a rogue ruling to make decision the same day the same judges rule on the exact same kind of case or same topic and rule the other way. For Ken it was a Jurisdiction issue for the other convict it was an Erroneous Review or vice versa.
26. The judge also neglects to mention that Ken was wrongly convicted because everyone can see what happened
27. Mike D. Sanders appeals Messina's ruling then announces that the Attorney General (AG) has to take over. Why? Conflict of interest: Female attorney in his office once worked on Middleton case in 90’s. Why wasn’t that revealed in the first trial? The AG wouldn’t have appealed the judge’s decision but Sanders did because of personal reasons - maybe a mind full of corruption and bad thoughts towards Middleton for neglecting the Alford Plea. (A freed Middleton is almost guaranteed a big payday, rightfully so, but it appears there's many people in the justice system that thinks that leaving a man behind bars is OK as long as it's protecting the City of Blue Springs, Jackson County, and the state of Missouri. 28 years for the sake of money? I'm so ashamed of those who say, "An injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere" - Ken Middleton is worth fighting for!
28. Sanders was a big disappointment and so was the attorney he suggested that Ken hire to file the brief, a brief that cost nearly $30,000. I've read his briefs and they're absolutely the best briefs I've ever read but a $30,000 brief? Mike D. Sanders' recommendation, Jonathan Laurans, was rude and wouldn't ask Mike D. Sanders for a counter offer after Middleton declined on the Alford Plea. The pain in the ass plus 30K? It was as if Laurans was absolute on the Alford Plea too, maybe more than Sanders and the state.
29. 27 month sentence for Sanders’ skimming - 27 years for having money and because the civil attorneys wanted a slice. There were too many powerful people who needed to secure a conviction that Middleton's fate was almost sealed back in 1990.
30. Judge Eli who overheard the civil proceeding AND awarded 1.35 million in damages to Kathy's family was a former partner in the law firm of Cochran, Oswald, McDonald…the law firm in Blue Springs, where Hon. William J. Peters is moonlighting. Judge Eli didn’t dismiss himself for conflict purposes. Bad man, this whole story sucks ass.
31. The lead at the Middleton crime scene, who administers the GSR Test, that was destroyed, becomes an Alderman at Lake Tapiwingo, home of William J. Peters, then Mayor the next year, and becomes the Chief of Police in all places…Lake Lotawana, home of Peters, Patrick W.
32. Judge Holliger who throws out Ken’s new trial and vacated conviction and sentence – is now the personal attorney of record for Mike Sanders as of 2018 - really?
30. Judge Eli who overheard the civil proceeding AND awarded 1.35 million in damages to Kathy's family was a former partner in the law firm of Cochran, Oswald, McDonald…the law firm in Blue Springs, where Hon. William J. Peters is moonlighting. Judge Eli didn’t dismiss himself for conflict purposes. Bad man, this whole story sucks ass.
31. The lead at the Middleton crime scene, who administers the GSR Test, that was destroyed, becomes an Alderman at Lake Tapiwingo, home of William J. Peters, then Mayor the next year, and becomes the Chief of Police in all places…Lake Lotawana, home of Peters, Patrick W.
32. Judge Holliger who throws out Ken’s new trial and vacated conviction and sentence – is now the personal attorney of record for Mike Sanders as of 2018 - really?
Its all true including the nearly 28 years of wrongful incarceration. Who would do that to anyone or their family? Why won’t someone just look at the 31 previous facts? Ken never got to mourn his wife’s passing. That is a fact because he’s been fighting for his life ever since February 12, 1990. Can you imagine? Can you help me help Ken get the opportunity to mourn his wife, the wife he loved but was accused of killing?
Mike Sanders offered Ken an Immediate Release if he signs an Alford Plea. When he's rejected he appeals Judge Messina's decision, why? Side Note - Did you know that Edith Messina was the very first woman, ever, to be on the Jackson County bench? It’s in my opinion that it’s all based off money. I can almost hear Sanders speaking through Laurans"Take it Middleton, or there's no other deal on the table - !" in my gangsta voice. Poor Ken. it was as if he was negotiating with the Jackson County Prosecutor himself. As if he needed any more assholes around after everything I've mentioned above and those below. Call me dumb but it seems to me that Laurans and Sanders would have wanted a "win, win" situation with the state and Kenneth G. Middleton, even if meant that Laurans had to put in a fight for Ken. I say that considering the case in 1999 of Haley/Smith. It's obvious that relationship didn't pan out too good for the cases I just mentioned. Makes you wonder how many other cases they "put work into" turned out favorable for the defendants, not just for the state. I guess we'll never know now since Sanders reported to jail Nov. 4th to serve a 27 month sentence. Ironic if you ask me because at that time Ken had been incarcerated for nearly 15 years. A wrongful conviction that Sanders conceded to, in my opinion when he offered the Alford Plea. When Judge Messina vacated the conviction and sentence, I wonder if Sanders would have made the same call of appealing it if he knew that he'd be going to prison himself in 12 years. 27 years of incarceration for Middleton today, for what? Not certain how the system works because - he was a law abiding citizen. Hmmm? Something smells badly if you ask me. But I'm just a green pea with no knowledge of the law just that knowledge some might call street knowledge. sharp PenThat dirty move he made was in 2006, the next year Sanders takes over as Jackson County Executive the top man in the Jackson County line-up, the man who inherits the county budget. What would have Ken’s wrongful incarceration settlement done to a budget that was already stretched beyond stretching? Take a look.
Mike Sanders offered Ken an Immediate Release if he signs an Alford Plea. When he's rejected he appeals Judge Messina's decision, why? Side Note - Did you know that Edith Messina was the very first woman, ever, to be on the Jackson County bench? It’s in my opinion that it’s all based off money. I can almost hear Sanders speaking through Laurans"Take it Middleton, or there's no other deal on the table - !" in my gangsta voice. Poor Ken. it was as if he was negotiating with the Jackson County Prosecutor himself. As if he needed any more assholes around after everything I've mentioned above and those below. Call me dumb but it seems to me that Laurans and Sanders would have wanted a "win, win" situation with the state and Kenneth G. Middleton, even if meant that Laurans had to put in a fight for Ken. I say that considering the case in 1999 of Haley/Smith. It's obvious that relationship didn't pan out too good for the cases I just mentioned. Makes you wonder how many other cases they "put work into" turned out favorable for the defendants, not just for the state. I guess we'll never know now since Sanders reported to jail Nov. 4th to serve a 27 month sentence. Ironic if you ask me because at that time Ken had been incarcerated for nearly 15 years. A wrongful conviction that Sanders conceded to, in my opinion when he offered the Alford Plea. When Judge Messina vacated the conviction and sentence, I wonder if Sanders would have made the same call of appealing it if he knew that he'd be going to prison himself in 12 years. 27 years of incarceration for Middleton today, for what? Not certain how the system works because - he was a law abiding citizen. Hmmm? Something smells badly if you ask me. But I'm just a green pea with no knowledge of the law just that knowledge some might call street knowledge. sharp PenThat dirty move he made was in 2006, the next year Sanders takes over as Jackson County Executive the top man in the Jackson County line-up, the man who inherits the county budget. What would have Ken’s wrongful incarceration settlement done to a budget that was already stretched beyond stretching? Take a look.
- In 2006, Sanders was elected Jackson County Executive defeating Charles Wheeler. Sanders was re-elected to second and third terms 2010 and 2014.
Upon taking office in 2007, Sanders inherited a budget crisis of a $6.3 million shortfall in the County's General Fund - a deficit that threatened to shut down County operations. Ken Middleton’s release and ultimate lawsuit would have been very bad. So much so I think Sanders, the natural born salesman, would have sold the doom and gloom scenario to almost anyone and they too would have agreed – keep that son of a bitch Middleton behind bars regardless if he’s innocent or not! By overseeing cuts to the County budget each year, the County's finances were in order by the 2010 independent Jackson County Legislator audit. – Wikipedia
Money Ball
Peters’ was determined to feed the law firm of Cochran Oswald McDonald Ken because whatever his dad, Hon. William J. Peters, would make it’d eventually make its way to him through an inheritance. Big conflict of interest. So says law State vs. Ganger – the prosecutor cannot serve two different masters. One master being the people and the other his pocket.
I believe BSPD was guilty of this because every high end big shot in legal community lived in Blue Springs. If they had no crime, major, then everyone would eventually relocate in Blue Springs. Then the big shots would have moved elsewhere, they the City of Blue Springs, would lose…Money.
Robert Duncan was doing any and all cases he could because of - MONEY.
Wrongful Conviction Review Panel 2018 – If Middleton gets out he sues for Money!
Extra Extra – If he isn’t released by Jackson County officials and he gets out by, let’s just say, the Feds, and rumors start flying about Sanders and his dirty ways, there could be a mass hell of vacated convictions. Costing Jackson County gazillions for other wrongful convictions. If released tomorrow with Prosecutor’s assistance, Prosecuting Attorney Baker could and should be hailed as the Person of the Decade, forever noted as a hero who rescued Middleton.
Down 27, life plus 200 was one hell of a bit but the upcoming freedom isn’t lost on being bitter or angry. Please help me help a man who has been wrongfully locked up, if it was you, I would help you too. Please help me today. Get this out, post it, send it. help how ever you can, This is the season!
www.free-kenmiddleton
(To Be Continued)
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