For 32 years since his father, stepmother and two stepsisters were killed, and for 15 years since his conviction for the crime, Jeff Pelley has maintained his innocence.
Now for the first time since a 2009 Indiana Supreme Court ruling, Pelley will have the chance to present evidence on his behalf. He hopes to get a new trial for the murders on the night of his 1989 LaVille High School prom.
Earlier this month, St Joseph Superior Court Judge Stephanie Steele set a hearing in Pelley’s post-conviction relief case for March, where Pelley’s legal team will argue the 49-year-old deserves a new trial. They claim prosecutors lied about evidence at trial, and that new testimony suggests Pelley’s father’s illegal financial dealings in Florida may have been the motivation for the murder. South Bend Tribune article 2021
PERCY, DEREK: Crimes that Shook Australia TV - ABC Australia online -
Derek Percy is an Australian criminal vilified by every person who knows his name. Hitting the headlines over forty years ago for a crime that changed the very fabric of Australian society. The graphic murder of twelve-year-old Yvonne Tuohy was only the start. Crimes that Shook Australia s1e6: Derek Percy, CI 2014
Not guilty on the grounds of insanity ... a number of brutal child murders and abductions remain unsolved from the 1960s. Could Derek Percy also be responsible for these? ibid.
Derek Percy died of lung cancer in July 2013. ibid. caption
Convicted child killer Derek Percy, who died at St Vincent’s Hospital in Melbourne last year, has been linked to some of Australia’s most notorious child killings.
Percy was convicted of the abduction, torture and murder of 12-year-old Yvonne Tuohy, who was snatched from a beach at Victoria’s Westernport Bay in July 1969. He was found to be criminally insane and jailed indefinitely.
According to crime writer and journalist Debi Marshall, who has written during the investigation into Tuohy’s murder, that Percy’s name was linked to eight other child killings. ABC Australia online news
PERELSON, HAROLD: True Crime Recaps 2022 -
At the end of a quiet cul-de-sac at the top of a hill overlooking Los Angeles looms the scene of one of the city’s strangest and most macabre murders. True Crime Recaps: Strange Secrets of the Los Feliz Murder Mansion, Youtube 16.13, 2022
December 7th 1959 when Dr Harold Perelson took a hammer to his wife’s head as she slept. This is a house with a history of sorrow. ibid.
PERRY, DOUGLAS/DONNA: Scene of the Crime with Tony Harris TV - A Killer's Mistake TV -
Three women living on the edge; one man preying on them. A killing spree that terrified a city. A demented murderer and one big shocking twist. Scene of the Crime with Tony Harris s2e1: Down By the River, ID 2018
A third victim inside of three months. A third body dumped by the river. ibid.
The State Lab reported they’d nailed a DNA match. ibid.
Who was Douglas Perry? ibid.
Three women are brutally murdered. With a possible serial killer on the loose police are extra-vigilant. One victim had not made it easy for her attacker. Eventually, detectives uncover a suspect. A Killer’s Mistake s2e4: Douglas/Donna Perry, DiscoveryPlus 2023
He seemed fixated on prostitutes. ibid. journalist
Douglas’s father had abused him. ibid.
Perry appeared to be a misogynist. ibid.
It’s in Thailand that Douglas Perry became Donna Perry. ibid.
PERRY, MICHAEL & JASON BURKETT: Into the Abyss TV - The Guardian online
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Michael Perry is on death row at the Polunsky Unit in Livingston, Texas, for crimes he committed ten years ago. At the time of the triple homicide, he and co-defendant Jason Burkett were teenagers. Perry is now 28. Into the Abyss, director Werner Herzog, caption, Channel 4 2013
After a shootout with police, Perry and Burkett were arrested for the murder of Sandra Stotler. In the ambulance, Perry confessed that he and Burkett had also murdered Adam Stotler and Jeremy Richardson. ibid.
Perry later retracted those confessions and argued that he’d first spoken nonsense while high on drugs and then had been roughed up by police until he falsely admitted guilt. Perry and his lawyers argued, right up until the day of his execution, that he was actually in custody on a traffic violation when Sandra was murdered – as they dispute the estimated time of her death. And they insist that false confessions happen all the time when people are under stress, and are grounds to re-open an investigation.
Burkett and Perry blamed each other for the triple homicide but both were found guilty at trial.
Perry was charged only with murdering Sandra Stotler and was sentenced to death. Burkett was convicted of all three murders but, by a narrow jury vote, was sentenced to life in prison.
Perry is now dead. Burkett first comes up for parole in 2041. The Guardian online article 4th November 2011
PERSICO, CARMINE et al: Mafia Killers TV - Mobsters: Carmine the Snake Persico TV - Los Angeles Times -
Brooklyn, 1961: Mobsters Carmine Persico and Larry Gallo meet in secret to plan a rebellion. Persico and Gallo refuse to pay the stiff kickbacks demanded by their boss Joe Prefaci. Rebelling against a Mafia boss is suicidal. Mafia Killer s1e3: Carmine ‘The Snake’ Persico, History 2019
The Snake’s ruthless ambition would then practically destroy one of New York’s most powerful Mafia families. ibid.
He’s been behind bars since 1987 serving a sentence of 139 years. ibid.
Persico and his leadership were indicted on multiple charges of racketeering. ibid.
The act of betrayal against his former ally [Gallo] earned Persico his nickname: The Snake. Mobsters: Carmine the Snake Persico: Snake Eyes
The street gangs of Brooklyn battled for neighbourhood turf. ibid.
One by one the rebels snatched five top Profaci lieutenants, including underboss Joe Magliocco and Capo Joseph Colombo. ibid.
By March 1963 nine Gallo soldiers had been killed. ibid.
Once again the Colombo family was set on a war path and Carmine Persico would be the last man standing. ibid.
Created in 1970, RICO gave authorities a short cut. ibid.
The so-called Commission Trial began in September 1986. ibid.
New York – Carmine Persico, the 52-year-old boss of the Colombo organized crime family, was convicted along with eight co-defendants today of racketeering, conspiracy and other federal charges.
Persico is the first of several top-level mobsters to face a jury since federal officials launched a drive against organized crime two years ago. The nine defendants, who also included Persico’s son Alphonse and Colombo family underboss Gennaro (Jerry Lang) Langella, were all named in two racketeering counts that each carry a maximum of 20 years in prison. Los Angeles Times online article 13th June 1986, ‘Mobster Guilty of Racketeering’