Lucy Morgan, Guardian online - Mind Over Murder TV -
Mind Over Murder *****: It is a thing of precision-engineered beauty. Lucy Morgan, Guardian online article 4th September 2022
[comment]: Welcome to Beatrice: It’s your basic small town in the mid-west of America. Mind Over Murder I, director Nafu Wang ***** HBO 2022
It’s a nice enough town but there is definitely a weird undercurrent. ibid.
Six people [Joseph White, Thomas Winslow, Ada JoAnn Taylor, Kathleen Gonzalez, Debra Shelden, James Dean] have been exonerated in the murder of Beatrice widow [Helen Wilson]. ibid. front page Lincoln Journal Star
How can someone say they did something when nothing ever happened? ibid. comment
Debra Shelden still says today all six took part in the murder. ibid. comment
We really had very little information on anything. ibid.
I learned Joseph White and JoAnn Taylor had left Beatrice within a few weeks after the homicide. But I was able to find Thomas Winslow here in Beatrice. ibid.
JoAnn told me she knew what had happened. ibid. Lisa Podendorf
They didn’t think I could do murder. ibid. Debra Shelden
[newspaper]: Thomas W Winslow, 22, of Wymore, has been charged with the beating of a Lincoln motel clerk Oct 26 and was arraigned on felony charges Tuesday in Lancaster County Court. Mind Over Murder II
He [Thomas] wanted out. And he decided that if could prove himself to be a valuable witness in the case in Beatrice, they might let him go. That’s when he decided to talk and give a statement. ibid. attorney
I was saying, This is dangerous what you’re doing. ibid.
I had no choice but to assume he was telling the truth. ibid.
JoAnn was obviously a woman with serious psychological problems. ibid. attorney
Kathy Gonzalez had B-blood. ibid. rozzer
I worked this case. I know the fact. I dealt with these people. They’re guilty. ibid.
They’re all telling you the same thing. ibid.
[Kathy Gonzalez]: I was the last to be arrested. There’s a misconception that we were some sort of gang. Mind Over Murder III
These people commonly known as the Beatrice 6 are not what you’d call high society in Beatrice. ibid. attorney
I said, Listen, this case should have a lot of DNA. ibid. new attorney
It wasn’t their DNA. They were eliminated. ibid.
Neither Winslow nor White [nor James Dean] were responsible for the rape and murder of 68-year-old Helen Wilson. ibid. news
It all needs to be tested … and it wasn’t done. ibid. comment
The investigation is now focusing on finding the real killer in this case. ibid. news
[Lincoln Journal Star headline] DNA findings raise questions. Mind Over Murder IV
And the next thing we know, Tina [rozzer] was investigating Burt [rozzer]. ibid.
There was about $1,200 in the apartment. That clearly wasn’t the motive. ibid. Tina rozzer
Nobody from the Sheriff’s Office came over and read the case file. ibid.
In the interviews the statements were changed. ibid.
Burt fed them key information about the case during the interviews. One of the most incompetent interrogations. ibid. attorney
Winslow then recants … [Bert] went on a tirade … He started screaming at Winslow. ibid.
None of the six people’s DNA was on any of the objects. ibid.
They [rozzers] clearly lied on the stand. We just had the wrong people. ibid.
Criticism has been heaped on a string of interrogations led by investigator Burt Stearcey. ibid. news
Bullying and even brainwashing. ibid.
This was the worse Miscarriage of Injustice in the history of the state of Nebraska. ibid. comment
I know they were guilty. ibid. Burt
I think those six people did what they were convicted of. ibid. ex-sheriff
Everything in the crime scene point to one male individual. ibid. Tina, rozzer
Cliff Sheldon was one of those who just – his name just kept coming up in the investigation of the 6. ibid.
Eventually, the last ones were Clifford Sheldon and Bruce Allen Smith. ibid. comment
It came back a perfect [DNA] match for Bruce Allen Smith. ibid.
He was dropped off [from a party] literally at the crime scene. ibid. Tina
The common denominator – fired Oklahoma police chemist Joyce Gilchrist. ibid. news
Gilchrist – never charged for any crimes. ibid. newspaper
His [Bruce Allen Smith] grandmother lived in the same building that Helen Wilson did. ibid. Tina
He died seven years after the homicide. ibid.
There’s no accountability. It’s common for people in power. ibid. comment
[widow]: When Joseph got out of prison he thought they all deserved justice. So they did the civil suit. Mind Over Murder V
Debbie still believes she committed the murder. ibid. civil attorney
I knew that I would want to have a plan to determine why she believed that she was still involved. Your instinct is to say, ‘Deb, come on, you weren’t there, Deb.’ ibid. mental health specialist
His role [Dr Wayne Price] in establishing these false memories is just … wow. ibid. comment
He’s a deputy with the lead agency investigating this case. The selection of Dr Price as the psychologist to evaluate Deb’s competency is shocking. ibid.
Dr Wayne Price remains a licensed psychologist in Gage County. ibid. caption
I put two and two together. I couldn’t possibly have been there. ibid. Debbie
Dick Smith [County Attorney] knew that the evidence wouldn’t convict anybody. ibid. attorney
Dick Smith told the court, DNA testing isn’t available. ibid.
At trial, Dick Smith denied having read Cellmark’s response to his inquiry about DNA testing. He stated that he did not pursue DNA testing due to concerns about cost, the age and quality of the crime scene evidence, and the admissibility of DNA evidence in court in 1989. ibid. captions