OVERVIEW OF WILLIE MANNING’S WRONGFUL CONVICTIONS

Willie Manning has been wrongly convicted and sentenced to death for two
separate double murders. He has already been exonerated for the killing of two
elderly women in Starkville, MS. The Mississippi Supreme Court found that the
State had suppressed evidence that its star witness lied to gain benefits for himself.

Manning continues to challenge his other double murder conviction, which

involved the killing of two students at Mississippi State University. According to the
State, Manning was caught breaking into a car on campus by Jon Steckler and
Tiffany Miller. He gathered up what he had taken from the car and then supposedly
forced them into her car, which had no back seat, and directed Steckler to drive to a
remote location while Miller sat on Manning’s lap. After supposedly shooting the
students, Manning left Miller’s car at a nearby apartment complex and walked miles
to his house, still carrying the stolen goods.

Law enforcement had no eyewitnesses and no trace evidence, such as

fingerprints, DNA, or fibers, could be linked to any suspect. As in Manning’s second
case, law enforcement brought pressure on desperate witnesses, who agreed to testify
against Manning. Earl Jordan testified that Manning confessed to him in jail.
Jordan now admits that his testimony was false and that he made up the statement
because he wanted leniency on other charges pending against him.

Frank Parker was another informant who testified falsely. Parker claimed
that he overheard Manning make incriminating statements about disposing of the
murder weapon when talking in jail to Henry Richardson, aka “Miami.” Parker lied.
Richardson has provided an affidavit stating that Manning never made any
admission in his presence and that he made that clear to law enforcement.

Paula Hathorn, Mr. Manning’s girlfriend at the time, had multiple charges for
writing bad checks pending against her. Those charges went away after she
cooperated, and she received $17,500 in reward money. She also agreed to have her
phone calls with Manning recorded. During those calls, she made statements
inconsistent with her trial testimony. Recordings of those conversations were never
disclosed to Manning’s trial attorneys.

The prosecution also relied on forensic evidence, which has also been proven to
be false. The murder weapon was never found, but an expert testified that bullets
found in a tree in Manning’s yard were fired from the same gun used to kill the
students to the exclusion of every other gun in the world. Forensic scientists now
know that such comparisons are invalid.

An expert also testified that hairs found in Miller’s car came from an African-
American. Because Manning is African-American and the victims were white, the
prosecutor used the hairs as additional evidence that Manning was in Miller’s car.
The FBI now recognizes that conclusions about race from hair samples are
scientifically invalid. Manning sought to have the hairs sent to a lab specializing in
developing DNA profiles from small and degraded samples, but the Mississippi courts
would not permit that.

Manning has filed another petition with the Mississippi Supreme Court to
challenge his convictions on the second case, but if it turns him down, it will set an
execution date for him.