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What “Evidence” Really Convicted Debra Milke of Capital Murder?

Thursday, September 19, 2013 11:47

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Exhibit #147 The “Secret Tape”

Phoenix, AZ—As a possible retrial looms over Debra Milkepeople speculate about the evidence that convicted her. It took me more than a decade to learn exactly what put an innocent woman on Death Row. I knew almost immediately that disgraced former detective Armando Saldate falsely reported and later testified that Milke confessed to him.

It was lies by Saldate for sure but there was a Secret Tape involved. There was a tape that was never played for the jury in open court!

I examined every court record in this sad case and observed the entire trial of Debra Milke back in 1990. It became obvious that the only “ convincing” evidence in open court against Milke was Saldate’s bogus confession claims.

In the summer of 1998 I was working in the newsroom of KTVK-TVwhen their former News Director Dennis O’Neill approached me with a story request. O’Neill told me about an article I’d already read in Phoenix Magazine by Peter Aleshire. Aleshire was only journalist at the time other than me that raised serious doubts about the guilt of Debra Milke.

KTVK-TV’s former parent company owner also owned Phoenix Magazine. The idea was to promote interest in that article with a relevant news story. He asked me if I could produce something. I told him I have a story I have wanted to do from the moment Milke was convicted. I told him that I noticed strange behavior by the Milke jury. I had been always convinced something in the jury room, perhaps some kind of misconduct.

When the Milke jury went into deliberation it was not a quick verdict. They jury was out for days. We all suspected they were deadlocked. At times there was laughter so loud we could hear it out in the hall. With such a terrible case I could not imagine what the jury found to be so damn funny.

Suddenly the buzzer rang and they announced that they reached a verdict. Soon the stern, poker-faced looking group of men and women re-entered the courtroom and the clerk read their Guilty verdict.

As usual in such cases Judge Cheryl Hendrix thanked the jury for their service advising them that the attorneys and media present would like to talk with them but that were under no obligation to talk to anyone at all.

I had lots of questions for the jury along with a gaggle of other reporters. However the jury fled the courthouse quicker that I’d ever seen happen before or since. No comments, no questions just silence!

That haunted me for the next eight years and no news director in Phoenix would let ne investigate that angle, until O’Neill gave me the green light. I was disappointed that O’Neil would not give me a photographer and let me knock on their doors because of cost considerations and a shortage of photographers. I had to call them on the telephone with my questions.

I obtained a list of jurors and located each and every one of them with their telephone numbers. Most of those numbers were unlisted. I grabbed a recorder and began making the calls.

The experience was indeed unique in my entire career! To begin with most juries will talk to the press without reservations. They are usually proud of their verdicts and quickly cite merits of evidence or disdain for the guilty. They often talk about a lack of evidence in acquittals. I was in for some more strange behavior!

I called one juror after another informing them of my identity and purpose. Some hung up on me immediately other used profanity before they slammed the phone in my ear. Others politely refused comment. Finally the eighth call was to juror Deanna Krupp. She was pleasant and told me, “I’m sorry Mr. Huebl, we all agreed never to talk about our deliberations. I don’t want to break my promise here.

I learned long ago no matter what ask another question because they may just answer it. I quickly asked her, “ I don’t want to ask you the intimate details of what happened I just want to know what was the single most significant piece of evidence that brought the conviction of Debra Milke?”

I though I knew the answer. It had to be Saldate’s court perjury because that was the only thing that had. The answer Krupp gave me was shocking! She said, “That had to be the tape.” I replied, “Ms. Krupp I sat through that trial and there was never a tape played.” Krupp than explained that the tape was not played in the courtroom. They found the tape among the evidence in the boxes brought to tem to examine in the jury room.

Since the jury was deadlocked Krupp remembered that prosecutor Noel Levy told then to look carefully at each and every piece of evidence and they would find answers to their questions. They searched once again and found that tape, requested the bailiff get a player for it and they listened intently.

It was a conversation between Saldate and Debra Milke’s younger sister Sandy. Saldate was interviewing Sandy in Wyoming in connection with the murder investigation. Again Saldate did not bring a tape recorder, but the sister wanted this taped and produced her own to make a record of the interview.

The interview began with Saldate making outrageous false claims. He said that Milke flashed her breasts during his interview trying to seduce him. He went on to say Milke confessed to he that she failed in an earlier attempt to murder Christopher by putting cyanide in his cereal. Saldate claimed to have this confession all on tape.

Saldat’e foul deed was really successful it caused Sandy to hate her sister over Saldate’s shocking allegations. It also caused Sandy to greatly exaggerate her testimony in court where she called Milke a Master Manipulator and lousy mother.

Early on Saldate made similar claims to Milke’s mother Renate Janka who flew in from her home inSwitzerland to help her daughter. Saldate’s lies caused Janka to begin nearly a decade long estrangement after believing Saldate’s vicious lies.

It took decades for Debra Milke’s mother and sister to reconcile and learn the truth that Armando Saldate was a vile criminal with a badge.

That outrageous tape surfaced when Sandy sent it to prosecutors at their request. A copy was turned over by prosecutors to defense lawyer Ken Ray. Ray made a clumsy attempt to play it in court that was unsuccessful. He put the tape aside and it never resurfaced because it was simply forgotten.

Ray wanted to show Saldate’s technique to poison witnesses with outrageous lies and then solicit their help with testimony. Everyone wants to help police get child killers certainly enough to exaggerate or even lie under oath. When Ray could not play the tape ne moved on.

Ray was a DUI lawyer handling his fist murder case ever. He was aided by private investigator KirkFowler. Fowler is a fine mad and has been dedicated to finding the truth. The problem was he was a Border Patrolman and DEA investigator with little or no experience in murder cases in 1990.

The team of Ray and Fowler was not up to the task and they were miserably outgunned by veteran homicide prosecutor Noel Levy and Saldate.

Initially reporter Mike Watkiss and I brought the new revelation of the Secret Tape to Milke’s first appeal lawyer Andres Rosenquistwhen we interviewed him for that story. He was ecstatic! Rosenquist was convinced this would make a big difference in the Milke case.

Watkiss and I went to Criminal Law Specialist, Richard Gierloff. He made it clear to us that this would win Milke a new trial based upon this development.

Rosenquist apparently looked at the trial record and found that the prosecutor admitted the tape, Exhibit #147 without objection by the beleaguered defense lawyer. Exhibits are moved into evidence by their number identification during breaks in trials and if a defense attorney is not alert a disaster like this could happen.

Conventional legal wisdom is that if a defense attorney does not object to the admission of tainted or inadmissible evidence the game is over and the evidence is forever admissible and that just too bad for the hapless defendant. However I recently learned something different! Rosenquist should have researched the law more carefully. Had he don that Milke would have won a new trial nearly 15 years ago!

I was in Chicago in 2011 working on a case with one of the nations best Death Penalty lawyer, Jed Stone. I told him about the Secret Tape, Exhibit #147 and he told me that the scenario I gave him about the Secret Tape should bring about a immediate and quick reversal and new trial.

Stone quickly did research to show no matter who caused evidence not presented in a trial to be brought before a jury out of presence of the defendant that a new trial must be granted. Stone provided me with numerous cases that establish that as the law of the land.

Based on what I now know Debra Milke needlessly languished on death Row for more than 15 years because of a legal mistake.

In the end the tape was not secret at least to a lot of people. However to the public, media and Debra Milke it was a secret that should have been suppressed or at least presented in open court.

Here are some legal cases cases that support this opinion:

Milke Research Secret Tape

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