Debra Mlke Exited Hell today!

Phoenix, AZ–Debra Milke posted $250,000.00 bail and was taken to freedom by a very pleased couple of lawyers.  Mike Kimerer is a long time criminal lawyer and one of Phoenix’s legendary Courthouse warhorses.  Lori Voepel is the sharp legal beagle that did the heavy lifting on Milke’s successful Federal appeals. They were deservedly a proud pair today as they picked Debra Milke up and removed her from the Durango facility of the Maricopa County Jail.

This is Milke’s first day of freedom since we first met as she was being booked for Capital Murder on December 3, 1989.  This was indeed a horrible crime that she did not commit nor had any involvement with.

Because of what I knew personally I could not simply stand by and watch this travesty.  I began a lonely campaign reporting the facts of this sad case to anyone and everyone that I could.  People did not want to believe what I knew, that Milke was framed by a bad cop.

Even Milke’s sister and mother were fed lies and accordingly abandoned this women.  One day a decade after after her conviction Milke was able to get word to her mother that she desperately needed help.  Renata Janka came to Phoenix from her comfortable European home and was horrified to learn the truth.  Soon Janka found a Phoenix Magazine writer and me that had exposed this tragic farce. Of course I was very limited with what I could do for the TV stations where I was doing investigative producing.

Janka soon raised thousands of dollars, wrote a book in her native German language and campaigned tirelessly.  Along the way Janka sold her beautiful home and sacrificed everything including her now very fragile health to right this wrong.

Later i started this blog and finally had the freedom to publish whatever evidence or facts that I had.   I have no news director, libel lawyers or advertisers to muzzle me.  Of course I practice sound journalistic standards and document my material.

The Milke case was a very long, bumpy and heartbreaking ride for me.  It’s a matter of minimal time now before the prosecutor pulls the plug on this wayward prosecution’s life support system.

Today a friend snapped these pictures of Kimerer and Voepel taking Milke to freedom. They are grainy because of the harsh lighting but you can see a great smile on these faces, especially Milke’s.