Monday, May 7, 2012

20-Year-Old Murder Case To Be Reopened?

Long-time Uptowners may remember the horrifying double murder of Sharon Haugabook and Jeffrey Lassiter in November of 1992.  The couple were shot in their home at 910 W Agatite when members of the Vice Lords gang broke in, allegedly to collect a drug debt that Jeffrey Lassiter owed them.  Eight men were arrested, and five were convicted. 

Now one of them, Daniel Taylor, who has spent most of the past 20 years in prison, is appealing his case and the Innocence Project has some compelling evidence that he was wrongfully convicted, in spite of a detailed confession.  The evidence?  He was already in police custody at the time.  You can read about it in the Tribune and at the Innocence Project website.

4 comments:

  1. Was this the case where the child opened the door and let the bad guys in?
    I remember a case like that very clearly - it was horrible.

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  2. This is a tough one. What other sorts of crimes would this gang member have been involved in if he had not been incarcerated? At the same time, its no secret our criminal justice system is and has been broken especially in the way it deals with low income minorities.

    I'm wondering why this guy confessed or how only after being charged happened to remember he was arrested that night? If that was the case his public defender/attorney would have easily matched up the records and his case would have been dropped, but that wasn't the case... hmmm
    Even today, if he was in police custody during the time of the murder, wouldn't a record of that exist?

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  3. Yes, records DO exist. And 20 years ago they ALSO existed. This person was most likely so shaken he couldn't think straight. Just to think he was charged and converted to life w/o parole for a crime he did not commit.
    This goes on all the time as you well know. It's a real shame that people have to spend large amounts of time in jail before the real truth comes out. As far as I'm concerned? NONE of those 8 or 10 or 15 people that were supposed to be involved most likely didn't have anything to do with as well. So, in turn, we the tax payers will pay them for WRONGFUL arrest & conviction and the police will continue to do sloppy work. But in this case, it's a big trickle down effect. Everyone was involved in this cover up. If you do the crime, get convicted and do the time..if not? Do your job RIGHT!

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  4. why all of a sutin this guy wants to get out even if it took him ten years to come foward, and question the legual system, now it's twenty years later you were part of that crew and I think it to be strange now. this was sharon husband talking the man who she had children with .
    you took my wife and the mother of my children I hope you rot in jail .

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