Millionaire who was falsely imprisoned for 24 years faces being sent back to jail after horror confession
A man that was wrongly put behind bars for nearly a quarter of a century could face more jail time after pleading guilty to a number of charges.
Shaurn Thomas was convicted for the murder of Domingo Martinez on 13 November 1990, while he was delivering a total of $25,000 to one of his cheque-cashing stores in Northeast Philadelphia.
Thomas was arrested the night before after trying to steal a motorcycle, and despite not being near the scene of the murder, he was convicted of being part of the crime four years later.
Martinez was hit by a car while driving, as three men came out of the vehicle and one of them shot him while he was in the car through the windshield. Four people witnessed the murder.
Advert
They detailed that Martinez was pulled out of the car before they drove it away, though they did not have the opportunity to identify Thomas as one of the criminals.
During Philadelphia Police's investigation, they received a tip that a gang known as the 'G-Boys' were responsible for the crime, as Nathaniel Stallworth gave a statement to detectives about the murder, claiming that six men were responsible for robbing and killing Martinez, including Thomas.
Stallworth may have provided information in the hopes of better treatment from police as he had open criminal cases at the time.
His cousin was later arrested and gave a similar confession, though their testimonies did not match those of the witnesses in terms of the colour of the car stolen.
In July 1993, Thomas was charged with the murder of Martinez, and couldn't recall an alibi, three years after the crime.
At 20, he was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole, though in August 2011, lawyer James Figorski and a former Philadelphia police officer filed a Post Conviction Relief Act petition for Thomas with The Pennsylvania Innocence Project.
Asking to grant Thomas a new trial, attorneys discovered 36 pages of undisclosed witness statements pointing to different suspects. Shaurn's conviction was vacated, and all charges were dropped in 2017.
The American was paid a settlement of $4.1 million (£3.2 million) by the city of Philadelphia for wrongful conviction.
But on 5 December, he pleaded guilty to a different murder, the killing of Akeem Edwards, for a $1,200 drug debt.
According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, Thomas met Edwards through his girlfriend Ketra Veasy, as he wanted to sell him some of his drugs.
Edwards apparently agreed to bring back $1,200 of the fee to Thomas, but he didn't pay the money, and the publication report that on 3 January, while driving with Veasy, Thomas sought Edwards out, and after finding him, he got out and shot him.
Thomas' girlfriend claimed that she didn't know that he intended to hurt Edwards, or that he had a gun.
She said that he got back in the car, drove away, and threatened her while saying to keep quiet about the crime.
A federal informant provided information about the murder, and Thomas was soon arrested, as police then searched his house, finding guns and the hoodie that he wore during the shooting.
He was charged with illegal gun possession, though Thomas has since been bailed out, after both Thomas and Veasy were arrested when their phone data revealed them to be at the crime scene.
Thomas pled guilty to six charges brought against him, with one including third-degree murder, while Veasy cooperated with police in the hope of a lighter sentence.
Both of them currently await sentencing.
Joshua Nair