A new video about Willie Manning’s remaining case has been launched, showing how aspects of his trial that suggested guilt have now been demolished. Yet the real possibility of Willie’s execution remains.

Ballistics evidence formed a significant part of the trial. As narrator Matt Duff[i] tells us:
“At trial an FBI firearms expert testified that the bullets taken out of the tree in Willie’s yard, and the bullets removed from the victims’ bodies, were fired from the exact same barrel.”
However, Chris Fabricant[ii] explains that this testimony is scientifically unsound:
“You cannot say, consistent with contemporary scientific understanding, that one gun, and only one gun, could have fired a particular projectile.”

Witness testimony has also been discredited. We hear that Earl Jordan, Willie’s cousin, has admitted that he fabricated inculpatory evidence:
“My trial testimony was not true. My statements to the sheriff about Manning’s confession were also not true. Manning never told me that he killed anyone.”

Duff adds that another witness, Paula Hathorn, received reward money for being a prosecution witness:
“For her fraudulent testimony, Hathorn got paid $17,500 to testify against Willie.”

Duff’s conclusion is clear:  “The case was fabricated.” And in answer to the question “Is there any evidence that connects Willie to these murders?” Willie’s attorney[iii] is adamant:
“No. There was no DNA connecting Mr Manning to the scene; there were no fibers found… even though there were fingerprints found, they do not match Mr Manning’s. Mr Manning had no ties to the victims. So while the case was weak to begin with, it has completely crumbled over the years.”

The video requests information about the murders of Tiffany Miller and Jon Steckler and invites questions about the case.

Please watch this short video and share it widely. Thank you.

[i] Matt Duff is a private investigator.

[ii] Chris Fabricant, Director of Strategic Litigation, Innocence Project

[iii] The attorney who speaks on this video is Krissy Nobile, Director, Mississippi Office of Capital Post-Conviction Counsel.