READER LETTER: A better murder suspect than Ryan Ferguson?

Should Jeong Im murder suspect get the Heitholt rap, too?

 

Editor, the Columbia Heart Beat:

 

I am a long time follower of the Ryan Ferguson case.

As a licensed attorney and true crime nerd, it has great appeal to me on both a professional and personal level.   I am anxious to see it brought to a proper resolution.

And that means not only getting Ryan out of prison, which at this point is not a matter of if, but when.   It also means finding Kent Heitholt's true killer.

 

I really appreciated the Tennessee Tragedy piece (Part 1 and Part 2) you put out a couple of years ago. It's one of the rare examples of someone offering a different take on this case and asking the kind of questions that have never been asked, but need to be.

 

So much has happened in this case; investigations, trials, hearings, appeals, press conferences, but I would submit that we are not significantly closer to an answer to that question than we were on November 1, 2001.

 

I have read so many heartfelt tributes and kind words written about Kent Heitholt, particularly from his colleagues at the Tribune.  So why aren't they doing anything about it? 

Where's the push to solve this case?

 

It's hard not to be suspicious of Michael Boyd, particularly when you read the facts set forth in the latest filing, but I am not 100% convinced of his guilt.

 

I couldn't help thinking when I read about Timothy Hoag and his involvement the 2005 murder of Prof. Jeong Im that it would be interesting to test his DNA to the evidence from the Heitholt crime scene. He was out walking the streets in 2001, seemingly had some violent tendencies, and at his size, would have been a physical match for Kent.

 

It may be a far-fetched theory, but it's a lot more plausible than the one advanced by the State that landed an innocent man a 40-year prison sentence.

 

Thanks for reading, and keep up the good work.

 

Ryan Kelly

St. Louis