Are you ready for some Cold Justice? TNT Network hopes that you are. I’m pretty excited about this new real-life
crime series that premieres Tuesday, September 3rd on TNT. The series is produced by Dick Wolf of Law &
Order fame, and pairs former Texas prosecutor Kelly Siegler with former Las
Vegas crime scene investigator Yolanda McClary.
This could be considered a non-scripted reality show, and for true crime
fans this looks like a refreshing change of pace. Although I haven’t seen the show and only
know what’s been previewed in commercials – there are so many things I like
about this show and it’s concept. Let’s
start with the cast. I am a big fan of
former Texas prosecutor Kelly Siegler.
She racked up a 68-0 record prosecuting murder cases, pretty
impressive! She may be most famous for
her courtroom performance while prosecuting Susan Wright for the murder of her
husband, Jeff Wright in 2003. Jeff
Wright was reportedly stabbed 193 times by wife Susan, then buried in the
backyard.
When Susan Wright took the stand at her trial, Siegler was
in her face asking her “didn’t your arm get tired after the 37th stab,
how about the 38th”? In a
dramatic move, Siegler had the Wright’s bed reassembled in the courtroom, right
in front of the jury box. She re enacted
how she and the state of Texas believed Susan Wright tied her husband up under
the pretense of wanting to have kinky sex – before stabbing him with two
different knifes. This was the stuff
movies are made of. Siegler is tough,
some believe she was the toughest prosecutor in the state of Texas. With a 68-0 conviction rate on murder cases,
I'd say she’s earned that title. The
story of Jeff Wright’s murder and Susan Wright’s subsequent trial inspired a
Lifetime movie called “Blue Eyed Butcher”.
I know, no surprise there.
Siegler is no nonsense, tough yet fair and a true advocate
for justice. Siegler, who was called in
to handle the retrial of Anthony Graves, a man who had been convicted of
murdering 6 people in Somerville Texas back in August of 1992. 45 year old Bobbie Joyce Davis was murdered
along with her teenaged daughter and four of her grandchildren in her own home
before the house was set on fire. A man
named Robert Carter was arrested soon after drawing suspicion to himself after
showing up at his 4 year old son’s funeral with bandages on his face and
hands. Carter’s explanation for the
burns to his face and hands were quickly discredited, and he eventually
confessed to the murders of the 6 people, one of the youngest victims was his
own son. Apparently he didn’t want to
pay child support and decided to handle it by murdering his own child. Carter
named Anthony Graves as his accomplice, and law enforcement locked onto Graves
and never let go. Graves didn’t know the
victims, had no motive to kill any of them and had a solid alibi. Both men were tried and convicted of murder
in separate trials – and both were sentenced to death. In May of 2000 before his execution, Carter recanted
his testimony about Anthony Graves, stating on the record that Graves was not
present at the crime scene and he was the only person responsible for the
murders. Carter claims he tried to
recant his statements against Graves before Grave’s trial began, but the
prosecutor threatened to arrest Carter’s wife if he didn’t cooperate in Grave’s
trial.
Anthony Graves spent 12 years on Death Row, and maintained
his innocence from day one. His plight caught the attention of the Innocence
Project, who began looking into his original trial and found many glaring
errors and inconsistencies – they worked on getting Graves convicted overturned
for many years. In March of 2006 his conviction was overturned by a 3 judge
panel who concluded the original prosecutor Charles Sebesta intentionally withheld
crucial evidence that could have helped Graves.
But the state of Texas wasn’t ready to let Graves off the hook. He spent
the next 4 years in solitary confinement awaiting retrial. Kelly Siegler was to be the prosecutor this
time. After reviewing the evidence,
Siegler was convinced that Anthony Graves was wrongly convicted. She was critical of the previous prosecutor’s
mishandling of the case, calling his actions unethical. Finally in October 27, 2011 Graves was
released from jail, and all charges against him were dismissed by Burleson
County Special Prosecutor Kelly Siegler who concluded early on that she could
not prosecute an innocent man. She dared
to call out the egregious and unethical behavior of Charles Sebesta, who still
maintains he didn’t withhold anything.
Graves won $1.4 million dollars from the state of Texas for the wrongful
conviction. Good for him. Siegler was
instrumental in helping the Innocence Project and Anthony Graves’ attorneys get
to the truth once and for all. She wasn’t afraid to expose the former
prosecutor who mishandled the original case.
That’s what I love about Siegler.
She’s the real deal.
Back to Cold Justice. Yolanda McClary is a former Las Vegas
Crime Scene Investigator who is said to be the model/inspiration for the
character Marg Halgenberer played on the hit show “CSI”. McClary has 26 years of experience and worked
on more than 7,000 cases during her career in law enforcement. Pairing McClary with Siegler is a brilliant
move – a “dream team” of sorts.
Together, they are heading across the country in an attempt to help
solve open homicide cases in many of the small or rural areas that may lack the
resources of big city police forces.
This should be good! This is
advertised as real life crime solving, non-scripted stuff. In the premiere episode, Siegler and McCleary
are headed to Cuero Texas to look at the 2001 death of a woman named Pam
Shelley. Shelley was found with a
gunshot to the head and her death was ruled a suicide, although police
suspected her boyfriend Ronnie Hendrick of murdering her.
Hendrick says it was suicide, but Shelley was shot point
blank in the head in front of her children.
Siegler and McCleary retrieved the evidence and picked up veteran homicide
detective Johnny Bonds and headed to Cuero to meet with Shelley’s now 23 year old
daughter Kayla. Kayla was just 11 years
old at the time of her mom’s death, but she has always pointed to Hendrick as
the killer of her mom. Hendrick has
always said it was a suicide. Hendrick
was never arrested for this crime. I’m
not sure how this episode will end, given they only have a one hour time slot! I was curious to see what may have come of the
renewed investigation, knowing this was likely filmed awhile ago. According to a story posted on
elpasotimes.com on October 4, 2012, Ronnie Hendricks was indicted for the
murder of Pam Shelly. He is being jailed
on $500,000 bond and awaiting trial in Texas.
Looks like Siegler and McClary may have jump started the long road to
justice for Pam Shelly and her children.
I’ll be interested to
see how they format this show and how many cold cases they are able to actually
get results on. The closest thing I can
think of to this show would be something like “The First 48”. Real crimes, real detectives, real defendants
and real victims. If you tune in to Cold
Justice next Tuesday, please let me know what you think. I for one can’t wait!
