A known drug user was talking to a girl one day and told her about a recent dream. As minor as it may seem, this casual encounter snowballed until it ended up with an innocent Eagle Scout getting being put in jail for 40 years. All with absolutely no physical proof.

Small-town Columbia, MO is a quiet, safe town. But on Nov 1, 2001 a local sportswriter was violently murdered. The crime went unsolved for two and a half years until one day, a kid tells a girl he had a dream that he had committed the murder of this sportswriter. The girl went to the police and the kid was arrested. The police used a variety of tactics and eventually convinced him that since he “remembered” the crime scene, he must have taken part in the murder (even though he had no recollection of any of these details within the first day, week or even year of the crime). However, the kid did not know any details except those found in the newspapers. He only knew that he was with his high-school buddy that night at a Halloween party.

But why did he confess? The police informed him that if he did not confess, his taped interrogations could get him 40 years in jail or possibly the death sentence. He learned that with a plea bargain, he would be in jail for less than 12 years. But in exchange, he would have to testify against the person with him that night at a Halloween party, since he was included in the dream. His options were to say that the person with him the night the man was murdered actually did the killing or he could face the death sentence.

The choice was easy. After all, how could they convict his friend with no evidence? He knew they wouldn’t find any evidence to convict him. After all, they didn’t do it. He knew his friend may never forgive him for lying about such a thing, but at least he would save 28 years of his life.

So then how did this Eagle Scout with a clean police record get put in jail for 40 years of his life?

No one can explain it, not even the Prosecuting Attorney.

Ryan Ferguson will be spending 40 years of his life in jail as a result of a hallucination, an overly eager prosecuting attorney with political motives, and a local police department desperate to solve the biggest unsolved crime in history for their department. Here is the actual facts taken from the trial:

• The Police collected DNA from blood found at the scene. However, the DNA was not Ryan’s (the Eagle Scout that was convicted for 40 years). It was not even Chuck’s (the kid that confessed). This ruled them out as possible suspects.
• The Police collected several fingerprints found at the scene. The fingerprints did not match Ryan or Chuck and ruled them out as suspects.
• Hairs were found in the clenched hand of the victim. Once again, the hairs did not match Chuck or Ryan and was another thing that completely ruled them out as suspects.
• During Chuck’s “confession” he said they drove in Ryan’s car after the murder. If so, blood would have been in the car since the crime was so violent and bloody. The forensic team tested the car and said that if the Chuck’s dream was true, a luminol test would find traces of blood. They said luminol will find blood even after years. They could not find blood and concluded that the person that committed the crime was not in Ryan’s car.

Every piece of physical evidence found completely ruled out both kids. However, there were two witnesses of the scene. they did not see the murder, but they gave police a description of people they saw at the scene. The descriptions once again ruled out both boys.

• The witness gave a composite artist descriptions and said the suspect had blond hair, was about 6 feet, weighed 200 pound and was in his twenties. Then in court, she pointed out the kid who (at the time of the crime) had black hair, was 5 feet 5 inches, 145 pounds and was 17.
• During interrogation of Chuck Erickson (the boy that “confessed” about his dream), the police asked him about how the man was strangled. Chuck told the police how it happened in his dream. He was wrong. The police interrogator then tried to feed him the correct response, but when told how it was actually done, Chuck told them that that was not how it happened. The police interrogator pushed him to get him to say that it might have happened like that. Chuck realized there is no way he was part of any crime that happened like that and said “maybe I don’t even know what I’m talking about.” But, even with that, his statements were used as fact in court.

Not only did all of the physical evidence prove their innocence, but the only testimony that linked the kids to the crime was from a kid that said he was not sure if it actually happened or if it was just a dream.

Reading this may not seem believable to you. Please, scour the internet to find out as many facts as you can and you too will be unsettled as to how an injustice like this can occur in our country.

What can you do?

1) Research the story so you know the facts.
2) Make yourself heard in the forum at the local newspaper.
3) Contact the Prosecuting Attorney Kevin Crane and let him know you feel this is an injustice (he does not make his email freely available).
4) Support all sides of the legal system to ensure fair trials. Support forensics, prosecutors and public defenders.
5) And if you are ever on a jury, don’t try to help “solve the crime” by convicting someone. Your responsibilities include using the evidence to make an unbiased decision. This was clearly the flaw in this trial.

Get more information from a site dedicated to this cause and you can see coverage of the case from CBS.

All statements in the story are believed to be true by the writer. If you are involved in this case and see information that is not accurate, please contact the owner of this site.