Judgment day for the accused brings anger and sorrow for the Stocks. And one of the killers talks to Keith about the night of the murders.
Chapter 1: What led to the initial confessions and recantations?
It's a funny old expression, isn't it? Fish or cut bait. But everybody knows. Everybody knows what it means. Time to make a decision. Charge ahead or walk away. Sort of thing keeps a prosecutor up at night. There was Matt Livers, who had confessed to killing his aunt and uncle, Wayne and Charmin Stalk, and then unconfessed. Convictable? Maybe. Confessions speak loud in court.
But then they had to release Nick Sampson, the cousin who obviously didn't take part. And Jessica Reed, who most certainly was in on the murders with her boyfriend Greg Fester, refused a sweet deal to testify against either Nick or Matt. And now the CSI chief who'd overseen the crime scene, David Kofod, had been accused of planting evidence.
Oh, and yes, there was that awkward business about the sheriff's office failing for months to tell Matt's attorneys that he had recanted his confession.
I mean, I've been making answers, though, left and right.
And now it truly was time to act, one way or the other. Fish or cut bait? I'm Keith Morrison, and this is Murder in the Moonlight, a podcast from Dateline. Episode 6, The Final Domino's Fall. By the end of 2006, more than seven months after the stock murders, the problems with their case multiplying, prosecutors finally agreed with the defense lawyers.
Matt Liver's confessions were, as they say, unreliable. His attorney, Julie Baer.
I went over to the jail, and Matt was in the cell, and we told him, you know, this is over. You know, you're going home. And, you know, I probably had the biggest hug from a man that I've ever had in my life.
Cass County Prosecutor Nathan Cox was once again left to call in the press and make the announcement.
It's not my intention to try and convict somebody that is not guilty. That's not why I'm in this business. The winning isn't the issue. The issue is whether justice is being done.
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Chapter 2: Who was released and why was Matt Livers' confession deemed unreliable?
One of those puffy coats, right?
Like a windbreaker type deal. Right. It was making me nervous. So I like took it off and set it down on the floor.
Yeah.
In the kitchen. And he went straight upstairs, and so I followed him up the stairs.
Why did he go upstairs?
I don't know.
Didn't tell you?
He just told me to follow him, so I did.
Okay.
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