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Ryan W. Ferguson (born October 19, 1984) is an American personal trainer and author who spent nearly 10 years in prison after being wrongfully convicted of a 2001 murder in his hometown of Columbia, Missouri. At the time of the murder, Ferguson was a 17-year-old high school junior.〔 Kent Heitholt was found beaten and strangled shortly after 2 am on November 1, 2001, in the parking lot of the ''Columbia Daily Tribune'', where he worked as a sports editor. Heitholt's murder went unsolved for two years until police received a tip that a man named Charles Erickson could not remember the evening of the murder and was concerned that he may have been involved with the murder. Erickson, who spent that evening partying with Ferguson, was interrogated by police. Despite initially seeming to have no memory of the evening of the murders, he eventually confessed and implicated Ferguson as well. Ferguson was convicted in the fall of 2005 on the basis of Erickson's testimony as well as the testimony of a building employee. Both witnesses later recanted their testimony, claiming they were coerced to lie by the police. The 2005 conviction was eventually vacated November 5, 2013, and Ferguson was released on the evening of November 12, after he spent almost a decade in prison. The case has been featured on ''48 Hours'', ''Dateline'', and numerous other newspapers and media outlets. ==Murder== In the early morning hours of November 1, 2001, 48-year-old Kent Heitholt was murdered in the parking lot of the ''Columbia Daily Tribune'' where he worked as a sports editor. He was last seen alive by co-worker Michael Boyd. Boyd told police that they had a work related conversation in the parking lot between 2:12 and 2:20am. Minutes later, janitor Shawna Ornt stepped outside for a cigarette break and saw two shadowy figures near Heitholt's car. She ran back inside to get her supervisor, Jerry Trump.〔 Both janitors witnessed two college-age men near Heitholt's car.〔 The janitors reported that one of the men yelled "Someone's hurt out here, man" before both men walked away through a nearby alley. The janitors notified other employees and called 911 at 2:26am. He was found severely beaten with a blunt object, and then strangled. On the same evening, 17-year-old high school junior Ryan Ferguson and another junior Charles Erickson were attending Halloween parties in the area.〔 Ferguson and Erickson later decided to go to meet Ferguson's sister at a bar called ''By George'' because a bouncer who worked there would let them in despite being underage. When the teens were out of money, Ferguson's sister bought them a few additional drinks, then cut them off and Ferguson and Erickson left the bar. On the night of the murder, Erickson had been under the influence of cocaine, Adderall, and alcohol. The following day, he had had no memory of what had transpired that Halloween night. At a later hearing, attorneys asked Erickson if he had noticed anything unusual the morning following the crime such as injuries or blood on his clothing. Erickson confirmed that there was nothing out of the ordinary.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ryan W. Ferguson」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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