reasonable doubts
Wrongful convictions happen. It happens here in Oneida County. It happened to Steve Barnes right here in Utica. The American justice system failed Katie Conley on November 6, 2017. She is completely innocent in this devastating ordeal, and is wrongfully incarcerated while the true people involved are literally getting away with murder. This case is based on circumstantial evidence and is filled with reasonable doubt!
Justice for Mary Yoder isn't achieved with this result. An appeals process will be started to get Katie home and back in the community where she belongs, not locked away. We are asking for letters in support of Katie, whether it be in support of her kind and gentle character, her unbelievable STRENGTH, her INNOCENCE, feelings regarding the "tunnel vision" investigation/ trial/wrongful conviction, or just general support. This is Katie's life- time she will never get back.
It is telling when most of Mary Yoder's siblings and their families stand behind Katie and her innocence. They stand by their knowledge that Katie is innocent and was framed. There is so much reasonable doubt in this case, and so many leads were never fully investigated. Justice for Mary isn't going to be achieved by going after an innocent person. Katie did not do it.
One area of reasonable doubt stems from the electronic data. Electronic footprints can be altered and be manipulated to appear like someone else was the person behind the screen. All that is required is some computer knowledge. All that the investigation could say is that things looked like they came from certain devices. However, they don't know WHO was the one responsible for it- the person behind the screen, so to speak. Bill and Adam had access to the office, and therefore have access to certain devices such as the work computer and the electronic word processor. Adam very much so had access to all of the devices in question; in addition to having access to the work computer and Katie’s phone, her laptop and a backup of Katie’s phone found in his possession. The ADAs claimed that hacking and remote access were out of the question, but the prosecution only looked up one program with their keyword search. If you have physical possession of a phone that doesn’t have a passcode on it, you don’t need to “hack” into it. Adam testified to using Katie’s phone on occasion. Therefore, he could do anything on it (research/deleting items/etc.) and Katie would never know. Their phones had been connected with the same Apple ID account. There are MULTIPLE remote access programs, any of which Adam could have used and they'd never know because it wasn't part of their "tunnel-vision" keyword computer forensic search. And mind you, they had Adam and Bill turn over their own electronics. Either one could have not turned over all of their devices especially ones they knew had incriminating things that would tie them to the crime and framing Katie. They could have also gotten rid of certain phones that they knew could be incriminating. Bill didn't turn over whatever electronics he deemed fit from his house until after Kate was wrongfully arrested; his fingerprints were not taken until July 2016 as well. This shows a lack of thorough investigation prior to making an arrest. Reasonable doubt.
Another area of reasonable doubt includes the “murder weapon”. With poison- which anyone can use regardless of sex- you don't have to physically be present to use it. It very well could have been placed in a supplement prior to July 20th, 2015, as the letter sent to the investigators stated. They don't know where Mary was poisoned with any degree of certainty because they can't for certain say when she took it or how many doses she received; it very well could have happened at home in the morning or came from a supplement/vitamin that she brought in from HOME. Another thought is that the toxin could have been in the shake powder, which she brought from HOME. However, it was never testified that anyone from the investigation ever searched Bill's home to gather evidence, such as the pill organizer that Mary carried, any supplements, and the shake powder. Adam and Bill had access to all of these items in question. The ADA took their word that they handed over all the supplements and vitamins. Nothing was ever said about turning over the shake powder or the pill organizer. In fact, in the second trial, Bill testified that he couldn’t find the pill organizer. Bill or Adam could have easily left out a supplement/vitamin bottle, the shake powder or the pill organizer, knowing full well that there would be evidence of the toxin in it. Reasonable doubt.
The medical examiner conducted an autopsy on Mary Yoder following her questionable death. They found evidence of colchicine in her stomach contents. Mind you, this was after she had been sick for the past two days with nausea/vomiting/diarrhea and was basically emptied out. For it to be found in her stomach still after throwing up for the two days before her passing, it would be indicative of another dose while she was at the hospital and receiving anti-nausea medications. Bill was the one present at the hospital and could have easily slipped another dose to Mary, perhaps with the cough drops, Advair inhaler, or a CT scan drink. Reasonable doubt.
Bill's nearly immediate relationship with Kathy, Mary’s sister? Reasonable doubt.
Adam lawyered up his first interview with the investigators. Kate kept going back WITHOUT a lawyer MULTIPLE times because she is INNOCENT and was trying to HELP the investigators figure out what happened to her friend, Mary Yoder. If she was guilty, she would have gotten a lawyer when the investigators read her the Miranda Rights. The investigators coerced, lied, and manipulated “evidence” while interrogating Katie. The investigators downplayed the importance of her Miranda Rights, saying that they had to read these “stupid” things like they do in the movies or on TV. Important rights like the Miranda Rights should never be downplayed and the reason why the person is being read them should be addressed. It should have been relayed to Katie that they were looking at her as a suspect at that time; instead, they said they were reading the Miranda Rights because they were going to show her evidence.
Also, Katie passed a polygraph regarding this whole case. While this wasn’t allowed in court, it still adds reasonable doubt to the case.
The prosecution suggested that Katie tried to poison him with a bottle of Alpha Brain supplements when he got sick in April 2015. No trace of colchicine was found in the 28 Alpha Brain pills remaining in the bottle that were tested. Katie didn't tamper with any of the pills in that bottle like the DA is alluding to. Reasonable doubt.
In their closing argument, the prosecution alluded to the fact that Google Docs was accessed on the work computer to write the “anonymous letter” that was sent to the investigators to alert authorities of Adam’s possible involvement in Mary’s death. They jumped to the conclusion that the email address used to create this letter was mradamyoder1990@gmail.com- the same email that was used to order the drug. No evidence was found on that email address that the anonymous letter was created using that address. What they failed to disclose is that SUNYIT (the college that Katie was going to at the time) uses Google as their email service. To claim that the letter was edited on the mradamyoder1990@gmail.com email is a WRONG ASSUMPTION on the DA's part. There is absolutely NO evidence to prove that the letter was edited from that mradamyoder1990@gmail.com email. They only can tell it was edited on Google docs. Considering that there is evidence that Katie’s school email was logged into at that time leads you to believe it was done on the school email account and not the mradamyoder1990@gmail.com account. Reasonable doubt.
Rosa, the salesperson from ArtChemicals.com, claimed to remember supposedly making a phone call and what a voice sounded like from nearly two years prior when her job required her to talk to customers everyday. I can't remember what a voice sounded like from two weeks ago, let alone one that I talked to two years ago. Plus, every email was with a “Mr. Adam”. If she called like she claimed, wouldn't she look to talk to a male? And all of their prior correspondence was through email. What would make her decide to look up a phone number and call when Rosa already had a means of correspondence that she knew worked? She claims to have spoken to a young, kind female- Mary Yoder’s voice could also be described like that. Reasonable doubt.
While Adam was at the Oneida County Sheriff’s Office on Dec. 8th, 2015, they searched his car and found the colchicine under his seat like the anonymous letter said. The investigators threw out things from Adam’s car, which is unsettling, as they could have thrown out evidence. His car was full of garbage, empty bottles, beer cans, and wrappers. The pictures showed gloves, goggles, and a respirator mask. When asked on the stand, Adam claimed that the gloves, safety goggles, and respirator mask were in his car because he had to fix his car. He wasn't one to do his own work on cars. And two people testified that no work was done underneath his car when they had looked in March 2016. Why would he have those things in his car? Very well could be to protect him from the toxin. The investigators never took those items during their search to test for any evidence of the toxin. This leads to reasonable doubt.
It wasn't anyone in the Yoder family who contacted law enforcement for an investigation. It was Mary's sisters. If your healthy wife/mother died suddenly and you had no idea why, and then you find out she died of a toxin that you didn't know how she got, wouldn't you go to law enforcement? And when you found out an investigation was going on into the death of your mom/wife, you don't immediately reach out to law enforcement and say "Hey, what's going on?" Reasonable doubt.
Bill Yoder and Adam Yoder were both granted immunity by testifying at a grand jury hearing. The investigation started out with three possible suspects- Bill Yoder, Adam Yoder, and Kaitlyn Conley. With two of the three suspects granted immunity, it isn’t hard to believe that the prosecution was now adamant that they would try to get a conviction of Katie in any way possible. Those two were granted immunity before they even had the computers from the Yoder home turned in. A thorough investigation wasn’t complete when they gave two main individuals immunity.
Bill had correspondence with the prosecution about “orchestrating” the trial. That seems suspect. Reasonable doubt.
It doesn't make sense. Reasonable doubt. Not guilty.