Marty's lawyers filed new motions today, as outlined in the following press release:
New Witness Says Peter Kent Admits Business Partner Hired Him to Murder Arlene and Seymour Tankleff
Despite Judge’s Ruling, Defense to Continue Presenting New Evidence of Tankleff’s Innocence
Riverhead, NY – March 22, 2006 - In a stunning new development, attorneys for Marty Tankleff today filed in Suffolk County court a “Supporting Memorandum” for a new trial, based on three new affidavits.
A new witness, James Moore, came forward on Saturday, March 18th, the day after Suffolk County Judge Stephen Braslow denied Tankleff’s motion for a new trial. “Kent told me that he used a pipe to beat the Tankleffs to death out in Belle Terre,” states Moore. “He went on to say that him and his friend…were ‘paid to do the deed.’ Kent said this was so the dead guy’s partner could get control of some business.”
In the second affidavit, the wife of Glenn Harris, the purported getaway driver for Peter Kent and Joseph Creedon, states that Harris confided in her details of the crime, including, according to the motion, “pertinent details of Ms. Arlene Tankleff’s physical condition at the time of the murders. Glenn’s description that Arlene Tankleff was ‘badly beaten’ and ‘her head was hanging off by a string,’ tends to suggest that Harris not only had knowledge that the murders had occurred, but indicates his actual presence inside the Tankleff residence.”
The third affidavit, of William Vincent Sullivan, corroborates other testimony that Jerry Steuerman and James McCready, the detective who took Marty’s “confession,” knew each other prior to the Tankleff murders, contrary to McCready’s testimony at the original trial. Sullivan says he saw Steuerman and McCready together at a nightclub on at least two occasions prior to the Tankleff murders. According to the motion, the information “challenges the integrity of the police investigation of the murder because it recounts a relationship between the lead detective and the man who should have been prime suspect in the murders of Seymour and Arlene Tankleff.”
“We never thought that the judge’s decision would in any way stop the mounting body of evidence of Marty’s innocence, “said Tankleff lead attorney Barry Pollack of Collier Shannon. “And here we were, just a day after the ruling, with yet another witness with powerful new evidence of who really killed the Tankleffs.”
Tankleff’s lawyers have said they will appeal Judge Braslow’s ruling, but in the meantime any new evidence must be submitted to Judge Braslow’s court in Suffolk County. The lawyers may also seek to have addressed the issue of whether it’s even possible for the Tankleff case to get an impartial hearing in Suffolk County. “We are considering contacting other law enforcement agencies regarding not only the new evidence but regarding the conduct of the hearings and potential witness tampering and witness intimidation by members of the district attorneys office,” said Bruce Barket, another of Marty’s attorneys.
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