This guy’s case should be known by everyone in the country. Alabama is fucked up! He’s been proven innocent, released after 30+ years in prison, yet the state refuses to compensate him for getting it wrong. He escaped multiple times, so now the state is citing this as the reason why they’re not complying w/ a federal court order to make him whole.
(link) When Pardue was 16, his father killed his mother in Alabama. A year later he stole a car to impress a girlfriend. Pardue’s joyride happened on the night of a local serial killing. When he was arrested for the car theft, he was interrogated by Bill Travis, a detective known for his penchant to beat a correct answer out of suspects. A detective from a nearby county assisted in the interrogation. It lasted 72 hours. Pardue wasn’t allowed to call his grandmother and two attorneys were turned away. Finally, Travis told Pardue that if he confessed to the murders then he would probably be given a cell near his father so he could avenge his mother. Pardue’s trial lasted 2 hours. No fingerprints, blood-stained clothes or witnesses were ever produced. Several lawmen involved in the case eventually proved to be criminals themselves:
– Detective Travis, fired for brutality several months later;
– Detective Bobby Stewart, convicted for conspiracy to smuggle marijuana a few years later;
– Willis Holloway, Mobile County prosecutor, eventually incarcerated for extortion and bribery;
– James Hendrix, Baldwin County prosecutor, also served time for conspiracy to smuggle marijuana.Pardue escaped three times during his 27 years in prison.