Thread by @helenprejean

#RodneyReed's attorneys at the @innocence Project filed a very comprehensive application for a writ of habeas corpus on Monday. It contains a wealth of evidence demonstrating Rodney's innocence. I'll be posting this information in several threads, starting today...

@innocence There was already substantial evidence implicating Jimmy Fennell in the murder of Stacey Stites even before Rodney's current execution date was set. Now, there's even more evidence pointing to Fennell after new witnesses have come forward in recent weeks.

@innocence A few reminders for those who are new to Rodney Reed's case. Rodney is facing execution for the murder of Stacey Stites. Rodney, a Black man, was in a relationship with Stacey, a white woman, while she was also engaged to Jimmy Fennell, a white local police officer.

@innocence All forensic experts who have looked at the evidence in this case agree that Rodney Reed could not have possibly killed Stacey Stites. It's medically and scientifically impossible. So who did kill Stacey? Many people believe the real killer is her former fiancé, Jimmy Fennell.

@innocence In 2008, Jimmy Fennell pleaded guilty to kidnapping and sexually assaulting a woman he had detained while on duty as a police officer in Georgetown, TX. Fennell had been dispatched to protect this woman. Instead, he kidnapped her, raped her at gunpoint and threatened to kill her.

@innocence Jimmy Fennell was sentenced to a 10-year prison term. A fellow prisoner and high-ranking member of the Aryan Brotherhood prison gang reports that, while the two were talking, Fennell confessed to murdering Stacey Stites. Here's what the witness reported in a sworn affidavit:

@innocence This witness's statement has been corroborated. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice has records showing that Fennell and the witness were housed at the same prison during the time when the witness says this conversation took place.

@innocence Another witness heard Jimmy Fennell threaten to kill Stacey Stites while they were purchasing a life insurance policy. Fennell told Stacey, "If I ever catch you messing around on me, I will kill you and no one will ever know it was me that killed you." Read the witness statement:

@innocence This witness's statement has also been corroborated. Here is the life insurance application confirmation for Jimmy Fennell and Stacey Stites. Fennell threatened to murder Stacey while they were sitting in front of the insurance salesperson.

@innocence There is also evidence showing that Jimmy Fennell knew that Stacey was involved with Rodney Reed. This comes from a sworn statement made by Fennell's former close friend who was also a police officer at the time. Here's what Fennell said:

@innocence This witness also reported that the relationship between Jimmy Fennell and Stacey Stites was in bad shape shortly before Stacey was murdered. Here's what the witness has to say about that:

@innocence Yet another law enforcement witness reports that Jimmy Fennell made a very incriminating statement at Stacey Stites's funeral service. While looking at Stacey's body, Fennell said something along the lines of, "You got what you deserved." Read the sworn witness statement:

@innocence This witness's statement has also been corroborated. His name and signature appears on the guest register from Stacey's funeral, confirming that he was at the service when Fennell made this incriminating statement.

@innocence Prosecutors repeatedly told the jury at Rodney's trial that Jimmy Fennell and Stacey Stites were a happily-engaged couple. New witness statements show that that claim was not true.

@innocence A former sheriff's deputy from Bastrop County reports that Stacey's co-workers at an H-E-B grocery store would warn her when Fennell came into store so that she could hide. Fennell started verbal fights with Stacey at her workplace. Read the sworn witness statement:

@innocence One of Stacey's co-workers reports that Stacey told her that she was afraid of her fiancé, Jimmy Fennell. Read the sworn witness statement:

@innocence Stacey also told this co-worker that she was having an affair with a Black man. Read what the witness has to say about that:

@innocence Two more witnesses can confirm that Stacey Stites and Jimmy Fennell were not a happily-engaged couple. First, the son of a man who lived in the apartment directly below Stacey and Jimmy. He personally heard a loud argument coming from their apartment:

@innocence Loud arguments between Fennell and Stacey were not an infrequent occurrence. The witness's father, who lived directly below Stacey and Fennell, said that he was concerned about what he heard from upstairs. Read the sworn witness statement:

@innocence There is another sworn statement that details the abuse Fennell hurled at Stacey in their apartment. This witness is the daughter-in-law of the man who lived in the apartment below Fennell and Stacey. She says her father-in-law believed Fennell was physically abusing Stacey.

@innocence This man, who lived directly below Fennell and Stacey and heard the abuse taking place upstairs, contacted police after Stacey was murdered. The police brushed him off without investigating the allegations of domestic violence. Read the sworn witness statement:

All of these witness statements are very credible. The statements were made under penalty of perjury. The witnesses have no incentive to lie and none of them have ever even met Rodney Reed.