Click here for more on the many trials at which Paul Skalnik testified:
Spring 1978:
After yrs of grifting, former Austin, TX, police officer Paul Skalnik faces serious time when he’s arrested for passing bad checks and violating probation.
While Skalnik awaits trial, the defendant in a high-profile case, Thomas Hirschi, is brought to the jail.
After yrs of grifting, former Austin, TX, police officer Paul Skalnik faces serious time when he’s arrested for passing bad checks and violating probation.
While Skalnik awaits trial, the defendant in a high-profile case, Thomas Hirschi, is brought to the jail.
Hirschi was one of the “Moody Park Three,” a trio of activists protesting the 1977 murder of Jose Campos Torres at the hands of Houston police officers. Hirschi and his colleagues were accused of inciting a riot that left 15 hospitalized.
Skalnik contacted the district attorney’s office, claiming to have information. He then testified in court that Hirschi had confessed to him that the trio’s purpose was to “incite the Mexican-American youngsters.” The group was found guilty, though no jail time was given.
Hirschi tells ProPublica he not only never confessed to Skalnik, he had never met the man before he testified in court. “Never seen his face, didn’t know his name.”
(When @PamelaColloff tried to get records from both the Harris County D.A.’s office and the Harris County Jail, she was told that the events were too long ago and that no records remained).
This was just the beginning of Paul Skalnik’s long career as a jailhouse snitch.
Aug. 1981:
Days before his trial for conning a woman out of $3.5k, Skalnik provides the state attorney’s office with info on 3 murder suspects.
Prosecutors offered him a deal: Plead guilty and they’d recommend he get two fewer years than he was facing.
He accepts.
Days before his trial for conning a woman out of $3.5k, Skalnik provides the state attorney’s office with info on 3 murder suspects.
Prosecutors offered him a deal: Plead guilty and they’d recommend he get two fewer years than he was facing.
He accepts.
Prosecutors also suggested to Skalnik that further sentencing considerations—possibly probation—could be discussed if he continued to cooperate.
He proves himself to be up to the task.
He proves himself to be up to the task.
Winter/Spring 1982:
Skalnik testifies in two drug trafficking cases and provides a deposition in a high-profile murder case. In each instance, he claims under oath that the defendants had freely confessed to him during their time in jail.
Skalnik testifies in two drug trafficking cases and provides a deposition in a high-profile murder case. In each instance, he claims under oath that the defendants had freely confessed to him during their time in jail.
In one of the cases, Skalnik testifies that midway through the defendant’s trial the defendant had confessed to having trafficked “24,000 pounds of marijuana in Colombia.”
June 1982:
Even though he’d faced 5 criminal charges in the previous 5 years AND he’d fled the state the last time he’d been given probation, Skalnik is released again on probation.
Shortly after his release, Skalnik sexually assaults a 12-year-old girl.
Even though he’d faced 5 criminal charges in the previous 5 years AND he’d fled the state the last time he’d been given probation, Skalnik is released again on probation.
Shortly after his release, Skalnik sexually assaults a 12-year-old girl.
Dec. 1982:
The girl’s parents learn of the assault and Skalnik is charged with “lewd and lascivious conduct on a child under 14.”
He now faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted on this charge alone.
The girl’s parents learn of the assault and Skalnik is charged with “lewd and lascivious conduct on a child under 14.”
He now faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted on this charge alone.
March 1983:
Despite there being eyewitnesses in the molestation case, prosecutors find that the evidence is 'insufficient.' They drop the charge in exchange for Skalnik's pleas of no contest on two new grand theft charges.
He gets 5 years.
Despite there being eyewitnesses in the molestation case, prosecutors find that the evidence is 'insufficient.' They drop the charge in exchange for Skalnik's pleas of no contest on two new grand theft charges.
He gets 5 years.
Additionally, Skalnik does not serve out this sentence in state prison, but in the Pinellas County jail, where he continues to act as an informant against defendants who have not yet gone to trial.
Once the molestation charges were dropped, Skalnik could continue to portray himself to juries as a former cop turned small-time crook instead of a pedophile.
1983-84:
Skalnik testifies in multiple high-profile murder trials. Each case involves multiple defendants, so there are questions as to each person's level of involvement. Then Skalnik testifies...
Skalnik testifies in multiple high-profile murder trials. Each case involves multiple defendants, so there are questions as to each person's level of involvement. Then Skalnik testifies...
When Kenneth Gardner stands trial for the murder of a hardware store owner, Skalnik claims the defendant had bragged to him, “I killed him, but they’ll never prove it.” Gardner was found guilty and sentenced to death.
(Gardner is now dead, and could not be interviewed for this story).
J.D. Walton and Richard Cooper are each tried for the coldblooded execution of three men after a botched robbery. Skalnik tells the jury that Walton told him the whole thing was “a funny joke” to him.
Cooper purportedly introduced himself to Skalnik by saying, “I’m one of the men involved in the triple-murder slayings they thought was a Mafia gangland killing.”
Both he and Walton are found guilty and sentenced to death.
Both he and Walton are found guilty and sentenced to death.
(Walton had also been identified by co-defendants as the “ring-leader” in the crime).
What makes these confessions extraordinary is that Skalnik had already become well-known in the jail as a snitch.
One of Cooper’s co-defendants protested when Skalnik was moved into his cell:
“I knew who he was and what he did,” he later said.
One of Cooper’s co-defendants protested when Skalnik was moved into his cell:
“I knew who he was and what he did,” he later said.
1983:
Defendant Freddie Gaines claims that a chance encounter with his girlfriend's ex turned violent, but Skalnik testifies Gaines confessed to him it was a premeditated attack, leading to a life sentence for murder instead of up to 15 years for manslaughter.
Defendant Freddie Gaines claims that a chance encounter with his girlfriend's ex turned violent, but Skalnik testifies Gaines confessed to him it was a premeditated attack, leading to a life sentence for murder instead of up to 15 years for manslaughter.
(Gaines, for his part, was floored when he heard Skalnik testify.
He leaned over and told his lawyer:
“He’s sitting right there telling a lie. Me and this man ain’t never talked before.”)
He leaned over and told his lawyer:
“He’s sitting right there telling a lie. Me and this man ain’t never talked before.”)
March 1985:
Even though the Dept. of Corrections deems Skalnik a “con artist of the highest degree" who is likely to reoffend, he's paroled, having served less than half his grand theft sentence & avoiding the molestation charge altogether.
Even though the Dept. of Corrections deems Skalnik a “con artist of the highest degree" who is likely to reoffend, he's paroled, having served less than half his grand theft sentence & avoiding the molestation charge altogether.
Nov. 1986:
Skalnik is back in the Pinellas County jail after stealing a total of $83,100 from victims in a variety of scams involving nonexistent luxury cars, phony real estate, and worthless checks.
Skalnik is back in the Pinellas County jail after stealing a total of $83,100 from victims in a variety of scams involving nonexistent luxury cars, phony real estate, and worthless checks.
May 1987:
Days before defendant James Dailey is due to go on trial in Pinellas County for the stabbing murder of 14-year-old Shelly Boggio, Skalnik tells police Dailey admitted his guilt to him.
Days before defendant James Dailey is due to go on trial in Pinellas County for the stabbing murder of 14-year-old Shelly Boggio, Skalnik tells police Dailey admitted his guilt to him.
Summer 1987:
Skalnik becomes a key witness against Dailey, who is subsequently convicted and sentenced to death, despite having no motive and no physical or forensic evidence linking him to the murder.
Skalnik becomes a key witness against Dailey, who is subsequently convicted and sentenced to death, despite having no motive and no physical or forensic evidence linking him to the murder.
Though Skalnik tells the jury he’d not been promised anything in exchange for his testimony, he is released without bond 5 days after Dailey’s sentencing, “due to his cooperation with the State Attorney’s Office.”
1981-1987:
Skalnik testifies or supplies information in at least 37 cases in Pinellas County alone.
18 defendants he snitched on were under indictment for murder.
The vast majority of cases ended in convictions or plea deals.
Four were sentenced to death.
Skalnik testifies or supplies information in at least 37 cases in Pinellas County alone.
18 defendants he snitched on were under indictment for murder.
The vast majority of cases ended in convictions or plea deals.
Four were sentenced to death.
(Two of those were later resentenced to life in prison, though).
Feb. 1988:
Skalnik is arrested for forgery in Austin, where he’d been using the name “J. Paul Bourne” and passing himself off as an oil baron—while also passing thousands of dollars in bogus checks.
Skalnik is arrested for forgery in Austin, where he’d been using the name “J. Paul Bourne” and passing himself off as an oil baron—while also passing thousands of dollars in bogus checks.
Then, he’s extradited back to Pinellas County jail, but by then, prosecutors had soured on him
Summer 1988:
After being denied leniency, Skalnik alleges prosecutorial misconduct, saying prosecutors coached him how to testify in numerous cases and they were aware that his testimony was questionable.
After being denied leniency, Skalnik alleges prosecutorial misconduct, saying prosecutors coached him how to testify in numerous cases and they were aware that his testimony was questionable.
Prosecutors categorically denied his assertions, dismissing them as ‘'falsehoods, ranging in degree from gross exaggeration to preposterous fabrication’.' But they said his previous trial testimony was true.
Skalnik, to this day, claims that he never lied on the stand.
A deal is reached: For his 4 counts of grand theft and 2 counts of failure to appear, he will receive a 5-year sentence from Florida, which he will serve out in a Texas where he had time left on a bail-jumping charge.
March 1990:
For reasons that remain unclear, Skalnik is paroled in Texas after serving only 11 months. Ultimately, Florida abandons its efforts to extradite him, he is once again free.
For reasons that remain unclear, Skalnik is paroled in Texas after serving only 11 months. Ultimately, Florida abandons its efforts to extradite him, he is once again free.
1991:
After marrying his eighth wife (and still married to his seventh), Skalnik sexually abuses his teenage stepdaughter. Her mother eventually finds out and Skalnik is arrested.
After marrying his eighth wife (and still married to his seventh), Skalnik sexually abuses his teenage stepdaughter. Her mother eventually finds out and Skalnik is arrested.
However, because Florida never pursued the earlier molestation charges, the courts see Skalnik as a first-time sexual offender. Instead of facing 25-to-life, he only faces 2-20 years if convicted.
Skalnik ultimately pleads no contest in exchange for a 10-year sentence, which he serves in full. He is released in 2002, but fails to register as a sex offender.
2003:
While pretending to be an attorney in Massachusetts, Skalnik is arrested for larceny and forgery after stealing thousands from unsuspecting clients. He pleads guilty and serves time in state prison, then later flees the state after violating probation.
While pretending to be an attorney in Massachusetts, Skalnik is arrested for larceny and forgery after stealing thousands from unsuspecting clients. He pleads guilty and serves time in state prison, then later flees the state after violating probation.
2009-2015:
Under the phony name “E. Paul Smith,” Skalnik runs a series of small-time scams in Texas and Louisiana, claiming to be an attorney, an undercover Homeland Security agent, an ex-fighter pilot who had been shot down over Vietnam, and a terminally ill cancer patient.
Under the phony name “E. Paul Smith,” Skalnik runs a series of small-time scams in Texas and Louisiana, claiming to be an attorney, an undercover Homeland Security agent, an ex-fighter pilot who had been shot down over Vietnam, and a terminally ill cancer patient.
Oct. 2015:
Skalnik is arrested in Texas for his failing to register as a sex offender.
He has 30+ fake IDs on him, along with a framed bogus law school diploma, and a legal dictionary embossed with his phony name.
Skalnik is arrested in Texas for his failing to register as a sex offender.
He has 30+ fake IDs on him, along with a framed bogus law school diploma, and a legal dictionary embossed with his phony name.
After his arrest, Skalnik tries his old tricks, telling the Panola County, TX, sheriff's investigator that he wanted to cut a deal and that he could be useful inside the jail."
The investigator says he is not interested.
The investigator says he is not interested.
Summer 2019:
Skalnik is released from prison. He now lives in a nursing home in East Texas.
Skalnik is released from prison. He now lives in a nursing home in East Texas.
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