Thread by @ismarygp

Last year, I started investigating a 1997 murder for a class. Most people who knew about this case were too scared to speak to me.

I couldn’t fathom why.

But as I peeled back the layers, I started discovering things I wasn’t meant to know. 1/

tw: murder, rape, suicide

On 12/23/1997, George Clauser was murdered during a botched robbery at Effie’s Pizza Villa by two gunmen. This was one of a 6-week string of robberies in Reading, PA. Unlike the others, though, George was the sole casualty. And he was beloved by the police and the community. 2/

A year prior, George helped a young father feed his family during the brutal Pennsylvania winter when they had no money. The young father, Isaac, said if it wasn’t for George, he wouldn’t be alive. When the murder happened, people described it as if "they killed Santa Claus." 3/

The police were pressed for answers. Most of the other robberies had gone unsolved, and they couldn’t let this one, the murder of their friend, end that way too. They had no leads - so they placed a reward in the paper for $10k for information. Then the calls came in. 4/

Everyone suddenly knew someone who had done it. The police tried following those leads, but they led nowhere. Until one man gave the name of Melvin Ortiz, his friend who had allegedly confessed to the crime. But what made this one testimony more credible than the others? 5/

The man who gave up Melvin’s name was the son of PA’s longest serving state representative - Thomas Caltagirone. Thomas’ son, John, claimed Melvin had asked him to partake in the crime, and he had said no. Melvin later allegedly confessed to John about killing George. 6/

John’s girlfriend, Tina, allegedly heard this confession. And when Melvin was arrested, he apparently also confessed to his 30 year old cellmate that he had killed George. He supposedly confessed to everyone except his brothers, his parents, and his friends. 7/

Melvin was 17 years old when this murder happened. There was no DNA evidence connecting him to the crime. In fact, Melvin had 19 alibi witnesses who could’ve testified that Melvin was at a birthday party, 20 minutes from the crime scene, the entire night of December 23rd. 8/

But it wasn't just any birthday party - it was the birthday party of Isaac’s son, Isaac being the young father George had saved a year prior. And the kicker? The sole eyewitness to the crime, who lived on Melvin’s street, said the gunman was absolutely not Melvin. 9/

It was glaringly obvious that the Reading Police Dept had arrested the wrong man, and I thought this would be a simple case of a fake testimony in order to get some quick reward cash. But this is where things started to get really sinister. 10/

Melvin was set up to fail from the start: the judge denied any changes to venue/venire that would guarantee 12 impartial jurors deciding Melvin's fate. Remember - this is the death of 'Santa Claus' in a small town. Most jurors were white. Melvin is Puerto Rican. 11/

Melvin went through 5 court-appointed attorneys. Some recused themselves for conflicts of interest, some simply couldn’t stomach representing him. His trial lawyer received his case just weeks before it started, and to call him a ‘defense’ attorney would be too generous. 12/

Remember how he had 19 alibi witnesses? They were ALL willing to testify, but Melvin’s attorney only called on 4 - the 4 that seemed most likely to lie on Melvin’s behalf, and not the other 15 that stated he was there and had nothing to gain by lying for him. 13/

The @ReadingEagle had a blast framing Melvin as a murderer even tho he was still ‘innocent until proven guilty.’ They ran hit pieces on the Ortiz brothers, describing a family full of criminals, and plastering photos of Melvin in handcuffs. It was impossible to be impartial. 14/

And the prosecutor on Melvin’s case, DA Mark Baldwin, did everything in his power to ensure he got a conviction. He twisted the eyewitness’ testimony describing the gunman as having worn ‘white pants’ to wearing ‘light pants’ - this is because Melvin wore khakis that night. 15/

I also believe he bribed the jailhouse snitch who claims Melvin confessed to him because he wrote a letter threatening to reveal to the jury that the prosecutor had coached him on what to say. Plus he was released months in advance after testifying. 16/

When Cynthia, a friend of Melvin’s and John’s, testified that John confessed to having ‘made up the story’ about Melvin to get the $10k reward, I thought - this is it. There’s no way they can find him guilty. And yet, the jury did. Melvin was 19, sentenced to die in prison. 17/

I thought, how could the system fail a young Hispanic teen so horribly? But I knew about wrongful convictions, and I knew about the systemic racism in this country & the violence against Black and Brown communities. I shouldn’t have been surprised. But this went much deeper. 18/

6 years after Melvin is sentenced to prison, and a few failed appeals later, Tina - John Caltagirone’s then-girlfriend and the second witness to testify alleging Melvin’s confession - lost her son to SIDS. She saw his death as karma for what she had done. 19/

She believes God took her son from her because she took Melvin away from his mother - because she knew he was innocent, and she lied on the stand, and she helped lock him away forever. This guilt ate at her, and she would spend the next 5 years trying to fix it. 20/

In 2008, she got in touch with the Ortiz family. She began to tell them the truth of what happened the night of December 23, 1997. She claimed the police ignored her reports in 2005, and when it came time to present the new evidence, the judges denied it. 21/

But why would they deny this recantation? Well, Tina was claiming that on December 23, 1997 - John was involved in the murder of George Clauser. And that she, Tina, was forced to help him throw away the evidence - the gun, the hoodie, and the ski mask. 22/

The Judge who denied this recantation was Linda Ludgate. Linda worked in the same committee as good ol’ Thomas Caltagirone. Not only that, but Thomas was also the head of the judiciary committee, which meant he had a lot of power over the courts. 23/

We found that this wasn’t the only time a judge had helped out the Caltagirones. In '95, when John was caught stealing, Judge Schaeffer would intervene to say John's rights were being violated after his arrest. The very same Judge Schaeffer who oversaw Melvin’s murder trial. 24/

Judge Schaeffer denied a change of jury. Judge Schaeffer denied a change of venue. Judge Schaeffer approved the first motion of the entire trial, set forth by the DA, Baldwin, asking the judge to HIDE John Caltagirone’s criminal record from the jury. 25/

John’s criminal record included years of police reports on robbery, assault, shootings, & having an illegal weapon around the time of the murders. But it wasn’t just John who was involved - his father, Thomas, was the one found with it. And guess who was investigating this? 26/

The DA was ‘investigating’ this. But like ALL of the police reports around the Caltagirone’s, nothing really ever happened.

Tina testified to the kind of power the Caltagirone’s held. It was this power that made her, 16y/o & pregnant with John’s baby, afraid to disobey. 27/

Part 28 was added at the end - I had to remove it to make sure I edited the photo to maintain the sources’ privacy. The thread continues here

https://twitter.com/ismarygp/status/1583599787323949056

For those wondering where the case is currently at, Tina recanted her testimony before a judge (not a jury) and the judge said he "believed her" but didn't believe her recantation would've changed the original verdict. Melvin has appealed this with the Superior court 1/2

of Pennsylvania and a judge had a strong dissenting opinion in favor of Melvin. So now the case is at the lower courts again, but it's been months and we're still waiting on a hearing date.

Here's Judge Bowes' dissenting opinion: drive.google.com/file/d/1B9wviC…