Star Witness
48 Hours - CBS News
This episode of '48 Hours' investigates two cases of wrongful conviction: Clarence Elkins, imprisoned for life based on a six-year-old's tes
Key takeaways
- Gloria Killian was imprisoned for 16 years based on circumstantial evidence and a coerced testimony from a career criminal who later admitted lying under oath.
- A secret deal between prosecutors and Gary Massey—evidenced by letters—was concealed, undermining the integrity of the trial.
Main topics
- Wrongful conviction
- Prosecutorial misconduct
Notable quotes
"I would rather die than go back to prison." – Gloria Killian
"I lied my ass off on the stand for you people." – Gary Massey, in a letter admitting perjury
Conclusion
Despite overwhelming evidence of innocence and years of advocacy, both Clarence Elkins and Gloria
Transcript preview
Speaker 5 (0:08) This man is in prison for life because of the testimony of a six-year-old child, his own niece. Speaker 5 (0:21) With no physical evidence, Clarence Elkins was convicted of murdering his mother-in-law. I Speaker 8 (0:26) thought it was my Uncle Clarence. Speaker 5 (0:28) Case closed, not by a long shot. Now, five years later, the little girl is changing her story. Do Speaker 8 (0:36) you think it was Uncle Clarence? At first, yeah. Speaker 5 (0:39) Susan Spencer investigates. Is an innocent man behind bars? It is Speaker 4 (0:44) outrageous what they have done to this child. Speaker 5 (0:47) And... Gloria Killian was on her way to becoming a lawyer. She ended up in prison for masterminding a robbery homicide. I just kept thinking, this can't be happening, it can't be happening. The key witness, a career criminal. Would you have believed his story? Well, I even lied my ass off on the stand for you people. 16 years later, she's out. But for how long? Peter Van Sant reports. Prosecutors want to put Gloria right back in jail. Speaker 3 (1:16) I would rather die than go back to prison. Speaker 5 (1:18) 48 Hours Investigates. Star Witness. Speaker 1 (1:35) Gloria Killian has waited a long time for this moment. Speaker 3 (1:39) It's the most beautiful sight on earth. Speaker 1 (1:41) 16 years and 4 months to be exact. It's hard to believe looking at her, but that's how long she was locked away. We're Speaker 3 (1:49) going to recal. Speaker 1 (1:50) Here in a California state prison. Speaker 3 (1:52) I would rather die than go back to prison. Speaker 1 (1:55) What's more, it was for a robbery murder Gloria says she didn't commit. Speaker 3 (2:00) I'm innocent. I did not plan the robbery. I did not know those people. I was not involved. And I'm not the perpetrator. And I'm really... Speaker 8 (2:11) She's not out of prison today because she was found to be innocent. Speaker 1 (2:14) A technicality has gotten her out. Speaker 8 (2:16) You can say that. Speaker 1 (2:18) Lana Wyant is with the district attorney's office in Sacramento, California. She wants Gloria back in jail. Speaker 8 (2:25) We're convinced that she was the mastermind of this murder. Speaker 1 (2:28) Rosewood Drive is a sleepy street in the Rosemont section of Sacramento. The crime Gloria was convicted of occurred in 1981. Two burglars apparently searching for what could have been gold in the house. In this quiet, middle-class neighborhood of Rosemont, California, near Sacramento. The Speaker 4 (2:45) place had been ransacked. thrown out of the closet in search of... Speaker 1 (2:49) Detective Stan Reed, now retired, was among the first to arrive on the scene. Speaker 4 (2:54) Drawers pulled out, things on the floor, closets in disarray. Speaker 1 (2:59) Two men had broken into the home of 71-year-old Ed Davies, a coin collector who kept gold and silver in his house. Davies was found dead on his kitchen floor. shot twice to the head, once at point-blank range. You saw my face, you die. You die. No witnesses. No witnesses. Within days, authorities, acting on a tip... This is a Speaker 4 (3:24) photograph of Gary Massey at the time of his arrest. Speaker 1 (3:27) ...arrested career criminal Gary Massey and charged him with the Davies murder. How did you find out about the crime? Speaker 3 (3:34) I saw it on television, and that's really all that I remember about it. Speaker 1 (3:41) Divorced and in her mid-30s, Gloria had almost finished law school, but decided to take time off to enjoy life. Speaker 3 (3:51) I love to go to clubs. I love to party. I love to dance. I went out a lot. I went out a lot. Speaker 1 (3:57) Was this a wild time for you? Speaker 3 (3:59) You could say that. You could say that. I knew some people I should not have known. Speaker 1 (4:04) And one of those people was a friend of Gary Massey, the man arrested for the Davies murder. Gloria says she never knew Massey, but when the anonymous tip mentioned her name and his together, she was arrested. Speaker 3 (4:19) They cuffed me and took me away. Speaker 1 (4:20) What's going through your mind? Speaker 3 (4:22) Panic, hysteria. I have no idea what is happening to me, and I'm terrified. Speaker 1 (4:29) But detectives didn't buy her claims of innocence after they discovered a notebook in her purse, including this address, 8933 Rosewood. Speaker 4 (4:40) Two doors from the victim's home. After her stating, she didn't know where that was. Speaker 1 (4:45) Also in the notebook, a list of items that could have been used in the crime, including rope. Speaker 4 (4:51) Mr. Davies' feet were tied with rope. Speaker 1 (4:54) And gloves. Speaker 4 (4:56) Not one fingerprint was found that indicates to you that they wore gloves. Speaker 3 (5:01) They took some completely unrelated lists and phrases and cobbled them together to constitute what they called corroborating evidence. Speaker 1 (5:12) It was enough for authorities to charge Gloria with murder. But after spending three and a half months in jail awaiting trial... she was released. Charges are dropped? Yes. For lack of evidence? Yes. A year later, Gloria was rearrested. What had changed? Speaker 3 (5:30) Well, what had changed is that Gary Massey went to trial, he was convicted on all counts, and he was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. Speaker 1 (5:38) But Massey's sentence was withdrawn and eventually reduced to 25 years to life after he testified against Gloria. saying for the first time she was the real mastermind behind the Davies murder. Gloria was convicted and sentenced to 32 years to life. You go from somebody who's working with a private investigator, three years law school, bright future, to what? Speaker 3 (6:08) Felon, convicted criminal, condemned. Speaker 3 (6:13) I just kept thinking, this can't be happening, it can't be happening, it can't be happening. Speaker 1 (6:17) But it's what happened to Gloria behind bars that makes her story so remarkable. Her passion for the law led to a job in the prison law library. In time, Gloria became the jailhouse attorney, advising her fellow inmates on everything from parole hearings to appeals. Speaker 7 (6:35) To see her do all the paperwork, all the legal work and... and knew that she had so much passion. I'm walking out of this prison soon, and I would not be doing Speaker 6 (6:44) that without Gloria. Speaker 3 (6:46) It was what gave my life meaning, and it's what kept me going. Speaker 6 (6:51) Gloria was Johnny Speaker 8 (6:52) Cockright. Gloria Speaker 1 (6:53) coached Joyce Houston on how to best present herself to the parole board. Speaker 8 (6:58) I'll never forget her. Never. Her Speaker 1 (7:00) biggest triumph is Brenda Arras, who is serving a life sentence for killing her husband, who repeatedly... beat her. I Speaker 8 (7:08) lost my appeal and had no other resources, so I went to the law library crying, you know, what can I do now? Help me. Speaker 1 (7:16) Gloria sent out more than 6,000 letters on behalf of Brenda and even published an article about her case in a law review. What was it about Brenda that made you want to help her? Speaker 3 (7:27) Because it was wrong. It was wrong. He broke my jaw. He cracked my ribs. He totally isolated me in the end. Speaker 3 (7:38) Someone who sits around and advocates, oh, everybody in prison deserves to be out or anything like that. But there's so many injustices. Speaker 1 (7:46) Gloria's efforts paid off. Aris' release six years ago marked the first time a battered woman who killed her husband was granted clemency in California. Speaker 3 (7:57) And that was... It was very powerful. Not because I did it, but because it was right. Speaker 1 (8:06) So Brenda gets out, Joyce gets out, but Gloria's still in prison. Speaker 3 (8:11) Mm-hmm. There were periods of time when I was sure that I would never get out. That I would never ever get out. That no one would ever care what happened to me. Speaker 1 (8:24) But that would all change the day she met this 79-year-old widow from Pasadena. Speaker 3 (8:30) I am profoundly annoyed by injustice and I just have to do something. Speaker 3 (8:46) I'm going straight for the cookie aisle. Speaker 1 (8:48) After spending 16 years in prison... I Speaker 3 (8:51) can't stand all the choice. Speaker 1 (8:52) ...a trip to the supermarket is a real adventure... Oh, Speaker 3 (8:57) my. Oh, well, I can't resist. Speaker 1 (8:59) ...for Gloria Killian. Speaker 3 (9:00) Do you know Speaker 1 (9:00) how Speaker 3 (9:00) many years it's been since I've had raspberries? 16 years and 4 months. Probably longer than that. She Speaker 1 (9:07) would still be in prison, if not for this woman, a widow from Pasadena named Joyce Ride. Speaker 3 (9:13) My daughters describe me as the elderly widow Ride. Speaker 1 (9:17) You'll probably remember one of Ride's daughters. Lift Speaker 5 (9:20) off and the shuttle has pulled the tower. Speaker 1 (9:23) America's first woman astronaut, Sally Ride. Speaker 4 (9:26) Roger your roger, officer. It Speaker 1 (9:28) seems determination runs in the family. Joyce has been a volunteer visitor at women's prisons for years. Speaker 3 (9:35) I just go in as a friend and listen. Speaker 1 (9:38) In 1992, she listened to Gloria's story and believed it. Speaker 3 (9:42) Clearly, she was innocent of