True Crime Stories

There are certain things that are so commonly heard in murder cases that they sometimes seem so routine and mundane. One of the biggest things you will hear is the argument about “ineffective counsel.” I have actually read an appeal in which a judge discusses his disdain for this phrase as that seems to be a “given” in an appeal after a conviction. He is not wrong but the sadder part about that is that there are cases in which ineffective counsel is very valid but it can get lost in the shuffle because so many make this claim. Now, let me be clear that while Bowling would basically make this claim after his conviction, personally to the judge and not necessarily through an appeal, I have to say I agreed with the judge on this point, one of the very few it seems, when it was denied. Another thing you hear a lot, if not more than the claim of ineffective counsel, is that the defendant is innocent. More often than not state prosecutors (or federal attorney generals if it applies)...

Much like the last blog I posted about I am torn about this case also, just for different reasons. In the last case there was no question as to the perpetrators guilt and whether they deserved to be punished. My issue in that case centered around the age of the perpetrator and whether he deserved to have a chance to be out of prison. This case is different. This is a “no body” case that was not “solved” for forty years. I cannot say that I necessarily believe that John Bayerl is innocent but I do agree with the defense that the evidence for a conviction, despite getting one, was not there. Dona Bayerl was last seen on May 6, 1979. She lived in Muskego Wisconsin with her husband John and their two daughters, Jackie and Jodie who were four and seven back in 1979. John did not report her missing for three days. It was said that John kept changing his story as to what happened on that night but I must be fair in saying that nothing seemed to be clear about what those stories were...