Some say the cop's arrest could help set another man free from death row.
It was 1996 when 19-year-old Stacey Stites was found strangled on the side of a road in Bastrop.
A jury convicted Rodney Reed of murder and sentenced him to death. Supporters have long insisted police have the wrong man behind bars.
The appeal seeking a new trial suggests Stites' live-in boyfriend, Jimmy Fennell -- then a Giddings police officer -- was to blame.
The motive? The defense claims Fennell was jealous when he found out Stites was having an affair -- with Reed, whose DNA was found on the body.
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
Is Jimmy Fennell guilty of Stacey Stites' muder?
The news is that Sgt. Jimmy Fennell, who was placed on administrative leave for the last few weeks is now charged with sexually assaulting a woman at gunpoint last October. KEYE TV has a good report (video below) about Jimmy Fennell's possible involvement in Stacey Stites' murder. Rodney Reed who has been convicted of her murder is currently waiting for the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to rule on his appeal.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
9 comments:
I have lived in Bastrop County since before the Stites murder. I followed it very closely in the newspaper and I too am of the opinion that Rodney Reed is NOT GUILTY. In a letter to the editor of American Statesman, which will probably never be seen I mentioned that I seem to recall that there was a person that came forward stating that he had observed a police car exiting the area where Stites body was found at about the time of her alledged death. I don't remember him being a part of the trial. I pray that Fennel's arrest will bring about Rodney Reed's release.
I also asked if anyone had ever thought of connecting Fennell with the disappearnace of a girl in Georgetown who closely resembled Stacey Stites. This occurred shortly after Fennell went to work in Georgetown.
Do you remember the name of the girl who went missing? I believe I know her Grandfather.
just goes to show our system does not work because the system is made up of the same ppl that the system is out to punish. We need to put ourselves in the shoes of Reed. Why would we keep such a system in place that we wouldnt want in place if we were the falsely accused.To make a carreer out of criminology is to make profit of the wrong doin of others. in such a system we would not want reform and not want peace if peace meant the end of our career. think about it. non profit police maybye?
find the film called state vs. reed made in 2006. blatantly showing the "good ole boy" system in place. the cops were looking out for their own. reed has had problems, but is not guilty of this particular crime. not even close.
Apparently,Jimmy Fennell has been accused of simular offenses through out his career as a police officer. what makes me sick is cops do get away with murder...
Round Rock PD: Four cops killed a 22 year mentally ill war vet 6 bullets, and a grand jury let them walk...sounds like williamson co D.A. John Bradley didn't try very hard in any cases that involve Police. He offered Jimmy Fennell 2 years to plea guilty to kidnaping and sexual assult...who on the face of the earth would ever get offerd a deal like that besides a cop. Thank gosh the Judge is taking it to jury, and hopefully the citizens will see through this D.A. John Bradley quick. Now, the latest crap out of the defense attorneys mouth is she was a stripper..implied she was a whore and deserved it. Come on Fennell is a killer, and I hope this innocent man gets off death row. How do these cops and Prosocuters sleep at night? funny if this was any other person besides a cop accussed of these horrible crimes, 70 years to life comes to mind. The murder of that 22 year old that died for us all came home to be killed in his own country by our cops...
Fennell gets 10 years
Larry Kolvoord AMERICAN-STATESMAN
Former Georgetown police officer Jimmy Fennell sits in court moments after he had been sentenced to 10 years in prison for kidnapping and improper sexual activity with a person in custody. He was sentenced Friday, September 26, 2008 by state District Judge Burt Carnes. MORE
Fennell gets 10 years
By Isadora Vail | Friday, September 26, 2008, 10:58 AM
Former Georgetown Police Sgt. Jimmy Lewis Fennell Jr. showed little emotion this morning as state District Judge Burt Carnes sentenced him to 10 years behind bars.
Fennell pleaded guilty in May to felony charges of kidnapping and improper sexual activity with a person in custody. The charges come from an Oct. 26 incident in which Fennell responded to a domestic disturbance call at a woman’s home, and according to court documents, he forced the woman to come with him in his patrol car, dance for him and have sex with him.
Williamson County District Attorney John Bradley said today despite what he calls a flawed investigation by the Georgetown Police Department, he was satisfied with the case.
“I think this case shows that officers are not above the law in Williamson County and they do not get treated differently from other offenders,” Bradley said in a press conference after the sentencing.
Bob Phillips, Fennell’s defense attorney, said his client chose not to say anything for the duration of the near year-long case because of a pending federal lawsuit against Fennell and the Georgetown Police Department.
“My client made some horrible and inexcusable mistakes,” Phillips said during closing arguments, though he chose not to expand on what those mistakes were.
Outside of the courtroom, Phillips added that he does not expect Fennell to appeal the judge’s decision since he pleaded guilty to the charges.
I certainly believe that Off. Fennell is a dangerous predator and got a pretty light sentence for what he did in Williamson County.
However, if one reads the trial transcripts of the Reed murder trial, the evidence points to only one person - Rodney Reed. There simply is no credible evidence otherwise. As much as I'd like to believe in Mr. Reed's innocence, I feel that he's just using the race card and playing to all the conspiracy theorists out there.
Watch this video,, it shows a cover up...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijUEqf2LsD8
Please, stop with the cover up shit, this cop is a huge piece of garbage that belongs in the clink much longer than 10 years, but believe me, he will be basically in the hole the entire time he's in jail, no talking to others, no special privileges, basically 10 years by himself. He's an Econ, they get killed in prison. That's why they're kept separated the entire time in the clink. Fine by me, problem is, when or if he gets out watch out, he will be much worse and dangerous than he was before. That sucks. Now, looking at the other felon, Mr Reed, that's always the excuse, it's a cover up, and/or, we were a hidden couple prior!!!! Stop with that garbage. His sperm just happened to be INSIDE this girls body!!!! IF, and this is a HUGE IF it was a they were having an affair with each other, why wouldn't they use protection!!!!! I'm sorry, but I've had a few flings myself and each time the LAST THING WE EVER WANTED WAS GETTING PREGNANT!!!! While your having a "fling", unless it's oral sex, a condom is always used. I found all of us were extremely careful when it came to sex because we knew it wasn't going to last forever and wasn't taking the chance of getting pregnant from an affair.
It's bad enough the defense attornys always try to make the victim look bad, always, but I'm sorry, I can't see her messing with this guy to begin with, let alone unprotected sex while being engaged to a cop. Sorry, but there was no consensual sex, Mr Reed raped and killed this young girl because he's a scumbag. And if you look at all these nasty scumbags, they never just do it once, they've eitherdone it before or they'll do it many times later. Sorry folks, I always stick up for the people accused that seem to be innocent, but that's NOT the case here,,time for the IV. he was accused 5 times of sexual assault prior to this, and 1 girl was 12-14 years old and mentally challenged. 5 TIMES!!! This is a man with a very bad problem that will never ever go away. It's time to get this over.
Post a Comment