Are We On The Verge Of Executing An Innocent Man

 

Illustration by Lizzie Gill; photograph by Associated Press

By Nicholas Kristof Opinion Columnist, Opinion

One day in June 1983, a neighbor made a horrific discovery at the Ryen home in Chino Hills, Calif. Doug and Peggy Ryen had been stabbed to death along with their 10-year-old daughter and an 11-year-old neighbor. The Ryens’ 8-year-old son, Josh, had been left for dead but survived.

There were some clues. Josh said several white men were responsible. Indeed, several were spotted that night in bloody clothing at a nearby bar, and two bloody shirts were discarded nearby, one with Doug Ryen’s blood on it. A woman called the sheriff’s office to report that her boyfriend had probably done it: He was a white man and a convicted murderer who had recently been released from prison, and he had shown up that night in bloody coveralls and a car that looked like the Ryens’ station wagon. She gave the coveralls to a sheriff’s deputy — who threw them away. Instead, deputies arrested a young Black man with a long criminal history, Kevin Cooper, and charged him with the quadruple murder.

More than 37 years later, Kevin Cooper remains in prison, on San Quentin’s death row, despite strong evidence that he was framed by the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office. I wrote about him in 2018, and that finally impelled California to allow DNA testing in the case (Jerry Brown and Kamala Harris had blocked it, although Harris later apologized for this). Now I’ve obtained the DNA test results, and the Cooper case is the topic of my Sunday column.

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Sadly, no “wearer DNA” could be derived from a T-shirt worn by one of the killers. But an orange towel, apparently used by one of the murderers to wipe off sweat, did provide a DNA profile that does not belong to the victims or to Cooper. Unfortunately, no one can identify whose DNA it is: Find that person, and we may solve the murder.

The prosecution case that Cooper single-handedly committed the murders seems preposterous. The medical examiner said that the weapons included an ice pick, a hatchet and one or two knives, and the killers seem to have worn both a blue shirt and a tan shirt. The Ryens had watch dogs, and Doug and Peggy were both athletic and each had a loaded gun by the side of the bed. But somehow Kevin Cooper, just 155 pounds, is supposed to have overpowered the Ryens while changing shirts and juggling weapons? And then leaving bloodstains on three seats in the Ryens’ car when leaving, and throwing the hatchet out the passenger side window?

My column calls on Governor Gavin Newsom to convene a panel of experts to review the evidence against him. I’m confident that if they review the new evidence they’ll conclude Cooper was framed — and they just might find whose DNA is on that orange towel and send the real murderers to prison. Please read and share!