John Merritt says he’s innocent: can Robert crack the case?
‘This is the first time he’s been asked to help free someone who may be innocent’
A MAN who won a reprieve from execution in the Unites States has enlisted the help of Limassol-based British psychic detective Robert Cracknell to help prove his innocence.
John Merritt, 48, was sentenced for execution in Miami Florida following his conviction for the slaying of medical researcher Darrell Davisin 1982.
An eleventh-hour appeal, based on inadmissible evidence being used at his trial, won him a reprieve and his sentence was commuted to 35 years.
Now Merritt has enlisted the help of Cracknell, the psychic detective famous for his role in helping police in the UK to catch the Yorkshire Ripper, to help uncover crucial evidence that will set Merritt free.
Members of a Merritt campaign group based in Australia wrote to Cracknell after reading about him in an international magazine. The jailed man then contacted Cracknell personally to ask his help in proving his innocence.
Cracknell has written to the Florida Department of Corrections for permission to meet Merritt face to face.
Cracknell’s spokesman Kizzi Nkwocha said: “Robert is better known for using his powers to track down and convict the guilty. This is the first time he’s been asked to help free someone who may be innocent. He has accepted this case because he feels there has been a gross miscarriage of justice.’
Cracknell himself told the Sunday Mail that it was a pretty big case. He believes that based on over 600 pages of court documents alone, it is obvious that Merritt, while he might be guilty of burglary, is not a killer.
“A blind man can see that,” he said. “He was railroaded by two guys cutting a deal. One got a year in prison and the other went to a mental hospital. How was this man ever convicted?” said Cracknell.
The case began in 1982 with the murder of Darrell Davisin, who was shot in the back of the head but police had to close the case for lack of evidence.
A couple of years later Merrit and two other men who used to work together on burglaries got picked up for kidnapping and other charges.
Cracknell said they had held up a house with an unloaded gun. “They were identified and picked up and already in prison when the police interviewed them separately,” said Cracknell.
He said that one of the men who was facing 20-25 years in prison sent a letter to the police saying he could tell them who murdered Darrell Davisin and named Merritt as the guy.
“So he was convicted on the testimony of two cons cutting a deal,” said Cracknell. “At the trial no forensic evidence was presented, only the words of two convicts.”
Five years ago Merritt wrote to the Psychic News magazine seeking help. An Australian lady came across the case and has been working on it ever since. Cracknell said the woman is now 91.
The Australian lady went to the US authorities and requested police files and court papers. They gave her everything.
She then contacted Cracknell in early December because Psychic News was running a story about him. He received 600 pages relating to the case and has gone through all of them.
“The guy is innocent,” said Cracknell.
“The entire crime scene at the time was contaminated and no forensic evidence was presented at the time.”
Cracknell and the Australian team and another group in the US who are working on the case said they wanted to go public with the information in the hope someone would pay attention to the case.
“I have already formulated some psychic ideas,” said Cracknell, adding that they hoped very, very soon to publish their conclusions.
