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First published at 23:35 UTC on July 9th, 2018.

Witness Intimidation Criminals Go Free Skews the Crime Statistics Data - Colin Flaherty reviews and gives commentary on news with headlines "Two charged with threatening witnesses in St. Louis murder trial" and "No-show witness trig...

Witness Intimidation Criminals Go Free Skews the Crime Statistics Data - Colin Flaherty reviews and gives commentary on news with headlines "Two charged with threatening witnesses in St. Louis murder trial" and "No-show witness triggers dismissal of double-murder retrial in St. Louis"[links and excerpts below]https://fox2now.com/2018/06/26/two-charged-with-threatening-witnesses-in-st-louis-murder-trial/POSTED 1:36 PM, JUNE 26, 2018, BY STAFF WRITER, UPDATED AT 04:56PM, JUNE 26, 2018ST. LOUIS, MO Two men are charged with tampering with a victim and witness in a St. Louis city murder. Larry Strickland, 31 and Anthony D. Demyers, 33, face the witness intimidation charges in connection with the murder of Gentrail Wafford.

Court documents say that two gunmen identified as Terrance Williams and Brandon Cross shot and killed Gentrail Wafford during a robbery attempt in the 1400 block of Desoto on June 8, 2017. Wafford pulled out his gun to defend Roderick Silinzy, but was killed in the shootout.

Terrance Williams, 29, was charged in July 2017 for Gentrail Wafford's murder. The Circuit Attorney's Office says that investigators started to listen to his jail calls after the death of Roderick Silinzy. He was a cooperating witness in the murder case against Williams. He died from gunshot wounds after his car crashed into an abandoned building in May 2018.

Investigators learned that Williams was relaying the identities of cooperating witnesses in his murder trial to Strickland. They say he got that information through paperwork obtained by his co-defendant Brandon Cross. Strickland and Demyers allegedly worked together to dissuade Silinzy, and the two other witnesses from cooperating in the prosecution of Williams and Cross.

https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/no-show-witness-triggers-dismissal-of-double-murder-retrial-in/article_9db70279-028a-5f5b-aba1-5d822c427408.htmlBy Joel Currier St. Louis Post-Dispatch Jun 28, 2018ST. LOUIS A jury had been picked for the retrial this week of a St. Louis man in a 2013 double homicide. Instead, a judge Tuesday dismissed all counts after prosecutors asked for a continuance because they could not produce a key witness.

The dismissal of the case with prejudice means charges cannot be refiled against Freeman because of double jeopardy, Taaffe said, a standard in the U.S. Constitution that says no one should be tried twice for the same underlying offense.

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Colin Flaherty: Witness Intimidation - The NUMBAHS