Multnomah County Circuit Judge Michael A. Greenlick ruled that an alleged confession made to two Portland cold case detectives by accused serial killer Homer Lee Jackson III could not be used at trial.
The judge found his alleged confession was "made under the influence of fear produced by threats (and promises of leniency.)'' The judge cited more than a dozen examples or coercion from the interrogation.
Portland police arrested Jackson, now 57, in October 2015 and accused him of strangling four prostitutes in the 1980s. He’s pleaded not guilty to multiple aggravated murder charges in the deaths of two teenagers and two women in their 20s: Essie Jackson, 23, in March 1983, Tonja Harry, 19, in July 1983, Angela Anderson, 14, in September 1983 and Latanga Watts, 29, in March 1987. Homer Jackson and Essie Jackson aren't related.
At several points during the interview, Detectives Meredith Hopper and James Lawrence told Jackson that if he admitted to killing the women and explained why, they'd help him, he'd feel "great relief" and everything would turn out "for the best for everybody."
At other times, the detectives were hostile, exploiting Jackson's religious belief by suggesting God would never forgive him for his sins and promising that bad things would happen if he didn't start talking, the judge said.
The judge noted the detectives “threatened the worst punishment’’ if he didn’t tell them about the killings and suggested to Jackson that a judge and jury would consider him “a monster’’ if he didn’t start admitting his role.
“Police threatening the worst punishment if convicted, I believe, is coercive,’’ Greenlick ruled from the bench, in a lengthy explanation of his findings.
Here is Judge Greenlick speaking about his decision in court on Oct. 2, 2017.
