Convicted of Murder -- On a Tragic Delusion
The Mother of a Delusional Schizophrenic speaks out
Ryan Ferguson at trial age 21 October 2005
Tragedy caused by ignorance, neglect and disregard of basic American rights .
I am the mother of a Delusional Schizophrenic. My adult child has an official diagnosis and is
disabled by this mental illness as are many others by the time they are young adults. At the end of 48
Hours ―Dream Killer‖ I was sobbing as I realized that could have been my child, who also confessed
to something illegal that he/she did not do. Thankfully the police were not involved. I am confident
with what I have written here. The similarities are much too striking to ignore between Chuck
Erickson and my child. Chuck is not to blame; he was defenseless as the disease took over his mind.
Please read this account that you may also understand why this terrible tragedy took place. Chuck
was 19 when his symptoms surfaced and became magnified. He did reach out but to no avail.
On November 1, 2003 Chuck read a newspaper article about Kent Heitholt being murdered exactly 2
years before in Columbia Missouri. No memories ever came flooding back but the article caught his
attention. After reading this brief article his brain was triggered to exhibit syptoms of Shizophrenia.
Triggers are often real events but not always. Some of those symptoms were: 1. obsessed 2. confused
3. deny proven facts 4. expand the delusion 5. seek validation 6. blame others 7. consumed
8. tortured (nobody believes me) unless you’re like Chuck who encountered Columbia Missouri
detectives. They could hardly believe their good fortune.
Chuck knew nothing except a very few facts from the newspaper but he couldn’t get them off his
mind. He was fantasizing a lot about what might have happened. (Schizophrenia = obsession)
Two months later, 12-31-03, Chuck could stand the obsession no longer and asked Ryan whom he’d
been with earlier that Halloween night if he thought maybe he ―Chuck‖ had anything to do with the
murder. (Schizophrenia = seeks validation) Ryan was shocked and asserted very firmly that he
certainly had not. Not with him anyway. He discounted it as Chuck’s usual weirdness while smoking
pot, drinking and ingesting cocaine. He was known for his tall tales so Ryan gave it no more thought.
Chuck’s Schizophrenic symptoms, as outlined above, continued through January and February,
2004. While again smoking marijuana, ingesting cocaine and alcohol he told two of his buddies on
separate occasions that he dreamed he might have had something to do with the murder and asked
what they thought about that. (Schizophrenia = Tortured). Only this time Ryan was also involved
in the dream. The delusion was evolving. Just a few days later on March 10, 2004 one of those
friends told the police about Chuck’s dreams and fears and both Chuck and Ryan were arrested
during their college mid terms. Please remember, there never was any physical evidence that linked
these boys to the murder, even though the police had DNA, fingerprints, hair, and shoe prints.
Chuck never once, by himself, produced a single detail about the murder. For a short time over and
over again he told detectives that he got all he knew from the article written in November 2003. He
said it was too hard to figure out specific details from just that little bit. He was not at all sure he
wasn’t flipping out or making it all up from the dream (Schizophrenia = confusion). He should
have been sent home right then and there. The detectives picked up on his vulnerable state
immediately. Unethically, within minutes, they methodically supplied him with every detail they
knew about the murder. Those planted ―facts‖ became his new delusional memory. The entire
confession ordeal is documented in police reports, on video of course and in the trial transcript. The
trial has the prosecutor and a detective blatantly lying. For instance, the detective made a huge
impact on the jury by insisting twice that Chuck had walked in and confessed on his own. Actually he
was on his college campus as was Ryan on his. He had not given himself up. He was a scared,
confused young man right in the middle of a Schizophrenic episode who became exploited.
With encouragement from the police Chuck tried his best to fill in more details. He was very
creative. (Schizophrenia = expanding) Only one example: He was adamant that the bar was open
for over two hours after it had actually closed and the Police never could dissuade him. OOPS!
(Schizophrenia = deny proven facts). The prosecutor had to work around the delusion by insisting
the bar had stayed open after hours that one time even with sworn testimony that it had not.
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The police put heavy pressure on Chuck to blame Ryan so he slipped into believing Ryan was the
mastermind, the final killer. In his illness Chuck could just not let himself be anything but a pawn.
(Schizophrenia = blame others). In his mind he had also become a victim of Ryan!
There was no evidence that either boy, barely 17, each 5’ 7‖ and 145 lbs, was ever at the scene. The
victim was 6’ 3‖and 315 lbs. Each boy attacked independently one after the other according to
Chuck. A female janitor, who was considered to be the sole witness by police, helped twice with a
composite. One of two men at the crime scene stepped forward and spoke directly to her saying,
―Some one is hurt get help‖. She testified that neither Ryan nor Chuck was either of the two men she
saw. Another janitor was not considered credible by police because he said he did NOT see their
faces. But after seeing single pictures of the arrested boys in the newspaper he testified that Chuck
and Ryan were the faceless men he had seen walking away from the scene. The jury believed him as
did the appeal judge. DNA, fingerprints and hair were not taken from the last man who was with the
victim immediately prior to or possibly during the murder. He was interviewed at his job site without
a sworn statement. A police dog followed the trail from the scene to a college dorm nearby but no
one was investigated. I asked Columbia Police to verify these two actions but received no response.
Chuck was sentenced to 25 years with a possible release in 12 if Ryan was convicted. The plea
bargain required his testimony to convict Ryan, who received a 40 year sentence. Chuck’s sentencing
came after Ryan’s trial when he had done his job. All this solely because a kid with symptoms of
Delusional Schizophrenia said Ryan was with him. Chuck’s story could have incriminated
anyone he chose. His hearsay was the sole evidence. Chuck repeatedly asked for help (be it to the
wrong people and only when he was doing street drugs and alcohol). He sat through his long
testimony secure in his confession, his striped jail uniform and shackles on display. He was
utterly believable in the highly staged, coached, memorized and repeatedly rehearsed drama
the prosecution presented. (Schizophrenia = consumed by delusional reality)
In his opening statement Prosecutor Crane admitted that Chuck was arrested knowing only the
―essence‖ of the crime, those few snippets from the newspaper. He came to them knowing nothing of
how or even where the murder was accomplished. Chuck was the product of police brutality. The
jury watched the confession ordeal on a large screen but thought nothing of the unethical tactics.
Because he was so confused, the detectives had to give him all the details. (Schizophrenia =
confusion). Chuck really tried by guessing over and over again but he just could not guess correctly.
One example: He insisted 3 times that he hit the victim ONCE. The detective shouted that he was hit
15 times. Quote, ―I must have done it then.‖ He was utterly defenseless. The detective testified that
he thought he was crazy. Chuck more than likely has Schizophrenia, a classified mental illness.
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Neither the Columbia Police department nor any person who should have protected Chuck had him
evaluated by a Psychiatrist. A valid diagnosis could have explained his bizarre mental state. It was
quote,‖ the strangest case‖ Kevin Crane ever had. Tragically he had never heard of mental illness.
THE INNOCENT WERE NOT PROTECTED IN COLUMBIA MISSOURI
―He thinks he did it, but he didn’t. Never heard of that before” Prosecutor Kevin Crane
1. Guilty: Columbia police – exploiting and charging a probable Schizophrenic young man
2. Guilty: Prosecutor – using the false confession of a probable Schizophrenic & lying
3. Guilty: The Jury – did not consider there was no basis for a trial. No evidence what so ever
4. Guilty: The trial Judge – not overturning the verdict. Could she really have been so clueless?
5. Guilty: Appeal Judge – showing prejudice, bias and actually lying in a very sloppy decision
Ryan Ferguson has NEVER waivered in his declaration of INNOCENCE. ―I will go to prison before
I will confess to a crime I did not commit‖ and that he did. The police could not break him down no
matter how they tried. He told the detective ―this is ridiculous‖ and he was right. He could not
explain Chuck’s delusion. He had never even heard of Schizophrenia.
Chuck’s prison uniform and shackles were for dramatic effect only
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Feeryanferguson.com : find trial transcript, U-tube links, time lines, many other links. It has a
huge wealth of information. Google ―Dream Killer‖, appeal by judge Asel, Crime Magazine.com.
After viewing interrogation U-tubes read the written account. Link is on the home page. Read the
Columbia Missourian and Tribune newspapers with many blogs of July 15- 2009. Subject is the
appeal denial. Read the Columbia Tribune 11-01-03 with the very few vague facts that Chuck
actually knew. Google: Frequency of false confessions. Surprise . . . Prosecutor Crane!
If such a dastardly thing could happen to these boys it could happen to our family and the thousands
of others who suffer from mental illness such as Schizophrenia. My heart goes out to the
multitude of families and friends who are impacted by this particular tragedy. I sincerely hope that
Chuck will get the help and proper mental health treatment he deserves so he can be released from
prison because of a wrongful conviction. Our experience is that certain medications do help. Ryan,
also tragically, became an innocent victim and it is time for him to be free to pursue a meaningful life.
Please read the next section and join with me and the Ferguson’s in calling for change.
In these United States of America we must unite and hold accountable our law enforcement servants.
Ignorance is no excuse!
1. Let us initiate a law that no murder suspect can ever be interviewed by law enforcement
without legal counsel present---PERIOD!
2. Let us initiate a law that says every single law enforcement person has to have certification
in recognizing the symptoms of every kind of mental illness, taught by a professional mental
health specialist.
If there is even one other person in this United States of America as ignorant as Kevin Crane, former
very experienced prosecutor and now Judge in Boone County Missouri, then that is one too many.
Quote, ―He says he did it but he didn’t. Never heard of that before.‖ Kevin Crane with all his
experience never heard of a false confession! This kind of pure nonsense happens throughout our
nation and law enforcement cannot be left to abuse their powers. We must make them accountable
with our power to have laws enacted. Contact your State and Federal Representatives and
Senators. Ask each to introduce a bill.
We need to Work together. Send this on to family
and friends or have me email it to you if you have Kevin Crane
During Trial
problems. Good luck -- Power to we the people of
the United States of America.
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March 10th 2010 is the 6th anniversary of two young men having been denied their civil rights by
inept public servants at several levels. They sit in prison still—one mentally ill and the other a victim
of that mental illness. Both are innocent without a doubt and both are victims of a broken system.
Let us fix it because it won’t get fixed from within.
HELP FREE RYAN AND CHUCK NOW
HOW MORE OBVIOUS CAN THEIR INNOCENCE BE?
Chuck claims the murder was in his memory bank!!
Note:
Chuck was brain washed by the prosecutor
to believe he had ―Blocked Out‖ the
murder as being too horrific to remember
immediately afterwards.
Fact:
There is NO evidence, after 70 years of
research, to conclude that anyone has ever
been able to ―Block Out‖ a stored memory.
If Chuck had committed a murder he could
never have forgotten it. Not for a second,
nor a minute, nor an hour, nor 2 long years.
He’s innocent!
Thank You,
A concerned Mom
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