USA TODAY: Detectives found puddles of it in the office of the run-down motel where she worked the overnight shift, checking in guests and keeping the books. They found droplets and smudges leading through the office and out the door to the parking lot. There, the trail — and Ellsworth — disappeared.
Even so, authorities here say they have no doubt about what happened to Ellsworth: She was attacked in the office bathroom one night in February 1997. And they have no doubt who killed her: her former boyfriend, Michael Rimmer, an ex-con who had threatened her before. The police found her blood in his car, and their case proved so powerful that jurors convicted Rimmer in a few hours. He was sentenced to die.
What those jurors never learned — and what Rimmer’s attorneys say they were never told — was that a witness saw a different man in the motel office about the time Ellsworth disappeared. The man seen in the office already was wanted in connection with a stabbing and, the witness said, literally had blood on his hands…. (more)
EDITOR: We publish this as a reminder that prosecutors are human and ambitious and misconduct and carelessness does take place from time to time, including, as we saw with the abuse of the grand jury system to persecute former county commissioners, here in Lancaster. It is understandable that the public assumes that law enforcement officials are always in the right; but this is not necessarily true. It takes a vigilant media to keep government in check, not a press monopoly whose leaders enjoy congenial lunches at the Hamilton Club and the Press Club. Well funded and couragous investigatory reporting is a lot to expect in a relatively small community such as greater Lancaster, especially due to reliance on the good will of advertisers. We have seen great improvements locally in recent years although ‘sacared cows’ such as Lancaster General Health remain above questioning and criticism. Democracy and social justice are never won…it is a every generation’s struggle.
