Cleveland is like a big small town. We have like one of everything you need. Little italy has the houses almost stacked on top of each other so close. And it seems like Everybody Knows somebody that knows somebody. So, for this to happen in little italy it was a horrible crime in the sense that it is a tightknit communicate where things dont happen like that. At 1 30 on saturday, september 24th, 1988, a jogger noticed something floating in doan creek, a narrow waterway that twists through Rockefeller Park in cleveland, ohio. The case began when a jogger found the body of this poor young victim. Two other detectives handled the scene. Took a bunch of photographs, made a short report. Detectives noticed immediately that the victims neck was sliced open from eartoear. The victim, a young male who appeared to be in his early 20s, also had three stab wounds in his chest and small cuts to his wrist and elbow. He was wearing no shoes and the only thing on him was 7, found in his pocket. No weapons or blood were found at the scene. The young man remained unidentified because he had no identification on him. With no leads police were baffled by the case until two days after the body was found when they received a mysterious phone call from a man who claimed to have knowledge of the crime. Police asked if the caller could come in to help i. D. The body. That morning, homicide detective leo allen was at the morgue working on another case. I got notified by the morgue personnel that a man was there who thought he could identify the young man that was found on saturday. And thats how we got started. The man who came to the morgue was paul lewis, widely known by his nickname stoney apparently because of his affinity for being high. He identified the victim as his upstairs neighbor, tony klann. Tony klann was 19. Only a year earlier he had left home. His father told me he had written a note in which he said i emancipated myself. This was a young man searching for his identity. Stoney lewis had gone out friday night drinking at a bar called coconut joes. Tony was with three coworkers, mike keenan, 39, owner of a local business called sunshine landscaping, Eddie Espinoza, 26, the companys foreman, and another parttime employee. 27yearold Joe Dambrosio. Stoney lewis said before he left the bar he saw a series of heated arguments between tony and Eddie Espinoza, with espinoza pushing tony around and threatening him. According to stoney, that was just the beginning. A couple witnesses were sleeping at 3 00 friday night, early saturday morning. And they were awakened by loud noises, yelling. And they saw joe, mike and eddie banging on doors, looking for paul lewis. And they had tony klann in the truck. Apparently, mike, joe and eddie were convinced that stoney lewis had stolen drugs from them. And they were forcing tony klann to lead them to stoney. Tony had been crying. He looked like he had been beat a little bit. And they saw Joe Dambrosio with a knife to his throat. This was at 3 00 in the morning, saturday morning. Stoney lewis story was all detectives needed to hear. We went up into Cleveland Heights and took five Cleveland Heights policemen with us. And we went to Joe Dambrosios apartment, 1732 coventry road. Eddie espinoza answered the door and was placed under arrest. Next Police Searched for joe. First thing in the morning, the cops break in. Im all the way in the back in the bathroom sitting on the toilet. All i see is the door fling open and i see two guys in plainclothes with guns pointing at me. And im like, what the heck is this . Even without a warrant, Police Search joes apartment. We did. We discovered three large knives and several other smaller items, some clothing, and we confiscated all kinds of stuff we found there. A black pickup truck later determined to belong to mike keenan was parked in the driveway and impounded by police. Mike keenan was arrested the following day. From there, things moved fast. At the station, Eddie Espinoza immediately began talking. Eddie espinoza told a story about mike keenan and Joe Dambrosio forcing tony klann into the pickup truck. They went around looking for stoney lewis. Stoney lewis couldnt be found. And evidently in frustration decided to kill tony klann. Eddies story is that they drove down by doan creek. Mike keenan got out of the truck. And were standing behind anthony telling him, where is stoney . Where is stoney . And he kept saying i dont know where he is. Keenan says put your head back. And thats when he come out with an 11inch hunting knife and slit his throat. Pushed him into the creek and told Joe Dambrosio, finish the job. At this point, espinoza said he heard tony screaming for mercy, crying out, please dont kill me. Joe grabbed the knife. He jumped into the creek and put three big holes in that boys chest. And killed him. Thats Eddie Espinozas story. My partner and i both felt that this man was telling us the truth. Based mainly on espinozas account, Police Charged mike and joe with aggravated murder. Each would face the Death Penalty. Joes courtappointed lawyer convinced him to waive his right to a jury trial. I havent a clue of the law. So, whatever they said, i did. The prosecution was handled by a tough veteran litigator named Carmen Marino. On this case from my standpoint, it was a Job Well Done by the police officers. They investigated a good case, brought in good witnesses. There was nothing in this case that i had to do that the police didnt already do. Thats rare. At trial, the states case hinged on Eddie Espinozas eyewitness account of the murder and the testimony of stoney lewis. To defend himself, joe took the stand. But his only alibi was that he was home alone sleeping. The prosecutor just tore me apart. You know. My attorneys did absolutely nothing and that was it. The case was over. They found me guilty of this crime. Joe was sentenced to death. My trial was the shortest Death Penalty trial in ohios history. 2 3 4 days. From lets start to you die. Thats how fast it was. Mike keenan also received the Death Penalty. Eddie espinoza got 15 years. In march 1989, Joe Dambrosio arrived on death row at lucasville prison in southern ohio. He maintained his innocence. Its a nightmare. It has to be a nightmare. And i have to wake up. I really, really do. And you dont wake up. And it just goes on. No matter who i wrote and how much i begged. No one listens to a convicted murderer. They all say they didnt do it. In the fall of 1998, ten years after Joe Dambrosio was convicted of murder and sentenced to death his mother passed away. Joe was not allowed to leave death row. So, a Catholic Priest and former lawyer named Neil Kookoothe decided to attend her funeral on joes behalf. I asked the corrections officers, would you let me talk with joe for just a few minutes so that i can walk him through his mothers funeral. While joe was very appreciative of it, it was obvious that my goal for that meeting and his goal were not the same. A real human being i can talk to. I need help. Nobody will help me. I didnt do this. I was very resistant to doing that. I knew these death row cases were immense cases. 5, 10, 15 volumes long. No, its one volume big. Thats all it is. One volume . Thats where the attorney of him kicked in. I was just stunned that a man could be brought to trial for his life and be convicted in the amount of space it took to record that event was in one volume. So, i thought, whoa. Something is not right. In addition to being a priest and a lawyer, neil was a registered nurse with 15 Years Experience in critical care. It is one of those, if youre a believer it is a god moment. A priest who was an r. N. And an attorney. Where did that come from . And he shows up right at joes cell. The thing that struck me right away was the coroners testimony. Anthony klann had sustained a very significant and deep neck wound from ear to ear. That neck wound opened up two large holes in anthonys trachea. But at trial, the state eyewitness Eddie Espinoza said he heard tony scream for mercy after his throat had been slit. I work with trachea patients every day. I knew if you can find the hole in your trachea, you can plug it perhaps, you might be able to make a noise. It might sound Something Like this. So, there is no way that Anthony Klann could be running down a creek bed trying to plug two holes in his trachea so he can scream for his life. After visiting the crime scene, father neil had other suspicions about espinozas testimony. Joe supposedly grabs the knife and goes after anthony in the creek bed stabbing him. Yet there were no tire tracks or anything on the side of the creek. So, i thought, whoa. Something is not right here. Neil believed espinoza had to be lying. But a witness who was lying did not necessarily mean joe was telling the truth. Neil needed to know more about joes background. Joes father died when he was 17 years old. Joe is the only boy in the family. So his fathers death was very traumatic for him. I had to become the bread winner. And as soon as i graduated i went right into the military. I was what they call a shade tree mechanic. I worked on everything from a jeep to a 35,000 k. W. Generator that used to launch missiles. I loved it. Joe worked his way up to sergeant and was honorably discharged. But when he returned to the distressed economy of 1980s rust belt cleveland, joe couldnt find work. He thought he was a certified mechanic. I dont know what certification is in the military. But people were telling him, youre not a certified mechanic. In the spring of 1988, joe moved into a basement apartment near little italy. He lived in the coventry area which at the time was something a lot of 20somethings did. They were bluecollar workers and they partied a lot. I was not an angel. I drank. I drank like a fish. Right across the street from where i was living was a bar called the saloon. And i was in there throwing darts one day and ed espinoza, the foreman for mike keenan, came in and threw out a general question. Who needs a job . And he hired me as a landscaper plus home repair work. I started work the next day, september 1st. September 26th, im sitting in jail. In contrast to joes story, neil discovered that the man who put joe on death row, Eddie Espinoza, had a very checkered past. Eddie espinoza was someone who, in court, admitted that he was an alcoholic. Also a drug abuser, a welfare cheat, he was someone who was known to drink a 12pack of beer, would follow that up with snorting cocaine and then follow that up with tequila shots. But Eddie Espinoza had agreed to a plea deal with prosecutors. So, his story became the prevailing narrative. There is absolutely no motive here that would impel Joe Dambrosio to inflict harm upon Anthony Klann. Given what he had learned so far, kneel neil was feeling that something had gone terribly wrong in the Police Investigation of tony klanns murder. Stoney lewis points his fingers and they stop focusing on any other person or any other circumstances that might literally take them away from their case solved. Remember, they had this crime solved, according to them, within a day. And so, the investigation was only to gather evidence to support a theory that they already had. If joe was indeed an innocent man on death row, neil would have to figure out how to prove it. I was so angry when i got locked up. I couldnt understand how this could happen. I must have been angry for months. And then, one day, i was like, you know what . Im sick and tired of this. I have to start learning the law. I knew if i went back for a retrial, i can prove that i didnt do this. As father Neil Kookoothe looked into Joe Dambrosios case, he became suspicious that prosecutors had not told joes defense Team Everything they knew about the murder of tony klann. I felt from the neck wound to the scene at the crime, it seemed like at every other turn there was more that was being discovered. Neil was also shocked to learn that in 1988, ohio law did not require the state authorities to share all their evidence with defendants. What would happen back in those days is that the prosecutor would look at their files and they would determine what to hand over or to reveal to the Defense Attorneys and thats what they would get. The sixth amendment protects your right to an attorney. The right is no good if the attorney doesnt have the information. In addition to ohios draconian discovery laws, neil would also learn that the prosecutor in joes case, Carmen Marino, had his own controversial reputation. With Carmen Marino, there were ten cases where he had been reprimanded by the courts. I summarized it as cheating to win. Get a conviction at all costs seemed to be the approach. And let the truth fall where it may. In fact, in the tony klann murder case, marino was cited by the Ohio Supreme Court for prosecutorial misconduct in the trial of joes codefendant, mike keenan. I gave a good closing argument. And i ended by taking this big bully knife. Stabbing it at the evidence desk. Thats the prosecutorial misconduct that was alleged. My argument was youre criticizing me for stabbing this knife in the desk when that was the knife that slashed this kids throat when they murdered him. You think thats the balance that should overturn the case . Well, it was. Because of marinos antics, mike keenan received a new trial. But once again he was convicted and received a death sentence. By 2001 Joe Dambrosio had been on death row for over 12 years. His state appeals had all been rejected. His execution could come at any time. Our legal system is just designed to make it very, very difficult to prove that someone did not commit a crime after theyve already been convicted. Youre talking, the most uphill of uphill battles. Father neil was desperate to help prove joes innocence. In order to get a new trial they had to find new evidence. So, neil took a new approach. I thought, one of the things i need to do to get help is media attention. One of the first Media Outlets that i got was the cleveland scene magazine. Neil kookoothe came into the office a couple weeks after i joined the staff. Neil did not oversell what he believed to be joes case of actual innocence. He came to me with pieces of the case that he felt were questionable. He interviewed dozens of witnesses and discovered information of evidence that joes defense didnt have at trial. I got in touch with the two detectives who first responded to this case. And confirmed my instinct that there was more to the story than had previously been told. The human body holds eight to ten pints of blood. When tonys body was found, he had two pints of blood left. Yet, there was no blood or forensic evidence of any kind along the river bank. Based in part on that, the two detectives were adamant that tony klann had been murdered elsewhere, not at the river bank as Eddie Espinoza had claimed. If the location of the murder is different from what the key prosecution witness is claiming, thats a pretty big discrepancy. But the lead detective on the case, leo allen, did not visit the river bank until four or five days after the murder. Were involved in other cases. Not the only case we have. My goodness. Weve got all kinds of work to do. So there was no reason for my partner and i to go back there to see what we could see. We did go back there just to see where the heck it happened. The two original detectives were never called to testify at joes trial. The prosecutor suggested a defense trial counsel that they didnt need to talk to anybody else except detective allen, which is pretty suspicious conduct, trying to keep the views of the officers first on the scene away from defense counsel. He also reported about the lack of physical evidence in the case. You had no forensic evidence, blood, tissue, hair, on the knife that was supposedly used that killed tony klann. You had no blood that was found in the pickup truck. You had no blood on mike keenans clothes or Joe Dambrosios clothes. Thats a lot of question marks. Koozs article also highlighted a discrepancy about which night the murder took place. There were question marks about when the murder occurred, whether it was thursday night or friday night. He had been with mike keenan and Joe Dambrosio for a short time. A manager had told me, he remembered those guys being there thursday night when the bar held its tequila shot night. But not on friday night. But late friday night was when the state had argued the murder took place. Theres evidence of testimony that theyre all drinking thursday night. And the state tried to take two days and put them into one. How can you, based on that information, convicted two men and sentence them to die . The article was a turning point in joes case. It was the seminal story that began to unravel things and to cause people to look deeper. The most explosive bombshell would come from kuz conversation with tony klanns father richard. Someone the police had neglected to thoroughly interview. He shared something with me that i heard no one else mention. [ male announcer ] its here Xfinity Watchathon week, your c