Christopher Dunn has been wrongfully held for 28 years. In May of 1990, a teenage boy tragically lost his life. Chris, age 18, was accused of shooting him. No evidence pointed at Chris except for the eyewitness testimony of two boys. In the past few years, both boys have recanted, explaining that they decided to accuse Chris because they didn’t like him. Additional witnesses, who never testified in court, have come forward.

The day before he was shot, the victim and his friends had a physical dispute with an adult man who was dating the boy's mother. When the shots came from the dark that night, the boy and his friends were hanging out on the steps of a friend's porch, in a spot they frequented. Just one month later, the boy's younger brother was also shot and killed.

A mostly accurate article about Chris' case was published in the Riverfront Times:and killed. None of these facts were brought up by Chris' public defender in court, and came to light after Chris' conviction was in place.

https://www.riverfronttimes.com/newsblog/2018/04/30/after-two-key-witnesses-recant-convicted-st-louis-murderer-gets-new-hearing

No motive was ever established, and no gang, drug, or robbery elements were mentioned in the trial. A more detailed breakdown of the case follows.

In 1990, Chris was 18 years old. One night, when his uncle was visiting his mother's house, the family, including Chris, walked his uncle outside to the car to say goodbye. They heard three or four shots in the distance. His mother told everyone to get inside. They later learned that a teenage boy in the neighborhood had been shot.

The next day, the police came and arrested Chris. They shackled him to a table and interrogated him off and on for 36 hours, with no food or water, and one bathroom break. Then, Chris was held in jail for over a year before he went to trial.

His public defender did not call any of his alibi witnesses. Not his uncle, not his mother, not his sisters. No evidence was presented in his favor. 

There was no physical evidence; the ONLY evidence against Chris was the testimony of two boys, 13 and 15, who were there when the victim was shot. Their stories were not consistent, but Chris' public defender didn't make an issue of that. In exchange for testifying against Chris, one of the boys received just probation on felony charges that included shooting a baby in the face. (That baby survived but was blinded in one eye.)

The state offered Chris 10 years if he would admit guilt. He refused. Next, they offered 20 years. He refused to admit to a murder he did not commit. So, Chris was sentenced to life without parole plus 90 years..

In 2005, the first boy recanted his testimony, saying he had lied because he didn't like Chris, and that he hadn't seen the shooter at all. This was encouraging, but Chris' attorney at the time said it wasn't enough. We needed both recantations. For the next 10 years, we looked for the other boy. In 2015, we found him living in California. He gave a statement that matched the first boy's statement. He had not seen the shooter, and they decided to say it was Chris because they didn't like him.

In addition, three other people - one who was at the crime scene and in the police report, but never called to the stand - and two who were talking on the phone with Chris near the time of the crime - all provided affidavits and said they were willing to testify to Chris' innocence.

We had what we needed for a finding of actual innocence, but we needed a court to hear the evidence.

A county judge granted Chris an evidentiary hearing for May 30. This was huge. While there were no guarantees, we were closer than ever to ending this nearly 28-YEAR-LONG nightmare.

The hearing went even better than we expected. The first witness admitted, in open court, that he lied. He said that he never saw the shooter; it was too dark. The new witnesses upheld their statements, one recalling the shooting, and the other explaining that Chris was on the phone with her at the time of the crime. Medical records were presented to support her claim.

The hearing went extremely well – only one testimony remained – the second accuser. Although he had already provided two affidavits that were audio taped and notarized, he was to appear in a video deposition because he was incarcerated in California and could not attend the hearing. However, the following week, he absconded from a drug treatment program, and has disappeared. There is a warrant for his arrest now, and we hope for Chris’ sake that he can be found and deposed before the judge issues a ruling.

The victim's family deserves to know the truth about who took their loved one from them, and for the killer to be found and punished.

Chris deserves to live a free life, like any innocent person. He has a home, a family, potential jobs, and health insurance ready and waiting to offer him support in resuming his life as a contributing member of society.

Please help us fund his outstanding legal and investigative fees from the hearing so that our legal team can continue representing Chris. We need $3,000, but anything helps, if you can!