Ferguson and Erickson

Ryan Ferguson and Chuck Erickson were convicted of the brutal murder of Columbia Daily Tribune Sports Editor Kent Heitholt. The crime occurred on November 1, 2001 in Columbia, Missouri. At the time of the crime, a janitor, Jerry Trump, caught a glimpse of two young white men running away from Heitholt’s car around the time of the murder but the 911 tape indicates Jerry Trump was mainly relaying information given to him by a female coworker who actually saw the two young white men. The female coworker testified on appeal that neither of the two young men she saw near Heitholt's car were Erickson or Ferguson. Two years after the crime, Erickson began telling friends he dreamed he had killed Heitholt. When police questioned him later, Erickson confessed and named his friend Ryan Ferguson as his accomplice. Erickson said that following the murder, he and Ferguson went back to the bar they had been at earlier after briefly speaking to Dennis Mallory who was stopped at a red light. Mallory has testified that he did not own any car at the time, had no drivers license at the time, was not driving any car that night and that the light in question is flashing yellow which would mean that no vehicle would be stopped at it. No other witness has ever been produced who testified that the bar was actually open at that time which would have been several hours after its mandatory closing. The police officer present on a routine matter in the adjoining parking lot was not called by the prosecutor to substantiate there having been any noticeable after-hours activity at the bar that night. A review of citation records by the defense attorney failed to reveal any citations for after-hours activity at that bar. After having received considerable police assistance with 'recalling' the facts of the case and the location of the murder, and after having made repeated statements that he simply did not remember anything about the crime, Erickson confessed, that he, then 17, beat the 6'3", 315 lb. Heitholt with a tire iron just once. Erickson said that afterwards, Ferguson, also 17, strangled the victim with the victim's belt. Police reports indicate that the use of the victim's own belt as a ligature was a fact initially withheld from the press but that the use of the belt was revealed by the police interrogator to Erickson during his interrogation. There was no physical evidence linking either defendant to the crime despite the crime scene having been described as very bloody. Cell phone records indicate Ryan Ferguson was making and receiving a variety of cell phone calls at or about the time of the murder but records no longer existed which would indicate which cell towers handled the calls. Erickson pled guilty to the crime, and was the state's star witness at trial against Ferguson. During appeal proceedings, an inmate at the county detention facility testified that Erickson repeatedly stated he did not think he had committed the murder. The inmate also testified that Erickson voluntarily and falsely confessed to the jailor that he was solely responsible for some minor jail-cell damage that he had not at all been involved in. Ferguson and Erickson were seniors at Rock Bridge High School at the time of the crime. Prosecutor Kevin Crane is currently a circuit court judge. Ellen Roper who presided over the trial has retired. Bill Ferguson the defendants father continues to pursue his sons case and has expressed confidence that he knows who the "real" killer is.

Known Details of the crime

At approximately 2:08 am, Kent Hietholt, a mild mannered man who was larger than life in physical ways as well as emotional (He was approximately 6'5" tall and weighed in excess of 350 pounds) logged off his computer, having finished his nightly work for the Daily Tribune. He left the building by way of a door near the office's shipping dock in the back. Once reaching his car, he proceeded in a nightly ritual of feeding a local stray cat that had been waiting near the vehicle for him. He kept food in the vehicle specifically for this purpose. He walked across the lot to the other side, pouring the cat food onto a cement wall and then returned to his vehicle. During this time, a co-worker, Michael Boyd, also a sports writer, came outside, and in some way or fashion later stated that he conversed with Heitholt for a few moments prior to leaving. (The co-worker would later also testify that he had seen two boys walking around near the parking lot. His statements have had some degree of inconsistency and are reputed by the Defendants in this case).

By 2:20, janitor Jerry Trump and a janitor Shawna Ornt that also worked the building came outside to the dock to take a smoke break. Upon reaching the dock, they noted some movement near Kent's vehicle. Then Ornt reports hearing a voice saying "Someone is hurt..go get help!" She then states that she saw two bodies behind the vehicle. Scared, both Ornt and Trump went inside to call 911. Trump made the initial call during which he repeatedly asks for Ornt's help with details as to the people she had seen. Trump would also later state that when he returned outside he saw the two walking away from the scene.

Another sports writer rushed outside to check on Kent and attempted CPR, to no avail. Heitholt had suffered massive repeated blows to his head and had been apparently choked to death as there were red marks around the neck. The autopsy would confirm that the choking actually caused the ultimate death.

The Early Investigation

Both police and emergency crews arrived at the scene shortly thereafter with the initial 911 call being recorded at 2:26 am. It was also revealed that Heitholt's computer showed a log off time of 2:08 am giving an approximate 18 minute window of time when the crime had taken place.

A canine unit responded and began to track the scent of blood, eventually arriving near two dorms on the campus of the University of Missouri, approximately 6 blocks away.

Detectives on the scene found a belt buckle with a small amount (approximately 1 inch long) of the leather still attached nearby. It looked to have possibly been ripped. It would later be determined that keys and a wristwatch were missing from the Heitholt's body, but aside from this watch, little else was missing that would indicate a typical robbery.

There were few other clues...Blood spatter to indicate the angles of his attacker's strikes, a few bloody shoeprints and the testimony of the two janitors and co-worker were almost all that was available. A detective would attempt to do a luminol test on the trail of blood from the scene but only got a few blocks away before losing his track.

Shawna Ornt, the janitor who initially saw the two, was able to draw a sketch of one of the two boys present at the scene and described them as being in their 20's. Even with the sketch being publicized, the case would linger for more than 2 years while detectives tried to follow up on any clue leading to the murderer(s).

Enter Chuck Erickson

Approximately 2 years later, after a newspaper article restating many of the murder's facts was in the newspaper, and while at a party amongst high school friends, Chuck Erickson would call on his friend Ryan Ferguson, also 19, and say that he had this uneasy feeling that the two of them might have somehow been involved in the death of Heitholt. Ferguson admonished Erickson that he shouldn't say that kind of thing ever again. Others at a later party overheard Erickson again stating that he thought he might have had something to do with the death.

After receiving a tip from one of the persons present at the party, detectives picked up Erickson to question him about his involvement. Upon picking him up they determined that Erickson and Ferguson were, in fact, in the neighborhood that evening, at a Halloween Party at a bar approximately 1.5 blocks away from the murder scene. A warrant was issued to pick up Ryan Ferguson as well to see what he had to say about that evening.

Known Facts about Ferguson and Erickson on October 31, 2001

The following facts are not in dispute about the evening of the 31st:

Ryan Ferguson was on his way to a party earlier in the evening when he ran into an acquaintance, Chuck Erickson, who was coming away from the party. Erickson informed Ferguson that the party had broken up as police were coming to break it up. At the party, Erickson had engaged in some degree of drinking and perhaps had also done a small amount of cocaine. He was also photographed behind another friend Dallas Mallory, who was dressed as a police officer for the costume party.

Ferguson, having heard from his older sister, a college student, found out that he could get the two of them into a local college bar because the sister knew the door bouncer at the bar.
Ferguson took Erickson home to let him change clothes as he was wearing a costume for the earlier party.
Ferguson and Erickson arrived at the bar at around 11 pm on October 31 and were admitted with Ferguson's sister and a friend escorting them in to the bar.
Ferguson's cell phone records show repeated calls between 1:41 am and 2:09 am on that night (Now November 1, 2001), when he made an outgoing call that was probably not answered as it lasted only 1 minute.

Chuck's Story/Dream

During initial interrogation by Columbia police department detectives, Chuck would waver on his story and on at least 2 occasions stated aloud that he wasn't sure if he had just dreamed this or was making it up or if it was real. Convinced it was real, the detective's asked Chuck about the events of the evening, but many of Chuck's statements were conflicting with known details of the crime.

Chuck's initial statements included the following:

Chuck and Ryan 'ran out of money' and Ryan decided they should go rob someone to get more money for drinks, so they left the By George's bar and walked over to the Tribune where they struck Heitholt and killed him.
The questioning detective made several crucial errors during the questioning of Erickson, including prodding Erickson about how many blows were used on Heitholt. While Erickson initially indicated one, the detective told Erickson he knew it had been 11. Later Chuck would not have any clue as to what was used to choke Heitholt and the detective told Erickson it had been a belt, to which Erickson replied 'A belt?' (He actually replies this way twice). The inflection of the answer seems to indicate surprise on the part of Erickson who is still unsure of his story other than he had this vague notion that he might have been involved. In addition, on a tour of the scene later that day, Erickson seemed to have little or no idea where the actual murder had taken place. He did state that he had called out for help, but this along with what other 'facts' Erickson provided were never more than what had been covered in the newspaper articles about the case.

Ryan Ferguson, for his part, was adamant that he had nothing to do with the killing and has maintained his innocence since the time of his initial questioning.

A few of the more interesting or questionable statements given by Chuck Erickson have included stating that after the murder, he and Ryan returned to the By George's bar. This is questionable as local bars in Columbia, MO typically must close at 1:30 am. Given the time of the murder, Erickson's story would place them back in the bar at well after 2:30 am and staying there for at least an hour while Erickson stated a police officer was apparently in the parking lot of the bar. Police records show no record of an officer in that parking lot that time of the night as most on-duty area police were dispatched to the actual murder scene. Numerous witnesses have come forward to state that the bar could not have been open that late and was never open that late.
Another questionable statement by Erickson involves running into a friend, Dallas Mallory, who had been at the party earlier that night. Erickson has given two locations for running into Mallory and stated that Mallory had a couple of females in the vehicle with him. Shortly after Erickson's confession, Mallory was picked up and did in fact give an initial statement that he had seen Erickson that night, but later recanted stating he was pressured to make the statement and also that he had neither a car nor a license on the night in question. Mallory now has gone repeatedly on record to state that he did not see Erickson that evening.
Erickson's path of departure from the crime scene has had at least three versions.

Case goes to trial

Convinced that they had found the killers, Prosecutors chose to prosecute Ryan Ferguson for the murder charge after Erickson agreed to cooperate with them in the trial for a reduced sentence that would see him eligible for parole in as little as 12 years.

More information on the case to come.

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