Justice for Arlene, Seymour and Marty Tankleff

To:  Governor George Pataki, Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy, Senator Charles Schumer, Senator Hillary Clinton and Representative Tim Bishop

Since the day Arlene and Seymour Tankleff were brutally murdered in 1988, there has never been an impartial investigation into what really happened. Within hours of the attacks, a Suffolk County detective, who had perjured himself in a previous homicide case, used deceit and trickery to coerce a false confession out of teenager Marty Tankleff. Days after the attacks, Seymour's business partner, who owed Seymour hundreds of thousands of dollars and was the last guest in the Tankleff home the night of the attacks, faked his own death and fled to California. Yet Jerry Steuerman was never considered a suspect.

Now, more than enough new evidence has been entered into the public record by Marty's defense team that Marty Tankleff should be released and an investigation begun to find the real murderers and achieve justice for Seymour and Arlene Tankleff. But District Attorney Thomas Spota has conflicts that prevent him from fairly overseeing this case. He represented Detective James McCready, on whose testimony Marty Tankleff was convicted, for perjury in a previous murder trial; and he represented Todd Steuerman, whose drug dealing was at the center of the conspiracy to murder the Tankleffs according to new evidence. Rather than objectively assessing the new evidence, the District Attorney's office has been intimidating and attempting to discredit defense witnesses.

The New Evidence

* Todd Steuerman operated a cocaine business out of his father's bagel stores.
* Joseph Creedon was Todd Steuerman's enforcer.
* Creedon was hired by Jerry Steuerman shortly before the Tankleff murders to kill Seymour Tankleff.
* Creedon has admitted his involvement to several people and Steuerman himself has stated that he killed two people.
* Creedon's getaway driver told a defense investigator where Creedon had discarded a pipe used as a murder weapon. A pipe matching the description was later found at the site.
* There was no physical evidence tying Marty Tankleff to the murders, and his "confession" has been determined by experts to be false and coerced.
* Detective James McCready, who wrote Marty's "confession," may have perjured himself at Tankleff's trial when he denied knowing Jerry Steuerman. Two defense witnesses saw Detective McCready with both Steuermans in the bagel store prior to the Tankleff murders.

Conflicts

* Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota defended Detective James McCready before a State Investigation Commission (SIC) on police and prosecutorial misconduct. Detective McCready, upon whose testimony Martin Tankleff was convicted, was found by the SIC to have perjured himself in a previous murder trial (Diaz, 1985). DA Spota later defended Detective McCready in an assault case.
* DA Spota's firm represented the person every impartial observer suspects is behind the murders, Jerry Steuerman, and his cocaine-dealing son, right at the time when scrutiny was being shifted away from them and at Martin Tankleff instead.
* Prior to the Tankleff murders, DA Spota represented Todd Steuerman specifically for selling cocaine out of his father's bagel store.

Obstruction of Justice

* The District Attorney refuses to seek the truth by granting Glenn Harris-the purported getaway driver for the actual murderers-transactional immunity for his testimony. Rather, the District Attorney has threatened Harris that he "could trade places with Marty" if he testified and his story was true.
* The District Attorney has ignored, disparaged and intimidated other witnesses, including Joseph Graydon, who confessed to partnering with Creedon in a "mis-hit" on Seymour Tankleff, ordered by Jerry Steuerman, just weeks before the actual murders.
* The District Attorney has discouraged other witnesses from coming forward by revealing the names of confidential defense witnesses who bravely came forward despite well-founded fear of retaliation by the real murderers of the Tankleffs.

The evidence is overwhelming, and it is obvious to any impartial observer familiar with the facts of this case: Marty Tankleff is innocent and deserves a new trial. Yet, public officials are blocking justice, keeping Marty Tankleff in prison while the real murderers roam free on the streets. Justice for Arlene, Seymour and Marty Tankleff, and for the people of Suffolk County, requires that an independent prosecutor be appointed to oversee this case.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The Justice for Arlene, Seymour and Marty Tankleff Petition to Governor George Pataki, Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy, Senator Charles Schumer, Senator Hillary Clinton and Representative Tim Bishop was created by The Tankleff family and BetrayedInnocence.org and written by Randy Shew (petition@betrayedinnocence.org).  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.

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