END THE CRIMINAL COVER-UP, BY THE POLICE AND STATE OF FLORIDA, OF THE MURDER OF KEVIN McGINLEY

To:  State of Florida and U.S.Dept. of Justice

We, the Parents of Kevin McGinley, ask the public at large to join us in appealing to the State of Florida for justice over the murder of our Son. We ask you to join us in condemning the criminal actions of those law enforcement officers who have covered up this brutal murder, furthermore, to express your outrage to those in authority who have chosen to ignore both the evidence of Kevin's murder and the criminal actions of law enforcement officers in this case.

Kevin was a wonderful individual who was loved and admired by all who knew him. He spent his days studying hard at college and his evenings delivering pizza to earn extra money. On February 13th 1998 he left his family to go out for a relaxing evening of dancing and listening to music at a club in Tampa Florida, he never returned. On his way home, the driver of the car he was in pulled over at the side of the highway, a group of other individuals also pulled over. The evidence shows that Kevin lost his life as the result of a brutal and prolonged attack upon him by several persons, an attack that forced him into the middle of a busy highway and caused him to be seen by witnesses, apparently unconscious in the middle of the highway. This was not enough for his attackers, when Kevin managed to get to his feet they continued their onslaught. They eventually took Kevin's life when one of them viciously and deliberately pushed him in front of the wheels of an oncoming tractor-trailer unit. They immediately fled the scene, just as the police arrived responding to 911 calls reporting several persons fighting in the middle of the highway. The boy who was with Kevin also fled the scene, leaving Kevin's body still lying in the highway. During the entire 15 - 20 minutes of this attack, not one finger was laid on the boy that was with Kevin.

The evidence that Kevin was murdered is overwhelming. The full facts can be seen on our website at www.plea4justice.homestead.com/facts.html. Below is just some of the evidence the police have in their possession, most of which was known by them on the night of Kevin's death. In spite of having this evidence, Florida Highway Patrol, Florida Dept of law Enforcement, Tampa Police and the State Attorney all insist that no evidence exists to indicate that Kevin's death was anything other than a hit and run traffic accident. They maintain that Kevin stepped in front of a hit and run vehicle which spun him out in front of the oncoming tractor-trailer. They insist that no one other than Kevin ever entered the highway and deny any fighting took place in the highway. Their initial claim that Kevin did this because he was drunk, was altered after it was established that Kevin had only drunk the equivalent of 2 or 3 beers that evening and that there were no other substances in his blood. They now claim he was attempting to flag down traffic in order to call the police although they claim there was no fighting taking place at that time and Kevin was under no threat to his safety.

The following is just a brief list of the evidence, which proves the police have knowingly submitted a false investigation report and that they must be aware that Kevin was murdered. This evidence has all come from Florida Highway Patrol's own records although it does not appear in their investigation report:


The police received a series of 911 calls spanning a fifteen-minute period. All of these calls described Kevin being in the middle of the highway. Several described fighting taking place. Two callers described it occurring in the middle of the highway involving up to four persons. Two other callers described Kevin down in the highway several minutes before the tractor-trailer arrived and killed Kevin. These 911 calls were never mentioned by the investigating officers in their report.

Phone records of calls made from the scene, which establish Kevin's time of death at 3-42 am. 911 calls report Kevin down in the middle of the highway at 3-37 am, apparently unconscious, five minutes before he was killed. Kevin is observed back on his feet again by an independent eyewitness at 3-41 am, one minute before he was killed. The statement of this witness and the records of the phone calls are withheld from the investigation report.

Three eyewitnesses who drove past and described Kevin being in the middle of the highway appearing "dazed, concussed, totally disorientated, white as a sheet and scared".

An actual eyewitness to Kevin's murder. This witness drove past and saw Kevin being attacked, backing away with his hands up trying to protect himself from the blows, before being pushed in front of the oncoming vehicle. This witness states he gave this information to the police on the night of Kevin's death and on three subsequent occasions. Several witnesses confirm that this witness informed them that night that he had seen this take place and had told FHP. His depot manager has also confirmed that the investigating officer called the depot and spoke to the witness that night. This witness appears in the investigation report but there is no mention that he saw Kevin pushed in front of the vehicle.

An independent eyewitness who observed seeing five people fighting in the middle of the highway. This witness has never been interviewed despite her name and phone number being given to police eighteen months ago.

Informants who came forward and identified three of the individuals concerned. They gave sworn statements that one of the individuals, a roommate of theirs, confessed to beating Kevin to death and that his final punch knocked Kevin in front of the oncoming vehicle. Their statements were never included in the investigation report.


An individual at the scene who failed a police polygraph test specifically on whether Kevin was forced into the highway in front of the oncoming traffic. The details of this polygraph test were never included in the investigation report. This individual has never been questioned about the deception indicated in FHP's polygraph test

None of the individuals, who are known to have been at the scene, have ever been questioned about any of this evidence. The police refuse to question them as suspects and have only taken brief statements from them, describing them as nothing more than witnesses to a traffic accident.

The police refused to interview the tractor-trailer driver whose vehicle killed Kevin, other than a one minute statement taken at the scene. This is in spite of this driver and another witness stating that no hit and run vehicle struck Kevin and knocked him in front in front of the tractor-trailer. The driver stated that the road ahead of him was clear when he noticed a group of individuals at the side of the highway. He was trying to move over away from those people, he looked in his rear view mirror and when he looked back Kevin was down in the highway immediately in front of him. The police have refused to ask this witness what the people at the side of the highway were doing when he saw them, or how many of them there were. When our investigator attempted to interview this witness, Florida Highway Patrol ordered him not to speak to them.

When the State Attorney closed the case we had a highly respected forensic investigator inspect the Florida Highway Patrol Evidence. His review of the FHP photographic and physical evidence has revealed, without doubt, that the Investigator's have not only tampered with and fabricated the evidence from the scene, but falsified the location of Kevin's death in an apparent effort to make it appear consistent with a traffic accident.

The persons involved in Kevin's death and the police all state that Kevin's death occurred on the south side of the junction with a merging approach road. This area has four lanes of traffic, including the acceleration lane that the people claim Kevin stepped into and was struck by the hit and run vehicle. It also has a large grass area to the side of the highway where they state a brief fight took place. Our investigators discovered, however, that the original police accident report showed Kevin was killed on the north side of this junction where there are only three lanes of traffic and no grass area where the initial fight could have taken place. This clearly proved that the statements of the persons involved were false. This report was withdrawn immediately following Kevin's death and the investigation report contained a precise scene diagram containing drawings and measurements showing Kevin being killed on the south side of the junction, making the accounts of the persons involved in Kevin's death appear believable. It also shows skid marks from a purported hit and run vehicle. This report is a total fabrication. The police photographs of the scene prove without doubt that the initial report, that was withdrawn, was in fact the accurate report. The skid marks of the tractor-trailer, the physical evidence, the items of Kevin's clothing and footwear are all plainly seen in the photographs at the location shown in the initial report. The photographs also prove that there were no skid marks from a hit and run vehicle as portrayed in the investigation report. Furthermore, all of the scene measurements and diagrams that appear in the investigation report are proven by the photographs to be false. Equally disturbing is the fact that the officer, who compiled the investigation report and submitted the false measurements and diagrams, is the same officer who took the photographs and measurements at the scene. It is inconceivable, therefore, that he could be unaware that they were false.

The above mentioned evidence is only a part of the overall evidence that exists and which plainly shows that there has been deliberate intent to cover-up the fact that our Son was brutally murdered.

We have consistently presented our evidence to the highest levels of all agencies involved requesting that there be an investigation into both the circumstances of Kevin's death and the actions of the officers involved. We have also presented this evidence to the Florida Inspector General and Governor Jeb Bush. All of our efforts over nearly three years have been in vain. They have refused to investigate the evidence provided or answer any of our questions as to why.

There is something inherently wrong with a legal system that allows criminal actions by police officers to go uninvestigated. That allows the police agencies concerned and the State, the right to refuse to investigate evidence of police corruption and to allow the killers of an innocent young man to walk away unchallenged.

When the police abuse the trust that society places in them, they cause irreparable injury, not just to the individuals damaged by their misconduct, but to all the people that depend on them for the safety and well being of their families. We hope that this petition will not only put right the terrible injustice that has occurred in this case, but also bring about measures to ensure that such travesties of justice can never occur again.

To all of you who have taken the time to read and share with us this terrible tragedy, we extend our deepest and most sincere thanks.

Kevin's Family and Friends.

I, THE UNDERSIGNED, HAVING READ THIS PETITION, JOIN WITH THE OTHER SIGNATORIES IN DEMANDING THAT THE STATE OF FLORIDA CONDUCT A THOROUGH AND INDEPENDENT NEW INVESTIGATION INTO BOTH THE DEATH OF KEVIN McGINLEY AND THE ACTIONS OF ALL OFFICERS AND AGENCIES HITHERTO INVOLVED IN THIS INVESTIGATION.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The END THE CRIMINAL COVER-UP, BY THE POLICE AND STATE OF FLORIDA, OF THE MURDER OF KEVIN McGINLEY Petition to State of Florida and U.S.Dept. of Justice was created by Family & Friends of Kevin McGinley and written by Hugh McGinley.  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no express or implied endorsement of this petition by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. The petition scripts are created by Mike Wheeler at Artifice, Inc.  For Technical Support please use our simple Petition Help form.

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