Ryan W. Ferguson, Date of Birth, Place of Birth

Ryan W. Ferguson

American writer wrongfully convicted of murder

Date of Birth: 19-Oct-1984

Place of Birth: Columbia, Missouri, United States

Profession: writer

Nationality: United States

Zodiac Sign: Libra

Ryan W.
Ferguson (born October 19, 1984) is an American who spent nearly 10 years in prison after being wrongly convicted of a 2001 murder in his hometown of Columbia, Missouri.
At the time of the murder, Ferguson was a 17-year-old high school student.Kent Heitholt was found beaten and strangled shortly after 2 am on November 1, 2001, in the parking lot of the Columbia Daily Tribune, where he worked as a sports editor.
Heitholt's murder went unsolved for two years until police received a tip about a man named Charles Erickson.
Erickson could not remember the evening of the murder and was concerned that he may have been involved with the murder.
Erickson, who spent that evening partying with Ferguson, was interrogated by police.
Despite initially seeming to have no memory of the evening of the murders, he eventually confessed and implicated Ferguson as well.
Ferguson was convicted in the Fall of 2005 on the basis of Erickson's testimony as well as the testimony of a building employee. Both witnesses later recanted their testimony, claiming they were coerced to lie by the police.
The 2005 conviction was eventually vacated on November 5, 2013, by the Western District of the Missouri Court of Appeals, and Ferguson was released on the evening of November 12, after he spent almost a decade in prison.
The case has been featured on 48 Hours, Dateline, and numerous other newspapers and media outlets.