Who Is Tony Hunter?

Tony Hunter 333814 is a current inmate at Elayn Hunt Correctional Center, Louisiana, who has been wrongfully convicted of triple homicide. Despite an absence of DNA or reliable evidence, Tony Hunter was indicted in 2002 and has spent the last two decades incarcerated, spending many of these years at Louisiana State Penitentiary, known for its brutality and unethical practices. Before being caught up in the criminal justice system, Tony Hunter was a promising track athlete and olympic hopeful. A caring father to five children and loving partner to his girlfriend, Stephanie, Tony Hunter lived a normal life until his imprisonment. 

After a credit card payment for his rental truck failed to go through, Tony Hunter was arrested for unauthorized vehicle use on May 4, 2001. He was quickly incarcerated at Ouachita Correctional Center, being questioned two days later about a local triple homicide that had occurred two months earlier. Tony Hunter informed the detectives that he had never even heard of the victims and that he had been at a neighborhood birthday celebration when the crime occurred. Since his rental car resembled one seen in the area on the day of the murders, authorities conducted a thorough forensic investigation of the vehicle, finding not a single fiber of DNA to connect Tony Hunter to the murders. 

Regardless of the lack of evidence, local media aired stories stating that police were looking into Tony Hunter as a suspect for the triple homicide. In an attempt to gather information, detectives at prior offered cash rewards for anyone who could give any information. In the weeks following the news reports, various demonstrably false tips were sent to police that implicated Tony Hunter and others in the murders. In July and August, 2001, three known jailhouse informants spoke to investigators and claimed that they overheard Hunter discussing the killings. 

Naturally, detectives did little with this information, knowing that the lack of physical evidence along with Hunter's credible alibi made for a weak case. Additionally, the informants' statements were inconsistent and contradicted each other. Thus, the case went unsolved.

On the anniversary of the triple homicide, local newspapers questioned why no one had been caught and pressured police to find the perpetrator and reassure public confidence. On October 17, 2002, a full year after the informants accused him, Tony Hunter was arrested for the triple homicide. Without any eyewitnesses or forensic evidence, the prosecutors relied solely on the informants' statements as their key proof.

Hunter had an insufficient court appointed attorney, and various pieces of key information such as witnesses to his alibi were kept from the jury and the defense. Tony Hunter was found guilty and sentenced to three consecutive life terms with an additional forty-nine years at hard labor. It has since been discovered that one informant, Clarence Kennedy, received a twenty year sentence reduction for his statements against Tony Hunter. Another informant, Christopher Wiggins, confessed to an investigator that Hunter had never told him about committing the triple homicide. He was promised a sentence reduction that he never received.

There is more than enough evidence to conclusively state that Tony Hunter did not and could not have committed this crime. Due to a stubborn penal system that has shown extreme reluctancy to admit wrongdoing, the pleas of Tony Hunter and the many other wrongfully convicted inmates in the U.S. have gone unanswered.