Networked Knowledge - Media Report

This version of the report has been prepared by: Dr Robert N Moles

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On 31 January 2008 the Sioux City Journal / Associated Press reported “Judge to review DNA evidence against Jeff Boppre”.  

Scottsbluff, Nebraska: A district court judge has ordered a hearing to review new DNA tests and other evidence in the 1988 slayings of a Scottsbluff man and his pregnant girlfriend. Jeff Boppre, who is serving two consecutive life sentences for the 1988 robbery and murders of Richard Valdez and Sharon Condon, filed a motion in 2005 seeking forensic testing of evidence used in the case.

Boppre filed his motions in accordance with a 2005 state law that allows defendants to seek additional DNA tests if it could produce evidence that a person was wrongfully convicted of a crime. According to court documents, Boppre maintains that two men who testified in the case, Kennard Wasmer and William Alan Niemann, framed him for the murders. Boppre contends in court documents that Wasmer committed the murders.

He alleges that evidence collected in the case, including a pair of jeans prosecutors have stated are Boppre's, would dispute Wasmer's assertion that he was not at the scene of the murders. According to court documents, Boppre alleges the jeans were too large to fit him and belonged to Wasmer. Grease on the jeans matched the motor grease at the scene of the murders and blood found on the jeans matched Condon's blood type.

During the April 29 hearing, Scotts Bluff County District Judge Randy Lippstreu will review results of DNA tests conducted on the jeans and blood and tissue samples taken from the murder scene and from Wasmer and Niemann's trailer. Since his conviction in March 1999, Boppre has made three previous bids to have his case reconsidered, filing a motion for a new trial and two motions for post-conviction release. All three motions were denied and upheld by the Nebraska Supreme Court.

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