On the Verge of Suicide, Innocent Man Convicted of Murder Finds Hope
A man who had spent 17 years behind bars for a double murder he claims he did not commit was on the verge of suicide. He got on his knees and prayed for God to show him a sign that he would not spend the rest of his life in prison. The next day, he got one.
In 1993, at the age of 16, Daniel Villegas was convicted of the murders of two young men in El Paso, Texas. He said he did not do it. Witnesses said he could not have done it. No weapons or evidence tying him to the crime were ever found. Nevertheless, Villegas was found guilty of the murders and sentenced to life in prison.
Last year, Villega’s case came to the attention of John Mimbela, a devout Catholic and construction company owner who has employed ex-cons due to his belief in second chances. Mimbela, who heard about the case through mutual relatives, began pouring over court records of the case and saw what, to him, was obvious: Villegas was innocent.
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During an interrogation 17 years ago, Villegas said the police threatened him with beatings, prison rape, and execution if he did not confess to the crime. Villegas eventually provided a written confession that described the murder, but it was full of errors that were never investigated.
“Those guys put me through hell,” Villegas said in an interview with ABC 7. “I would have done anything just to get away from those guys."
“At 16, you’re not allowed to sign a contract,” Mimbela said. “But you’re allowed to pretty much sign your life away.”
Among the many errors in the confession, the LA Times reported, was that Villegas said he was riding in a car with a gang member, but records show he was in prison at the time; he said they were in a white car driving east when survivors of the attack said the murderer was in a red car going west; and he said he shot the victims with a shotgun but they could have only been shot by a small handgun.
Villegas also had several witnesses who say he was babysitting on the other side of town at the time of the murders. His lawyers never called them to the stand.
The lead detective also had a history of lying on the stand and coercing confessions, ABC 7 reported.
After learning the facts, Mimbela set out to seek justice.
He contacted expert witnesses, including the Center on Wrongful Convictions of Youth at the Northwestern University School of Law in Chicago, which filed an affidavit on Villegas’ behalf. He has also been using his business sense to spread awareness in the community, including meeting with church leaders to help spread the word, creating a website, www.QuestforJustice.net, where the public can learn about the case, and holding rallies at baseball games where several hundred people wear “Free Daniel Villegas” t-shirts.
Among those present at one of the baseball game rallies were the families of the victims and the two survivors from the shooting who want justice for the victims and Villegas, the website said.
It was through these efforts that Ernesto Martinez, a safety manager at Mimbela’s construction firm by day and El Zorro de Chihuahua, a norteño singer by night, heard about the case at church.
“That Sunday, I remember when I went back home…I started writing the lyrics for the song,” Martinez said in a video interview with the El Paso Times. “And my first verse, I mentioned about the laws of the United States – and their impact.”
The song was put on CD and has become a hit in the El Paso area, helping to spread the word about the Villegas case.
"What I wanted to do is have listeners see how the laws are so stringent but they can be wrong sometimes," Martinez said. "I would like to sing my corrido for Daniel when he comes out of prison."
The efforts of Mimbela and the community have made an impact and now Villegas will get a second chance next month during a hearing to review the new evidence in the case.
Over 25 witnesses are expected to testify, including police interrogation experts, attorneys and law students from the Center of Wrongful Convictions on Youth, and three individuals who were exonerated after serving several years in prison for murders they did not commit, QuestforJustice.net says.
The hearing is expected to end with a ruling in favor of Villega and will be part of a promise that Mimbela made to him at a time when he needed it most.
“[Villegas] said he literally got on his knees and prayed and said, ‘God, show me a sign that I’m not going to spend the rest of my life here,” Mimbela recalled. “The next day he got my letter. That’s why I’m fighting so hard for him. And I promised him that I wasn’t going to stop until he got out.”
