Man Spends 39 Years In Jail For A Gruesome Crime, Then One Detective Checks The DNA

When Craig Coley stood before a jury of his peers, he couldn’t believe they were buying the prosecution’s story. Both he and his defense knew the evidence to lock him up was circumstantial at best, and the authorities didn’t bring anything surprising to the table. In fact, both sides agreed on the basic facts of the case.

Craig Richard Coley was raised by a Los Angeles cop, and he made the ultimate sacrifice when he enlisted to be a soldier, fighting for his country in the Vietnam War of the 1960s. When he returned home in his mid-20s, he found himself in the same position as so many other young, ex-soldiers: with a new worldview and nothing to do.

But by his late 20s, Craig saw how he wanted his future to look. He aspired to become a restaurant manager, and the young kid worked two jobs at a couple of local California food joints to get the experience he wanted. Recently divorced, he kept his mind right by burying himself in work — and a new budding interest.

Craig fell in love with Rhonda Wicht, a hardworking single mom of a little boy named Donald. At the time, Craig was about 29 years old and Rhonda was 22. With her toddler son to raise, Rhonda juggled work as a waitress and going to school to become a cosmetician. Challenged by her work ethic, Craig felt right around her.

But after dating for two years, Rhonda and Craig called it quits, though they still cared for each other and stayed in close contact. They were still so close, in fact, that Craig was even trusted to hold onto the key to Rhonda’s apartment. Those who knew him weren’t surprised. He was good to everybody.

Friends knew Craig was always willing to lend a helping hand. Even after breaking up with Rhonda, for instance, he continued to support her and Donald in small ways, tackling tasks like laundry when they needed it. On a November night in 1978, he was out driving his friends — who’d been drinking that night — safely back home. Rhonda was not with him.

Because on that particular night, Rhonda turned in early. She wasn’t up for late-night drinking, as she planned to be the hairstylist for a friend’s wedding the following day. She went to bed early, or at least she wanted to. No one could get the full details of her activities that night.

And the next morning, she never showed up to the wedding. A panicked friend of the bride was sent out to find her, so she headed for Rhonda’s apartment — only to find the mother and her son dead on the floor. Horrified, she called the police, who swarmed the house in moments.

Craig was arrested for the murder, and prosecutors pointed to one piece of evidence: the key. With no sign of forced entry into the home, it was surmised Craig let himself in and killed his ex-girlfriend and her son. The defense said Craig was out driving friends home, but without DNA analyzing technology, they had a hard time proving he wasn’t at Rhonda’s house at any point.

Finally, the verdicts came in: Craig was found guilty of dual guilty charges of first-degree murder, and consequentially, he was sentenced to life imprisonment with no parole. Craig held onto hope that the verdict would be overturned, which wasn’t impossible — those close to him were completely on his side.

Neighbors and friends who knew Craig stood for his innocence, and newspapers joined in as well. Even the judge who oversaw one of Craig’s initial hearings said the guilty verdict was wrong, but he was forced to rule with the jury. With enough support on their side, Craig’s parents fought back to save their son from the life sentence.

Craig’s parents loved and believed in their son, so they dug into all their savings, even taking a mortgage out of their home, to pay new investigators and lawyers to work on the case. Sadly, nothing would start to change until 9 years into Craig’s sentence when Detective Michael Bender (below) got involved.

Detective Bender was a member of the Simi Valley Police Department, so he was familiar with the area, but he hadn’t heard of Craig or Rhonda’s murder. He was relatively new to the force at the time. In 1987, though, 9 years after Craig’s arrest, a friend in the department shared the case with him. He was stunned. The way everything was handled was unjust.

Back when the investigation was underway, crucial testimonies were considered “not good enough” and thus were ignored. Evidence leading to the true identity of Rhonda’s killer was destroyed. Even Craig’s solid alibi of hanging out with friends and driving them home was ignored. All this would’ve changed the case.

Det. Bender (below) sought out to free Craig Richard Coley, but his superiors, who were a part of the original investigation, pushed him to let it go. They were so adamant about Det. Bender forgetting the case that they threatened to take away his job. So, Michael Bender beat them to the punch and quit.

Michael believed in Craig, especially after meeting him face to face. With years of experience on the force, Michael learned a lot about people. He had a sense of who was innocent and guilty, and, bolstered by the knowledge that the investigation was a disgrace, he was certain Craig did not kill Rhonda.

Michael found a new job in another town and took as much time as he could to work on Craig’s case. Craig’s mother offered support, supplying Michael with all the case files she had. While everyone worked hard for Craig, he found a way to work hard for himself.

Even in the worst situation, Craig tried to focus on positivity and kindness. He admitted that he had his bad days at Folsom Prison, but he made the best of life after turning to the Christian faith. He started a Bible study group and helped out others in any way he could.

Inspired and motivated, Craig took Theology courses and earned a certificate as a Biblical Counselor and a B.A. in Biblical Studies. He also learned to make jewelry, which he sold, donating the profit towards this new investigation. Trapped behind bars for a decade, he evolved and changed, looking for ways to better himself. Outside, Michael’s work was nearing an end.

Michael knew there were missing pieces to Craig’s case, so he made several calls to re-open the investigation. Finally in 2012, the state of California agreed to reopen Craig’s case, coming across the DNA evidence officials initially believed was destroyed. While useless in 1978, they could now compare crime scene samples to Craig and see if he was involved.

When experts dug into DNA analysis, they couldn’t believe the results: it didn’t belong to Craig, adding further support that he was not at Rhonda’s apartment that night. In November 2017, the Governor’s Office of California granted Craig a full pardon 39 years after his sentence began. It was, unfortunately, bittersweet — police couldn’t tell Craig one thing he really wanted to know.

Authorities knew Craig was innocent, but they couldn’t find out who had murdered Rhonda (left) and Donald (right). Now in his 70s, Craig was once again like a soldier home from war: he had a new worldview and nothing to do. Michael picked him up from Folsom Prison, and took him home, where he would begin again.

As compensation for all the years lost and pain endured the California Victim Compensation Board provided Craig $1.9 million, $140 for each day that he was forced to live behind bars. Some time later he was given another $21 million payment. This still wouldn’t make up for what happened to him.

Craig was grateful for the support, but was pained by his experiences in prison. It was also hard knowing everything he missed in his life, including the passing of beloved parents. Soon after he was freed from prison, Craig visited the gravesite of his mom and dad, whom he never could say goodbye to.

It helps to have the support from the Bender family among many others. Meanwhile, Craig is looking for ways to use his newfound freedom for good. Maybe he’ll get involved with other wrongful imprisonment cases.