Who says there's an innocent man on death row?
The prolific jailhouse stoolie who helped put him there

By Tom Lowenstein

On July 12, 1988, the body of four-year-old Barbara Jean Horn was discovered. A neighbor testified that at 5:30 P.M., her mother told her that someone had left a television box in the front of the house. Because the trash had just been picked-up earlier that day, the father went out to look at the box.

After looking in the box, he yelled into the house that there was a baby in the box. His daughter called 911. Her father shouted, again saying that the baby was dead.

She testified that she told the 911 operator that there was a box in front of her house with a dead baby in it. The family waited for police to arrive and the father stood near the box to make sure that no one disturbed it.

At approximately 5:45 or 5:50 P.M., the family flagged-down a police officer, who stayed with the box until other officers arrived. The daughter later asked police if she could look in the box. An officer briefly lifted the lid. She told the jury that she saw a child's body on its side and a little head with a green trash bag on top.

A 68-year-old manager of a car dealership testified that on that day at approximately 5:00 or 5:30 P.M. he had stretched out in a chair and was looking from an office window and onto Saint Vincent Street. He said that he saw a man approximately twenty-five feet away carrying a television box. The man held the box in such a way that the witness could see printed on the box the words "color television, inches."

The witness identified the box the prosecution had marked as an exhibit, describing it as the box he saw the day the body of Barbara Jean was discovered. He explained that he thought that the box was heavy because when the man "got on the other side of Saint Vincent Street, he laid the box down, so as to sort of catch your breath."

After carrying the box down the sidewalk in front of a church on Saint Vincent Street, the man then started to drag it by a plastic bag that was sticking out of the box.

Another witness testified that in 1988, he lived at in a house on St. Vincent Street and explained that at 5:12 P.M., he was sitting on the tailgate of his Chevrolet station wagon reading a newspaper. His wife was in the passenger seat. They were waiting for their children to return home in the camp van before leaving for a doctor's appointment.

The man testified that he saw a man near the church approach his house alternately carrying a 13-inch color television box and dragging it by a plastic bag that was inside the box. He identified the 13-inch color television box in court as the box he saw the man with on July 12, 1988.

He testified that he observed the man walk up his steps. He told the man not to leave the box because the trash had already been removed and the man said that he thought that Wednesday was trash day but the witness told him that trash day was Tuesday and that it had been picked up already.

The witness also asked the man what was in the box. The man said that it just contained some old junk. When the man continued on his way, the witness turned his attention to a newspaper delivery boy who had just arrived.

At 5:23 P.M., the witness's children came home, and he testified that he lost track of the man with the box. At 5:26 P.M., the family drove away from their house to go to the doctor's appointment. As they drove west on Saint Vincent Street, the witness saw the 13-inch color television box in front of 1409 Saint Vincent Street, but they continued to the doctor's appointment.

When they returned, police had blocked off the street. He looked up the street and recognized the color television box. He approached the scene and told police that he had seen the box being carried.

He admitted that he only saw the man's face briefly but provided police with a description of the man as a white male between 20 and 25, about 5'8" in height, 165 pounds with sandy colored hair. He could not identify Ogrod in court and admitted on cross-examination that on January 13, 1989, he had identified another man as the person he saw carrying the television box.

A sergeant in the Homicide Division of the Philadelphia Police Department. had responded to a call at 1409 Saint Vincent Street and arrived at approximately 6:45 P.M. with other detectives who were members of the Homicide Division. She testified that when she arrived, other officers had blocked off the 1400 block of Saint Vincent Street and uniformed police officers protected 1409 Saint Vincent Street.

The detectives observed the television box, opened it and saw the body of a young child in the box. Soon after, the sergeant learned that a little girl who lived at 7245 Rutland Street, approximately a block and a half away, was missing.

She went to the Rutland Street home of the parents of Barbara Jean, Sharon and John Fahy. She told them that police had found a television box nearby and that the box contained the body of a child but told the Fahys that she did not know if the child was their daughter. The Fahys identified the body at the office of the Medical Examiner as the body of their daughter.

The Medical Examiner had opened the box in the presence of the sergeant, who told the jury that when she looked inside she saw a green trash bag covering the dead body of Barbara Jean.

She testified that Barbara Jean was completely nude and she was in a fetal position lying on her side. She did not observe any blood on the body, but the child's hair was matted with blood.

She explained that she thought that the body had been washed. Barbara Jean had bruises on her shoulders and a large gash on her head approximately one-half inch wide, which was not actually bleeding at the time, but there was some seepage.

The Medical Examiner testified that the cause of death was the blows to the head consistent with a metal rod.

The homicide sergeant showed the jury the box and pointed out some fluid and bloodstains that remained inside the box. After the Medical Examiner removed Barbara Jean from the box, police preserved the box as evidence.

The sergeant told the jury that detectives had determined that the a family had purchased the television and apparently discarded the box. Police attempted to identify fingerprints on the box and the bag, but were not successful.

John Fahy, the stepfather of Barbara Jean, testified that on the afternoon of Wednesday, July 12, 1988, Barbara Jean was at home with him, at 7245 Rutland Street.

He explained that on the morning of July 12, Sharon Fahy, his wife and the mother of Barbara Jean, went to work. Barbara Jean dressed herself that morning in pink shorts and a multi-colored sleeveless shirt with pastel stripes. Mr. Fahy fed her breakfast, played with her, and he then watched television with her.

They went to a small grocery market, came home and Barbara Jean had lunch. Mr. Fahy estimated that at approximately 3:00 P.M. he started to clean the refrigerator and Barbara Jean, who was "in and out of the house most of the day," came in and asked if she could help. Mr. Fahy told her no and to go outside and play, which she did. Barbara Jean went into their front yard to play.

After forty-five minutes to an hour, Mr. Fahy went out to check on Barbara Jean. Although he saw her toys in the yard, he told the jury that he did not see Barbara Jean and she did not return when he called to her. Mr. Fahy proceeded to talk with some neighbors and look for Barbara Jean.

At 4:55 P.M., he "started getting really nervous" and called his wife. Mrs. Fahy told him to keep looking and that she would come home. The sister of Mrs. Fahy came to the house and joined Mr. Fahy in the search for Barbara Jean.

A woman who lived across the street at 7244 Rutland Street with her husband and son who was a five-year old playmate of Barbara Jean. The family lived in Ogrod's house. The woman heard Mr. Fahy calling for Barbara Jean, but she did not see the child.

At approximately 6:00 P.M., the sister of Mrs. Fahy, who had been out looking for Barbara Jean, returned in a police vehicle. Soon after, the homicide sergeant arrived and told the Fahys that the body of a child had been found nearby in a television box. The aunt stated that she gave Lieutenant Kelly a photograph of Barbara Jean and accompanied her to the police station.

The next morning, the Fahys went to the Office of the Medical Examiner and identified the body of her daughter, Barbara Jean. The aunt also told the jury that, before the murder, she did not want Barbara Jean to play at the little boy's house because, "it was really a mess in there and there was a lot of people always coming and going [and that she] . . . had no idea who exactly lived there and who didn't."

Homicide detectives asked Ogrod to come in as an information witness and that they were interested to know whether he knew Barbara Jean, her family, the neighborhood and whether he had heard any rumors about the murder.

The Detectives then proceeded to conduct the formal interview by asking a question, writing down the question, and then writing down the answer Ogrod provided. The first question was "Walter, did you know Barbara Jean Horn?" Ogrod admitted that he knew Barbara Jean and that she came to the house he shared with the other family on the day of the murder.

Ogrod told police that he answered the door when Barbara Jean was calling on her young friend and that Ogrod told her to talk with the boy's mother because he did not know where the boy was. That was the last time Ogrod claimed to have seen Barbara Jean.

Ogrod told the Detectives that he never asked the boy's mother whether she saw Barbara Jean and that he did not know whether Barbara Jean ever found her because he went upstairs.

When the Detectives asked Ogrod what part of the house the woman was in at the time Barbara Jean came into the house, Ogrod said that she was in the dining room. Because one of the Detectives claimed to be familiar with the "straight-through" layout of the row house, he asked Ogrod, "wasn't it true that you should have been able to see directly into the dining room and see if she were there?"

Ogrod responded that perhaps she was in the kitchen, which was not visible from the front door. The Detectives then said: "you are not telling us the truth, are you, Walter?" At this point, Ogrod put his head in his hands and started to cry and the Detectives took a break to allow him to compose himself.

At trial, a detective explained that when he said crying he did not "mean a tear ran down his cheek." He meant that Ogrod "started crying hard and convulsively." The detective arranged for Ogrod to get a cup of coffee and go to the bathroom and, after a break, they brought him back to the interview room.

When Ogrod returned, he began talking before the Detectives started to question him. He explained that he experienced abuse as a child and that he went to live with his father when he was ten or eleven. Then, he said that he was going to tell the Detectives something that he never told anyone including his psychiatrist.

At this point, the Detectives told Ogrod that before he went any further, they were going to read him his rights. After being read his rights, Ogrod said he did not want an attorney and one of the Detectives then said, "Walter, you indicated you want to give us a statement at this time. Remember, you can stop whenever you want to. Please go on in your own words and tell us what you would like to say."

Ogrod gave Detectives a detailed account of how he killed Barbara Jean. He told the Detectives that Barbara Jean came to his door looking for the 5-year-old boy who was not at home, and Ogrod enticed Barbara Jean into the basement asking her if she wanted to play doctor. 

Ogrod proceeded to take off her clothing and started rubbing his penis against her leg. When he tried to push her face into his penis, Barbara Jean started to scream. Ogrod admitted that he held her down and hit her repeatedly with a pipe; he explained that "it might have been my small pull down bar to my weight set." She did not move again after that. She was bleeding and Ogrod told Detectives that he grabbed a cloth and placed her in the tub holding her head under water.

Ogrod then described how he disposed of the body of Barbara Jean by placing her in a plastic bag, locating an empty box nearby, placing the body in the box, and carrying the box some distance before deciding to leave it near some garbage cans.

The Detectives showed Ogrod photographs of the box, first closed -- Ogrod identified the box as the one that he had placed the child in; and then open -- Ogrod confirmed that Barbara Jean was in the box.

When Ogrod completed his statement, the Detectives left the room and returned with a few other questions. Ogrod then confirmed that the statement was the whole truth. Detectives gave the entire statement to Ogrod to read, which he did. Detectives asked, "Is there anything you would like to add to or change now that you have read these 16 pages?" Ogrod responded by saying, "I am sorry." Ogrod then signed the statement.

UPDATE: In October 1996, Walter Ogrod was sentenced to die for sexually assaulting and bludgeoning to death four-year-old Barbara Jean Horn, a neighbor. Ogrod was formally sentenced on November 8, 1996.

Ogrod, 39, was convicted in 1996 of murder and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse in the death of 4-year-old Barbara Jean Horn. Ogrod killed Barbara Jean on July 12, 1988, by luring her into the basement of his home in Castor Gardens.

The little girl, who lived across the street, thought she was going inside to get candy. Instead, Ogrod tried to sexually assault her. When she screamed, he hit her over the head with an iron bar from a weight-lifting set. Ogrod placed Barbara Jean’s lifeless body in a plastic bag, stuffed it into a cardboard television box and carried the box around the corner to be taken out with the trash.

However, Barbara Jean’s nude and battered body was discovered by a resident of the block who noticed that the box had been placed on the curb after trash had already been collected. The case remained unsolved for four years.

Police arrested Ogrod in 1992, after re-interviewing him and other neighbors. The suspect confessed to police and later to a jailhouse snitch, but he later claimed that homicide detectives coerced a statement out of him and contended that inmate Jason Banachowski made up his story.

Ogrod went to trial in 1993 and was about to be found not guilty when a juror, Alfred Szewczak, changed his mind at the last second. A mistrial was granted. Three years later, Ogrod went on trial again. This time, a jury convicted him in less than two hours.

UPDATE: A judge stayed the August 2005 execution of a man convicted of sexually assaulting and killing a 4-year-old girl in Philadelphia in 1988. Philadelphia Common Pleas Judge David Savitt on 6/9 gave Walter J. Ogrod more time to pursue post-conviction appeals.

Three years later, Ogrod went on trial again. This time, a jury convicted him in less than two hours.