Judge denies Charles Erickson’s petition for habeas relief
A judge has denied a man’s request to be released from prison after he claimed Boone County prosecutors and Columbia police coerced him into confessing to a murder.
Judge Milan Berry denied Charles Erickson’s petition in an order filed Monday in Pike County.
The judge said in the order that Erickson never raised an issue during his guilty plea and no longer has a right to challenge his case.
Erickson filed the petition in Pike County, where his prison is located, alleging that Boone County prosecutors and Columbia police coerced him into confessing to the murder of Columbia Daily Tribune sports editor Kent Heitholt on Halloween night 2001.
In 2004, Erickson confessed and pleaded guilty to the crime, while Ryan Ferguson pleaded not guilty. Because of his confession and story, Erickson became a key witness for the prosecution’s case against Ferguson in December 2005. During the trial, Ferguson’s defense attempted to poke holes in Erickson’s then-recollection of the murder.
