Deathbed confession might set Adelaide man free
A deathbed confession may see an Adelaide man set free over a murder he has always maintained he did not commit.
Daniel Ames has already served 10 years in jail for killing his uncle, Allan Ames.
The 68-year-old was murdered execution style.
It recently emerged that detectives may have had evidence of another man's involvement all along.
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Daniel Ames has served ten years for the murder of his uncle, which he maintains he didn't commit. Nine
Daniel Ames was convicted but there was no known motive or weapon ever found.
He said that's because he didn't do it, and claims he now has proof.
"He's done all these years (in prison) for nothing, and lost everything, for nothing," Daniel's father Doug Ames said.
Daniel Ames did visit his uncle's Cavan workshop on the fateful night in November 2009, when his uncle was involved in a methamphetamine trade.
Allan Ames was murdered execution style. Supplied
CCTV shows Daniel Ames left at midnight. He said at that point his uncle was still alive.
The bid for a new appeal of Daniel Ames' conviction centres on a third man, drug dealer Peter Lagerwey, who died after Daniel was convicted.
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His father, Doug Ames, says his imprisonment has been 'for nothing'. Nine
Lagerwey's friend, Craig Peterson, yesterday told a court of a bombshell deathbed confession, which he said no lawyers were willing to hear.
"Peter had told me about his involvement in the murder," Peterson said.
"I didn't think that anyone was taking this seriously."
The court heard Lagerwey made the same confession to his wife and that recently a detective involved in the case handed over evidence that Lagerwey may have been involved.
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Craig Peterson says his friend Peter Lagerway told him he committed the murder in a deathbed confession. Nine
"It's very difficult because it's related back to the family and it's broken up the family and it hasn't come together again," Doug Ames said.
Lawyers for Daniel Ames told the court he wasn't seeking acquittal for the murder, just the chance for a re-trial.
"It's his last hope, his last appeal," Doug Ames said.
"If he doesn't get this one he's back in there for the full term."
That term is at least another 14 years.
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