No evidence that linked Thorne to the murder

David Thorne is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole for allegedly hiring an acquaintance to kill Yvonne Layne.  Thorne, being the father of one of Yvonne's children seemed to be the person the police department decided to lean on, even though all evidence states he did not commit the crime.
When the police could not force Thorne to confess to a crime he did not commit they then proceeded to lean on Joesph Wilkes, a young man barely 18 years of age with a short history of mental disorders.
The investigators explained to Joe that David had requested immunity and that he was in another room claiming Joe had murdered Yvonne, which was totally untrue.  Then they further explained to Joe exactly what they believed happened, and had Wilkes repeat their story as it was told to him.
After Wilkes repeats the story he is then told he must testify to this against Thorne, or he would be given the death penalty.  So that he would not be put to death, he took a plea deal in exchange for his testimony against Thorne.


On July 18, 2001, Joe Wilkes recanted his confession.  He stated he never killed Yvonne nor did David Thorne hire him. Visit @ David Thorne's Website