My name is Larry S. Gilkerson and I am writing this letter on behalf of Rodney Rollness, the ex-Hells Angel who was recently sentenced to life in prison for murder and various other crimes.
I will tell you a little about myself before I go on. I am 41 years old, grew up in a small town in Washington State, graduated High School there, served four years active duty in the U.S. Navy and am currently employed with BNSF RailRoad since 1992. I am in a relationship with Mr. Rollness' sister, Cynthia Wilson, and have been since 1998.
I've known Rodney for about 8 years. During that time this is what what I have observed about Rodney: He cares very much for, and is very protective of, his wife Kim and their five children. Rodney is a very large, bearded man who might resemble Paul Bunyan. Yes, he is, as the prosecution and the newspapers have described him, a big bear of a man who is rough around the edges. However, this does not make him guilty of the crimes he was accused, and in my opinion, wrongfully convicted of.
I say this because I spent many days in court during his trial. Cindy, his sister, I believe spent every day in court during his trial.
I admit that my knowledge of the Justice System is limited, but I do believe that Mr. Rollness did not receive a fair trial.
I believe that he is innocent for several reasons. The prosecution claims that Mr. Rollness killed Mr. Michael [Santa] Walsh while he was with the Hells Angels in order to receive a patch called "The Filthy Few". This patch, according to the prosecution, is given to members who have killed for the club.
Now I believe there was a security camera at a convenience store showing Rodney wearing his Hells Angels jacket with the "Filthy Few" patch already sewn on the night that Mr. Walsh was murdered. I don't know if this was presented to the jury. This fact should eliminate this as being a motive.
I did a little research on this patch and found through reading that this "Filthy Few" patch is given to members who are last to leave a party. It said nothing about murder.
I saw little or no evidence in the courtroom to convict Rodney of the crimes that he was accused of. No eyewitnesses, no fingerprints, no murder weapon, no DNA linking Mr. Rollness to the murder. They took carpet samples, among other things, from Rodney's home and found nothing. They went through Mr. Rollness' pick-up truck looking for DNA and found none belonging to the victim, Mr. Walsh. Yet the prosecution continued to claim that this truck was used to transport the victim's body.
Surely if this was true their experts would have found something. Also, Mr. Rollness was not allowed to testify on his own behalf until after the verdict had been decided. IS THIS JUSTICE?
The prosecution called many witnesses. A lot of the witnesses were people who were at the party that Mr. Walsh had attended the night that he was murdered. Yes, Mr. Rollness was there, along with about a hundred other guests. A lot of the witnesses remembered seeing Mr. Rollness at the party. However, none of them saw him being confrontational with anybody, including the victim, Mr. Walsh.
Some witnesses saw another man at the party who may have had a confrontation with Mr. Walsh. They later saw this man leave abruptly on his motorcycle. I do not know if this man was ever questioned by the police. Most of the witnesses saw nothing,
Then there were other so-called witnesses [paid], who were convicted felons and drug abusers, and at least one of them had been kicked out of the Hells Angels. Their testimony was purely here say and I would say very questionable credibility. None of these witnesses saw Mr. Rollness' commit these crimes that he was accused of.
As far as the jury is concerned; I believe that they were swayed by Rodney's appearance, which can be intimidating, and by their blind faith in the Government.
I heard that when the Judge asked the jury how they had reached their verdict, they answered "The prosecutors wouldn't lie". This does not give me a lot of faith in our Justice System. I believe that if the jury could have heard Mr. Rollness speak on his own behalf they might have changed their verdict to not guilty.
When Rodney was finally given the chance to speak [although after the verdict] he told the court that he was innocent and did not receive a fair trial, that he had been harassed and then railroaded in a biased court room. He also addressed the victim's family, telling them that he was sorry for their loss, but that he did not kill Mr. Walsh. I too am sorry for the victim and his family, but at the same time, how can anyone be sure beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Rollness is guilty.
Now I know that the Snohomish County Police Dept. has had a vendetta against Mr. Rollness for years and has been harassing him and his family and anyone with the Rollness name. I believe they wanted Mr. Rollness whether he was guilty or not. Also, I would like to add that on the morning of his arrest, [Valentines Day 2006], they drove two tanks onto his lawn over his drain field and harassed his two teen-aged sons while they were arresting Rodney. They also took many of his personal belongings never returning them, I suppose for evidence, although I do not believe most of it was of any use as evidence. They also dumped onto the floor of his house the ashes from the remains of their baby who had passed years before. The family was forced to leave their home while the Police conducted their investigation, while helping themselves to food and drinks from the fridge, and using continuous electrical power running the generator out of fuel. Unfortunately, after building his home himself many years ago, Mr. Rollness had been financially unable to get running water or electricity to his home.
In closing, Mr. Rollness is a good family man who has provided for his family as best as he can. He and his wife Kim have raised and are raising five very respectful children and young adults of varying ages 10 to 20 years old. It would be a real tragedy for Mr. Rollness to spend the rest of his life in prison for crimes that he did not commit. I hope that this can be reversed and that he can be reunited soon with his family who needs and loves him very much. Thank you fpr taking the time to read this.
Sincerely
Larry S. Gilkersom
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