Tony Egbuna Ford

Case title

Tony Egbuna Ford

Background

Tony Egbuna Ford was 18 years old in 1991. Ford gave a ride to two brothers, Van Belton and Victor Belton. Ford drove the brothers at their request to a nearby residence and waited in the truck for them as they approached the house. Ford proceeded home after the brothers returned, and he drove them home as well.

Ford was aware that the brothers had taken property from the house and assumed it had been taken by way of payment of the debt. Ford learned about the charges only after his arrest, and he was told that Van Belton had made a statement alleging that Van Belton had shot and killed Armando Murillo and had shot at the three female occupants of the house.

Ford testified that he was not one of the two men who “barged in” to the Murillo home that night. Ford testified that the second person was Belton’s brother, Victor Belton.

The offence

Ford was sentenced to death for the murder of Armando Murillo during a home invasion in El Paso in late 1991. The assailants also attempted to kill Armando Murillo’s mother and two sisters.

On December 18, 1991, the Murillo family attended a Christmas play to see their cousin perform. After the play, the family returned to the home of their mother, Myra Murillo, for a quick dinner. The mother and her three children, Myra Magdalena, Armando, and Lisa, planned to do some Christmas shopping later that evening.

After dinner, Armando was in the family room watching television, Myra Magdalena was preparing herself in her bedroom for her shopping trip, and Lisa was in the kitchen. The mother called out to her children to inquire if any had heard the two men who had knocked at the door. The two men were apparently looking for the “man of the house,” and the mother refused to permit their entrance. After the children informed her they had heard nothing, each returned to their previous task.

Moments later, Myra Magdalena stepped into the hallway to encourage her family to hurry up. She saw her mother and her brother retreating from the doorway. Her mother was backing up as if she was in fear for her life, crouching down, and her brother looked as if he had been hit in the head and was huddled in the corner. Myra Magdalena testified that within a few seconds she saw Tony Ford standing to her right, next to her at the entry to her bedroom. She subsequently saw his cohort, later identified as Van Nash Belton. Myra Magdalena testified that both men had guns.

Lisa testified that she “heard a barging in, just a lot of noise, racket, like somebody kicking wood.” Lisa saw two strangers in the hallway with guns.

The two men ordered all the family members to kneel on the floor and be quiet. The men demanded to know where “the man of the house” was and where the money was, then demanded jewelry and other valuables, including car keys. The men were yelling and threatening and constantly telling everyone to “shut the f*** up.”

Lisa threw a set of car keys at Ford, and he became angry. Ford said: “‘F*** you, just for that, I was just going to blow him. Now I’m going to f***ing blow you all.’”

Ford then, in very rapid succession, shot Armando in the back of the head, shot Mrs. Murillo in the head, shot at but missed Myra (who feigned injury), and shot Lisa in the shoulder. Myra and Lisa Murillo identified Ford as the person who did the shooting and as the person dominating, doing the most talking, and giving most of the orders.

Investigation

Ford’s involvement was connected to the home invasion through the identification of Ford by Myra and Lisa Murillo. Armando’s two sisters were shown a photo spread from which to identify the man who had shot and killed Armando. The photo spread did not include Victor Belton and had Tony at position number 4.

One sister first picked out number 5 as the man who had shot and killed her brother. This number was clearly shown as crossed out and changed to number 4 on the photo spread by the detective carrying out the identification. No explanation was given to explain why this was done.

The second sister identified Tony at a later time from the exact same photo spread. By that time Tony’s picture had been spread all over the TV news and newspapers as the prime suspect in the case.

Ford testified that he was not one of the two men who “barged in” to the Murillo home that night, and he testified that the second person was Belton’s brother, Victor Belton.

A court journalist overheard police officers who had worked on the case talking at the time Tony was found guilty. The officers voiced shock that Tony had been found guilty. The journalist said they had heard talk on the street that another man was known to be to blame.

The court reporter signed an affidavit saying that he witnessed prosecutors outside of the court room pre-trial point to Tony and ask the two Belton sisters did Tony “look like the man from that night.” After a long pause, the sisters could only answer “Maybe”.

Other witnesses at various times came forward to say Victor had “bragged” to them that he had gotten away with murder.

Arrest

Ford was arrested the following day. At the time of his arrest, he was not told why he was being arrested, but he went willingly with the police.

Earlier the same day, one of the brothers, Van Belton, who had been identified by Armando’s sister, had also been arrested. That sister had attended the same school as Van Belton and easily recognized him. At the time of Van Belton’s arrest, he was hiding in the loft of his house in an attempt to evade police.

When Van Belton was found, Victor and his father fought with police in trying to prevent his arrest, and because of that Victor was also arrested. This was about 9 hours or so following the crime.

Ford learned the charges against him and was horrified. Ford was told that Van Belton had made a statement alleging that Van Belton had shot and killed Armando Murillo and had shot at the three female occupants of the house.

Ford was not allowed to call his mother or a lawyer despite repeated requests. Ford said he was verbally abused and threatened with the death penalty, and he said detectives told him stories of what would happen to him when he went to jail. Ford said he was told over and over that he MUST confess. Ford said he refused, and under threats and intimidation he also refused to make a statement because he knew nothing of what had occurred inside the house that night and feared that anything he did say would only be used by detectives to lay blame at his door for something he did not do.

Trial

Ford’s trial included eyewitness identification testimony from Myra and Lisa Murillo. Both Myra and Lisa identified Ford as the person who did the shooting and as the person dominating and giving most of the orders.

Ford testified at trial that he was not one of the two men who “barged in” to the Murillo home that night, and that the second person was Belton’s brother, Victor Belton. Despite Ford’s testimony, Myra and Lisa Murillo identified Ford as the second man.

Ford’s trial was described as including a catalogue of errors. Ford said no physical evidence linked him to the scene of the crime or the crime itself. Property from the victim, and bullets consistent with those used in the crime, were found at the Belton’s house. Ford had no blood on his clothing. Victor Belton’s clothing seized at the time of arrest had multiple blood stains, and Ford said this clothing was never tested despite being retained by police for over 14 years.

Victor Belton was said to have been charged only with obstructing police.

Ford said he was denied funds for a legal expert in the field of eye witness identification.

Ford said he was convicted solely on eyewitness testimony, and that eyewitnesses facing a biased physical line up could only answer “Maybe”. Ford said the photo spread identification involved changes and that the identifications may have been influenced by Tony’s picture being widespread in TV news and newspapers.

Sentencing

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued an opinion in case number 04-70018. Tony Egbuna Ford was sentenced to death on October 14, 1993. The appeal is described as involving efforts to obtain testing.

Ford was on Texas Death Row.

Appeals

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit opinion 04-70018 related to Ford’s sentencing to death and efforts to obtain further evidence testing.

Ford’s incarceration was described as unjust incarceration of 16 years. Ford was granted the right to have Victor Belton’s clothing DNA tested. This testing was granted 8 days before what could have been Ford’s execution date in December 2005.

The testing results so far were described as inconclusive.

Ford expressed concerns about whether further testing would be allowed, and about the manner in which Victor Belton’s clothing was stored. Victor Belton’s clothing was described as thrown in a drawer along with other items seized at the time and forgotten.

Ford’s lawyer came to the case through the Innocence Project and took the case on immediately, working to persuade the appeals court to grant DNA testing that could save Ford’s life.

Outcome

Ford’s sentence of death was in place as of the recorded status.

Other details

Ford’s co-offender was identified as Van Nash Belton. The second person Ford testified was present was Victor Belton, identified by Ford as Belton’s brother.

Lisa testified that she “heard a barging in, just a lot of noise, racket, like somebody kicking wood.”

Ford’s statement after Lisa threw the car keys was: “‘F*** you, just for that, I was just going to blow him.

The men ordered the family members to kneel and be quiet. The men demanded to know where “the man of the house” was and where the money was, and demanded jewelry and other valuables, including car keys. The men threatened everyone by telling them to “shut the f*** up.”

The affiliate in the household events included Myra Magdalena, Armando, and Lisa, along with Myra Murillo as the mother.