The Narrative of David Hosier: A Claim of Innocence

The Narrative of David Hosier: A Claim of Innocence

*This edited narrative is the product of a conversation between David Hosier and his spiritual advisor, The Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood.  Hosier desired to produce this narrative so that people could clearly hear his side of the story during the clemency process and as a potential execution date approaches on June 11.

I was introduced to Angie Gilpin by a friend that I used to work with at the Jefferson City Fire Department.  We often went out to a particular bar.  I’d go in there to shoot pool and listen to country music.  On Friday and Saturday nights, they’d often have a band, and we’d just dance and enjoy the music.  Angie and I really enjoyed each other’s company and one thing led to another.  I knew she was married…but it didn’t seem like a big deal because she said they were separated.  His name was Rodney Gilpin and I knew him too.  Believe it or not, we were actually friendly with each other.

We ended up going together for almost two years.  Then, she suddenly went back to her husband.  Honestly, it’d have been fine if she’d had the decency to give me sort of explanation.  Then, she started accusing me of all sorts of stuff.  It was unbelievably frustrating.  But I just tried to put it behind me and move on.

I had no contact with Angie or Rodney in September of 2009.  I was doing everything I could to just ignore all the stuff that she was accusing me of.  It was slanderous.  Stalking.  Stealing.  Assault.  Anything and everything she could think of.  None of it was true.  I was doing my best to ignore it.  I was desperately trying to move back to my hometown in Indiana.  I just wanted to get away from all the mess.

While I was up there visiting, I got a call from a police officer.  Angie was making even more accusations.  She was going completely nuts.  Next thing you know, I’m getting phone calls from my landlord telling me that if I don’t get my stuff out of my apartment by the end of the month, he’s going to throw it out on the street.  I had a huge gun collection that was worth a great deal of money that I didn’t want to part with.  So, I rushed back into town and loaded the collection into my car.

Desperate to clear my head, I decided to go for a long drive.  I was so exhausted.  I just needed the wind and the radio.  After a few hours, I ended up in Oklahoma.  I really didn’t know where I was when I got pulled over.  They said that Jefferson City, Missouri wanted me and that I was going to be taken to the Erickson County Jail in Tahlequah, Oklahoma.  I had no clue what was going on.  Later, I’m sitting in jail. The police came in and asked a few questions.  Immediately, I felt like I needed a lawyer.  On Wednesday, they take me to court.  I found out that I was being charged with felony fleeing.  They asked me if I had an attorney or a representation. I said, no.  So, they postponed the hearing and said that they’d get me a court-appointed attorney.  They loaded me back up, and took me back to the jail.  Friday morning, two US marshals grabbed me, stuck me in a van and we were off to federal court in Muskogee, Oklahoma.  The new charge was felony possession of ammunition.  That’s when I found out that Angie and Rodney had been murdered in Jefferson City.  Unbelievably, it slowly became clear that I was a suspect.

For weeks, I was shuttled around federal prisons throughout Oklahoma until I was finally sent to a federal facility in Morgan County, Missouri.  On November 5, the feds dropped the gun charge.  Morgan County notified Cole County (Jefferson City) that if they still wanted me then they needed to come pick me up.  No answer.  I sat there and I sat there.  They were unquestionably abusing the idea of a detainer.  Then, I was told that they finally had produced a warrant for my arrest.  They’re supposed to charge you within 72 hours of your detainment.  Well, I sat in the Morgan County jail for 33 days.  I have no doubt that they were spending all that time planting false evidence and creating their narrative.  There was chatter about what I was accused of…but I didn’t know the full extent.  I called lawyers and nobody helped.  There was nothing that anyone could do.  I was just left to sit there.

Then, I was officially arrested and charged with the murders.  A public defender showed up.  He had unquestionably drunk his lunch.  I knew that the fix was in.  I had no idea how I was going to beat this.  I just knew that I didn’t kill anybody.

I sat in the county jail for almost four years.  The entire time I was represented by people who were getting paid by the same people who were trying to execute me.  I just kept getting put off.  The investigators wouldn’t talk to me.  They kept saying that the things they found were confidential.  It was my case!?!?!  It was all a fix.

I felt like I was being punished for being somewhat of a loner.  I’d always just come and went as I pleased.  I never reported my comings and goings to anybody.  We live in a free country.  If I choose to go for a ride, what difference should it make?  I was just trying to relax.  Now, I was being punished for driving.  They had no witnesses…no physical evidence…nothing to put me at the scene of the crime.  I’m guilty for having gone for a drive?!?!  They twisted everything so bad.  Even the search warrant for the crime scene was dated eight days before the crime ever occurred.  How is that even possible?  What is more, I was in Indiana at that time.  If they get to make up the rules as they go, then how can I ever properly defend myself?

My attorneys bent over backward to not make the prosecutors mad.  It’s as if that was the only thing they cared about.  I knew I didn’t have a chance.  But I prayed like I did.  Repeatedly, the prosecutors hurled innuendoes and insults to see what would stick.  I emerged from all of their vileness a monster.  I don’t lie.  They said I did…and everybody just believed them.  Hearsay evidence sprayed in from every direction.  One prosecutor declared my rights null and void since they “knew” I killed Angie and Rodney.  I was convicted before the trial even started.  Ultimately, I was only tried on one murder.  They do that so that they have another chance if something goes wrong on the first one.  Basically, they get two shots at the same crime.  It’s not fair.  They got to say the entire time that I killed two people when I was only being tried for one.  But nothing is fair about any of the process.  That’s why I’m where I am.

I wasn’t in the city.  I wasn’t in the county.  I wasn’t even in Missouri.  I was nowhere near these murders.  But the prosecutors got to turn me into a monster…and my lawyers didn’t do anything about it.

I think about Angie and Rodney all the time.  I wish we all knew what happened to them.  They didn’t deserve any of this.  Whoever did this to them deserves to be punished to the fullest extent of the law…but that someone ain’t me.

How can someone be found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt and sentenced to die when there are no witnesses, no DNA, no fingerprints, no trace evidence or anything else?  I tried to express myself in court.  Nobody would listen.

I know what it feels like to lose someone.  My father was an Indiana State Police Officer.  He was killed in the line of duty.  I wouldn’t wish that upon anybody.  There is no possible way that I’d ever kill someone.

This is no longer just about my life.  This is about the truth.  Are there any honest people left in Missouri?  Wake up!  You’re about to execute an innocent man.