The Unsolved Murder of Seymour and Arlene Tankleff and Marty's Wrongful Conviction

The Discovery of the Murders

• 💡 On September 7th, 1988, 17-year-old Marty Tankleff discovered his parents, Seymour and Arlene Tankleff, brutally murdered in their home.
• 🚨 Marty found his father, Seymour, bleeding and gasping for air in the den, and his mother, Arlene, deceased on the bedroom floor, having suffered severe beatings and stab wounds.
• 📞 Marty called 911 and then his older half-sister, before going to a neighbor's house while waiting for the police to arrive.

Marty Becomes the Prime Suspect

• 🔍 Police arrived and quickly began questioning Marty, who immediately named his father's business partner, Jerry Sterman, and his son, Todd, as potential suspects due to a recent argument over money.
• ⚖️ Despite being only 17, Marty was taken to the police station for interrogation, where detectives employed tactics like a fake phone call suggesting his father had identified him as the killer.
• 🗣️ Police also falsely claimed a humidity test proved Marty showered to wash off blood and that his mother had his hair in her hand, pressuring him to confess.
• 📝 Marty refused to sign a written confession but verbally agreed to the facts presented, a decision later attributed to intense interrogation pressure.

Doubts and Defense Arguments

• 👨‍⚖️ Marty's family, particularly his parents, deeply loved him, making their belief in his innocence strong, contrasting with his older half-sister's skepticism.
• 🩸 The defense highlighted the lack of forensic evidence linking Marty to the crime, noting the absence of blood transfer on white carpets and tiles between rooms, and no defensive wounds on Marty or his mother.
• 💼 A key piece of evidence later uncovered was a bloody knife imprint on Arlene's bedsheet that did not match any knives from the Tankleff home, suggesting an external weapon was used.

The Business Partner and New Evidence

• 💰 Seymour Tankleff was owed half a million dollars by his business partner, Jerry Sterman, who had a heated argument with Seymour shortly before the murders.
• 🏃‍♂️ A week after the murders, Jerry Sterman staged his own abduction, fled to California, and withdrew money from a joint account, later changing his name.
• 🕵️ A private investigator, looking into who financially benefited from the murders, uncovered information from inmate Glenn Harris, who claimed he was the driver for two men involved in a burglary that turned into the Tankleff murders.
• 🔗 Harris's account, corroborated by other witnesses and a priest to whom he confessed, suggested a link between one of the men and Jerry Sterman through his son, Todd.

Exoneration and Unsolved Mystery

• ⚖️ After an 18-month hearing where witnesses with criminal pasts testified, a judge refused to grant Marty a new trial, upholding his conviction.
• appellate court overturned Marty's conviction in October 2007, leading to his release after serving 17 years.
• 🚫 Charges were ultimately dropped, making Marty a free man, but the case remains unsolved as no one else has been definitively linked and charged with the murders.
• 💔 Marty received a settlement of over $3 million, but it could not compensate for the 17 years of his life lost.