Free Tony Yarbough!

Antonio Yarbough has been in prison for nearly 20 years for a crime he did not commit. Help us free him.

In 1992, Brooklyn police "solved" a brutal triple homicide in Coney Island by forcing false confessions from two boys, Antonio Yarbough, 18, and Sharrif Wilson, 15. The victims were Tony’s mother, his little sister, and a 12-year-old friend of his sister. Tony and Sharrif were convicted after separate, unfair trials. The only evidence against Tony was Sharrif’s testimony, which he recanted in 2005. No physical evidence links either defendant to the crime. The Law Office of Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma has taken on Tony's case, but we need your help to force the police to find the real killers and to free Tony Yarbough.

On June 18, 1992, after a night out in the West Village, Antonio Yarbough came home to Coney Island around 7 in the morning to find the dead bodies of his mother, Annie Yarbough, his 12-year-old sister, Chavonne Barnes, and a friend, 12-year-old Latasha Knox in his apartment in a drug-ridden housing project. As soon as Tony discovered the bodies, he ran outside and found his uncle, Major Yarbough, waiting for a bus across the street. Together, they called the police from a neighbor’s phone. After the police arrived, Tony gladly went with them to the precinct to give a statement.

The crime scene Tony and his uncle had discovered was grisly: all three victims had been stabbed multiple times and tied up with electrical wires and clothing. The two girls had been partially undressed. Annie was a heroin addict and witnesses told police about a parade of drug users who came in and out of the apartment that night. One of them, the witnesses told police, threatened Annie with a knife after she failed to deliver his drugs. There was little blood in the apartment and, although two steak knifes were found, they could not be linked to the murders.

By the time the medical examiner looked at the bodies at 10:35 a.m., rigor mortis had already set in. This means the victims were killed around eight to ten hours earlier – at a time when all agree that Tony and Sharrif were miles away in Manhattan. (But the trial lawyers missed this point, never interviewing the medical examiner who examined the bodies or explaining to the jury that the murders could not have happened the way Sharrif testified they happened.)

Nonetheless, the New York City Police Department closed the case that very day. The accused: Antonio Yarbough and Sharrif Wilson. The motive: according to ADA Suzanne Mondo (who is now a judge in Brooklyn), “The murders happened because of the sexual preference of Anthony Yarbough.” (Wilson Trial Transcript at 153-155). The evidence: “confessions” extracted from the boys after lengthy, aggressive and manipulative interrogations. Physical evidence linking Yarbough and Wilson to the crime scene: none.

Tony needs your help. Even though Sharrif Wilson has recanted his testimony, it is up to Tony to find new evidence to clear his name and present it to the courts.[1] Although we have filed papers in court, the case will may not be overturned unless the real killer is found. There are dozens of leads in the police reports and trial transcripts, but Tony urgently needs the assistance of a private investigator like Jay Salpeter who is a former Brooklyn detective and has wide experience with old innocence cases like this one. But Tony has no money for Mr. Salpeter’s fee, which is $6000 to handle the whole case. Moreover, Tony needs to hire a crime scene expert and a forensic pathologist. He may need to fund DNA testing. He also needs public moral support to ensure his safety in Attica. In short, he needs money to help him find the real killer, survive prison, present his case to the courts, and come home. You can donate by clicking the link to the right, sending a check, or calling our office with credit card information (donations are not tax deductible).

For the current status of the litigation, please check our “What’s New” page. Key documents can be found on the links on this page. Tony’s case has already inspired the work of three wonderful student interns, Martha Lineberger, Matthew Shroyer, and Tess Cohen. If you can offer either money or expertise, or just would like to hear more about the injustice done to Tony Yarbough, please call our office at (212) 685-0999.

[1]Sharrif Wilson was convicted on the strength of his own videotaped “confession” the day of the murders. Before trial, Sharrif was offered three-to-nine years in prison in exchange for his testimony against Tony. He turned it down, maintaining his innocence. At Sharrif’s trial, he denied the charges and testified about how the police coerced the confession from him. He was convicted and expected to be sentenced to 27-years-to-life when the district attorney offered to reduce his sentence to nine-to-life in exchange for changing his story and testifying against Tony at Tony’s trial. In 2005, Sharrif wrote a letter from Greene Correctional Facility apologizing to Tony’s family for the false testimony he gave.