Investigators who probed the Central Park jogger case are scoffing at a prosecutor’s contention that Matias Reyes – a serial rapist, murderer, mugger and self-described “monster” – is now an honest man.
Reyes’ confession, along with DNA evidence, form the backbone of Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau’s decision to ask a judge to overturn all the convictions against five men who confessed to that 1989 crime and others as part of a vicious “wilding” spree.
The DA’s report argues that Reyes’ admissions to several other crimes adds to his credibility, but those who investigated the original jogger case contend that shows how he can’t be trusted – and how Morgenthau’s report doesn’t add up.
“This lunatic concocts this wild story and these people fell for it,” said Mike Sheehan, a lead detective on the case who’s now a Fox 5 reporter. “I don’t believe it.”
In the report, Reyes – who’s serving 33 years in prison for raping four women and murdering one – tells of trying to rape a woman inside a Fifth Avenue church. He says he accosted her at knifepoint, dragged her down a stairwell and forced her to strip – but didn’t rape her because she said she had “an infection.”
In another attack in Central Park days before the jogger assault, he raped a woman and beat her senseless, stomping on her head and biting her.
The report says both attacks fit his modus operandi of attacking white women in their 20s by himself, and adds credence to his claim he alone attacked the jogger.
But former detective Humberto Arroyo pointed out that it omits what Reyes told his former lawyer was his first sex assault – he and another teen attacking Reyes’ mom. Cops also note that Reyes said he worked with other people in robberies.
The report also found it credible that Reyes couldn’t remember some key details of the jogger attack, including how he dragged her to a different spot. Former prosecutor Linda Fairstein said that’s incredible, because he dragged her 290 feet.
Question of credibility
Here are some of DA Robert Morgenthau’s findings on why Matias Reyes’ story of the being the lone Central Park jogger attacker is credible – and why former investigators say it’s not.
–
Morgy: Report concludes that Reyes was the lone assailant in the Central Park case and always worked alone while preying on his rape victims.
Cops: The report notes that Reyes committed several robberies with other “acquaintances.” It also omits mention of what Reyes has said was his first sexual assault, when he and another teen attacked Reyes’ mother.
–
Morgy: Reyes’ can’t remember dragging the jogger to another location, just as he can’t remember some details of his other assaults.
Cops: How can he not remember dragging the jogger 290 feet, almost the length of a football field?
–
Morgy: Earlier this year, Reyes accurately described the area where he attacked the jogger.
Cops: The report omits that he told cops he was never in the area where the jogger was found.
–
Morgy: Reviewing medical records of the jogger’s injuries, it’s impossible to tell if she was attacked by more than one person, and some of her injuries match exactly with Reyes’ tale.
Cops: The doctor who treated her found her injuries were almost certainly caused by a group of people, and some of her wounds don’t match up with Reyes’ story.
–
Morgy: Other prison inmates added to Reyes’ credibility.
Cops: The report omits the assertion by one inmate that Reyes told him he raped the jogger after she’d been attacked by a group.
–
Morgy: The report says there is no conclusive physical evidence against the “Central Park Five.”
Cops: The report doesn’t mention the finding of what appeared to be grass and dirt stains on one of the five’s underwear.