The Blount Family Bombing Part Four: The Exoneration

Michael Roy Toney was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1985 bombing murders of Joe Blount, Angela Blount, and Michael Columbus. In the years after his conviction, however, previously undisclosed records and inconsistencies in the prosecution’s case raised serious questions about the evidence used to convict him. The evidence suggested that a trip remembered by witnesses may have occurred, but not on the night of the bombing. Witness coercion and memory creation were also clearly documented.

Toney’s appellate attorneys also uncovered records showing how the investigation against him developed. The original information implicating him came from fellow inmate who later admitted that he and Toney had fabricated the story to help him get out of jail. Investigators also spoke with a man whose punishment phase testimony supplied the prosecution’s $5,000 murder-for-hire motive. He also said his story was false. The witness claimed he implicated Toney while facing serious criminal charges because he feared dying in prison. His felony charges were ultimately reduced to misdemeanor assault, although prosecutor Mike Parrish denied that any agreement had been made in exchange for his testimony.

In December 2008, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled that evidence that could have assisted Toney’s defense had been withheld before his trial. The Texas Attorney General’s Office took over the case and reopened the investigation. Toney was released on September 2, 2009, after nearly a decade on Death Row.

The murders of Joe Blount, Angela Blount, and Michael Columbus remain unsolved.

Part four of four.

If you have any information about the murders of Robert and Angela Blount and Michael Columbus, please call the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives tipline at (888) 283-8477.

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