JUSTICE FOR JEFF
A Voice For The Innocent
TIMELINE
Background
April 29th, 1989: [Or perhaps sometime in the morning hours of April 30th] Rev. Bob Pelley, his wife Dawn and two of their children were gunned down in their home in Lakeville, Indiana.
August of 2002: in a political maneuver charges were filed against Bob's son Jeff.
July 21st, 2006: Jeff Pelley was wrongfully convicted of killing his family.
October 17, 2006: Jeff was sentenced to 160 years in prison for a crime which he did not commit.
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MISSION
OVERTURN A CONVICTION
EXPOSE INJUSTICE
This website has been established in an effort to help free Jeff. As his defense team prepared for trial they quickly became aware that not all leads were followed in the investigation of the Pelley's deaths. In fact, numerous people have come forward with information that they had previously shared with police and no reports had been filed. Police simply focused on Jeff and gathered no information on the real killer or killers. They didn't even fingerprint the crime scene.
If you have any information regarding this case please email us. All information will be properly investigated.
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"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
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"The current administration didn't charge this case; this case was charged by Mr. Toth and his administration," said deputy prosecutor Frank Schaffer, who is trying the case. "So I really don't know what was the guiding force behind them to charge him, but they did." WSBT
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UPDATES
April 8, 2008 - The Indiana Court of Appeals "Reversed and Remanded" Jeff's Conviction.
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August 14, 2008 - The Indiana Supreme Court granted transfer of the case.
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February 19, 2009 - The Indiana Supreme Court reinstated Jeff's conviction.
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March 2009 - The McKinney Wrongful Conviction Clinic has agreed to take our case. (The Wrongful Conviction Clinic at IU McKinney is one of 14 founding members of the Innocence Network.)
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February 2012 - I just wanted to take a minute to respond to a few emails that we have received lately regarding the status of Jeff's case. The McKinney Wrongful Conviction Clinic continues to work faithfully on the case. They are making amazing progress and we are so grateful to have them on board with us! At their request, we are not discussing details of their work. But rest assured they are indeed working diligently. Thanks for all of your prayers and support!
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July 2016 - I never dreamed the process would take this long. For those of you that have thought that our lawyers and the McKinney Wrongful Conviction Clinic have packed up and left that would be an incorrect assessment. We are so grateful to them for the countless hours that they pour into this case. We continue to wait and to fight for information that others don't seem to want to hand over. We have been through numerous prosecutors and judges at this point, but we press on!
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March 2019 - Nearly 30 years later and we are still waiting for some sense of closure. 17 of those years we have been fighting the system, fighting for records, for evidence withheld, and we have been fighting 13 years to get Jeff home. It has a been a long wait but 2019 promises M O V E M E N T.
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December 31, 2019 - As expected, this year brought much movement behind the scenes. Today, our Post-Conviction Relief petition was filed with the court. Court dates TBD.
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August 8, 2020 - While the COVID-19 Pandemic slowed down many aspects of day to day living it brought others to a screeching halt, the court system included. We are currently still trying to get a court date. In the meantime, the prosecutor's office has yet to even acknowledge receipt of our Post-Conviction Relief petition. Considering today's climate, amidst a Defund the Police movement, I guess I don't blame them for trying not to let this come to light considering the questionable police investigation and practices.
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April 16, 2021 - Status Hearing - While we had hoped to walk away with court dates in hand for the Post Conviction Relief Hearing, we did not. Instead, we were assigned yet another new judge and another new prosecutor. Despite the fact the State should have had only 30 days to respond to the PCR brief filed 14 months prior, the judge gave the new prosecutor another 30 days to respond. The State was also given another 60 days to find and turn over evidence that the defense has repeatedly asked for.
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April 29, 2021 - CounterClock Podcast will drop all 20 episodes regarding the Pelley family murder. Listen to it on Spotify or Apple Podcast.
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June 25, 2021 - Status Hearing -Rescheduled.
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September 8, 2021 - Status Hearing
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February 15, 2022 - Status Conference
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February 28, 2022 - Status Conference
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March 14-17, 2022 - Evidentiary Hearing
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August 3, 2022 - Transcripts are complete.
The 90 day clock starts for the defense to submit Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, followed by 90 days for the State to submit Finding of Fact and Conclusions of Law.
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November 1, 2022 - The defense submitted Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law. The State now has 90 days to complete theirs.
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February 1, 2023 - The State submitted their Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law.
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At this time we wait for a ruling from the Judge. There are no time restrictions on the decision making process.
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May 31, 2023 - Hearing for Supplemental Briefing
This hearing was called by the judge. After reading through all of the material, she has determined supplemental filings are required. She has requested specific points be further fleshed out by both sides. She stated that she did not want to infer anything on her own, instead she wanted each side to point her to exactly what they want her to know. She further indicated that she already has a very lengthy draft of her ruling complete.
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While the judge indicated that she would prefer to have the supplemental filings submitted within 60 days, she was open to hearing how long each side thought would be appropriate to complete the additional work. The State indicated September would be ideal because of how busy he is and he has a couple of upcoming family vacations. The Defense suggested splitting the difference and submitting in 75 days. The Court agreed.
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August 18, 2023 - Supplemental Filings are due from both the Defense and the State.
April 28, 2024 - Post Conviction Relief was denied.
Where do we go from here? Several of you have asked if we will be headed to the Federal Court level. We will take it to Federal court if necessary. However, there are several stops that we need to make in other courts along the way. We will update here when we are able.
May 27, 2024 - Motion to Correct Error
June 10, 2024 - State's Response
July 8, 2024 - Motion to Correct Error was denied.
August 6, 2024 - Notice of Appeal
April 7, 2025 - Appellant Brief filed - This is Jeff's appeal.
May 7, 2025 - Original date Brief of Appellee was due. (This is the State's response.)
June 6, 2025 - New due date for Brief of Appellee (Extension of time was granted for the State.)
TBD - New due date for Brief of Appellee (State). On May 13, 2025 an order was granted for transmission of exhibits. Appellee's Brief is due within 30 days of the receipt of exhibits by the clerk.
We appreciate your continued support!
CONTACT
JUSTICE FOR JEFF
If you have information about this crime that you would like to pass on to us or you are wondering if your previous statement ever made it to the defense lawyers please email us.
STOP! Before emailing the Justice for Jeff administrator please remember it is easy to sit behind a keyboard and be hateful. Remember, you are about to email the third surviving child from the Pelley household, who just like the other two went away for a weekend with no family or home to come back to. I am one of two daughters who both testified in court that Jeff was in fact allowed to go to prom and after prom activities that weekend. Jessica was in fact the one who told police that her mom told her Jeff would be at Great America. (Despite what she now claims, she testified to that in court as well.) So if you have helpful information, we would love to hear from you but if you just want to send hate mail keep moving.
We would like to thank all of you that have taken time to stop by our website and share your story or offer encouragement. We continue to be amazed by those of you who have spoken to the police sometime within the last 35 years and the fact that those statements were never turned over to the defense attorney. Thank you for bringing them to our attention at this time.