My name is Elizabeth Lederer. I’m an assistant district attorney in New York county. I'd like to ask you some questions about a series of things that happened in Central Park on the night of April 19th 1989. Before I do that, I'd like to advise you of your rights with respect to statements that you make now. Ok. You have the right to remain silent and refuse to answer any questions. Do you understand? Yes I do. Anything that you say can be used against you in court. Do you understand? Yes I do. You have the right to consult a lawyer now before any questioning and have a lawyer present during any questioning. Do you understand? Yes. If you have no lawyer or can’t afford a lawyer, a lawyer will be provided por you now free of charge, before any questions. Do you understand? Yeah.
Now that I’ve advised you of your rights are you willing to tell me the truth about what happened in Central Park on the night of April 19th 1989? Yes. Ok. Before I go any further, I just wanna say it is now 12:35. It is Friday, April 21st of 1989. Present in this room as I told you, I’m Elizabeth Lederer, I’m assistant district attorney also present is Tim Carmen’s who is assistant district attorney of New York county and detective Nugent. Who you have already met I believe. Have you met detective Nugent before? Yes I have.
Ok. When you spoke to detective Nugent earlier did you make a statement to him? About what happened in Central Park on the 19th? And before the detective took that statement from you, did he advise you of your Miranda rights? Yes. Could you please state your full name. Korey Jamil Clinton Wise. What’s your last name please? Wise. Where do you live? *blanked out* How old are you? 16. Do you go to school? Yes Maam. Where do you go to school? *Name of school*. And what grade are you in? 10th. I'd like to ask if you would to tell us when you went to Central Park on the night of April 19th, 1989. When? Do you know what time it was? No. Let me ask you before we start, I see you have a soda in front of you. No that’s alright. You asked for a soda and the detective brought you a soda? Are you feeling ok? Yes.
Did you go to the park on the night of April 19th? Yes. And what were you doing before you went to the park? Do you remember? Nothing. Nothing? And where were you doing nothing? Were you at home or hanging around on the streets? I was outside by myself. And did you have a girlfriend with you? Yes. What's your girlfriend’s name? Lisa. What’s Lisa’s last name? I don’t know. Do you know where she lives? Yes. Where is that? *blanked out* What were you doing with Lisa before you went to the park? Nothing. We were in a store. You were in a store? Did you run into some people then? I ran into my friend. One friend? Yes it was Eddie. What’s Eddie’s last name? I don’t know. How do you know Eddie? I known him for a long time we grew up together. And you don’t know his last name? No. Do you know where he lives? Yes. And where does Eddie live? *blanked out* Did you and Eddie do something then? No. Well, you said a minute ago that you ran into Eddie. What happened after that? He was talking to me about what I was doing and I said nothing and asked where I was going and I said no-where. So I looked over and there was a bunch of guys. So how many guys did you see? There was about 30. Is that a guess or did you count them? A guess. Did you recognise any of the people in that group? Yes. Who did you recognise? I recognised Steve. When you say Steve, is that Steve Lopez? Yes. Do you know Steve Lopez? Yes. How long have you known him? Quite a while. Would that be a couple of years? Yes. And did you go to school with him? No. You know him from the neighbourhood? Who else did you recognise? Fidari. Is Fidari a man or a woman? A male. Do you know Fidari’s last name? No. Do you know where he lives? Yes. Where does he live? *blanked out* And who else did you recognise? My friend Yusef. Do you know Yusef’s last name? No. Do you know where he lives? Yes. Where does he live? *blanked out* How long have you known Yusef? For quite a while a few years. Do you know him because you went to school with him? No. Do you know him from the neighbourhood? Yes. Who else did you recognise? Kevin. Is that Kevin Richardson? Yes. I don’t know where he lives. And how well do you know Kevin? Quite a few years. Do you know him from the street? Yes. Who else did you see that you know? Patrick. Who’s Patrick? Patrick was a young man *blanked out* Do you know Patrick’s last name? No. Did you see somebody that you know as Steve there? Yes. Do you know Steve's last name? No. Where does Steve live? *blanked out* Did you see anybody else in that group that you recognised? A couple of others. What were their names, do you know? Rayman. Do you know Rayman’s last name? Is that Raman Santana? Yeah. Did you see him here in the precinct earlier? Yes. Who else did you see? Orlando. That’s not the same person as Fedari? No it’s a different person. And do you know Orlando’s last name? No. Do you know where Orlando lives? *blanked out* And do you also know him from the street? Yes. Did you happen to see somebody there by the name of Mike? Not that I know of. Mike Briscow do you know that name? No. Did you see anyone by the name of Anton McCray? Yes. You do know someone by the name of Anton? Yes. But you don’t know his last name? No. Did you see him here today at the precinct? Yes. Did you see someone by the name of Lamar? No. Was there anybody else? Do you know someone by the name of Clarence? No.
You were saying that these people were all part of the group of 30 people about. Where did you see them? Do you remember what street you saw them on? 5th avenue. And what did you do then? I went over to them. Did your friend Eddie go with you? Yes. Did you speak to anybody when you went over to the group? Yes. Who did you speak to? Yusef. What did you say to Yusef or what did Yusef say to you? I said what’s going on? Let’s go to the park and chill. So Eddie came along but he’d stayed too long and he left. You said you were going to the park to chill, what does that mean? We’ll go to the park and do whatever. Did he say anything to you using the word violence? No. You don’t remember that? No. Steve said that. And did he tell you to come along or did you say you were going to come along? Yeah come along. And what did you say? I said ok.
When did you have a conversation with Steve? It was just today. He said he was going to the park and he said Eddie can’t go. Who said that Eddie can’t go? Steve. Why did Steve say that Eddie can’t go? Him and Steve had a problem with each other. What kind of problem did they have? So did she say something to Eddie? He said he can’t go. And what did Eddie say? He went anyway. Did Steve say anything to you about what was going to happen in the park? No, he just said we going to the park for violence. And I asked what kind of violence and he said, whatever there is for us to do. He said we won’t get caught by the cops and don’t them who was with you and whatever. Just don’t squeal on us. What did you say when he said that? I said nothing. Steve that said that. Is that Steve Lopez? Yes.
What happened after you said that? We just all went in the park. How well do you know the park? I don’t know the park too well. Do you know where you went when you went in the park? Yes. Would you tell us where you went? We went to a field. Do you remember how you got to that field? We took the road. Was this a field that had baseball markings on it? Yes. When you when into the park was it dark? Yes. Was there anybody on the field when you got there? Yes, someone was coming out the field. Who was coming out of the field? It was a bum. When you say it was a bum, what did this person look like? He was big, tall, heavy set and at least 300 lbs. Big guy. When you said he was a big guy and he was 300 lbs, you saw detective Nugent earlier, do you think detective Nugent is a tall man? Taller than him. How much taller was he? About 5’11”. And was he a lot heavier than the detective? Yes.
What happened when he came out? He came up, there was me and a couple of others. We was at the back of the crowd getting acquainted with each other. What did he do? There was me and the new guys on the block and we were getting acquainted and everybody was getting ready to do what they wanted to do and they tossed the big guy and they hit him. Who hit him? I don’t know his name. What did the person look like who hit him? He was about 5’7”, black face. Did he have a dark complexion, dark skin? How did he wear his hair? Short. And do you remember what he was wearing? Black coat with some white stripes. Did it have a hood or was it just a black and white coat? Yeah it had a hood. When you saw him hit him did he hit him from the front or the back? He jumped on him. From the front or the back? From the back. And did he knock him down that way? Yeah. And what did he do when he knocked him down? He started stomping on him. What exactly did he do? He started stomping on his stomach, kicking in his face everybody was in on this and he had bottles in his bag but they’d throw bottles at him, knocked him out. Did he have any food with him? No. Did you see anybody take any food from him? Yes. Who did you see take food from him? *blanked out* Everybody started stomping on him and kicking him? Yes. Did you also do that? No. What did you do? I was over there getting acquainted with somebody. Who was that? Andre. What’s Andre’s last name? I don’t know. Where does Andre live? In Leaman. *blanked out*
How long did the people kick and stomp on? They were there for quite a while. Steven was in there. Was this man screaming? No. Was he moving? Yes. They thought he was dead. Who thought he was dead? Steve and… What did they think he was dead? It happened so fast. He hit the floor and knocked out and fell asleep. When you say he fell asleep, were his eyes closed? Yeah, he was knocked out. He wasn't moving anymore? No. And you were able to see his eyes were closed? Yeah. He seen us coming but everybody rushed him at the same time. All 30 people? No a good 5 to 10. Who are the people that you saw stomping him? Steve, Kevin, Alfie. When you talk about Al is that Alfred Morris? Do you know where Al Morris lives? *blanked out*
Did these guys say anything when they were kicking and stomping? No. I told them I don’t want a part of that. Did anybody take beer from him? Yeah. What did they do with the beer? They threw it away. Did anybody pour anything on him? No. They wanted to put the body on the grass. Why do you say that? Cos when the cars come they won’t hit him and 2 put him by the grass people will think he fell out drunk. So the reason you thought it was a good idea was not just so that he wouldn't get run over, but so that when someone found him they wouldn't think he’d been beaten up. And who’s idea was it to put him on the grass? My idea. And did anybody move him to the grass? Yeah it was a couple of new faces I don’t know their names. Not the people like Kevin or Rayman Santana none of those people? It was Rayman. You think it was? Yes. I didn’t touch him.
What happened after he was moved to the grass? We moved ourselves further as we saw 2 people. You said earlier that you were near a field that had baseball baseball markings on it when you put the bum on the grass was that near that field? The field was further up. The field was further up? Yes. You were still walking towards the field? Yeah. So it was after you put the bum in the grass that you continued to walk toward the field? We walked to the exit going out but we didn’t go out and we saw 2 people on a bench, a male and female. And they said let’s beat up the male. Who said let’s beat up the male? Kevin and Steve. And he said nah nah man don’t beat up the man, leave him alone. Who said that? Kev said that. I’m sorry I thought Kev said let’s beat him up. Yeah he said it but then he thought about it cos nobody was going to do it so it was going to do it by himself and nobody was going to do that with him. Why didn’t people want to do that? So it was Kevin’s idea to do it but when he suggested it, no-one wanted to join in? Yeah. So he said let’s not? Yeah. So he was the one who first suggested it but then when nobody wanted to help him he said nah. And you continued going towards the baseball fields? Yeah and we see some other guy who was no bum, he was fresh. Did he look like he was old or young? Young. *background noise*
I just want to say I'm sorry. A police officer has just come in and moved a podium so I’m sorry for the interruption. I’m sure you’ve seen the tape recorder but I think that happened out of view of the camera.
What did he look like? Was he black or white or Spanish? He was black. Was he by himself? Yeah. And was he walking towards you? Yeah. What happened when he walked towards you? Steven said money for gas and he said no and we were about to leave him alone and someone said let’s chase after him for the hell of it. So we chased after him. He ran. He ran fast. He got away. He didn’t want to chase no more.
Was there someone there that night that you saw, a black man with 2 gold front teeth? No. They asked for money from this guy and he ran. Did he give anybody money? No. He just ran? Yes. Did he run back the way he had come? He ran into the park. And did anybody chase him? They chased him for a few and then they didn’t bother chasing him no-more. Did you chase after him? No. Did you see who did chase after him? No. I just seen them chasing, I don’t know who the people were. You don’t know their names? No. After they chase him and didn’t catch him, did they come back over to the rest of the group? Yeah they’d moved up towards the field. What happened then? We seen a biker. 2 bikes put together, a male and a female, the male in front and the female in back. And were they coming towards you? Yeah. And Steven said attack them. So the biker he kinda slowed it down but by the time we were ready to go, he was riding fast and he hit and he hit the female and he was still riding and got away. He was able to rise through and pass the group? Yes. Let me go back for a minute, before you went into the park that night, did you do any drugs? No. Did you smoke any crack? No. Any pot? No. Any cocaine? Did you have any kind of alcohol? No. Were you straight when you went in? Yes. And you didn’t have any drugs or alcohol when you were in the park? No.
After those people on the bicycle got away. Did anybody chase after them? No. What happened next? So we walked further up and there was a runner coming. He was coming to our way and he seen us and turned back around and there was a biker and they both didn’t wanna come our way so they both went the same way. Did you guys chase after? No. Were you able to see what the jogger looked like? No. Was the runner on a paved road or was he running on a dirt path? He was on a footpath not dirt. What happened next?
There was a car coming and Alfred he said he don’t throw a rock at the car. There was a car coming and somebody wanted to throw a rock at the car. What kind of car was it? It was a cab. He stopped at the green light and got out and everybody got running and somebody yelled get back in the car before we rush you, so he went in and instead of closing the door he pulled out a CB and started talking so he was calling the cops. So we out towards the edge of the street and right over there I saw a police car coming round with a big spotlight hitting everybody and so we ran towards the reservoir. Did some people run a different way? Yeah. Where did you run? I run towards the west side. Did you run towards the reservoir? No. How many people ran with you? Just 1 Al. Where you together or did he just run in the same direction? We run in the same direction. Was he close to you when you were running? Yeah. How close? He was close. Right beside you? Yeah. Who else besides Al was running with you? There was others behind. The 2 of you were at the front and there were others behind? Yeah. Do you know who was in the other group that ran a different way? So far I don’t know, Yusef ran towards the reservoir and a couple of new guys. Yusef had my bar with black tape around it. What did Yusef have? My bar he took it out my house. When was Yusef in your house? He was in my house the day that the accident happened. He was there earlier in the same day? Yeah. So we was running and we got down to the horses track. Were you running on a place where the horses rise? Yeah. And that was cleared of trees? Yeah. Let me go back for a second, you said that Yusef was running in a different direction? Yeah all the new guys ran towards Yusef down towards the reservoir. And Yusef had your bar? Yeah. How long is the bar? *shows with hands* Very heavy. And what’s it made of? Iron. Is it solid? Yeah. Does it have anything on it? Tape, black tape. Where is the tape, was it on part of it or the whole thing? The whole thing. Where did you get this bar in the first place? My Father brought it home. What do you use it for? We put it on the door cos half brother not supposed to come in and they get keys from other family and try and come in through our lock so we put the bar right there on the lock. And that means your Brother can’t open the door or he just can’t get to the lock? It’s a stem lock that don’t work no more because we had a lot of robberies in the building anybody be kicking the doors open. Did you know that Yusef had your bar when you went into the park? No.
Who were the people who ran with Yusef? I don’t know, a couple of new guys. These people, someone like Kevin Richardson where did he run, with you or Yusef? He was with Kevin and Steven. Who was with Kevin and Steven? Rayman. Were they with Yusef? No. They were with Kevin and Steve. I’m trying to understand you said that Yusef ran one way and you ran a different way? There was about 4 new guys with Yusef went to the reservoir but I don’t who it was. I was with me. Everybody was picking a partner who they wanted to be with while they were running. We got certain feet going down, that was where the police was at, that was over there by the horses. And the police were off the paved road and they were on the paved road near where the horse path is? Yeah. So you were running away from the police? Yeah we was going down to where all the trees is at with the waterfall, something like that. The stream in there? Yeah. And is that down a fairly steep hill? Yes.
You were running away from the police? Yes. Were you afraid that the police would get you because of what happened to the bum? Yes. And so you were hiding from the police? Yes. Who was with you when you ran down towards the stream? Me and Al that’s all I seen. And did you see any joggers there? No. Any were you running from the trees? Straight down to the trees. Right.
I’d like to show you a picture. Before I show you let me see if I can....I’m going to show you this picture and I’m going to ask you does that look like where you were running? Yeah. Does that look like where the stream was? I was directly at the stream though, just where you can see the water.
Just bear with me for one moment. Let me show you this picture, does that look familiar to you? Is that the hill going straight down? Yes. That’s where I was running. *shows photo to camera*
*shows another photo to camera* let me show you a 3rd picture. Again on the night that you were there, the cars probably wouldn’t have been there but do you recognise what’s in that picture? Yeah the field. Is that a fence near the field? Yeah. And when you say the field, you’re talking about the baseball field? Yeah. And if you come down from the field there’s a little bit of a hill and then a little bit of a paved road and then a long hill? Yes. Is that where you were running that night? Yes. Could you turn the picture and point it toward me and show me on that picture where were you running? Does it show on the picture? No. Is it more away or towards you? More on the side towards me? Yes. But was in that same area? Yes.
*shows another photo to camera* that’s one last picture. When you look at that picture, does that look familiar to you? Can you see if you look far into the background in the picture, can you see the stream in the picture? Is that where you were running? Yeah. And you say you were down there where it’s green? Yeah. Who was with you when you were there? Me and Al. What happened when you were there? We was down there and it was dark and so we jumped down, went down the stairs and went left. There was a lot of water mud and dirt and I stepped in dirt and he stopped, he went with somebody else. Was he behind you or in front of you? Behind me. The moment that we was down there, this is what I didn’t see, the moment that I was down there that’s the moment that Steve, Kevin and Rayman jumped the lady, that’s the jogger. You saw those 3 people jump a lady jogger? I didn’t see it but I heard a lady screaming. You were describing that you and Al and another person were running and you were in the mud and it was dirt and there was trees and sticks, as you were running what was the very first thing that happened that drew your attention to where those 3 people were with the lady? Did you hear something did you see something what was it? I knew it wasn’t a rabbit, I heard a lot of giggling and running coming down the hill and they got further down in to... go home I heard help. Was that a man voice or a woman’s voice? A woman’s. But right before that you heard some giggling and what other noise were you hearing? Someone said shut up to her. So I stopped and paused. So where was that noise coming from? So it came from my right, the right hand side of the woods. Was that further up the hill or further down by the stream? Further down by the stream but up the hill but between there and there. She was right there were I was at but I couldn’t see her, she was right there in front of me I could’ve stopped there and looked at her but her head was going up right here. So were you below where she was? Yes. Were you directly below or to one side or the other? One side. About how far would you say you were from her? A good 8 feet away from her, I hid behind a tree. You said you saw Kevin, Steve and Shaun. Who’s Shaun? I mean Rayman. Was there somebody named Shaun there? No. So Kevin, Steve and Rayman? Yes. You mentioned there were 2 Rayman’s before, is this Rayman Santana? Yes. What did you see them doing? I heard the lady scream and I heard Steve’s voice and I heard Kevin’s voice and he was laughing. What did you hear Steve’s voice say? He said we’ll rape her and she was still screaming and they put something in her mouth or put a hand close to her mouth because she didn’t yell or nothing. Did you see somebody put their hand over her mouth? No but every time she went to yell it kept cutting off and about 3 times. When you say it cut her off did he say something to her or did her voice suddenly stop or what? When she yelled the first time, Steve said that we should shut this woman up, she make too much noise. And the 2nd time she was talking to them. What was she saying? I don’t know she was talking. Steve told her to shut up and she yells and screams one time. What did she yell? Help. Steve was talking to her saying if you don’t shut up we’re going to slap her, she didn’t shut up so he slapped her and knocked her out. Could you see him slap her? Yeah behind the tree I saw him going in for the slap. When he hit her was she lying down or standing up? Laying down. Did he hit her with his hand? Yes. Where did he hit her with his hand? Hit her on her face.
When you first saw her when you were down there did you ever see her standing up? No. Did you see how she got to be there? I thought she was forced to go down there. You say she was forced to go down the hill, do you know if she walked down the hill or was she dragged? She was dragged. How do you know she was dragged? Because it sounded like she didn’t want to be down there. She said that I don’t wanna go down there. It was like a kidnapping cos she didn’t want to go. How do you know she didn’t want to go? Cos you could hear in the tone of her voice she didn’t want to go, she was screaming and she was trying to go off on Steve and Kevin. Could you see what they did to her? They were sexually abusing her. Before that, to get her to that place did you see how they got her to that place? Yes they grabbed her, they grabbed her off the street. Who grabbed her? Rayman. Did you see how he grabbed her? He picked her up and covered her mouth. Did somebody hit her? They didn’t hit her until they got her down to the bottom. Rayman put his hand over her mouth and picked her up? Yeah. What did the other 2 do? He asked who’s coming up to help him because she was acting wild. What was she doing? She was fighting so he dropped her on her feet and came down and he tripped her, that’s what put her down and when he tripped her, that’s when he carried her down. Did you say that they carried her down? Yeah. How did they carry her down? They must’ve carried her by her hands and her feet. Why do you say must’ve did you see how they got her down there? No.
I’m going to show you another picture. When you look at the picture do you recognise that? No. You can’t tell where that is? No. There’s a light post on the right of this photograph and there’s some woods right down here, does that help you place where this is? I don’t know. You don’t recognise where this is? No. Let me show you another. If you look at that picture and then look at the other picture. If you turn that picture around and show me where they grabbed her. You’re indicating there’s a mark on that picture there. What are you pointing to? Is there an orange police marker there? Yes. When she was dragged, which way from there, can you show me picture? Straight through. Now when you look at this picture, can you tell what that picture is? That’s where she was at. Do you recognise that picture as where she was? That’s where she was at, that’s where they picked her up from, where she fell. You see where that mark on the photo, that white area does that lead in the direction that they took her? Yes. Could you try to tell me again if you could, how they took her from that spot into the area where that line was. They picked her up. I’m asking you to not tell me what you think they did, try to tell me what you saw or heard ok. Take your time. They were picking her up. Who was? Rayman and Steve. You said a minute ago that the first thing that happened was that Rayman grabbed her and she started to fight and she tried to resist. Yeah he needed an assistant cos she was starting to fight and to make it easier for him. Who came to his assistance? Steve. And what did Steven do to help him? Steve grabbed her and then he let her go. Rayman let her go? Yeah and she fell down, she fell on her knees but she got back up on her feet and Steve grabbed her from the back, that’s when he dragged her all the way down. And who dragged her? Steve. Did you see how he dragged her? No. How do you know that he dragged her? I just see the back of her and Steve dragging her all the way down. When I got there I turned my back on her yelling help so that’s when she hit the floor when I turned my back and that’s the spot where you see the blood is at. You were in the park and you saw where the blood was? Yes. Did you go to the park and see where the blood was with the detectives today? Yes. And was that with detective Sheen? Yes. And did you show him where the blood was? Yes. And the spot where you were with detective Sheen, that’s where the blood was? Yes. You said that Steve dragged her down to that spot. Yes. What did Rayman do whilst Steve dragged her there? He was holding her down. On the way to the spot? Yes. What did Rayman do? He helped put her down there in that spot that you see the blood in and he hold her arms straight out and Steve pulled out the knife she knew she was gonna get stabbed. Dd she scream? Yes and he covered her mouth and gagged her. When you say they gagged her, did they put something in her mouth? I don’t know all I know is one minute she was yelling and that it stopped. So you don’t know whether she was hit unconscious or whether she had her mouth covered, she just suddenly stopped screaming? Yes. When Steve dragged her down, where was Kevin? He was half way up helping. He was helping, what was he doing to help? I think he was holding her or something, I don’t know but he scratched. You saw him get scratched? Yeah. When she got to the bottom of hill what did Steve do with him. It was Steve and Kevin and Steve had a knife and she thought that her life was through. He ripped her shirt, he cut it right off. What colour shirt was she wearing? I don’t know. You don’t know what colour it was? No. You said you saw him cut it? Yeah but he must’ve took the shirt or whatever I didn’t see it. Did someone take the shirt off him? Yes. Steve took it off. And did somebody take her other clothes off? They took her pants off. Who took her pants off? Rayman. What kind of pants was she wearing? She was wearing those sweat pants. Were they long pants or shorts? I think they were like bike pants. And when the pants were taken off, what happened? They just took them halfway off. Was she lying on her back? Yes. He raped her and punched her in the eye and beat her. Who punched her in the face? Steven. And did you see him use anything to hit her with? No. Did you see him use a stone or brick? No. How many times did you see him hit her? I seen him hit her about twice and he was covered in scratches where he was trying to hold her hands down. And Steve said she scratched you up man, that’s evidence where she scratch you up so he hold her hands and he slapped her so he scratched more. Who did that? Kevin. You said that someone had sex with her? Yeah it was Kevin and Rayman, Steven and Rayman. You sure who had sex with her? Yes. Who was the first person to have sex with her? Rayman. Do you remember talking to the detective about who had sex with her? No. When you talked to this detective earlier, detective Nugent earlier did you make a statement to him to say 2 people had sex with her? Yes. And did you tell him the names of those people? Yes. Did you tell him that one of those people was Steve? Yes. And do you remember that one of those people was Kevin? No you just said it was Rayman. It was all 3 of them. Who was the first one that had sex with her. I think it was Steve. When he had sex with her did you see him take his pants off? Half way off. How far down did he take his pants? Knees. And did he get on top of her? Yes. Did he lay down on top of her? Yes. And what did he do on top of her. He just raped her from there. When you say he raped her, what did you actually see? She was just refusing him and he was slapping her and holding her arms. And was he moving on top of her? Yes. How was he moving? Around. Did he say anything to her during this? He was saying something to Rayman and Kevin. What did he say? Kev said he was next and Rayman said I was next, they were playing around with each other. Did Steven say anything to either of those 2 people. Nah. Did you see what Kevin and Rayman were doing whilst Steven was having sex with her? They were playing with her. What were they doing to play with her? Playing with her chest and playing with her legs. Who was playing with her breasts? Rayman. Was he touching her breasts? Yes. Was he doing anything else? Yes. What else was he doing? Just touching. Besides touching her breasts was he doing anything else? No. What did you see Kevin doing? He was playing with her legs. What was he doing with her legs? I don’t know because her body was in the way. Which part of her body was facing you? His back was facing my face. So his back was to you and you couldn’t see but he was near her legs? Yes. After Steven was done, then what happened? The Rayman jumped on top of her and he hold her down again. Was she still screaming? Not for a while. She didn’t scream not more. Did you see if she was bleeding? Yes. Where was she bleeding from? Her legs. Did she have any shoes on? I don’t know. When Kevin got on top of her, did he take his pants off? Yes, he didn’t take them off, he zipped his pants. And did he do the same thing that you saw Kevin do, did he do anything different? A little different. What was different? He did the same thing that Steven did that was about it and he wanted to put it in her mouth. Who wanted to put it in her mouth? Rayman. Did he say that while Kevin was having sex with her? What exactly did he say? Put in her mouth, she might bite. Who said she might bite? Rayman. So about a good 10 15 minutes.... Ok let’s go back for a second, you said that Kevin was 2nd and what did Steve and Rayman do? They were playing with her too. They were playing with her what exactly? Steve was playing with her chest and Rayman was playing with her legs. And after Kevin was done did he get off? And before they left, he got out a knife and cut her legs up. What did he do to cut her up? Cut her legs, I didn’t really see. You didn’t see him do that? No but I could see how he was swinging his knife and I know she have to wake up from the stab marks. Was she screaming? Yes. When Kevin was finished did Rayman have intercourse with her? No. Did you see anybody masturbate on her? What’s masturbate? Play with themselves? Yes. What did you see people do? It was Steven and Rayman they was jerking off coming on top of her. Was it 1 or 2 of them? 2 of them. Did they say anything while they did that? No they say we’re leaving. Did they know that you were behind the tree? No. Where was your friend Al? Al left. Was there anybody there with you? Yes my friend Eddie. Do you know that the police interviewed Eddie? They did? Yes and Eddie said that he didn’t go into park with you.
This is what Eddie told me before all this happened – when we was there what we saw, you didn’t do nothing I’m gonna need you for evidence man and ain’t gonna do time for them. When you what’s going on I’m gonna get in trouble and I say you just gotta say what happened, that’s about it. Don’t make me look like a liar so he said, I don’t know man, I don’t know. You know how they police when they come and interview you. When you said you were running earlier, you said you were running with Al, you didn’t say you were running with Eddie. I know that, Eddie came in though, Eddie came in the park and he was near where you were? Yeah he was right near where I was at. He was calling my name.
Did there come a point where Rayman and Kevin and Steve left? Yeah. The minute they left Eddie came over towards me, he found where my voice was at so I said that Steve and Kevin just raped a woman. That woman right there, they were moving up so Eddie took a troll over there and looked at the woman. And I said don’t let her look at her face. Was she bleeding? Yeah. Where was she bleeding? I don’t know it was dark. How could you tell she was bleeding if it was dark? Because there was a lot of blood, you could see it. And where was the blood? All over her body. Was she moving anymore? Yes she was still moving. Did she say anything? Help. Did you see where her arms were? Her arms were spread out. Did you see where her shirt was? The shirt was at the back, I moved away from her eyes, I moved away from her body.
I want to show you a picture. Do you recognise what that is? What is that? Her shirt. Was that near her or on her when you saw her? It was near her, it wasn’t on her. Look at that picture. Who’s in that picture? It’s her. Is that the woman that you saw? Yes. Is that sort of the way she looked when you saw her? Yes.
*shows further pictures of sustained injuries* What do you see in those pictures? Her legs. Let me show you this picture again. Take a good look at the picture and does that show a picture of her head? Is that the picture you just looked at? Can you see in that picture her head? Yes. Can see the side of her head? Yes. How did those marks get on her head? Knife. Who did that? Steve. Those aren’t the injuries of a knife, the doctor say she had a fractured skull, she was hit with a very heavy object there. Do you know how that happened? No. Is that the way she looked when you saw her? Yes. And you say that she was still moving and still screaming when you saw her? She wasn’t resisting... Can you see her eyes, see how they’re black and blue? Do you know how her eyes got that way? He punched her? It was Rayman. Rayman and Steve. Did you see anybody with a stone or a brick or any kind of heavy object? When I turned my back, the 3 of them must’ve done that. After this happened did you hear anybody say anything about hitting her with a stone or brick or something heavy? They said something the next day. Who said something the next day? Al told me. What did Al tell you? People who watching the news ask me what happened and I said what do you mean what happened? What happened to the lady on the news? What do you mean? Well she’s all beat up and cut up and all that so I says when was this and they say last night so I have to ask we left about then. So asked Al what happened with the lady on the news? Korey how could Al have asked you about anything about the lady when he wasn’t there in the woods. I left him out there as a matter of fact him and Yusef came back about 2 in the morning. I asked Al how come they give no good information about what was going on? A minute ago you said said that Al asked you, which was it? I asked him.
Let me tell you that this is very very serious, this may be murder. We don’t know if this woman is going to live. I want to know exactly what you saw and exactly who said what and exactly what you said to them. After seeing those pictures I’m sure you can see how important this case is and how important it is to know what happened.
I asked Al what happened to the lady after the people told me on the news cos my friend Eddie told me it happened. Cos he seen it to but because of the news how she was beaten up, how she was cut. He said who had the knife and what happened to the lady? I said me and you know that Steve has one so I said who’s out there with Steve? I said people out there with Steve was arrested so I can’t really say. Who you left out there, I ask Al so can’t remember seeing no body. He ain’t gonna say nothing.
Let’s go back to the night in the woods. After Kevin and Steve and Rayman left, you went over to the body and you’re telling me it looks the way it does in the picture? What you do? I couldn’t look at it no more. Was she naked? Yes. Was her bra around her neck did you see her bra? I ain’t bothered about none of that I was looking at the position she was in except they told me that if I stand near the body for too long that I was going to do time for this so I left. Did you leave by yourself? I left with Eddie. Where’d you go? We went straight home. Did you say anything to anyone? No. Did you call the police? Did you see what happened to Steve or Kevin or Rayman that night? I knew Steve and Kevin got locked up, the detectives came up here with Kevin’s Sister and one of cops knew and looked at me with an ugly grin so I said why you looking at me like that for? Did you hear Kevin and Steve and Rayman talking when they left? Left where? The body. That said don’t say nothing about it. Did they say that to you? No. How did you find out that they got arrested? They didn’t come back, it was on the news, my friend Yusef told me. Where did you next see Yusef? I saw Yusef the next day right after the accident. When you say accident what do you mean? What happened to the lady. When you say accident, an accident is what happens when someone slips and falls. You saw people drag her, you saw people beating her up, you saw her so beaten up that she looks the way she does in these pictures. You call that an accident? Now tell me how you knew that these people were arrested? My friend Yusef told me. How did Yusef know? He came out the park about 2:30 that night he told me he see Kevin going into a police car. Where were you when he told you that? I was outside. What were you doing? Nothing.
Yusef was home at 10:30 that night, he didn’t see you until 3:30 the next day. Yeah when we got home from school. So you didn’t see him that night? No. I asked him what time he got back and he said maybe about 2 to 2:30. Did you ask him for your pipe back? No I didn’t say nothing about it. He said he didn’t know where the pipe was at, he said whoever got it it got blood all over it. Why did it have blood all over it, what did they do with it? Yusef told me that they was at the reservoir him and some other dudes they all rest up on a man, they asked him something and then they do him up on the fence. And he got down and they let him go and he ran and then they threw the bar at him and it hit him from the back and he fell and they ran up there and grabbed him and they grabbed the bar and they busted him in his face.
Did Yusef know anything about this woman? Not that I know about, I thought he did. I ask him about it and he say he no nothing about no woman. So everybody telling me what was going on in the news about and I really didn’t quite believe them and had to see for myself. I went upstairs to my house and my Sister had the TV on about 5 o clock it was on the news about what happened that night. When was that? The next day. So I went upstairs, I was going over my girlfriend’s house. Me Yusef and Eddie were going to my girlfriend’s house to watch the news and they said what happened. Did you see any of these guys take any of her clothes? Not that I know of. Did you see her shoes? I never touched her body and I didn’t do nothing to the body. Did you think that she was going to die? Yes. And you left her there? Yes I didn’t want to be there. I always run from the police, if I stood there and told them they would try and make me talk my way and say I killed the lady but I didn’t do. I was running from the cops with the rest of the guys.
Korey let me tell you, we’re going to do some tests. Cum test? Yes, we’re going to take a specimen from her and we’re going to analyse that. We’re going to take blood samples from a lot of different people. Fine with me. Great. I just want you to know that if we do that we will probably get an order to take a sample from you and then we’ll compare the 2 tests. I don’t mind, I understand. Because now you’re in a position now that if you know that there’s going to be a match that you’d be better off telling us about it now. I understand. If we do that test are we going to find that matches Kevin? It’s going to match one of them, I knew what I see. Ok I just want to give you a chance because I want you to be in a position where you’re going to tell us the truth and I want you to know that we’re going to do those tests and we’re going to make comparisons, we’re going to compare them ok? Now if you want to change something that you’ve said to us because we’re going to find out something in short order, now’s the time to change it. Do you have anything that you want to change? No. Is there anything that’s different at all? Cos in a few minutes we’re going to end this interview.
I can appreciate that you’re scared, and I can appreciate that this is a pretty sad case. But the thing that’s most important is that you tell us exactly what happened because if you don’t tell us exactly what happened, and we find out that you were lying it’s going to look pretty bad for you. It’s going to look like not only did you do something which maybe doesn’t turn out to be so bad but that you lied to cover it up and then its going to look a lot worse. Is there anything you want to change about what you told us? *shakes head*
Who was it who dragged her from the path into the woods? Steve. Steve and Rayman. And who else was there? Kevin was right there. And did they do when they dragged her down by the stream? Like I said they just dropped her and there were several slaps. Did you see them hit her? Yeah. How many times did he slap her? About 3 times. He only slapped her 3 times? That’s what it looked like to me. Then Rayman slapped her but after a while Kevin scratched up by her and punched her in the face. Who punched her in the face? Kevin. How many times did he punch her? Twice. Did anybody else punch her in the face? Korey I’m asking you how did she get the injuries that she had when you saw her? If you get a punch, you get a bruise, you get bleeding, you don’t get these lines, you don’t get a fractured skull from it. It looks more like its from a rock. Did you see anybody hit her with anything but their hands? I don’t want you to think that you have to say that but I want to know what you saw that explains how she got so badly hurt. I did see Kevin pick up a small hand rock and hit her across the face with it. How big was the rock? *shows the size of the rock*
Are you just saying because I asked. No. Why didn’t say it before? I remember taking a quick glance in the dark and him picking up a rock out the dirt. What did he do with the rock when he was done? I think he threw it away. Alright Korey I don’t have anymore questions for you. Is there anything more that you want to say? No.
Alright it is now 5 minutes to 2 this interview is concluded thank you.
Second video statement of Korey Wise April 21 1989
It’s now 3:15. We concluded an interview at about 2 o clock. I have been informed by the detectives that you wish to make a statement. Yes. Do you wish to say something? Yes. Before you say it, let me give you your rights again. Let me remind you that my name is Elizabeth Lederer I'm an assistant district attorney in New York county. You have the right to remain silent, to refuse to answer any questions. Do you understand? Yes. Anything you say can be used against you in court. Do you understand? Yes. You have the right to consult a lawyer now before any questioning and to have a lawyer with you during the questioning. Do you understand? Yes. If you have no lawyer or cannot afford a lawyer a lawyer will be provided for you now free of charge before any questioning. Do you understand? Yes. Now that I’ve advised you of your rights are you going to tell me the truth about the woman who was assaulted in Central Park on the night of April 19th 1989. Yes.
When I spoke to you about an hour ago, the conclusion of our conversation I told you that we were going to shortly end our interview and I told you that if there was anything that you wanted to change or anything that you wanted to correct, that was the time to do it. Let me just stop you for a second and say what I want to say. I now understand from the detectives that you want to change something that you said in the first interview. I want to change a lot. Why do you want to change it? The whole thing I was playing innocent when I know I wasn’t. Cos I was doing everything. Why do you want to change what you told us before? Was what you said before the truth? No. This is something I’ve never had to do. I’m scared of going to jail if I have to, do the crime you got to pay.
After you left this room after we had our conversation that was on the video tape, did you have a chance to think about what you’d said? Yes. And what made you change your mind and decide that you wanted to make another statement? I thought about it and caught myself lying. Did any detective tell you to change your statement? No. Are you doing this of your own free will? Is it your own decision? To ask to have another opportunity to make a statement? Yes. If we give you the opportunity to make a statement now will you tell us the truth about what happened? Yes, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Is that what you’ll do? Yes.
I just want to state for the record that detective Hartigan and detective Oriho are also present in the room. Since you left this room at the end of our last interview where were you waiting? I was upstairs. And what were you doing upstairs? I was in conversation with one of the detectives. Is that when you told the detective that you want to change your statement? Yes Maam. And is it true that detective said you contacted me? Yes. And asked to be allowed to go on video tape again? Yes. I couldn’t do it myself, the officer do it for me. Why don’t you tell me know what was wrong in what you said earlier and what you wish to correct.
At the beginning, when they jumped the bum, I was in it too. We stomped on him, jumped him, kicked him. And did you stomp on him too? No I just kicked. And you kicked when the others kicked? The others were kicking and you were doing it as well? Yes. How many times did you kick him? I only kicked him in his side twice. Ok and did you do anything else with respect to that guy? No – I don’t want to leave him in the street hurt, I know he was hurt. Me and my friend that I knew that same day, we grabbed him by his sleeves and carted him off to the grass. Do you know the name of that person? No. Was there anything else that you told us that wasn't true? Erm I was by the reservoir and the damage that happened there, I didn’t do the damage but I did a little something there. What you’re talking about now, who was involved in that? Who was the victim in that incident? Well my friend Yusef had my bar and he gave my bar to one of my other friends and I didn’t see him. They ran up on a man and do him up against the fence and then he ran. The guy pulled out the bar and threw it at him. It hit him and he fell, we all chased him and grabbed him and Yusef took the bar across his face. They all punched him, kicked him and I kicked him but I kicked him in the stomach. And then coming towards the rape, we came down from the reservoir to the field, that’s when we came towards the rape. Who was ‘we’? It was me, Steve and Kevin. I don’t know the rest of the others and Raymen. Was Yusef there? Yes. Raymen ran back of her and she looked back at Raymen and she started running a little faster. Steve came out towards the front and grabbed her from the front and from the front right there that when he started a little rape. Then they brought her all the way down. And when you say Steve grabbed her from the front and Raymen grabbed her from the back, where were you? Me and Kevin and Yusef were standing right there looking at them starting everything themselves. You just something about there being a little rape there – tell me what you mean. Steve attacked her first with the rape right there. Right there? The first picture you showed me, that where it started from, then it started all the way down. When you say a little rape happened there what exactly do you mean? Tell me what each of the people did. Steven he just felt her up, she couldn’t take it, she was trying to scream, she slapped him. She slapped Steve and Steve slapped her back. Was she dressed? Yes. And when you say he felt her up, what exactly did you see him do? Being that she couldn’t take him by herself and he couldn’t take her by himself, Raymen grabbed her to make it harder on her, 2 against 1. It brought too much weight on her and she had no choice but to let loose, to give up and so from there they brung her body way down there, that where the blood was at. How did they get her down to where you found the blood? They grabbed each arm and they dragged her. How did they drag her? They dragged from her feet and they dragged her. Her back was on the grass. They dragged her down and that’s when Steve stripped her clothes with the knife and everything, slapped her across the face and everything. When he do all that I just want to sit right there and look at what’s going on. If you with them you got to show a little effort as to what’s going on and I had to get it to her too. I wasn’t doing what they were doing, they was on top raping her and I was playing with her. When you say they were raping her, what exactly where they doing? This I knew they fucked her. Her with Steve and Raymen and me and Kev and Yusef were playing with her. Yusef had her arms and me and Kev were playing with her. What were you doing when you were playing with her? I was playing with her legs. What were you doing with her legs? I was going up and down her legs. I wasn’t doing as much as they were doing. Were you going up to her crotch? No. I was about to but I said no. I couldn’t exactly see myself doing that, I wasn’t up to it. I could see the expression on her face. When we do this and get caught by the cops, its going to be through so what I did was different from them. The only people that did it different was me, Yusef and Kevin did what they were doing. Me and Yusef were just playing with her. Did you play with her breasts? Yusef played with her breasts. Did you? No. I didn’t go up to the breasts or nothing. I stayed on the leg. They told me to pull down her pants, so Steve got off of her and Steve called me a punk cos I didn’t do it. They hold her down and Steve ripped her pants with his knife and that’s when she got mad and starts scratching him. She was yelling pretty loud, Yusef closed her mouth, he had bigger hands than us, and he closed her mouth. We were looking at her and I felt kind of bad. This is my first rape, I never did this before and this gonna be my last time doing it. This is my first experience; this will be my last. So they just went on doing what they were doing. And after Kevin and Raymen picked up a rock. Kevin hit her in the face with the rock, that’s what knocked her out. Steve was using the knife to cut her legs, I don’t know how he was doing it. There was Kev and Steve and Raymen were acting wild and me and Yusef were staying to the side, we were playing with her but standing to the side. They were punching her face and I couldn’t stand looking at them punching her face. They were doing it with both hands? Yeah and like more than 2 hands were punching her face. Who was punching her? Kev, Raymen and Steve. I still not saying that me and Yusef was innocent even though we were playing with her but me and Yusef weren’t going that far, we were just playing with her. She couldn’t take a hit. Steve hit her 1 time boom and she closed her eyes for quite a while, that’s when he ripped her pants and she just opened her eyes and what did she do? She was kicking. She almost kicked me and that’s why I moved down her leg and that’s why I let her leg go. And we all got nicknames so we were calling each other by our nicknames. What are the nicknames? Since my friend Yusef is tall we call him ‘Cane’, my nick name is ‘Polo’ and Fedari is ‘Fedari’ that’s his nick name, we always go by our nicknames. And Kevin? Sometimes we call him ‘Lemon head’ cos his head is shaped like a lemon. What about Steve? We call him ‘Torrymadada’ cos Torrymadada was dirty, he beat up his wife he beat up everybody, he was the one who was beating this lady up. Does Raymen have a nickname? He don’t got a name. We was giving each other nicknames cos we lived in St Mario, we see each other every day. My friend Yusef, his girlfriend Korey she kicked him out kicked them all out. She kicked in his chest Kevin went wild on her and punching her face have everyone touching her stomach, touching her leg. Me and Yusef tell Steve to let her go man cos we don’t a dead body on our hands, leave her alone. And he said no man no. What you wanna do kill her? He said he wanna do something and we said come on man I bet there’s cops out here looking for her, come on they got half our people but by the time we got separated Kev and Steve they made their last victim before they left was the man in van. Sorry? They beat up a man in a van and the police came and the minute that they were in the van, they weren’t thinking about the police. The police pulled over to the van and got both of them and I was already out. How do you know that? Cos we seen the van I think it was a blue van, they ran up to the van and they said what you going to do man, we’ll go get this man in the van. So I thought about it cos a man round my way got shot for messing with an undercover cop in a bread truck, I thought about this van and I left the man and van alone, I didn’t touch the man in the van but after they done that to the man in the van, Yusef saw the police coming. Yusef ran he didn’t say nothing to Steve. He yelled Steve Steve and said I got it I got it, I guess it was money or jewellery or something was in there that they wanted real bad. Well me and Yusef left which left Steve, Kevin and Raymen by their self, that’s when the police came over. Was Michael Frisco with you when you were with the woman? Yes. What he do? He kicked her. Anything else? No. What did this woman look like when you left? Messed up. When they got off her and they stopped cutting her and hitting her with bricks, I see blood scattered. I moved out the way. Me and Yusef left. We didn’t leave, we was like 3 steps away from her and they were beating her up and we was like oh man. Yusef was laughing and my expression towards that was I felt kind of bad. The reason why I did that was to prove myself, this is the reason why I was with them. That was when they called me a name, the reason why because we were altogether. Was Anton there? Yes. Anton came and the minute that Steve beat the lady up. There was blood scattered all over the place and I couldn’t look at it no more. Like I said the reason why I did it not just to prove myself cos I don’t need to prove myself to nobody, I did it because we went to the park. To what? To trouble. We went for trouble and we got trouble a lot of trouble. That’s what they wanted and that’s what I wanted. If they were doing it then I was doing it. I can’t apologise as it’s too late and now what we gotta do is pay up for what we did. We can cry and everything but that still won’t solve no question of what we did. Did you hit her or kick her? No I was just playing with her. Did you hold her legs down? I hold her leg down for 5 seconds. Is that when Steven was on top of her? Yeah he asked me to pull her pants down and I said no. That’s when her pants were too hard to pull down anyway. Did you try? I put my hand on the label part to see if it was stretchy but it was too tight so I left it alone but Steve just cut the pants. What happened to her clothes? When she started kicking, I left her alone cos I didn’t want to get kicked in my face. Now there’s too much evidence, even though I’ve given myself away, I have to do it anyway cos hey it’s too late but when he did all this, me and Yusef was away from that. We were away and we looked at it, I felt bad and he started laughing. He said but it’s not funny though what’s going on? But he was laughing but I felt bad looking at it happen. I can imagine beating a woman but not beating her up just like that. Thinking of all that blood squirting. Did you get blood on your clothes? No. Are you sure? I swear to God. I was playing with the leg me and Yusef and when Steve told me to take her pants off, I tried to see how tight her pants was and when her pants leg was tight, I left that alone. Steve say get on get. He told Anton and Kev to hold her arms down and he did the pants and me and Yusef grabbed me off the floor, I stepped away from the like he did but what they did was on their own. Was she wearing underpants? No. I think she did. When I see him cutting her pants, that’s when my friend Yusef was collapsing on her, laughing on her. Inside my heart I couldn’t see myself doing that I ain’t gonna take off nobody’s pants. I can’t even take off a man’s pants. If it’s time for me to beat up somebody, I’m gonna beat up on a man. That I know he gonna fight, he gonna fight. That’s what we almost had a problem with the jogger. The jogger hit one of us, him with the jogger and the jogger came back and hit the guy bad, is this the same night? When the guy hit the jogger, the jogger hit him back and everybody jumped on him and the jogger he got beat up and scratched up a little he beat up half of everybody that’s with us and he ran.
When you left that woman lying in the park did you think that she was dead? That’s how I looked at it. I looked at it just like that, I was scared. But you thought that if she was dead then she wouldn’t be able to identify you? Steven was going to kill her so she won’t identify us. And Yusef said don’t kill her man. Steve said something towards Yusef he said I’m outta here and left. And I followed and said come on and looked at what they were doing on this lady and when they finished she was all cut up and they left her body right there and she didn’t move and Yusef looked back and Steve was going the opposite way from us. Said we are going back to the block, Steve says we see you back at the block and we said ok but Yusef kept walking but I paused an stopped myself and he says what’s wrong? I looked back and at the lady and he says it’s too late Korey you can’t do nothing man. That’s when another jogger came. I’m sorry when we took a statement from you before, what you’re telling us now is not the same thing you told us then? No. Why didn’t you tell us the truth before? I couldn’t face telling the truth. What made you change your mind? I thought about it. We are about to finish this interview. I want you to know that we will not have another interview so I’m asking you now is there anything at all that you have told us in this last half hour that is not true? No, that’s all I have to say. Have told us the truth now? Have you told us voluntarily? Yes. Because you wanted to? Yes maam. Did anyone force you? No maam. Or threaten you? No maam.
Thank you very much. It is now 20 minutes to 4 and this interview is complete.
Central Park Five - Korey Wise (Full Coerced Video Confession) video
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