There's Been A Stunning Twist In The Murder Of Michael Jordan's Father

Usually, it’s the guilty party that complains about an unfair trial. However, in the case of Daniel Green — one of the men who has long been in prison for the murder of Michael Jordan’s father — it’s the judge who sent him there who’s calling foul. Gregory Weeks, the North Carolina judge who handed down a guilty verdict to both Green and his accomplice Larry Demery in 1996, recently contacted the state parole commission and admitted that he might have made a huge mistake all those years ago.

Turns out, the forensic blood analysis that played a key part in the conviction wasn’t as conclusive as it was made out to be during the trial. According to ABC News, Weeks confessed to the commission that he has been harboring doubt about his decision ever since he let the gavel fall.

But how exactly was the blood analysis inconclusive? It all goes back to the accepted narrative of the murder, which was largely based on Demery’s testimony. Notably, he agreed to plead guilty to first degree murder and testify against Green in an effort to avoid the death penalty.

James Jordan, Michael Jordan’s father, was sleeping in his car in the parking lot of a Quality Inn back in 1993. It was purported that he had simply been too tired to keep driving after a long day — much of it spent golfing with his son — and decided to rest. That night, Green and Demery came upon Jordan and decided to rob him instead of the hotel — which had allegedly been their original plan. According to Demery’s testimony, Daniel shot Jordan dead after they’d decided to merely tie him up. It was only after they started going through his possessions that they realized who their victim actually was. During his testimony, Demery said that Green told him: “I believe we’ve killed Michael Jordan’s daddy.”

Afterward, they stole the vehicle and dumped Jordan’s body in a swamp near Bennettsville, South Carolina. By the time the body was discovered by authorities, it was severely decomposed; only through dental records were they able to make a positive identification. That’s the accepted narrative of the murder. Green’s version of the events, however, are quite different.

According to Green, Demery arrived at his house in the dead of night and told him that he had shot a man and needed help disposing of the body — which Green helped him do. Besides that, he had nothing to do with Jordan’s murder.

This is where the forensic blood analysis comes into play. The blood analyst who examined the evidence was not able to confirm that stains found inside of Jordan’s stolen car were actually his blood. The analyst also wasn’t able to find a hole in Jordan’s clothing that corresponded with the shot allegedly fired by Green. Further complicating matters was the fact that Jordan’s body was cremated soon after it was unearthed — something that many of Green’s advocates have found to be suspicious. Still, Daniel’s attorney, Christine Mumma, has admitted that this was standard procedure. According to Weeks, the analyst did not mention the true nature of her findings during the trial, which he said would have altered his final decision of sentencing both men to life in prison.

Demery was originally approved for parole in August of 2020, but the scheduled release was pushed back and eventually terminated. As of this writing, he is still awaiting another hearing. Green’s hope for release, on the other hand, relies solely on the petition put forth by Gregory Weeks. So far, there’s no telling how the state parole board will respond.

Green has long proclaimed his innocence, but has also accepted responsibility for his actions. He wrote in a letter to the state parole commission: “Every day I live with the remorse and the pain and the suffering caused by my youthful decisions. I regret the harm my actions inflicted on the Jordan family.” As for how he feels about Weeks’ efforts to potentially get him out of prison, he said in a phone call with ABC News: “It speaks volumes about this case, and I’m overwhelmingly grateful.”