Sue Witman said she is hopeful a private investigation into her son's 1998 murder will lead to the freedom of her other son who was convicted of that murder in 2003.

"We try not to get too excited," she said. "We've been let down before."

Witman and her husband, Ron Witman, were on hand Wednesday at the Yorktowne Hotel where wrongful conviction expert Lonnie Soury announced a $100,000 reward for information leading to the freedom of Zachary Witman and the "real killer" of Gregory Witman.

Zachary, now 29, is serving life without parole sentence in Gregory's murder. Gregory was 13 when he was brutally killed in the family's New Freedom home.

Zachary hopes to be resentenced if his conviction is not overturned. Read more about where he stands in the court system here.

Soury has enlisted former New York City Police Detective Jay Salpeter and former Aberdeen, Md., police officer George Matheis Jr., who now lives in York County, to investigate the Witman murder. Soury said an unnamed third investigator also will be involved.

Soury criticized the investigation of Gregory's murder, saying police zeroed in on Zachary because he was home at the time.

"There was no other investigation," Soury said.

Soury also said his experts call the forensic evidence presented at trial "faux scientific evidence."

He said three things led to Zachary's arrest and conviction:

-- There was no effective or credible police investigation;

-- The commonwealth's evidence presented at trial as scientific was not credible;

-- And that Zachary's defense attorney was ineffective for not calling experts to refute the findings of the commonwealth's experts.

At Zachary's trial, the prosecution relied heavily on the testimony of a Pennsylvania State Police blood spatter expert to explain the blood stains on Zachary's sweatshirt were made when Zachary was stabbing his brother.

Soury and his team contend, as Zachary's parents have in the past, that the blood got on Zachary's shirt when a 911 dispatcher told him to move the body to see if Gregory was still alive.

Matheis said he believes that the knife the commonwealth contends is the murder weapon could not have caused the near decapitation without breaking. He had made the same statement in a December 2010 story and video in the York Daily Record/Sunday News.

"It's the worst little penknife to cut a sandwich - much less kill someone," he said.

Wednesday, Matheis showed a PowerPoint presentation of a timeline of the murder. He said all sides agree:

-- Gregory arrived home on Oct. 2, 1998 at 3:10 p.m.;

-- A friend called and spoke to Zachary at 3:15 p.m.;

-- Zachary called 911 at 3:17.29 p.m.;

-- The police arrived at 3:24.59 p.m.

Matheis said the prosecution and Zachary's supporters disagree on what happened in that nearly 15 minutes.

He said it was inconceivable for Zachary to have expended the energy to inflict the massive amount of wounds to Gregory's body, answer the phone and sound "normal," as his friend told police, and then walk through the house in stocking feet, leaving no blood trail, and bury the murder weapon under a fir tree in the backyard.

He said the person who killed Gregory would have had the entire 15 minutes to commit the murder and make a get away.

Salpeter also criticized what he called the lack of a police investigation. He said witnesses initially told police that Gregory was in some kind of minor altercation earlier that day with a schoolmate and that Gregory was later seen walking home with another boy walking opposite of him on the road.

Salpeter said there was never any follow-up investigation as to who those children were.

Salpeter said he was "crying out" to anyone with any information, no matter how small, to call the evidence tip line.

"For 15 years, someone has slept very well knowing Zachary was in jail," he said.

Soury also invited the York County District Attorney's Office to join in the investigation.

Chief Deputy Prosecutor Tim Barker, who prosecuted Zachary, did not respond to questions about the news conference and investigation. Instead, Kyle King, the district attorney's chief administrator, sent out an email stating that Barker, who was busy preparing for other pending homicide cases, wanted questions submitted to him in writing by 4:30 p.m. Thursday.

Sue Witman said Salpeter is "the second part of our equation." She said while Zachary's attorneys continue to work for his freedom, re-sentencing or retrial through the legal system, Salpeter will head the investigation into the murder.

"He has our total support and confidence," she said.

"This is the first time your son is going to have an investigation," Salpeter told her.

Reward offered

Anyone with any information about the 1998 murder of 13-year-old Gregory Witman is asked to call the anonymous tip line at 717-819-6006.

A $100,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the "real killer."

More information about the private investigation is available at www.zachwitman.com

The investigation team

-- Lonnie Soury is president of Soury Communications, Inc., a communications company specializing in public relations, public policy, government affairs, media and crisis communication, advertising, marketing and special events.

Soury was involved in the private investigations that led to the dismissal of charges against Marty Tankleff, who was convicted of killing his parents, and the release of Damien Echols, one of the West Memphis 3 convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of three young boys.

-- Jay Salpeter is a private investigator and former New York City Police detective who investigated the allegations and evidence against Tankleff and Echols.

-- George Matheis Jr. is a former Aberdeen, Md., police officer and founder of Modern Combative Systems, a company offering training in safety and self-defense, including the use of edged weapons.

He first looked into the Witman case in 2010 when the York Daily Record/Sunday News asked him to determine if the murder weapon, a plastic handled pen knife, could have caused the wounds to Gregory's neck. He said he doubted it was the primary weapon in the murder.

Also of interest:

·Mike Argento: Witmans stuck in a living hell

·Zachary Witman waits for state Supreme Court hearing about resentencing

·Read more about the new effort and about concerns regarding evidence

·New Freedom residents react to private investigation of Witman murder




Zachary Witman's age was incorrect in the original version of this story.