Kenneth Freeman
Kenneth "Poppi" Freeman (d. May 13, 1985) was a street vendor from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania who sold newspapers along with Billy Cook. He is known for being an important suspect in the Mumia Abu-Jamal case (the murder of Daniel Faulkner). Cynthia White, a key witness, said that Freeman was present, but did not name him. At the time of the crime, Freeman was a front passenger in Billy Cook's Volkswagen. In two different lineups done to determine the killer, Cynthia White picked him. Billy Cook, the brother of Abu-Jamal (Wesley Cook), claimed later that Freeman personally confessed to him as being armed and shooting Faulkner. Arnold Beverly, in an affidavit where he confessed to the murder, named "another guy" as a shooter. Some witnesses testified that they saw a man with a green army jacket going away from the crime scene. Billy Cook said that Kenneth Freeman was wearing a green army jacket.[1][2]
Freeman was reportedly in Germany in the Army, and usually wore the jacket.[2]
One important contradiction is the fact that Cynthia White picked Freeman out of a lineup as the killer, but later changed her testimony to fit the prosecution's story. This can be explained by her admission that police bribed her to do so so that she could do illegal work. That leads to another important inconsistency, which is that Yvette Williams, someone who White knew personally, said that White told her that she did not see the actual killer, which means she couldn't have knowingly pointed out Freeman as the killer, unless he confessed to her personally. [3]
On May 13, 1985, Kenneth Freeman was found dead in an empty area, handcuffed, bound, and naked, his death listed as "natural causes". J. Patrick O'Connor, in his book The Framing of Mumia Abu-Jamal, says that "[h]is body was found bound, gagged, and naked in a vacant lot". [1]