Brandon Shelton's Confession to Investigators?

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Brandon Shelton's Confession to Investigators?

Finally on July 25, 1995, four investigators, Detective Paula Townsend of the Watauga County Sheriff’s Office and Special Agents Daniel Castillo, Don Gale and Steve Wilson of the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation located and interviewed Brandon Shelton for the first and only time.

During the interview with investigators Brandon Shelton gave a statement and made the following admissions concerning the death of Viktor Gunnarsson:

	He knew Gunnarsson and knew that Gunnarsson was sleeping with his wife Heather Shelton.
	He was extremely jealous of his wife, Heather Shelton and he wanted to get even over the affair Gunnarsson had with his wife.
	He had come home early one evening in November 1993 to find Gunnarsson and another man at his home with his wife. Gunnarsson was drunk or high on drugs and had his shirt off and his wife’s shirt was unbuttoned. He threatened to kill Gunnarsson and his wife.
	After Gunnarsson left his residence, he made his wife admit she was having an affair and having sex with Gunnarsson and that he was going to get Viktor the first chance he got. He also said that he hated Gunnarsson.
	He started hanging out with Gunnarsson and told Gunnarsson everything was cool between them so he could get close to him. He bought drugs from Gunnarsson then resold them to make money.
	He admitted Michael Blackwelder had a key to Gunnarsson’s apartment and that Blackwelder had lived there and still received his mail there.
	He admitted that he knew his wife, Heather had told police that he had threatened to kill Gunnarsson and that after the murder admitted to her he killed Gunnarsson and threatened her.
	He admitted he last saw Gunnarsson on the afternoon of December 3, 1993 when he and Michael Blackwelder went to the victim’s apartment. He admitted that he and Blackwelder were going to “do Viktor Gunnarsson then”. But Gunnarsson’s friend was there and they did not want to hurt him. He further admitted that he had borrowed a .22 pistol from his neighbor Jan Wagoner. He and Blackwelder decided to come back later that night and get Gunnarsson.
	When asked a direct question by investigators “Did you kill Viktor Gunnarsson?” he stated “I had best not answer that question right now”.
	He has newspaper clippings in a scrapbook about Gunnarsson’s murder which he showed to investigators.

When asked a direct question by investigators “Did you ever write a confession to Viktor’s murder, or tell anyone a briefcase contained a confession and the gun used to kill Viktor?” he wanted to speak to an attorney before answering.

He said Gunnarsson had bragged to him about having been charged with assassinating the Prime Minister of Sweden and how he got away with it.

He admitted that once when Robbie Smith was in his presence he told him about catching Gunnarsson with his wife. When Smith asked him did he know anything about Viktor Gunnarsson’s murder he responded “Yeah I do. I killed him for having sex with my wife”.

	He admitted that another time while in a Food Lion store Smith saw him and asked him about Gunnarsson’s murder and he admitted he told Smith “Okay, I’ll tell you. I killed Viktor Gunnarsson.” He said he was sober at the time.
	He said that he admitted to Robbie Smith that he and Michael Blackwelder went to Gunnarsson’s apartment on the night of the murder and Blackwelder let them in with a key. He said he told Smith that Gunnarsson was coaxed out of bed on the pretense of going to a party and they jumped him. He admitted he told Smith they used tape from Gunnarsson’s apartment, some black electrical tape and some light colored tape and taped Gunnarsson’s hands behind his back. He also admitted he told Smith that he and Blackwelder carried Gunnarsson down and put him in the trunk of Viktor’s car and drove him to the mountains and shot him in the head. He said he told Smith they drove Gunnarsson’s car back to the victim’s apartment and parked it.
	He said that he had been to the Blue Ridge Parkway and Boone, North Carolina and knew the area well. He also knows where Deep Gap is. He has been on the Blue Ridge Parkway many times riding motorcycles.
	He has made statements that he killed Viktor Gunnarsson.
	He would not admit to investigators that he and Michael Blackwelder killed Viktor Gunnarsson, only that he admitted to others he did.
	He was sober during the interview with investigators and said what he had told them was the truth (Exhibit I, Statement of Brandon Shelton).

Investigators never explained:

	Why Shelton would confess so many times to different people, while sober, if he didn’t commit the murder.
	Why, since Brandon Shelton told Robbie Smith that he borrowed a .22 caliber pistol that he used to shoot Gunnarsson, and Gunnarsson was shot with a .22 caliber weapon, that investigators never tried to seize or test this weapon.
	Why, since Shelton had confessed to Gunnarsson’s murder, no fiber samples were ever taken from Shelton’s home or clothing by investigators to compare with the fibers that were found in Gunnarsson’s hair and on the tape from the crime scene since investigators were aware these unidentified fibers existed.
	Why investigators never searched Shelton’s residence for any evidence since he did confess numerous times to other people that he had committed the murder.
	Why, since Shelton had confessed that Gunnarsson was carried in his own car to the spot where he was killed, investigators never processed Gunnarsson’s car for blood, hairs, fibers or fingerprints.
	Why, since Shelton had admitted that Michael Blackwelder had helped him kill Gunnarsson, Blackwelder was never interviewed by investigators or even asked about the murder.
	Why two unidentified fingerprints that the trial evidence revealed were found in Gunnarsson’s residence (Volume IV, TP. 1501) were never compared to the known fingerprint samples that were on file with the police belonging to Brandon Shelton and Michael Blackwelder since Shelton did confess numerous times that he and Blackwelder killed Gunnarsson.
	Note: Trial testimony from the state’s latent fingerprint expert, S.B.I. Agent Joyce Petzka revealed that she was only asked to try and compare my fingerprints and no other prints with the fingerprints found inside Gunnarsson’s residence (Volume IV, TP. 1501-1502).

Brandon Shelton was listed as a defense witness but was not called to testify on my behalf (Exhibit T, Witness List).

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