Section IV: Dane County Protection of Violent Criminals

February 4, 2011 Home Invasion of 1818 Fordem Avenue

As put forth in the attached Capital Times article (Attachment #65), an armed home invasion took place on February 4^th, 2011 at 1818 Fordem Avenue in Madison.  While the article does not identify the four perpetrators, they were Ashton Davis, Anthony Williams, Zachary Mays, and Egber Ruiz.

Shortly after the robbery, one of the victims identified Anthony Williams and Zachary Mays as perpetrators.  The surveillance photos of 1818 Fordem Avenue capture Williams and Mays as identifiable perpetrators entering the building.  However, for some inexplicable reason, the Madison Case Detective John Messer failed to arrest either man, let alone seek to have either man charged.  Why?

The answer appears to be related to the protection of Ashton Davis.  Davis is captured in the surveillance photos but it appears that Detective Messer, rather than apprehending Davis, who fled Madison immediately after the crime, appeared more interested in focusing on Davis’ look-a-like cousin Gray, whom Davis had recently convinced to move to Madison from Chicago in late January in 2011.  However, it should not be overlooked that the best way to ascertain whether it was Davis or Gray would have been the obvious option of arresting and charging both Williams and Mays.  Why didn’t Detective Messer take this standard step given that he had IDs of Mays and Williams and corroborating photographic evidence?  Is it because there could be no guarantee that these men would not identify Davis, their fellow clique-member, as the lead perpetrator?

The fourth man, Egber Ruiz as shown in the attached article (Attachment #66), was recently arrested for committing further armed robberies in the Madison area.  However, as bad as this may be, it pales in comparison to what was the price of Detective Messer’s inexplicable failure to arrest Williams and Mays.  That failure resulted in the homicide of Michael Keith on September 15, 2011, as set out later.

Also set out later, is what occurred at the March 26, 2012 evidentiary hearing.  The evidence on that day overwhelmingly suggests that Det. Messer was committed to keeping the February 4, 2011 home invasion unsolved.