Walter Snyder

The Crime

At about 1:30 a.m. on Oct. 28, 1985, a 35-year-old white woman was awakened in the bedroom of her home in Alexandria, Virginia, by a light turning on. When she opened her eyes, she saw a man in her room. After a few seconds, the man turned off the light and proceeded to sexually assault her. 

The Investigation

The following day, Alexandria Police Detective Barry Shiftic was assigned to investigate the crime. The victim described her assailant as a Black male who wore a gray sweatshirt, red shorts, and white tennis shoes. She was unable to get a good look at his face, but reported that he had smooth and soft hands.

During interviews with the victim’s neighbors, two of them mentioned seeing 19-year-old Walter Snyder Jr. — a Black man who lived across the street from the victim — standing shirtless in his front yard a few hours before the crime. Following this lead, Detective Shiftic headed to Mr. Snyder’s home, where he spoke with his mother, Edith L. Snyder. She told him that she did not notice anything unusual prior to the crime. 

The next day, Detective Shiftic visited T. J. Fannon and Sons, a HVAC company where Mr. Snyder worked, to bring him to the police station. There, Mr. Snyder agreed to be fingerprinted and photographed. When Detective Shiftic asked Mr. Snyder whether he owned red shorts and white tennis shoes, the man replied affirmatively. He was then released.

On Nov. 8, 1985, a search warrant was issued for Mr. Snyder’s residence, based on an affidavit signed by Detective Shiftic stating that Mr. Snyder had been seen wearing a gray sweatshirt resembling the assailant’s. There, police seized a pair of Mr. Snyder’s red boxing shorts and a pair of white tennis shoes — but were unable to find a gray sweatshirt. 

That same day, Detective Shiftic presented a photographic lineup of possible suspects to the victim. She tentatively selected Mr. Snyder’s photograph, saying she was uncertain. 

Three days later, on Nov. 11, the victim saw Mr. Snyder washing his car while wearing red shorts similar to those of her assailant. She called the police to report that Mr. Snyder’s thighs looked familiar. He was not arrested, however.

On Jan. 29, 1986, Mr. Snyder headed to the Alexandria Police Department to reclaim his belongings taken during the search. Detective Shiftic refused to turn them over, asserting that the items were considered evidence and were being examined at a laboratory. 

The following day, Mr. Snyder returned to the police station to ask for his clothing. Detective Shiftic asked Detective George Burnham to escort Mr. Snyder to the lobby while he called the victim to come down to the station. When she arrived, she saw Mr. Snyder and identified him as her assailant. Mr. Snyder was then arrested.

During his interrogation by Detectives Shiftic and Burnham, joined by Detective Russell Peverall, Mr. Snyder was handcuffed to a chair. He adamantly denied committing the crime, stating that he would never commit a rape because he strove to model his life after Jesus Christ. Although the detectives later claimed that Mr. Snyder confessed during this questioning, there was no record, written or otherwise, documenting the claim, and Mr. Snyder himself denied ever confessing.

The investigation soon escalated into physical confrontation and evidence collection. Detective Shiftic forcibly removed hairs from Mr. Snyder’s head and placed them on the table. Mr. Snyder later claimed that, when he blew the hairs off the table, Detective Shiftic struck him in the face. At one point, Mr. Snyder attempted to flee the room while still handcuffed to the chair. He was restrained by the officers, and, in the process, suffered a broken nose and a bruised shoulder.

The misconduct continued when Detective Shiftic pulled down Mr. Snyder’s pants to forcibly remove a pubic hair. According to Mr. Snyder, the officers then dragged him into a public area of the police station with his pants still down to his ankles. 

On Jan. 30, 1986, Mr. Snyder was charged with rape, sodomy, aggravated sexual battery, and breaking and entering. 

The Trial

Prior to the trial, the defense filed a motion to suppress evidence gathered during the search of Mr. Snyder’s home, arguing that the warrant was compromised from the start. The motion claimed that, in order to establish probable cause, Detective Shiftic had pressured witnesses to alter their statements about seeing Mr. Snyder shirtless so they would match the victim’s description of her assailant’s gray sweatshirt. This motion was denied.

The defense also challenged other aspects of the investigation. One defense motion argued that the victim’s identification of Mr. Snyder in the police department’s lobby was unconstitutionally suggestive, as she was only presented with a single suspect. Another asserted that Mr. Snyder’s pubic hair was obtained through an unreasonable seizure, as Detective Shiftic had forcibly removed it while Mr. Snyder was being restrained by other officers. These motions were also denied.

On June 23, 1986, Mr. Snyder went to trial in Alexandria City Circuit Court. A forensic analyst testified that the pubic hair could have belonged to Mr. Snyder. 

Another laboratory technician testified that, based on serological testing, the victim and her assailant both had type A blood and were both secretors, meaning that their blood types could be detected through serological testing. 

On June 24, the defense filed a motion to suppress Mr. Snyder’s alleged confession, arguing that the police had not read his Miranda warnings. That motion was denied.

Detective Burnham testified that Mr. Snyder had said that he was Jesus Christ, rather than that he was modeling Christ. The officers also testified that Mr. Snyder confessed to using the drug phenylcyclohexyl piperidine (PCP), an animal tranquilizer known on the street as “angel dust,” on the night of the crime. Detective Shiftic suggested that this drug use explained Mr. Snyder’s comment about being Jesus Christ.

When the victim took the stand, she burst into tears, pointing out Mr. Snyder as her attacker. She also stated that her assailant smelled like alcohol, smoke, and a combination of oil and basement. 

On the stand, Mr. Snyder stated that he had been asleep at home at the time of the attack, and denied confessing to the crime or claiming to be Jesus Christ. To rebut the victim’s description of her attacker’s hands as soft and smooth, Snyder showed the jury his hands, which were callused from his work as a HVAC repairman.

Mr. Snyder’s brother, Christopher, testified that Mr. Snyder was home in bed at the time of the assault.

On June 25, 1986, the jury convicted Mr. Snyder on all of the charges. Judge Alfred Swersky imposed the 45-year sentence that the jury had recommended.

On June 5, 1990, the Virginia Court of Appeals upheld the convictions and sentence. Mr. Snyder petitioned the Supreme Court of Virginia to file a further appeal, but the petition was denied. 

The Exoneration

That same year, Mr. Snyder read a magazine article about the use of DNA testing in England. His mother, Edith, telephoned the British scientist mentioned in the article. Eventually, she connected with Peter Neufeld, co-founder of the Innocence Project, who agreed to take the case. In 1992, a private company conducted DNA testing on the semen. The testing excluded Mr. Snyder as the source of the semen.

When the prosecution was informed, it requested that the DNA test be repeated. The evidence was sent to the Center for Blood Research (CBR) in Boston. On Oct. 28, 1992, CBR reported that the DNA found on the vaginal swab in the rape kit did not belong to Mr. Snyder. 

The prosecution then asked the FBI to review the test results. The FBI confirmed the results.

Mr. Snyder was not released, however, because of a highly restrictive Virginia statute which required that new evidence had to be introduced within 21 days of the conviction. As a result, he was precluded from seeking to vacate his conviction in court. The only path was to seek a gubernatorial pardon. The prosecution joined the defense in requesting a pardon from Governor L. Douglas Wilder. 

On April 23, 1993, Mr. Snyder was granted an absolute pardon and was released that day. He had been imprisoned for seven years.

In April 1994, Mr. Snyder filed a suit in U.S. District Court against the city of Alexandria and the officers in the case. 

U.S. Judge Thomas Selby Ellis III dismissed the lawsuit.

On Feb. 15, 1996, the state legislature passed a bill awarding Mr. Snyder $11,200 in compensation.

In August 2017, Mr. Snyder died of a heart attack.