Murder of Daniel Faulkner

Early in the morning of December 9, 1981, Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner was shot and killed. A local journalist, left-wing political commentator, and taxi driver, Mumia Abu-Jamal (born Wesley Cook) was blamed for the murder. Though some allege that Abu-Jamal confessed to the murder whilst he was in Jefferson Hospital, attributing to him the quote "I shot the motherfucker and I hope the motherfucker dies", there was a report by Gary Wakshul (not admitted as evidence) where he explicitly said "During that time, the negro male made no comments", clearly referring to Abu-Jamal. Moreover, Kenneth Pate, the son of Durham's husband, said that Durham told him in a private telephone conversation that she lied and did not hear Abu-Jamal say any such thing.