“The doors to Gunther’s classroom were solid, but windows were installed so that people in the hallway could see into the room. The doors were never locked, and were often propped open. There were mirrors on three of the classroom walls. Children and parents came and went in and out of the classroom while classes were going on. Some parents watched while sitting on chairs inside the room. Others would watch through the windows.
“On May 20, 2000 Gunther Fiek got married. Life was good. But six months later, a panic-driven witchhunt would devastate his promising young life and the lives of those he loves.”
Of the many cases I’ve been involved with, few have bothered me as much as that of Gunther Fiek. Gunther was a popular and successful Taekwondo instructor who worked with over 2,000 kids. His life was destroyed late in 2000 by a false accusation of sexual abuse, followed by a panic in which more accusations were manufactured by improper interviewing techniques. In October 2001, he was sentenced to 90 years without the possibility of parole.
For more information, follow this link.
Gunther’s family is not wealthy and they are unable to pay for the kind of legal help he needs. The Georgia Innocence Project only handles DNA cases and I have been unable to find another Innocence Project to look into this. I know a first-rate private investigator who will work for an affordable fee, but if he uncovers new evidence there will be no way to pursue it unless a good lawyer can be hired.
If anyone out there has any idea of how we might proceed by contacting me via the NCRJ: http://ncrj.org/feedback-form/. Perhaps a journalist could look into this case. To my knowledge, nothing decent has ever been written about it.
-Bob Chatelle
