Jeff Prible has been on death row 24 years. The state's own DNA analyst says the prosecutor misused his testimony.
Jeffrey Prible was convicted in October 2002 of the 1999 murders of Steve Herrera and Nilda Tirado at their north Houston home. A fire set to cover the killings also killed the couple's three young children, who died of smoke inhalation. He has been on death row since.
The Intercept reported on September 6 that William Watson, the DNA analyst who testified for the state at that trial, filed a sworn declaration on August 28.
Two separate things are in it, and they are worth keeping apart.
The first concerns his own testimony. Watson says that “based on … changes in the field and my own increased experience and scientific knowledge, if I were asked to testify today, my answers to many of the questions asked by the State at trial would be different,” and that his original answers were more definitive than they should have been.
The second concerns what the prosecutor did with it. In closing arguments Kelly Siegler told the jury that Tirado “left this world with his penis in her mouth,” and that the jury would have to believe “his semen is so tasty that she walked around savoring the flavor of it.” Watson's declaration says of those remarks: “I never testified to this, nor would I. These inflammatory remarks are not only scientifically baseless, but also highly inappropriate.”
That is the new filing. The case around it already had a finding in it.
In 2020 US District Judge Keith Ellison overturned the conviction. He wrote that “without question, the prosecution in this case engaged in a pattern of deceptive behavior and active concealment,” and concluded that Siegler had “intentionally and knowingly withheld information” about coached jailhouse informants. The Death Penalty Information Center reported the same ruling.
The 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated the conviction based solely on procedural grounds, without disturbing those findings.
Siegler prosecuted in Houston for nearly 22 years and won 19 death sentences. She hosts “Cold Justice” on Oxygen, now in its eighth season, and “Prosecuting Evil With Kelly Siegler,” whose third season Oxygen has scheduled for this fall.
One thing the reader should weigh. As of publication no second newsroom has independently reported Watson's declaration. The 2020 ruling is separately corroborated; the declaration is The Intercept's alone.
Prible is still at the Polunsky Unit.
By the numbers
- 24 years — Jeff Prible's time on death row since his October 2002 conviction[1]
- August 28, 2026 — the date William Watson signed the sworn declaration[2]
- three children — killed by smoke inhalation in the fire set to cover the murders of Steve Herrera and Nilda Tirado[3]
- 19 — death sentences Kelly Siegler won in nearly 22 years prosecuting in Houston[4]
- 2020 — the year US District Judge Keith Ellison overturned the conviction, finding Siegler intentionally and knowingly withheld information[5]
The reporting
This story is built on reporting by The Intercept. Read the original →
Sources
- The Intercept, The DNA analyst, the prosecutor and the man on death row
- Death Penalty Information Center, Texas federal judge overturns death row prisoner's conviction
- Oxygen, Prosecuting Evil With Kelly Siegler
Image credits
- Hero: source (Wikimedia Commons) — Texas Department of Criminal Justice
- Prible: source (Via The Intercept) — The Intercept
- Siegler: source (Houston Chronicle via Getty Images) — Steve Campbell