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Members of ‘Norfolk 4’ pardoned

Three former sailors serving life sentences for the gang rape and killing of a Navy wife 12 years ago will be freed from prison after Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine granted them conditional pardons, the governor announced today.

The pardons — reducing the sentences to time served — came after years of questions and concerns about the case, allegations of police misconduct and a confession from another convicted rapist who said the sailors had nothing to do with the crime. The men involved came to be known as the “Norfolk Four.”

Kaine granted the pardons to former Fireman Joseph Dick, 32; former Seaman Apprentice Danial Williams, 38; and Derek Tice, 39, a former Navy cook.

Each was sentenced to life in the rape and killing of Michelle Moore-Bosko in the apartment she shared with her husband, then Seaman Apprentice William Bosko, in July 1997. William Bosko found his wife dead after spending a week at sea.

Kaine denied a pardon request from a fourth former sailor, Seaman Eric Wilson, 32, who spent 8½ years in prison for raping Moore-Bosko but was acquitted of her murder and is now free.

All four men confessed to the crime, and their taped confessions were presented to the jury. The four later recanted.

A fifth man, Omar Ballard, was also convicted in the rape and killing of Moore-Bosko and has testified that he alone raped and killed her. Only his DNA was found at the scene.

Kaine said the pardons were not “a conclusive finding of innocence” but that the former sailors’ appeals and subsequent investigations had “raised substantial doubts about their convictions and the propriety of their continued detention.”

The family of the murder victim criticized Kaine on Thursday, saying he was influenced by author John Grisham’s decision to write a screenplay about the death of their daughter.

“Obviously, Mr. Grisham’s wealth and influence are far more important to Governor Kaine’s political aspirations and public image than truth or justice,” John and Carol Moore wrote in a prepared statement.

“Our family is devastated to learn that Governor Kaine has chosen to ignore the facts and history of this case by granting a conditional pardon to these confessed and convicted rapists and murderers. There is absolutely zero new evidence or information to justify this decision,” the family’s statement said.

In recent years, a group of prominent lawyers — including four former Virginia attorneys general, the former head of the Virginia Bar Association, two professors and a forensics expert — spoke out in support of the sailors.