Ex Cop Guilty Of Perjury Related To Wrongful Murder Conviction: DA

PHILADELPHIA — A former Philadelphia Police homicide detective was found guilty of charges related to beating a false confession out of a murder suspect in 2010, authorities said Tuesday.

District Attorney Larry Krasner said a Philadelphia jury convicted ex-Philadelphia Police Homicide Detective James Pitts of abusing his authority.

The jury found Pitts guilty of obstruction for assaulting then-suspect Obina Onyiah in 2010. Authorities that resulted in Onyiah providing a false confession to the robbery-murder of William Glatz at the Glatz Jewelry Store in Lawncrest.

In 2013, Pitts testified separately at a pretrial motion and jury trial in which he falsely denied assaulting Onyiah. On Tuesday, the jury found Pitts guilty of two counts each of obstruction and perjury for lying at these proceedings.

The charges against Pitts followed an investigation by the Thirty-First County Investigating Grand Jury in 2022.

Pitts’ conviction stems from his role in the police investigation and conviction of Onyiah. As a result of Pitts’ crimes, Onyiah served 11 years in prison for a murder he did not commit. With the support of the District Attorney’s Conviction Integrity Unit, Onyiah’s conviction was vacated in 2021 after scientific evidence proved he could not have been the perpetrator.

The actual perpetrator who fled the scene of the murder has never been brought to justice.

Pitts is scheduled for sentencing on Oct. 4 in the Court of Common Pleas.