Overton v Florida — The 2001 Appeal of Thomas Overton

Overton, my very first case study as a Psychology student, became the fuel that would focus my career to become a forensic psychologist — and what a case it was — join me as I revisit it for you.

In January 1997, I was an aspiring Psychology student who was about to graduate from New York City’s prestigious Ivy League Columbia University with a Master’s degree in Psychology. For the longest time, I also couldn’t decide if I wanted to follow in my family’s footsteps and become a lawyer, so I also took many pre-law classes and even sat for and passed the LCAT — the exam needed to gain acceptance into most accredited law schools.

I was 25 years old and had spent almost 8 years of my life studying psychology and law, as well as many of the most intriguing real-world career prospects of each discipline.

Who am I kidding? Honestly, at that point in my academic career, I had no idea what I intended to do with my life, I only knew that the ‘systematic study of human behaviour and the factors that influence it’ (the textbook definition of psychology), was a big part of what I felt called to do, though I also couldn’t deny the burning passion I felt every time I stepped into a courtroom.

To be sure, I was flummoxed — a fantastic British word that I love to use even though I’m not British. It just perfectly conveys the state of confusion I was experiencing at that time in my life far better than any American English word in my arsenal of literary tools.

One day, in late January, about a month into my final graduate semester, however, my career path would be changed forever.

As part of a practicum I was doing at Columbia, I was also required to take courses in forensics and forensic pathology at the epicentre for forensic studies in the US, New York City’s John Jay College of Criminal Justice. While there, I developed keen and lifelong relationships with several of my professors, and it was indeed one of those relationships that would truly change my life.

While working in the John Jay Computer Center one afternoon, I received a page from one of those professors (cell phones were still a modestly rare luxury in those days so yes, I wore what we commonly referred to as a beeper).

When I responded to the page and met up with him at his office, he asked me if I might want to consider going with him on an extended field trip to the Florida Keys to conduct a case study into a new and fascinating, albeit revolting, criminal investigation involving the violent murders of a husband and his pregnant wife that had occurred some six years prior, in August of 1991.

For the sake of expediency, let’s suffice it to say that I ultimately agreed and off we went to frolic in the tropical paradise that is Monroe County, Florida — better known as Key West.

To be fair, the case of Thomas Overton is still, to this day, the most intriguing and revolting case I’ve ever been personally involved with.

I thought long and hard about sharing the specific (and very shocking) details of the case with you here. What I ultimately decided to do is to provide you with the direct link to Overton’s 2001 appeal here.

I provided the text of the direct appeal above so that you can decide for yourselves if you have the stomach to digest the facts of the case, but I do have to warn you that the details are beyond horrific, should you decide to delve into them.

For those of you who do not opt to take the plunge, I will summarize the case for you as best I can without being overly graphic.

In August of 1991, someone broke into the Tavernier Key home of Susan Michelle MacIvor, age 29, and her husband, Michael MacIvor, age 30. At the time, Susan was eight months pregnant with the couple’s first child.

All three were murdered as a result of the attack, and evidence on the scene also proved that Susan was forcibly raped before being executed. There was a plethora of blood and semen left at the scene, however, DNA analysis was still a very young science in 1996 and 97, when Overton’s name began gaining serious traction as a primary suspect.

As you can imagine, between the years of 1991 when the murders occurred, and 1996, when Overton surfaced as a serious suspect, massive investigations and brainstorming sessions occurred. To be sure, during those sessions, Overton’s name came up numerous times since he was a known cat burglar in the area with an extensive criminal record, but before 1996, there was no significant evidence found that linked Overton to the crime scene.

It wasn’t until 1993 that enough identifiable DNA was able to be extracted, effectively creating a specific genetic profile of the still-unknown killer.

As fate would have it, in 1996, Overton was arrested in the act of committing another residential burglary in the area. Once he was in custody on that charge, investigators asked him to provide a blood sample they could use to compare against the DNA profile of the MacIvor murders. Overton refused, and at that time, there were no laws on the books that would require him to do so until he was convicted of a violent felony.

In a strange twist of fate, a few days after his arrest, Overton requested a razor to shave with and used the blade in an attempt to take his own life by slashing his throat.

After life-saving measures were employed to prevent Overton’s death, jail officials turned over the blood-soaked towels that were used to quell the flow of blood from Overton’s lacerated throat to the lab for comparison. Based on the preliminary match generated from the blood on those towels, prosecutors were able to compel a judge to issue a warrant demanding Overton give up a direct blood sample for an official comparison.

In November 1996, lab analysis was able to compare 6 different loci from the DNA sample collected from the MacIvor bedsheets with those from Overton’s direct, court-ordered blood draw and the results were an exact match on all 6 loci.

Dr. Pollock, the doctor who made that comparison, would later testify just before me, that the probability of finding an unrelated individual having the same profile was, conservatively, more than one in six billion Caucasians, African Americans, and Hispanics. In short, compared with the global population at that time, there was simply no possibility that any two people on the planet could have that same genetic pattern.

But the prosecution didn’t stop there.

The genetic samples were then sent to yet another lab which would conduct a very different kind of DNA test known as short tandem repeat testing, or (“STR”). That test would compare an unprecedented 12 loci between Overton and the genetic material recovered from the MacIvor bedsheets — once again, all 12 locus were an exact match, this time reducing the possibility of a second matching genetic profile to a staggering 1 in 4 trillion Caucasians, 1 in 26 quadrillion African Americans and 1 in 15 trillion Hispanics.

There was also now the existence of testimony from two jail-house snitches who would testify under oath that Overton had confessed the 1991 murders to them. (There are more details of all of these instances provided in the direct appeal which I’ve linked for you above).

After Overton was arrested and charged with the murders of the MacIvor family, my Professor and I were among a slew of psychological professionals who were asked to evaluate Overton and his ability to understand the magnitude of what he did and his ability to stand trial.

I met with Overton on October 17, 1997.

I found him to be simultaneously compelling and revolting. Make no mistake, he showed not one shred of remorse for what he had done to the MacIvors or their unborn child.

When I informed him that forensic pathologists conducting the autopsies on the MacIvor family determined that the baby had lived for about 30 minutes after Susan MacIvor died and that the evidence showed the child not only attempted to breathe but tried to claw its way out of his dead mother’s womb (details not included in the appellate record), Overton only smiled. He would later tell me during a subsequent meeting that he should have made sure the baby was dead before leaving the crime scene.

Thomas Overton was eventually convicted on all charges and sentenced to death for each of the murders of Susan and Michael MacIvor. Overton was also sentenced to 15 years for the killing of an unborn child and was given two terms of life imprisonment for burglary and sexual battery, and I was incurably hooked on becoming a forensic psychologist.

The appeal that you can read above, is the direct appeal of those convictions

If you have an unquenchable taste for true crime, you should also check out Kurt’s two true crime podcasts — The Veritas 7, and Veritas True Crime which also has a sister publication here on Medium under the same name. The Veritas True Crime Medium Publication is always looking for new writers to write about true crime. Do you have what it takes?

This story was written by Kurt Dillon. If you would like to read more please click on the kurtdillon.medium.com link highlighted above.