New evidence in Tom Foley murder case

BATTLE CREEK, Mich. (WOOD) -  A woman testified Friday that she saw someone driving frantically out of the Branch County home where DeeDee Foley was murdered the day it happened in February 2009.

And she said it was someone who did not look like DeeDee Foley's husband Thomas Foley, the man convicted and serving a life sentence for the crime.

Jeannette Moor -- along with three other witnesses who, like her, were not heard from at trial -- gave testimony at a hearing to determine whether Thomas Foley should have a new trial.

Prosecutors challenged the accuracy of all the witnesses' statements and specifically asked why Moor had not come forward until after the verdict.

DeeDee Foley was found dead in the couple's Girard Township home north of Coldwater. The 41-year-old victim was a second-grade teacher at Union City Community Schools. Thomas Foley was arrested in March, a jury found him guilty in November and he was sentenced to life in prison in December.

But Friday, the defense called the four witnesses to the stand before Circuit Judge Conrad Sindt, trying to raise the possibility that someone other than Foley committed the murder.

Moor told the court she saw a younger man who was "white as a sheet," looking scared, high or angry come quickly out of the Foley home's driveway in a white vehicle on the afternoon of the murder, nearing hitting the car Moor was driving in.

The driver was younger than Thomas Foley, she said. She knew she saw it on the day of the murder because she had been to the pharmacy that day, and later obtained a record of all of her trips to the pharmacy in 2009.

At various points throughout the hearing, Moor said that she did not speak out earlier because she was afraid of retribution, worried it was not her business or was experiencing health problems. Prosecutors questioned why she did not talk to police investigators who wanted to speak with her after she contacted Thomas Foley's defense attorney.

"I didn't feel I wanted to talk with anyone about this other than the judge," Moor said.

Two other witnesses did make efforts to contact investigators, they testified.

Jackie Gibson testified that she saw a "dirty white" GM vehicle parked behind one of the Foley family's cars while passing the home the day of the murder. It was no longer there when she drove past again and police investigators were on scene.

Prosecutors questioned Gibson's timeline -- and produced phone records showing no evidence that Gibson made the phone call to the police investigators she said she had. Thomas Foley's attorney noted that the bill itself states it does not list every single phone call made.

Terry McClughan told the court he saw a darker-colored SUV or crossover vehicle in what he thought was a strange place on the Foley property. The self-employed mechanic said he knew what day and time it was because he ordered parts that day and was able to find out when the company received the order.

McClughan said he too contacted investigators in the days after the murder. After a second phone call, he said investigators had called his home and spoken to his wife. And McClughan's wife was the fourth witness to testify Friday, confirming she did receive the phone call and told investigators when they could reach her husband. McClughan never heard back, he said.

Prosecutors noted that his wife works with and had spoken about the murder case with a co-worker who is friends with Thomas Foley's sister.

Sindt but did make a ruling. More testimony is expected when the hearing resumes at 1 p.m. Tuesday.