Maloney's son fights for his dad on the Internet

His theory is his mother's death was neither a homicide nor arson

By Melanie Fonder
For The News-Chronicle

Sixteen-year-old Matt Maloney has a new quotation he is about to add to the Web site he created about the death of his mother, for which his father has spent the last year in prison.

"Dad has a great quote - 'Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,'" Matt Maloney said in a telephone interview last week. "If one person sees this (and) that helps our case, then that's great."

"This" is the Web site Maloney recently set up, mostly on his own, to inform the world about the John Maloney murder case, Matt's dad, whom he believes is wrongly imprisoned for the death of his mother, Sandy, and the fire that burned her body in February 1998.

The site, at www.johnmaloney.org, is part of a broader effort known as the Maloney Innocence Project (MIP), started by friends and relatives who believe Maloney is innocent.

Matt Maloney wrote the text of the site from his perspective, including the background of the case, information about the Las Vegas videotape that was a crucial piece of evidence in convicting his father, the family of his mother, contacts around the country including the names and phone numbers of Wisconsin legislators, a message board and a petition to sign.

"It took me about a month to get all the stuff together," Matt said, adding that he would take notes from conversations with his father when he goes to visit him at the Dodge Correctional Institution.

"The media indicated many times that this is a "made for TV movie,'" Matt wrote for the site. "They are absolutely right. All the events that took place could be made into a movie, except this movie wouldn't be about the former GBPD Detective that killed his wife. This movie would be about the former GBPD Detective that lost everything: his wife, his kids, his life, his job, everything that was important to him.

"John Maloney had everything taken away from him by greedy prosecutors, a hateful mother-in-law, the media, and his former girlfriend who was scared for her life. Tracy Hellenbrand was scared that it was either her or John Maloney that was going to be arrested for this 'crime', and, obviously, it wasn't going to be her.

"The MIP has overwhelming proof that there was no homicide, and no arson. John Maloney was convicted by overzealous prosecutors that only wanted a conviction and not the truth. It is hard to find true justice in this great country of ours, or at least in Green Bay, Wis."

After looking at the www.truthinjustice.org web site and reading discussion forums on the News-Chronicle's Web site where people would occasionally discuss the case, Matt Maloney thought he could come up with his own site. Author Sheila Berry assisted him with technical aspects of the site, while his aunt, Gin Maloney, helped him sift through the boxes of materials they have.