Lee Jones

How Michael Roop came to believe that he stayed in room 505 of a motel in Myrtle Beach is still a mystery, because according to police records and interviews, 505 was actually the room that Mr. Jones stayed in during a second trip to Myrtle Beach in August 1997--a trip that Michael wasn't on.

Still, according to records from the Myrtle Beach police department, Michael told police he had stayed in room 505. Mr. Sloan, a detective in Myrtle Beach, told the jury he checked out Michael’s story and found evidence to support it – receipts from the hotel showing that Mr. Jones stayed in room 505 that summer. He told the jury that the receipts “corroborated� Michael’s story.

But really, they didn’t. The receipts note the trip was for one night, Michael told police he and Mr. Jones stayed through a weekend; the dates of the booking are a Monday and Tuesday in August, Michael and his mother had both previously said it was a Friday and Saturday in late June or July; the receipt lists three adults on the trip while Michael had told police he was alone with Mr. Jones.

Now, Mr. Jones has never denied taking a trip with Michael to Myrtle Beach that summer, but despite what Mr. Sloan told the jury, the receipts clearly don’t “corroborate� Michael’s story and what’s more, Mr. Sloan likely knew that when he testified.

His case notes from December 1997 indicate he was told there was a problem with the dates. He went to the trouble of having Michael interviewed again in January 1998 to clear things up, but this time, according to Mr. Sloan’s notes, Michael was less sure than before about how many nights he had stayed in Myrtle Beach.

The prosecution also noted at trial that at one point, Mr. Jones had planned to bring another adult on the trip and that the receipt, if it was assumed to indicate the number of guests book as opposed to the number stayed, would’ve supported Michael’s story. However, all testimony at trial and all police reports are consistent on one point about the hotel – Mr. Jones didn’t arrange a room for the trip with Michael until the two were already in Myrtle Beach, after it was clear it would only be the two of them.

The jury never heard about Mr. Sloan’s trouble nailing down the dates of the Myrtle Beach trip, or why Michael reported the room number of trip he wasn’t on. Neither did the South Carolina judge who issued an arrest warrant for Mr. Jones based on an affidavit from Mr. Sloan that said “the boy reports…they stayed in room 505.�

Mr. Sloan didn't respond to questions about his testimony and the affidavit, neither did officials in the Myrtle Beach police department.