Witness in Miami football player’s murder case found alive after authorities presumed him dead

A witness who had picked a Miami football player’s alleged murderer out of a lineup multiple times was presumed dead.

However, last month, reporters from ESPN found Paul Conner, 81, alive at his home in Louisville.

Conner lived at the same apartment complex as Bryan Pata, a Miami football standout who was killed Nov. 7, 2006. He testified that he saw a man “jogging” after he heard a loud “pop” in the complex.

That man was Rashaun Jones, who has been in custody for four years awaiting trial for Pata’s murder.

Prosecutors told a Florida judge as recently as July that Conner was dead, relying on a public database that “seemed to indicate” Conner was not alive.

“Is there an impact of that on the case? I would have to say yes, potentially,” a spokesperson, Ed Griffith, told ESPN.

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However, Conner told ESPN he did not recall the incident nor his prior statements and asked, “How long ago was this court case?”

Members of that year’s Hurricanes have said Pata and Jones did not get along, and Jones owned a gun that was similar to the weapon believed to have been used to kill Pata, who was projected to be selected in the following year’s NFL Draft.

Jones’s trial has been constantly delayed, but it is finally beginning on Oct. 6. He has pleaded not guilty and maintained his innocence.

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