One of the men convicted of murdering the father of Michael Jordan has called on the authorities to release him ‘immediately’ – insisting he is ‘not responsible for James Jordan’s death’.
Daniel Green, 50, has spent the last three decades behind bars over the July 1993 killing of Jordan, who was shot in North Carolina during what authorities believed was a botched robbery.
A few weeks earlier, Michael Jordan had led the Chicago Bulls to a third straight NBA title. Both Green and Larry Demery were given life sentences over the killing.
Green was convicted of murder during the commission of a robbery and 10 years for conspiracy to commit robbery. He confessed to helping Demery dispose of Jordan’s body, which was found 11 days later, badly decomposed in a swamp.
But Green – who is being held at the Southern Correctional Institution – denies pulling the trigger and last year the case took a shock twist when the judge who presided over the 1996 murder trial urged the North Carolina Parole Commission to release him.
Gregory Weeks claimed to have been haunted for three decades over a piece of evidence that the jury never heard: a substance found inside Jordan’s car may not have been his blood after all.
Michael Jordan pictured with his father, James Jordan, who was murdered in 1993
Larry Demery (left) and Daniel Green (right) were given life sentences over the killing
Green says he should be released ‘immediately’ – insisting he is ‘not responsible’ for the death
‘To Michael Jordan, to his family, I’m not responsible for James Jordan’s death,’ he told News13. ‘I’m not responsible for his death… prison is not a place that anyone should want to be.
‘Especially somebody that’s innocent of the charges. I am innocent of these charges that I was convicted of.’
Green insists there is a ‘presumption of criminality’ when it comes to people ‘who look a certain way in society, people who talk a certain way, you don’t use the proper grammar, you dress different. That’s hard to overcome… it’s extremely difficult.’
He claims to spend most of his time researching his case and trying to understand the American justice system.
The 50-year-old, who met Demery when they were in third grade, was just 18 back in 1993. He claims his friend turned up at his godmother’s house on the night of July 23 with a body inside a red Lexus.
‘He told me something had happened and to come outside with him,’ Green recalled. ‘I didn’t know what he was saying happened, but later on, he had told me that he had killed somebody. So I decided to go with him.’
Three decades on, Green says he had the chance to leave and his ‘conscious’ told him to. Instead, he implicated himself in the murder by admitting to helping dispose of the body.
James Jordan, described by son Michael as his ‘rock’, was shot and killed at the age of 56
James Jordan’s body was only identified through dental records and fingerprints
The 50-year-old insists he ‘didn’t know’ it was James Jordan’s body. ‘I think it’s a possibility that (Larry) knew because there’s been talk about championship rings, but I’ve never seen a championship ring.’ Green said.
Just days after the murder, however, Green filmed a rap video. He was wearing an NBA championship watch – that Jordan had given his father – as well as the NBA legend’s 1986 All-Star ring.
‘But why did I (dispose of the body)? I mean, I was a kid… as a 50-year-old man, which is what I am right now, to ask me, why did I do something like that now? I would not be able to give you a rational reason.’
He added: ‘I was just not thinking about the consequences, I was in the moment.’
Baseless theories later emerged that James Jordan’s murder was linked to his son’s gambling but Green has ‘always disavowed that’, insisting: ‘I don’t think that has anything to do with it. I think Larry was probably high when he went out there; he was probably scared, and he misidentified the car.’
Instead, Green believes those rumors were started simply to ‘taint’ the NBA legend’s legacy.
