Ex Philly Homicide Detective Sentenced For Beating Confession From Man

PHILADELPHIA — A former Philadelphia Police Homicide Detective will spend up to 64 months in prison after being convicted of beating a false confession out of a homicide suspect.

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner and members of the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office Conviction Integrity Unit said James Pitts, 55, was sentenced to 32 to 64 months of state incarceration.

A Philadelphia jury convicted Pitts of two felony counts of perjury and three counts of obstructing administration of law on July 16, 2024.

These convictions are for his violent interrogation in 2010 of Obina Onyiah, an innocent man, who ultimately confessed to a murder he did not commit; and, for Pitts’ 2013 lies to a judge and then a jury with the intent to obstruct justice, which led to Onyiah’s wrongful conviction.

This conviction and sentence mark the first time in nearly 50 years that Philadelphia law enforcement was held criminally accountable for perjury after physically coercing a confession from a suspect.

On May 4, 2021, the Court of Common Pleas vacated Onyiah’s murder conviction and dismissed all charges against him after 11 years of incarceration with support from the District Attorney’s Conviction Integrity Unit, making him the 20th individual exonerated under Krasner’s administration.

Since taking office in 2018, the Krasner administration has exonerated 50 people.

Onyiah had been convicted of a gunpoint attempted robbery and murder of William Glatz, as one of two male perpetrators inside Glatz’s jewelry store on Oct. 21, 2010.

One perpetrator was killed during a shootout with Glatz, which also resulted in Glatz being fatally shot. The second perpetrator, described by surviving witnesses as "very slight of build" and 5 foot 7 inches or 5 foot 8 inches tall, escaped.

Onyiah, who is 6 foot 3 inches tall, was implicated by a jailhouse informant and subsequently gave a false confession to Pitts.

Later, during post-conviction proceedings petitioned by Onyiah, the Conviction Integrity Unit's investigation demonstrated the falseness of Onyiah’s confession and his actual innocence.

The Commonwealth obtained photogrammetry/height analysis from experts who determined the perpetrator recorded on video could not have been Onyiah. On March 3, 2022, Pitts was arrested and charged after an Investigating Grand Jury recommended criminal prosecution.

In July 2024, Conviction Integrity Unit prosecutors presented their evidence of Pitts’ wrongdoing to a jury of his peers. The jury heard testimony from Onyiah, who described being assaulted by Pitts inside the Police Administration Building’s Homicide Unit. The jury also heard from an individual who was detained in the Police Administration Building at the time Pitts assaulted Onyiah.

The jury also heard extensive expert analysis by photogrammetry experts, who explained why the science established that Onyiah could not have been the perpetrator recorded on the video. Pitts exercised his right to testify in his own defense, denying any wrongdoing.

The guilty verdict was unanimous.

At sentencing, Conviction Integrity Unit prosecutors argued for a lengthy prison term because of the extreme gravity of Pitts’ crimes that were committed by abusing his position of trust and authority as a law enforcement officer.

They noted that Pitts was convicted of crimes related to three distinct incidents: Pitts’ 2010 violent interrogation of Onyiah, perjury during a motion hearing, and to the jury that convicted Onyiah regarding the 2010 interrogation.

Prosecutors told the court that Pitts’s lies were premeditated and deliberate as part of a scheme to cover-up prior crimes. Additionally, prosecutors noted the psychological trauma suffered by Onyiah.

During sentencing, prosecutors played a recording of a phone call Onyiah made to his mother, shortly after arriving in jail following formal charges for the murder he did not commit. In the call, Onyiah cried for help from his mother.

This is not the only wrongful conviction linked to Pitts. On February 9, 2023, India Spellman was exonerated of the 2010 robbery and murder of George Greaves.

Pitts played a role in the interrogation of two juvenile suspects in that investigation. The Conviction Integrity Unit supported Spellman’s exoneration, arguing she was likely innocent, a view supported by the surviving members of the victim’s family.