CHESAPEAKE, Va. - Brian Faulcon, a former junior varsity basketball coach, has spent nearly a decade trying to prove he is not the gunman who robbed a pizza delivery woman in 2012.
A News 3 investigation into court records revealed DNA evidence does not connect Faulcon to the crime, and there are discrepancies between the traumatized victim’s account the night of the robbery and her testimony in court, when she stressed, “I am 100 percent sure this is the man that robbed me that night.”
According to court records reviewed by News 3, two unmasked men robbed a pizza delivery woman in Chesapeake at the Merchant’s Square apartments off Eden Parkway around 8:20pm on January 23, 2012.
Transcripts of the victim’s conversation with a 911 dispatcher moments after the robbery reveal she said one of the men stood back while the other had a silver gun. She went on to say the gunman forced her to the ground face up, rummaged through her pockets, stole $14 in cash, and ran away with the other robber. The 911 call transcript also reveals the victim said the gunman was African American, and wore a dark blue hoodie. She said she wasn’t sure about the second robber’s race, but she said he also wore a hoodie.
News 3 also found court records that revealed a detective with the Chesapeake Police Department lawfully approved the destruction of a surveillance tape in an unsolved 7-Eleven robbery that may have created reasonable doubt in a separate robbery investigation.
Faulcon and his former defense attorneys believe the man who robbed the 7-Eleven at 10:24 p.m. on January 23, 2012, on Providence Road in Chesapeake, is the same man who committed the robbery of the pizza delivery woman earlier that night at 8:20 p.m. three miles away near Eden Parkway.
However, Faulcon’s attorneys say they did not introduce the theory during Faulcon’s trials because police did not provide them with visual evidence of the 7-Eleven robbery.
Now, Faulcon's family and friends have organized a petition for Governor Ralph Northam to issue a pardon before his term ends next month.
His chance at exonerationis through either an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court or a pardon granted by Gov. Northam before his term as Virginia Governor ends in January.
Now, News 3 has put together all of our coverage up to this point on the case. You can watch the extended digital report in the video player above.
Related: Chesapeake man convicted of robbery says DNA evidence proves his innocence
