The video above is from July 2023 coverage of the case against Cory Bigsby.
HAMPTON, Va. (WAVY) — Cory Bigsby was coerced into falsely admitting he killed his own son in exchange for being able to eat lunch with his family — after being subjected to treatment that amounts to torture, his attorney argues in paperwork filed earlier this month in Hampton Circuit Court.
Bigsby reported his 4-year-old son Codi missing from his home at Buckroe Pointe Apartment Townhomes on January 31, 2022. The child has never been found.
Ahead of Bigsby’s upcoming trial, his lawyer, Amina Matheny-Willard, submitted a motion seeking to block presentation of any statements he made while in police custody.
In it, she argues that Bigsby’s rights were violated when he was initially interrogated by police on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1, 2022. The document includes excerpts from a series of interviews that stretched on for approximately seven hours, in which Bigsby asks repeatedly for a lawyer and is ignored.
“[T]hese statements were obtained in violation of Mr. Bigsby’s Fourth (4th), Fifth (5th), Sixth (6th), and Fourteenth (14th) Amendments to the United States Constitution and Article 1 Section 10 of the Constitution of Virginia…” it reads.
Matheny-Willard also alleges that Bigsby told investigators he was tired and wanted to end the questioning more than 20 times.
According to the document, Bigsby was read his Miranda rights while in Hampton Police Headquarters just after 2:30 p.m. Jan. 1. The last interview concluded around 4:45 a.m. the following morning.
“F.B.I Agent Ludovico mistakenly refers to Codi as ‘Cory.’ Mr. Bigsby corrects her, and F.B.I. Agent Ludovico apologizes and says it’s 1 o’clock in the morning and she’s tired,” an excerpt from the interview marked 12:28 a.m. Feb. 1 reads. “Mr. Bigsby says that’s how he feels and indicates he has been up way longer than she has.”
“Mr. Bigsby tells F.B.I. Agent Ludovico: ‘You know what will help me. If you let me get some rest and we can do anything we need to do tomorrow,” another entry, marked 1:52 am, reads. “That’s the way to help me, and to find my child, that’s first and foremost.”
In arguing to support the motion, Matheny-Willard alleged that police attempted to extract a confession from Bigsby through extraneous interrogation and sleep deprivation, and then by holding him indefinitely on a series of unrelated charges.
“It was clear to Mr. Bigsby shortly after he entered the Hampton Police Department what the people who had authority over him wanted from him,” the paperwork reads. “The HPD in conjunction with the F.B.I. were not able to wrangle a false confession out of Mr. Bigsby while he was there, so he was unjustly charged with multiple felonies solely in an effort to secure a false confession.”
The motion also refers to a written confession apparently delivered to employees of the jail in August 2022. Matheny-Willard alleges that it shouldn’t be considered because it was made in exchange for Bigsby to be able to have a meal with his family. She also claims that she was contacted by a lieutenant colonel from the Hampton Roads Regional Jail who expressed concern about her client’s mental health around July 24.
“The representatives at the jail then asked him what he wanted in exchange for a statement. Mr. Bigsby’s response was likely that he wanted to see his family,” the document reads. “Therefore, the jail arranged a Hardee’s Luncheon, which is highly unusual in and of itself.”
Bigsby was granted bond in June of this year. According to additional court paperwork from the company the operates his GPS ankle monitor, he’s been “compliant to all conditions of his electronic monitoring.”
The trial is set to begin Nov. 6, with a pretrial hearing on Oct. 31.
Continue to check WAVY.com for updates.