In the Virga case:

Police obtained Townsend's confession in September 1979 after his arrest on a rape charge in Miami. During questioning about the rape, they asked him about a murder that had been committed nearby. He confessed to that killing and a raft of others in Florida.

Miami detectives then called investigators in Broward, who took Townsend to murder sites in Fort Lauderdale. He confessed to those killings, as well. Eventually, he was convicted of six murders and the rape.

Police say attention-seekers sometimes offer false confessions in cases with significant publicity.

``When you have a high-profile case, you always get people who want to cop out to murders,'' Cadavid said. ``The investigators should have caught that.''

Instead, police and prosecutors used the confession to convict the mentally disabled Hallandale drifter of six murders -- four in Broward, two in Miami-Dade -- and a rape, also in Miami. The detectives on the case, Bruce Roberson and James E. Boone, earned commendations for their work in capturing a ``mass killer.''

Roberson has declined to comment to The Herald, and Boone could not be reached by telephone and did not respond to an e-mail.

Police and prosecutors in Miami started reviewing the cases after DNA testing, not yet developed when Townsend was convicted, exonerated him in two of the Fort Lauderdale murders. Townsend has also been cleared of two other Broward murder convictions because they were based solely on the confession, which Broward prosecutors now consider too tainted to use.

The Miami-Dade State Attorney's office has been reviewing the cases for more than a week, but prosecutors have not reached a conclusion about the validity of the convictions.

Prosecutors have said they believe Detectives Roberson and Boone, both now retired, tainted the confessions with leading questions.

Ed Griffith, spokesman for the office, said State Attorney Katherine Fernández Rundle and her senior prosecutors are aware of problems with Townsend's statement.

``We are aware of the inconsistencies,'' Griffith said. ``Those inconsistencies are part of the plus/minus equation we will use to accept or reject the confession.

``Ultimately, the decision will rest with the state attorney,'' Griffith said.

Griffith said Rundle has taken a set of tapes to which she will listen. Assisting her in the review is Assistant State Attorney David Waksman, who prosecuted the case, David I. Gilbert, the interim head of the Major Crimes Unit, and Howard Pohl, first deputy chief assistant.

Meanwhile, Miami Police are conducting a review -- and thus far, they say, the facts don't support the confession.

After listening to the tapes and examining the evidence, Cadavid and Detective Confesor Gonzalez became so concerned they asked for independent assessments from Miami FBI agent Beverly Esselbach and Leslie D'Ambrosia, who profiles serial killers for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

Esselbach's findings? ``The evidence didn't support the case,'' said FBI spokeswoman Judy Orihuela.

D'Ambrosia found ``several inconsistencies between the confession and the crime scene,'' Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez, leading the police review, reached the same conclusion.

``I have not spoken to either detective. There may be facts about the case that shed some light. But when you review the confession, you still find several inconsistencies,'' he said.

Gonzalez also had the case reviewed by Delrish Moss, a Miami police information officer and a former homicide detective. Moss said he was bothered by what he heard on the tapes.

``I was troubled by Townsend's mental state,'' Moss said. ``He's telling the same story over and over again with little twists. I could definitely tell Townsend was not playing with a full deck. I don't think he did those murders.''

Moss said he listened to some of the tapes in his car, at one point becoming so disturbed that he pulled over while running errands.

``I shook my head. It was so bad. It was so sad. I just don't think he did those murders,'' Moss said.

Assistant Public Defender Herb Smith, Townsend's current defense lawyer in Miami-Dade, questioned whether his client even understood his rights when he agreed to give the confessions.

Townsend had the mental abilities of a child of 7 or 8, Smith noted.

``He doesn't have a clear understanding of his rights,'' he said. ``He has a 7-year-old's beliefs that police are your buddies.''

But police who worked with Roberson characterized him as a thorough detective who was willing to teach younger detectives.

Ron Ilhardt, a retired Miami homicide detective and close friend of Roberson, cautioned about drawing conclusions too quickly.

``It's easy to second-guess now,'' Ilhardt said. ``Bruce Roberson was one of the most conscientious detectives I ever worked with. He didn't just put criminals behind bars. He kept people out of jail through his investigations.''

Ilhardt said he discussed the cases with Roberson recently, and Roberson told him he has no doubt the right man was convicted.

``Townsend told them details about the murder that only the killer would before they ever asked.'' Ilhardt said. ``There wasn't any question he knew details about the murder.''

Police reports on the Virga case say Townsend was able to lead Detective Boone straight to the place where the body was found.

He also was able to tell police that Virga did not have any upper front teeth, a fact confirmed by records.

``I recall the one outstanding thing was the fact that Jerry said that this girl didn't have any teeth,'' Miami Police Detective Ed Hanek said in a sworn statement given May 8, 1980. ``And I asked him, I said, `What do you mean she didn't have any teeth?''. . . And he just said, `She just didn't have any teeth.' And I was told by [Boone] that she didn't have any uppers.''

Gonzalez said he believed Townsend and Virga knew each other from the streets because both were homeless.

Ilhardt said Roberson still has his notes from the case and has reviewed them.

``Bruce has no doubt in his mind that Townsend committed the murders,'' Ilhardt said.