On part one of our coverage of Barry Beach, a nonsensical false confession to a crime for which he had already been cleared as a suspect by the physical evidence sent him away for one hundred years without the possibility of parole. Now, Barry and investigator Richard Hepburn tell us about his journey to freedom.
In lieu of the death penalty. I was sentenced to one hundred years dangerous with no parole, no furlough in the state of Montana, which meant that I would never ever see the outside of prison. I remember waking up one day and making a promise to myself that, no matter what it took, and I was going to make the very best of my life by the time I ended up in that cell. God had promised me on numerous occasions that he was going to form a miracle to set me free. So I wanted to live my
life as normal as I possibly could. I started educating myself every chance I got. I took every course they had in prison. I signed up for correspondence courses. I became involved in every single prison self help group I could find, and more important than anything else, my entire life consisted around fighting my case. I taught myself how to do freedom of information acts. I started researching the law.
I was constantly in the library. I was constantly talking to other inmates about the law, about habeas corpuses, about this, about that. And I actually spent seventeen years on my own piecing together documentation that proved my innocence.
Somehow or other, your conviction was upheld in spite of your best efforts by the Montana Supreme Court on July twenty fifth, nineteen eighty five.
Yes, the Montana Supreme Court ruled that the confession was voluntarily given and forensically accurate, and therefore they upheld the conviction.
Amazing, forensically accurate. Literally, nothing you said was accurate other than that somebody died, right, somebody was murdered. It must have felt like some kind of cruel, sick joke. But you were not giving up. You're not going to quit.
I had been shot down by every court in the United States of America at least once. I had not only been shot down by the Montana Supreme Court, but I appealed it to the Federal District Court, got shot down, appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, got shot down, took it to the United States Supreme Court, got dismissed, went all the way back to the Montana Supreme Court and started that process again, only to get
shut down again. So at that point I had actually started filing executive clemency applications before the Montana Board of Pardons in parole. I think I filed two of those. But throughout all of that I wrote letters to anybody and everybody in the world that I could see on sixty minutes on forty eight hours on dateline. I became an absolute junkie of these programs simply because every time there was a story, they would interview the attorney, and
I'd write those attorneys. There would be an investigative reporter, I'd write those reporters. And I had actually, on my own and through my own investigation and my own Freedom of information acts, developed a portfolio that I could mail out of the prison to people I was reaching out to.
And one of the earth shattering discoveries you had made through the Freedom of Information Act, also known as a Foyer request, was an egregious Brady violation.
So I'm going to back up a little bit to September nineteenth of nineteen seventy nine, three months after Kimneys was murdered, a girl gives a statement to the Roosevelt County Sheriff, a guy by the name of Don Carpenter. She claimed that she was at a movie theater with a really good friend of hers who was a classmate of ours in high school. This individual told her that he was at the crime scene when Kimneys was killed at this party, and that he saw certain females hold
Kimneys down and beat her repeatedly with a hammer. He also claimed that that hammer was then thrown into the Poplar River and all the females dispersed in different directions. That statement led to the Roosevelt County Sheriff's Department sending divers into the Poplar River, who did, in fact find a claw hammer right where this witness said that it was going to be. They sent that hammer off and lo and behold. Law enforcement determines that is no the
murder weapon. That statement by that girl gets brushed aside and hidden and was never disclosed until I started filing freedom of information acts and I was able to enclose it into my documentation proving that I was innocent.
I'm not sure how the hell they could determine that a hammer was not the murder weapon, considering that the gouge marks in the truck's cab corroborate that it was likely a claw hammer. We already know what kind of bullshit they were ready to pull with that pubic hair, and I'm sure an independent lab would probably have some interesting findings. But again, I think the machinations of the
law enforcement community will become clearer as we dig deeper. Now, this girl's name was Arii Bershey, and she was reiterating an alleged statement from a guy named Mike Longtree. So you were able to include this rating material in the package that you had developed to try to get some support.
And one of the people you had reached out to was a professor at the University of Chicago, the author of the book Convicted but Innocent, a man named Sir Ronald Hoff, who agreed to help you by sending you two letters of recommendation to send along with your own letter to the producers of sixty Minutes and to Jim McCloskey, the legendary founder of Centurion Ministries, an innocent organization that is spoken of in reverend tones throughout the wrongful Conviction community.
And at that time the letter I sent to Century Ministries ended up on the desk of an investigator for Century Ministries who was a volunteer, and he read that letter from Sir Ronald Hoff along with some other things, and he's the one who began to advocate on my behalf. And his name is Richard Hepburn. So Richard Hepburn began to advocate with Century Ministries that they take a look at my case. Fast forward to the year two thousand,
and I had a lot of hope. So in October of two thousand, Century Ministries committed to fully reinvestigating my case. One of the very first things that Century Ministries discovered, though, is that all of the forensic evidence that had been gathered at the crime scene had disappeared and been lost at the end of my trial in nineteen eighty four. So when we started doing their investigation and thinking about DNA, which had now come in to play, there were no
hair samples, no blood samples. There was a bloody towel found that night with hair from Kimnice on that bloody towel the hair from that towel had been lost, and it took us many, many years to even find the towel because it too had been lost, even though we later did find the towel and do DNA testing on some of the blood spatters there, which is not my blood or DNA. So in two thousand century ministries they
assigned two investigators to my case. One was Paul Henderson out of Seattle, Washington, who was a Pulitzer Prize winning author for investigating wrongful convictions. And then also a guy by the name of Richard Hepburn out of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They began a very intense and in depth investigation into the death of Kimneys since your ministries went out and interviewed two hundred and eighty six people from Popper Montana who were out and about in Popper Montana the knight
that Kimnice was killed. Not one single person saw me anywhere in Popper Montana on the night that Kimnice was killed. What they did discover from those two hundred and eighty six people is repeatedly some of these people had been told firsthand from different females who live in the popular area. To this day, that they in fact were responsible for the death of Kimneys, and that they got away with the perfect murder.
My name was Richard Hepburn. I was for years a high school math teacher and coach. I read about censuryon ministries in a magazine article about nineteen ninety so when I retired ninety eight, I said, I'm going to go over there and volunteer. Well, most volunteers communicate with prisoners, they gather flows, they right back and forth. And I saw this case, this horrible crime, This seventeen year old kid sat one shed of evidence that he was even there.
And I persuaded the boss, Jim McCluskey, to take the case, and he had a staff investigator in Seattle. But I said, Jim, I'd like to do this. You can you know what, You're an old high school teacher. I could do this. Well. He let me go out there, and before long, Paul moved on to other cases, and I was the lead investigator. So I talked to a lot of people, and everyone in that bloody town knew that those four or five girls jumped her and Barry.
Didn't everyone right, And the prevailing knowledge was that this group of girls had lured Kimneys down to the River for a party where they planned to confront her about being romantically involved with the same guy as one of the girls in the group. Now, would you just go out to bars and talk to people.
I didn't go there much after dark. You know, everyone knows what happens, and some people are willing to fight to keep a secret. So you know, I'm brave, but I'm not very tough. But anyhow, I was with Paul at first because I was a beginning of vestigater. You know, we saw Mike Longtree.
Right, the alleged witness from the Brady violation. The statement from Ori Bershey.
Ori Bershee said that Mike Longtree had told her that he had been there. He said he did do anything, but he was present. There was fr four cars, president, a lot of people president. But he would never We talked to him many many times and he always denied.
I never said that, even though Oriber she wasn't the only one that he allegedly admitted this to. And in these alleged statements, the name Cissy Atkinson came up repeatedly, and Cissy's brother was the chief of police.
Right, Bobby Atkinson was chief of police for the Poplar Police. Yes, but Bobby was pretty good. And when Sissy came in from Great Falls to visit, he told us when we came over and.
Interviewed her, and how'd that go?
What did you say, Cissy, there are people here who think you had something to do with that. Good, they'll leave me the fuck alone. Yeah, she was very defiant and then she walked out.
Did you come across anyone else willing to name names and go on the record.
No, they aren't going to do that out there. They're not going to say, boy, Sissy Atkinson did it, knowing full well that nothing's ever going to happen to Sissy. But if she gets in some trouble because of what I said, I'm going to end up in the river. You know, when we were out there, there was someone that had nothing to do with our case, but a person was found on the river with bruises all over the head. That was an accidental drowning. That's a depressing.
Place, Yeah, sounds like it, But it seemed there were a few people who were courageous enough to talk. What about Carl Forstar, who had been a coworker of Sissy Atkinson's back in nineteen eighty four at the Tribal Industries plan.
Oh, Carl Forister's a big witness. Yes, Carl Forster said, Sissy was across the room, you know, in another group. She said got away with the perfect murder. And she repeated a couple of times, and Carl heard her, and he came forth. And when we e didn't come forth, but I happened to be interviewing his mother, and he came up from the zellar and told me what Sissy said at the Tribal Industry's place. And he ended up
as a witness. And then sists he Hadkinson's nephew, Denver Atkinson's kid beat him up at a Fourth of July parade in wolf Point, and he was afraid to come to the Lewiston hearing, but he came. The judge sent two cops to get him and bring them.
So, yeah, the Lewiston hearings happened in twenty eleven where another witness also bravely came forward as a result of your investigation. She was just a little girl at the time, right, Steffie Eagleboy, How did you find her? During your initial investigation?
We had a notice in the maybe it was the wolf Point Becausette with people for information called this number. Well, she called Peter Camille, a lawyer, and it was his number, crying that she had some information. Sefie Eagle Boy. She was a young girl, like eight or ten at the time. I forget these kids. Their parents would all go to the bar on Friday and Saturday night and they sit out on the hill. Well, she was there and heard the scream of Kimberly.
Not only screaming, but she also saw and our audience will remember this name, she saw Stevie Greyhawk's police cruiser approach the scene. Around that time.
He drove down without his lights on a court to Stephiehiggleboy. I talked to him several times and nothing happened that night that he's aware of.
He wasn't aware of.
He didn't go down there, he didn't show the word was he shined his light down. He pulled over and shined his light down, then drove down and came back. And I think, you know, he's a policeman. He's either got to do something about it or get the hell out of there. So he got out of there. But he would never own to that.
Now, the last name Greyhawk came up in other contacts in your investigation because he had a daughter about Kim Nyese's age. Did you ask him about her?
You know, Steve Greyhawk just wouldn't hear of Maud being involved in anything.
So so the same guy that found nothing to report from the scene around two, even though ten year old Steffie Eagle Boy could hear female voices screaming, not only of Kim Knee's her voice, but she also later testified that she heard the other girl screaming, get the bitch and kill the bitch. Steve Greyhawk turned around with nothing to report and just wouldn't hear of Maud being involved
in anything. The same guy who broke down the evidence room door the following night to allegedly go to the bathroom. I have to laugh because it's so ridiculous, thus breaking the chain of custody and contaminating the crime scene evidence. He just hadn't seen what Steffie Eagleboy heard.
My impression is if he was there, he lied. He lied through his scene.
A lot of people were willing to do a lot of things to keep this secret. You know, when Maud Greyhawk was getting a divorce from her ex husband, Dana Kern. Her boyfriend Tracy McGowan, stabbed the ex husband to death on the eve of a heated custody hearing. And the speck is that the ex husband had admitted to others that Maud had confessed to him in the past and was poised to air that dirty laundry at the custody hearing. Now that's just speculation, but it is just also another
finger pointed at Maud Greyhawk. So during your investigation, it might have gotten back to Maud that you were on to her, and you found that out through her sister in law, Judy Greyhawk.
Maud called her when I cried because she told we were on dor and she said, you know, I didn't kill that girl. I might have kicked her once or twice, but I didn't kill that girl. I went to see Judy and she admitted that Maud said that, but she was married to Maud's brother. She was afraid to come forward. So I read up a statement exactly what she told me, and she wouldn't sign it, obviously, so I said, you know,
stick it in the drawer somewhere you might change your mind. Well, very near the time we had the hearing for the Proboard. She called man says she's willing to appear how shocked.
We'll be right back after this.
This episode is underwritten by AIG, a leading global insurance company. AIG is committed to corporate social responsibility and is making a positive difference in the lives of its employees and in the communities where we work and live. In light of the compelling need for pro bono legal assistance, and in recognition of AIG's commitment to criminal and social justice reform, the AIG pro Bono program provides free legal services and other support to underrepresented communities and individuals.
So we took some of those statements in some of those interviews, and the first thing that Centurion Ministries did with these facts that we uncovered is we actually filed an application before the Montana Board of Partners and prol for an executive clemency hearing. We were granted a full three day hearing before the Proboard to present all of
these witnesses that we had uncovered. At the start of that hearing, before the pro Board, I had already started to generate just a little small amount of media coverage into this hearing, so there were several reporters there and Centurion Ministries brought forth all the witnesses, stating that certain females had confessed to numerous numerous people that they in fact committed the murder of Kimney's. We also brought doctor Richard Leo, who is the nation leading expert in false
confessions and how they happened. He did a full interview with me and a full review of the confession in the facts of the case, and came to the conclusion that absolutely the confession was false, inaccurate, and unsupported by the physical evidence of the crime scene.
So the coverage of this two thousand and seven clemency hearing was really powerful. In fact, one journalism student named Jesse McQuillan did such a great job that he garnered the attention of Montana State Senator Dan Weinberg, and the two of them joined forces to begin we to found the Montana Innocence Project all because of you and your case. Wow. But what did the board ultimately decide?
The pro board went on to determine that none of the witnesses brought forth by Century Ministries had any credibility in light of the confession, and that the confession alone stood as forensic evidence to maintain my conviction, and they denied me any type of clemency.
Again, I don't know what confession they're referring to. You just had doctor Leo in there ripping it apart. Not that you even need a giant in the field like him to see through their bullshit. But now the media attention had people starting to get pissed off. I understand. Your supporters formed an advocacy group called Montana's for Justice, and then more groups began to form across the state,
all to spread the word about your case, and they did. Meanwhile, Centurion Ministries filed a post conviction relief motion on your behalf in two thousand and eight, including everything from the clemency hearing, but this time they could include the Brady violation about or Burshey, Mike Longtree and finding the clawhammer
in the river. And somehow after that and hearing STEFFI Eagleboy courageously testify a Roosevelt County judge somehow saw fit to deny this as well, saying, quote, the prosecutor's brief shows the prosecution has thoroughly reviewed the evidence. Had this shown that Beach was truly innocent, the prosecutor would be morally and ethically bound to see that justice was done
end quote. So the judge just exclusively relied on his belief that if you, Barry, were innocent, the state of Montana, who went to these extraordinary lengths to frame you in the first place, would have somehow grown magically grown a conscience and righted that wrong. It's it's unbelievable, but unfortunately true. So they appealed the decision to the Montana Supreme Court, who overturned that decision and granted Barry an evidentiary hearing in August of twenty eleven in front of a district
court judge. Meanwhile, your grassroots organizations were getting the word out there and more witnesses were coming forward.
And in twenty eleven we actually had an evidence you hearing before Judge E. Wayne Phillips of Fergus County because they also moved the case out of Roosevelt County and had that district judge recusing himself. Centuriyon Ministries brought forth twenty two witnesses at that time. But by that time Dateline NBC had done a national program in April fourth of two thousand and eight called the killing at Poplar River,
and that even generated more witnesses and more attention. So by the time we got to this evidence you're hearing in twenty eleven, the facts of the case were so well known throughout the state of Montana, and yet the State of Montana's Attorney general office and law enforcement continue to insist that they had the right person and that the conviction based on the confession was valid. Judge Phillips
actually made a ruling to the contrary. Judge Phillips ruled that had the jury heard the testimony of Stephie Eagleboy and some of the other witnesses, that there was no way they could have found me guilty, and he ordered an new trial. This State of Montana's Attorney General's office went ballistic. They appealed his decision.
So Barry, at this point, December seventh, twenty eleven, pending your next trial, you were finally released for the first time in twenty nine years on your own recognissance. I mean, what was that like?
That release on December seventh, twenty eleven was an absolute miracle because when I was released in Lewistown, the media from Germany were there. The CBC from Canada was there. Dateline NBC was there. There wasn't a news affiliation in Montana. That wasn't there. So I walk out of this courtroom to this crowd, this huge, huge crowd of people were
there supporting me, and it just undescribable. And I go home to Billings, Montana to stay with Ziggy ZIGGLERD some really good friends of mine of Ziggy and Stella Ziggler. Here in Billings, Montana, I go for a prison cell to this beautiful, gorgeous house on the side of a mountain overlooking this valley and move forward with life.
And you did, but for only eighteen months.
For eighteen months, yes, I started a small company. I went to work for a local motel as a chief engineer, where I was second in command over the motel. And that's where I was working when I received eighteen months later, received an absolutely devastating phone call from a media reporter asking me what my opinion was about the Montana Supreme
Court decision to send me back to prison. And when he asked me that, I had no clue what he was talking about, so I had to put him off, call my attorney and I was notified in May of twenty thirteen for my attorney, Peter Camille, that I had twenty four hours to turn myself into law enforcement on a life without parole for a crime I did not commit and go back to prison for the second time. When they sent me back to prison, there were very few legal options at that point just to get me free.
The battle was still focused on exonerating me, but the importance had shifted to freeing me. I filed an executive clemency again back before the pro Board, and they denied it within a couple of days, saying there were no grounds for clemency. It hit the media that I had been denied once again. The citizens organizations in the state of Montana banded together together. They all started writing letters and petitioning the Montana legislature to change the law in
the state of Montana. Because when the pro Board at that time denied my executive clemency, that was it. I had no further recourse and more importantly, the chief executive, the governor of the state of Montana, had absolutely no say so. So these groups formed together and they petitioned the state legislature to change the laws in the state of Montana, allowing the governor of the state to have final say so when an executive clemency application had been filed.
And we actually filed five legislative bills and all five passed with unanimous vote, changing the entire structure and decision making process of executive clemency in the state of Montana. Governor Steve Bullock then has the final responsibility and making a decision on the executive clemency that had already been denied by the pro board at that point in time.
My case has always been a politically influenced case, being that the person who prosecuted my case in nineteen eighty four, Mark Roscoe, went on to become the governor of the state of Montana. He went on to become George W. Bush's right hand man during his campaign for presidency, and then stayed in contact and influence with the Montana Attorney General's office. So Mark Roscoe made this political climb based on my conviction that was followed up by a guy
by the name of Mike McGrath. Mike McGrath became the attorney general after Mark Roscolle became governor, and Mike McGrath took up the battle against me. Mike McGrath went from being the Attorney General of the State of Montana to sitting as the Chief Justice of the Montana Supreme Court. So when I was filing all these things before the Montana Supreme Court, the Chief Justice, Mike McGrath was the
attorney general who fought my appeal process successfully. After Mark Roscoe, Mike McGrath was succeeded by a guy by the name of Steve Bullock, who became the Attorney General for the State of Montana. It was Steve Bullock who successfully reversed Judge Phillips's decision to release me and send me back to prison. After he's successfully sent me back to prison winning that appeal, he became the governor of the State
of Montana. And here sits Governor Bullock, now with the sole responsibility, knowing that he's the one who just sent me back to prison, now has to make a decision as to whether to grant me clemency. Prior to the governor making the decision on my executive clemency, we had century ministries had successfully filed a writ of surcherary before the United States Supreme Court, and that rit of surtary
had been accepted by the United States Supreme Court. That writ was based on the fact that I was only seventeen years old when Kimney's was murdered, and I had been given a life without parole sentence. And if you remember correctly, there was a big swing in the United States of America at that time going on that it was inhumane and unconstitutional to give a juvenile offender a life without parole, no matter the circumstances of the crime.
So the United States Supreme Court accepted that rit of surgerary, and we actually had oral arguments set based on that and some other cases that had been filed on the same issue. What Governor Bullock decided to do with the executive clemency is he granted the executive clemency in the form of a sentence commutation, stating that I was guilty of the crime, but had served enough time at thirty two years or whatever it was, released me put me
on ten years of probation. And as I sit here with you today, Jason, I am still convicted of the murder of kim Nice. I am still on probation with the State of Montana, and I have the stigma and the cloud and the public judgment of being a convicted murderer.
So I have a quote here from Jim McCloskey. He isn't exonerated officially, but he is free, so he doesn't have to worry about the wolf coming back to his door. The thing is that that's really good, and that's you know, obviously the good stuff. But look, it's still hanging over you, and you definitely want your name cleared. Can people in our audience help you right now put that in any way?
You know, absolutely, I want to be fully exonerated, and I think that the evidence from the crime scene of kim Nice and the witnesses who testified warrant justice for Kimney's first and foremost, the state of Montana should take responsibility for testing and pursuing the fingerprints, the palm prints, and anything else that possibly could be in existence to this day that could link the actual murderers to this crime,
which would result in me being exonerated. Unfortunately, when I was released from prison in twenty fifteen, along with that, Centurion Ministries no longer represents me. So I am without an attorney, I am without an investigator, and I am without the funds to fight my battle any further, but I do still maintain contact with the organization of Montana's for Justice and hopes that someday, somewhere there will be somebody out there willing once again to take on the
State of Montana the blatant facts of this case. I'm always hoping and praying. I've reached out to many many organizations since my release, hoping to find some help. I believe, I honestly believe that there will be justice for Kimney's before I pass away. I honestly believe I will be exonerated by the State of Montana before I die, and if there's anybody out there who can contribute to that, my website is Montanaansforsice dot com. I also have a Facebook page out there I can be found. I am
all over social media. My case is all over. You can research me on dateline NBC. I'm always looking for help. Well.
We're going to have action steps linked in the bio, as well as links to your website, Montanas for Justice and link to your Facebook page so people can reach out to you if they have information they want to offer. And please, if you're a Montana and someone who lived in the area at that time, please do I mean, it seems like the no brainer of the century is testing that you know, any of the physical evidence, any of the fingerprints. I'm sure there's still blood evidence around.
There's all kinds of physical evidence. In this case, it should be tested against a group of women who everyone seems to have known from the very beginning with the obvious suspects in this case. And by the way, these women are all still very much alive. If they have nothing to hide, then the testing would clear them. So what are we waiting for? So Barry, Now we go to the part of the show that I always look forward to, which is called closing arguments. And closing arguments
works like this. I'm going to turn my microphone off, kick back in my chair and leave my headphones on with my eyes closed, and just listen to anything else you want to share with me. And are incredible audience, So thank you again. The microphone is yours.
When a person is innocent, sitting in prison, telling their story and talking to everybody that they possibly can about being innocent and trying to show people from the evidence that they are innocent and telling people and talking about their story, that's what they do. I call it the fire inside. I have yet to ever meet an innocent person on a prison yard, and I helped four people
while I was incarcerated. I helped exonerate four people from the inside of prison by helping them put together their bio and helping them reach out to media sources. They were all exonerated before I was ever released. They all had what I call the fire. You talk to people you cannot stop talking about the fact I am innocent of the murder of Kim Nice. I did not kill Kim I was not there when Kimneys was killed. I had no knowledge of the death of Kimneys until after
the fact. So being able to tell my story on a podcast all these years later is a continuation of that fire, but also a continuation of the healing process and the hope and the hope. It's another seed of hope that someday somebody listening to this podcast is going to be the trigger that leads to my exoneration.
Thank you for listening to Wrongful Conviction. I'd like to thank our production team Connor Hall, Jeff Cleibern, and Kevin Wardis, with research by Lyla Robinson. The music in this production was supplied by three time OSCAR nominated composer Jay Ralph. Be sure to follow us on Instagram at Wrongful Conviction, on Facebook at Wrongful Conviction podcast, and on Twitter at
wrong Convict, as well as at Lava for Good. On all three platforms, you can also follow me on both TikTok and Instagram at it's Jason flam Ravel Conviction is the production of Lava for Good podcast and association with Signal Company Number one