At about 9:40 AM on March 19th, 2010, John Jones awoke to find his daughter Jada unresponsive and called 9-1-1. She was rushed to the hospital where she remained until July 16th, 2010 when she was removed from life support and passed away. Based on the junk science of shaken baby syndrome, John was convicted of murdering his daughter and sentenced to 15 years to life. Greg Glod, Criminal Justice Fellow at Americans for Prosperity, returns to our podcast to co-host with Jason Flom and share this ...
Aug 11, 2022•47 min•Ep. 284
In October 2007, 42 year old Rhoni Reuter was shot and killed in her Chicago, IL apartment. She was 7 months pregnant by her boyfriend, Shaun Gayle. Gayle, a Chicago Bears 1985 Super Bowl winner, allegedly had 17 other girlfriends at the time. Marni Yang was one of them, and police began looking into her and her son as suspects. In an attempt to protect her son, Marni confessed to the crime. While she adamantly declares the confession was false, this, along with other circumstantial and potentia...
Aug 08, 2022•37 min•Ep. 283
In 1977, Arthur Samson was shot in the stomach and stabbed approximately 100 times inside his New Orleans, LA antique store. The store was ransacked, and the safe was missing about $2,000. A month later police stopped 2 men and Bobbie Jean Johnson for a traffic violation in a stolen car. At the time Johnson was not a suspect, but police were on the lookout for a .32 caliber revolver. They found one in Bobbie Jean’s purse. She endured a violent interrogation that resulted in a tape recorded confe...
Aug 04, 2022•34 min•Ep. 282
In the evening of April 21, 1990, two masked gunmen shot and killed 27 year old Michael Wilson while he was walking with a friend on a Washington D.C. street. The Wilson murder went unsolved for years until police offered deals to jailhouse informants which included reduced jail time, cash payments and free housing in exchange for their testimony in over 3 dozen cases that included the Michael Wilson case. The informants implicated Troy Burner and three other men at the Wilson shooting. Despite ...
Aug 01, 2022•28 min•Ep. 281
On June 28, 1997, 25-year-old member of the Lil Watts gang, Antonio Alarcon, was killed in a drive-by shooting in Hawthorne, California, by a rival gang, Lawndale 13. In exchange for release on unrelated charges, Santo “Payaso” Alvarez deflected attention for the Alarcon shooting toward fellow Lawndale 13 members Eduardo Dumbrique and John Klene, when he knew who the actual shooter was. Witness Daniel Curiel testified that after he was not able to make an identification in a photo lineup, Sergea...
Jul 28, 2022•51 min•Ep. 280
In May of 1992, Sylvia Boykin and Bernetta Pope were struggling with substance addiction. Pope owed Boykin money who, in turn, owed money to two younger men. So Boykin and the men went to the house where Pope stayed in Philadelphia, PA to collect the drug debt. Boykin went inside alone but when she returned empty handed, the men went in with guns. An argument ensued, shots were fired, and Pope was killed. Since Boykin was unarmed, she should have been considered a witness. Nevertheless, she was ...
Jul 25, 2022•35 min•Ep. 279
On October 3, 1993, 21-year-old Marvin McCloud was leaving an after-hours club in Anderson, Indiana, when he was shot and killed in his car by two gunmen, Romeo Lee and Khaidi Harvell, who drove off in Romeo's half brother Walter Goudy's car. Months later, Walter Goudy went to that after-hours club in the same car, and the police brought him in for a one-person show up in which a passenger in the car, Jill Barclay, identified Walter, mistaking him for Romeo. Initially, Walter was charged with mu...
Jul 21, 2022•46 min•Ep. 278
On the morning of July 30, 2002, Karen Boes left her Zeeland, Michigan home to meet a friend and go shopping while her 14 year old daughter Robin was home in her bedroom. Less than an hour after leaving home, she received a call that her house was on fire. Robin was killed in the fire, and the fire was declared an arson homicide largely based on the junk science of ‘fire damage patterns’ as determined by an arson Investigator. Michigan State Police charged Boes with Robin’s death after almost 10...
Jul 18, 2022•33 min•Ep. 277
On May 31, 1985, Julie Bonds McCrory was found beaten to death in her home in Andalusia, Alabama. Julie’s husband, Charles McCrory, quickly became the main suspect. Forensic Dentist, Dr. Richard Souviron, testified that an alleged bite mark on Julie’s body was made by Charles. Regardless of Charles’ alibi and another similar crime committed by a more compelling suspect, the prosecution built their case around Charles and sentenced him to life in prison. Years later, Dr Souviron recanted his test...
Jul 14, 2022•51 min•Ep. 276
In the late night of May 19, 2005, a Molotov cocktail was thrown into a Detroit, MI home, killing two children – a 20 month old girl and a 10 year old boy. One of the victims’ siblings led police to 19 year old Kenneth Nixon. Despite very inconsistent eyewitness testimony from the child, Nixon was convicted with the help of a prosecutor’s deal with a jailhouse informant and some unscrupulous prosecutorial methods. Maggie speaks to Kenneth Nixon, Nixon’s mother Tracy Nixon, and his attorney David...
Jul 11, 2022•27 min•Ep. 275
2 year old Nicki Bowman had a history of respiratory issues that were raging in late January 2002 for which she was prescribed a drug that is now known to cause fatal respiratory depression in children. On January 31, 2002, her father, Robert Roberson, awoke to her cry and found Nicki on the floor at their home in Palestine, Texas, and after a while, they again both fell asleep. Robert later awoke to find Nicki unresponsive and turning blue, and immediately, took her to the hospital. Nicki was f...
Jul 07, 2022•59 min•Ep. 274
On September 26th, 1989, Kevin Jones and Arthur Sanders went to an apartment with $40,000 to buy cocaine, while the owner of the apartment, Troy Coleman, was 60 miles away in Atlantic City. Sanders waited down the block, while Jones drove up to the apartment alone and went missing. Troy heard that the Jones family was looking for him and fled to California. Over 2 months after Jones' disappearance, he was found beaten, bound, and shot, in the trunk of his car. Despite knowing of Troy's whereabou...
Jun 30, 2022•45 min•Ep. 273
In 2002, 15 year old Alisha Burns ran away from her foster home with Steven Kaczmarek, a sex trafficker who then groomed her to act as a prostitute for wealthy-looking men. On September 25, Burns was offered cash in exchange for sex iin Las Vegas, Nevada by Pedro Villareal. When they arrived at Villareal’s residence, Kaczmarek and his friend “Tommy” attacked Villareal in an attempt to rob him. Villareal was later found dead in the same room. Burns and Kaczmarek were arrested, and in highly unusu...
Jun 27, 2022•36 min•Ep. 272
On October 13, 1991, Amy Moore, a nine year old with intellectual limitations, complained to her babysitter that her father, Howard Dudley, was "nasty," kicking off a series of sexually charged leading questions resulting in sexual abuse allegations. Dudley denied the claims, and after nine interviews, Amy's story grew increasingly inconsistent and implausible. However, in order to do a fuller investigation, the Lenoir County Department of Social Services had to substantiate Amy's claims, trigge...
Jun 23, 2022•42 min•Ep. 271
On February 2, 2002, Maria Medina notified her former partner, Karla Baday, that three of her children had accused Baday of sexually molesting them. Maria said the children claimed that Baday had assaulted them while Medina was at the grocery store near their home in Armona, CA. Baday denied all of the allegations. The children were taken in for a medical examination a month later where Nurse Georgeanne Greene concluded that their “injuries” were consistent with the allegations. It was later fou...
Jun 20, 2022•36 min•Ep. 270
On November 5, 1986, Scott Macklem was shot and killed in a parking lot at St. Clair County Community College in Port Huron, Michigan. No one saw the shooter, but one witness caught a fleeting glimpse into a car leaving the lot. The victim’s alleged fiance, Crystal Merrill, identified Temujin Kensu as a suspect due to their previous relationship. However, Kensu was over 400 miles away at the time of the murder and had multiple independent alibi witnesses to confirm his location. Additionally, no...
Jun 16, 2022•55 min•Ep. 269
On New Year’s Eve 1993 in Pampa, TX., Hank Skinner fell asleep early on his couch after being rendered comatose from a cocktail of vodka, xanax and codeine. His girlfriend at the time, Twila Busby, left for a party, and when she returned, she and her two sons were bludgeoned and stabbed to death. Law enforcement knew Hank from his work in civil rights and he soon became a suspect. Despite clear evidence that Hank was incapacitated at the time of the killings and therefore incapable of committing...
Jun 13, 2022•40 min•Ep. 268
On June 22, 1994, Crystal Hudson was found murdered in her bedroom closet in Cleveland, Ohio. She died of strangulation after being sexually assaulted. Evin King became the lead suspect by police due to the fact that he was in the apartment when Hudson’s body was found along with the specter of a “premonition” that Hudson’s mother had in regards to the murder. No physical evidence tied King to the crime, and DNA evidence excluded him. In an attempt to explain why King’s DNA did not match, the pr...
Jun 09, 2022•33 min•Ep. 267
February 9, 1992 started as a normal day for 16 year old Faye Jacobs – she attended church and hung out with friends in Little Rock, AR. When she and her mom drove home later, they passed bustling police activity. Intrigued, they stopped the car and got out. Suddenly, Faye was grabbed, pushed against the car and arrested for the shooting murder of Kevin Gaddy, a classmate of hers. Despite an exculpatory alibi and eye witnesses, Faye was sentenced to life without parole. Maggie speaks to Faye Jac...
Jun 06, 2022•31 min•Ep. 266
In the early morning hours of January 11, 1975, 14-year-old Sherese Watson was murdered by strangulation after leaving a house party in Bellport, New York, and her body was found that evening in a field near the party. There were groupings of small stab wounds in her back, and a hair pick was found near her body. Over 20 alibi witnesses placed 17-year-old Keith Bush in the house party at the time of Sherese's death, but one alleged partygoer, Maxine Bell, gave a statement that she would one day ...
Jun 02, 2022•48 min•Ep. 265
On September 19, 1998, Donna Brown was closing a Taco Bell in Adel, GA after her second day on the job. As she left, she was robbed and fatally shot. Two witnesses, one a jailhouse snitch and one a respondent to a $5000 reward, implicated Devonia Inman. Despite their subsequent recantations, several alibi witnesses and an obvious other suspect, Devonia was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to life without parole. The real perpetrator went on to kill two others. Maggie speaks to Devonia I...
May 30, 2022•33 min•Ep. 264
On May 23, 1991, several men robbed Kenneth McLean in his apartment in Boston, MA. When McLean tried to run, one of the men chased and fatally shot McLean in the street. 15 year old Derek Hobson informed police that he had witnessed the murder. Later, Detective Thomas Gomperts received an anonymous tip naming four men who were allegedly involved in the shooting. One of those men was 23-year-old, Robert Foxworth, who had many alibi witnesses to his whereabouts during the time of the shooting. Det...
May 26, 2022•41 min•Ep. 263
On August 28, 1997, Brian was staying overnight at his girlfriend’s house with his cousin, girlfriend, and girlfriend’s sister in West Philadelphia, PA. 45 minutes away, restaurant owner Gus Boulias was killed in his home. A detective, relying on the questionable analysis of a partial fingerprint, decided that Brian was the killer. Even though the state presented no murder weapon, no witnesses, no motive, and no connection to the victim, Brian was convicted of second-degree murder and burglary a...
May 23, 2022•30 min•Ep. 262
On April 19, 1986, the body of a 28 year old woman was found in her bedroom in Garland, Texas. She had been tied, gagged, raped and shot three times. Clay Chabot, a friend of the victim's husband, became the main suspect after voluntarily providing information to the police about his brother-in-law, Gerald Pabst, who had visited the victim's home on the morning of the murder. Initially telling police that he had no involvement in the crime, Pabst later changed his story by claiming that Clay had...
May 19, 2022•34 min•Ep. 261
On December 5, 1998, a 14 year old Mike Politte woke up to find his Mineral Point, MO home filled with smoke. When he checked on his mom, he found her on the floor – on fire. After days of interrogations, investigators decided that Mike had been grieving incorrectly and that he must have been the perpetrator. Despite evidence pointing to other relatives and evidence against Mike eventually being disproved, Mike was convicted of second degree murder in the killing of his own mother and condemned ...
May 16, 2022•39 min•Ep. 260
In the early morning hours of June 23rd, 1984, 2 customers, a man and a woman, left a Bronx bodega. The store clerk said that the woman went with the man willingly. According to the woman, she was abducted, dragged into a park, raped, and robbed. Then, while waiting for a cab home, the same man dragged her into an abandoned building, where she was again raped and robbed. This time, he cut her face, damaging her eyesight. A rape kit was performed at the hospital, and she was shown a mugshot book,...
May 12, 2022•33 min•Ep. 259
On December 23, 1997, a botched robbery at a popular pizza restaurant in Reading, PA resulted in the death of its beloved owner, George Clauser. A reward in the paper led police to 19 year old Melvin Ortiz, when two individuals with obvious agendas implicated him. Despite 19 alibi witnesses placing Melvin at a birthday party at the time of the crime, Melvin was sentenced to spend life in prison without parole. Maggie speaks to Melvin Ortiz at SCI - Dallas, PA., Marc Howard J.D., Melvin's advocat...
May 09, 2022•42 min•Ep. 258
On May 19th, 1975, in front of a store in Cleveland, OH, two assailants robbed a man, splashed acid in his face, shot and killed him, and then fired into the store injuring the co-owner. 12 year-old Eddie Vernon was riding a bus near the scene and later bragged that he had seen Ricky Jackson, as well as Ronnie and Wiley Bridgeman commit the crime. However, according to all the other occupants of the bus, they were too far away to even see the crime. But police ignored other more compelling leads...
May 05, 2022•41 min•Ep. 257
After an evening out with friends in Holden, MO, high school sweethearts Bill and Patty Prewitt kissed their children goodnight and went to bed. Patty was soon awakened by a man trying to rape her. She ran to a neighbor’s house and called the police. When the police arrived, Bill was found dead in his bedroom from 2 gunshots to the head. The police quickly set their sights on Patty and neglected to lift a single fingerprint from the entire house. Nevertheless, after a trial riddled with sexism a...
May 02, 2022•42 min•Ep. 256
On March 8th, 2008, the leader of a bat wielding group of high schoolers from a wealthy Connecticut town instigated a fight with Dieter Tejada. After Dieter wrestled the bat away, defended himself with it, and fled, the aggressor continued to instigate violence with some of Dieter’s friends. The following day, allegations of serious injuries led to assault charges. Despite acting in self defense, Dieter and the others avoided lengthy sentences by pleading guilty. In the United States, 95% of fel...
Apr 27, 2022•46 min•Ep. 255
