On June 14, 2007, 32-year-old Christopher Vaughn was found limping on the side of the road near Joliet, IL, bleeding from two gunshot wounds. When police arrived on scene, they found the bodies of his wife and three children shot in the car. Chris is unable to recount the events of that early morning, and there are no other witnesses to the crime. …

In the early 1990s, Calvin Buari was a well-known crack cocaine distributor in the Bronx, NY. In 1992, a disgruntled associate who had recently shot Calvin implicated him in the murder of Elijah and Salhaddin Harris. Calvin was charged with the double murder and six rival drug dealers testified against him at his 1995 murder trial. No physical evid…

Terrel Barros and his friends thought they were just going out clubbing until a tragic encounter changed all that. Then, authorities compounded that tragedy by sending an innocent man to prison and setting the confessed killer free. Learn more and get involved at: http://www.change.org/freeterrelbarros https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LQPNFwumJQ ht…

Jerome Curry was arrested in connection with several shootings in the Bronx, NY, on September 20, 1996. When taken in for questioning, Jerome faced verbal and physical abuse from the police and ultimately falsely confessed to the shootings. Despite no physical evidence tying him to the crimes and questionable police tactics, Jerome was sentenced to…

One morning in February 1979, 21-year-old Joe Giarratano woke up to a horrific scene. Two of his housemates had been brutally murdered. Joe had a drop of blood on his shoe and no memory of the previous night due to alcohol and drug use. He was terrified that he had been the one that killed the two women. Overcome with grief and guilt, he turned him…

On August 16, 1981, shots were fired from a gangway into Piotrowski Park on the southwest side of Chicago, IL. As a result, two people were fatally shot, and another was injured. Initially, the police identified two men as their main suspects, but ultimately dropped those leads. Due to a combination of unethical interrogation techniques and faulty …

In 2003, 20-year-old Jofama Coleman was just getting his life together - he had a stable job, a nice place to live, a girlfriend, and a baby on the way. After a tumultuous childhood, things were finally going well. Then one day the police came to his workplace to question him about a murder in his Los Angeles, CA neighborhood. Due to faulty eyewitn…

On April 8, 1995, Reggie Lewis’s body was found in a creek behind the Dalebridge Apartments in Warrensville Heights, OH. He had two gunshot wounds to the back of his head. Willie and Ashunte Smith are serving life sentences for his murder based on testimony by their own cousin, William Marshall. Marshall recanted in 2022 and now swears it was actua…

Greg Bright was wrongfully convicted in New Orleans, LA for the murder of Elliot Porter in 1975. He would spend more than 27 years in Angola, the notorious prison in Louisiana built on a former slave plantation, and in many ways still run like one today. While incarcerated, Greg not only taught himself to read and write, he also learned enough abou…

On January 24, 2001, a man was fatally shot while being chased from a home in Detroit, MI. Anthony Legion was one of three men who were identified as being in the home at the time of the shooting, but no one claimed to have witnessed it. Due to a combination of questionable police tactics and false testimony from a jailhouse informant, Anthony was …

In Part 1, the Beaman family’s lives were torn apart by Alan’s wrongful conviction for the murder of Jennifer Lockmiller. It would take 13 years and the best legal team they could find to finally get Alan out of prison. But the story never ends when a wrongfully convicted person is released. Alan’s wife Gretchen joins the conversation to discuss th…

On January 14, 2009, sixteen-month-old Benjamin Kingan died after being in daycare at a suburb outside of Chicago, IL. Despite no physical signs of abuse or injury, police took 22-year-old Melissa Calusinski, an employee at the daycare, in for extensive questioning. Melissa repeatedly told officers she had nothing to do with the baby’s death, but a…

Alan Beaman was 21 years old when his life was forever altered. Going into his senior year in college, he suddenly found himself ensnared in the Normal, IL murder investigation of his former girlfriend, Jennifer Lockmiller. Despite a total lack of evidence, Alan was arrested just weeks before his graduation. He was ultimately convicted of murder an…

Shortly before 1 a.m. on September 1, 1994, a car pulled up in front of an apartment building in Chicago, IL and a passenger fired several gunshots at a group of people, killing two and injuring a third. Notorious police detective Reynaldo Guevara was assigned the case and claimed that surviving eyewitnesses identified 19-year-old Roberto Almodovar…

On April 28th, 1989, 18-year-old Francisco Benitez was having a normal day. He picked up his paycheck, got a haircut, then went to his friend’s house to watch Beetlejuice on HBO. That same night two teenage boys were shot and killed. An eyewitness said as the shooter ran from the scene, she noticed that he had a fresh haircut. Despite no other simi…

Shortly before midnight on February 16, 1984, James Montgomery was shot and killed as he walked with two friends on the eastside of Detroit, MI. Montgomery’s friends told police they recognized the gunman as 20-year-old Darrell Siggers who they had seen earlier in the night at a gathering. Despite no physical evidence linking him to the crime, Darr…

When he was just 20 years old, an act of violence changed James “Jimmy” Soto’s life forever. Despite no physical evidence and numerous alibi witnesses, Jimmy and his cousin David were convicted of a 1981 double homicide in the Little Village neighborhood of Chicago, IL. They would end up serving 42 years in prison, the longest served wrongful convi…

On March 6, 2001, two masked men attempted to rob a small restaurant in McHenry, IL. The owner, wielding a butcher knife, and his employee chased the men out of the restaurant, and in the ensuing chase, the owner was shot and killed. Police began to focus on 19-year-old Jennifer McMullan and some of her friends after finding out that they were in t…

In December 1998, 81-year old Mary Bramlett was killed in a drive-by shooting near Whittier, CA. That same night, Miguel Solorio went to the movies with his new girlfriend Silvia Torres then to a party hosted by Miguel’s sister. Despite many alibi witnesses and no physical evidence to tie him to the murder, Miguel was ultimately convicted of the cr…

In September of 1998, a shooting took place in Cleveland Ohio’s Kinsman neighborhood resulting in one fatality. According to eyewitness testimony, Ricardo Gray was identified as the shooter. The existence of another potential suspect was ignored by the prosecution during trial, and Ricardo was sentenced to 23 years to life in prison. It has now bee…

In 2009, Michelle Morrison was convicted on a felony murder charge along with aggravated assault, criminal attempt to commit armed robbery, and conspiracy over a 2007 shooting that left a man dead. Not only did Michelle not fire the weapon that took the man’s life, but she never even set foot in the house where the shooting occurred. In fact, she d…

On August 6, 1993, Devon “Dog” Brown and Raymondo “Ray” Frazier exited a bodega in Brooklyn, NY, when at least two people fired a slew of bullets from a passing car. Ray was shot in his legs and survived, while Devon was killed. 911 calls came in around 3:03pm describing 2-3 young black men in a Buick Century - a drive by shooting. Primarily on the…

Wrongful Conviction with Lauren Bright Pacheco. Ten new, inspiring episodes of Wrongful Conviction, hosted by Lauren Bright Pacheco, that celebrate the potential of human connection to empower ordinary people to overcome extraordinary odds and injustices. Real individuals who unexpectedly became one another’s personal heroes by turning tragedy into…

On April 28, 2001, two men attacked a woman as she returned home in Cleveland Heights, OH. The men sexually assaulted her and then left with various items, including her cell phone. In the following days, police traced the cell phone to 24-year-old Chris Miller. Chris said that he had just bought the cell phone from someone else, but despite no for…

Jason welcomes Lauren to the team and they chat about the upcoming season launching on May 27th. Wrongful Conviction with Lauren Bright Pacheco is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.By Wrongful Conviction Podcasts

On the evening of June 7, 2011, police responded to a shooting at a gas station in Chicago, IL, and found one victim dead and another wounded. Relying on various conflicting statements from eyewitnesses, and questionable incoming tips, police focused on 18-year-old Darien Harris as their main suspect. Some eyewitnesses identified Darien in a photo …

In season three of Ozarks True Crime, host Anne Roderique-Jones returns to her home state of Missouri to report on the case of Sandra Hemme: a person living with mental illness who could soon become the longest-known wrongfully convicted woman in the United States. Anne speaks with journalists, lawyers, and mental health professionals to try and un…

A fire erupted in the basement of an apartment building in Pittsburgh, PA, on January 17, 1993, killing three people. Arson officials believed the fire was set purposefully, but the case went cold for 13 years. Dan Carnevale was arrested for the fire in 2006 based on the questionable testimony of a man claiming to be an eyewitness. All of the physi…

In the 1990s, Detective Louis N. Scarcella was legendary. In a city overrun by violent crime, he cracked the toughest cases and put away the worst criminals. “The Hulk” was his nickname. Then the story changed. Scarcella ran into a group of convicted murderers (who all say they are innocent!) turned jailhouse-lawyers. In prison they realized Scarce…

On March 8, 2016, Officer Nicholas Blake became suspicious of two vehicles traveling together on Interstate 70 toward Manhattan, KS due to their appearance and registration inconsistencies. He suspected they were involved in drug trafficking, with one acting as a decoy. Following a series of stops and surveillances by multiple law enforcement offic…

Leo Schofield’s parole hearing in Tallahassee, FL, April 17th, 2024 with reporting from Gilbert King and Kelsey Decker. Bone Valley is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.By Wrongful Conviction Podcasts

Authorities believe Rafael Martinez, his brothers Lorenzo Martinez, Daniel Martinez and Isidoro Medina-DeLeon killed Jose ‘Chino’ Jiminez because Mr. Jiminez shot Mr. Martinez in 1987 in Washington Heights, NY. However, Mr. Jiminez was never killed and is in fact alive and well to this day. Nevertheless, Rafael was convicted of murder and is presen…

The second season of PROOF: Murder at the Warehouse takes Susan Simpson and Jacinda Davis to Manteca, CA where they reinvestigate the murder of 18-year-old Renee Ramos. On June 5, 2000, Ramos’ body was found buried under a pile of debris inside the shell of a new Home Depot building. Despite tips hinting at alternate suspects - tips that were ignor…

On December 21, 2002, 17-year-old Brian Carrick, a stock boy at Val’s Foods, a grocery store in Johnsburg, IL, was reported missing by his mother. Police determined that one of the last sightings of Carrick was a day earlier, on December 20, when he went to the store to pick up his paycheck. On December 22, police found blood spatter near a cooler …

In the early morning hours of June 15, 1979, 17-year-old Amer Zada’s truck stalled out near the waterfront in Nyack, NY. While he waited for a ride, Amer discovered the body of Shirley Smith behind a dumpster in a restaurant parking lot. Minutes later, police arrived on the scene. Amer was thrown into the cruiser, arrested and charged with sexual a…

On March 14, 1998, Anthony Galati was found murdered along the side of a road in Rancho Cordova, CA. The case went cold until October 1999, when Israel Septs, an inmate in a California prison, told police that he witnessed the crime. Septs claimed that 23-year-old Jeremy Puckett and 18-year-old Angela Dvorsky killed Galati after they robbed him. De…

On the morning of February 19th, 2022, Cassandra Black Elk awoke to find her three-week-old daughter StarLight lifeless beside her. Police insisted the baby had died due to Shaken Baby Syndrome - and that Cassandra was responsible. “They were telling me their story,” Cassandra remembers, “that somebody did something to StarLight…somebody killed her…

Two gunmen robbed a liquor store in Edmond, OK, on December 30, 1974. The gunmen fatally shot an employee and left an eyewitness injured. At this time, police were also investigating a series of unrelated crimes and brought 22-year-old Glynn Simmons and his co-defendant in for questioning due to a tangential connection to the suspects in the other …

On March 30th, 2005, police were called to a home in New Orleans, LA. There, they found Renaldo Curley dead of a single gunshot wound. His estranged wife, 32-year-old Catina Curley, told police that she was in fear for her life when she shot Renaldo in self-defense. Police evidence - and the testimony of their children - showed that Renaldo had bee…

In the early morning hours of March 24,1984, a fire erupted on the first floor of an apartment building in Chicago, IL. The fire destroyed the building and killed six people, including young children. Four years later, James Kluppelberg was taken into police custody after he had reported an unrelated arson case. Police began intensely interrogating…

Jose Arreola was shot to death inside a pickup truck on November 14, 1995, in Sunnyside, WA. Five months later, a police informant identified a local teenager, Evaristo Salas, as the shooter. He was arrested and taken to the adult jail. “I'm 15 years old, I look like I'm 12. I weigh about a hundred pounds,” Evaristo remembers. “I'm five foot and I'…

In 2007, a man wearing a wig and sunglasses entered a Bell Wireless store on the west side of Cincinnati, OH brandishing a gun. He ordered the patrons to the floor, demanded money from the store manager, and fled with the store's till. A witness across the street allegedly saw the man put on the wig and sunglasses, enter the store and flee a few mi…

On October 25, 1979, Rabbi David Okunov was robbed and fatally shot while on his way to temple in Brooklyn, New York. Two eyewitnesses described the perpetrator to authorities, and the police's first primary suspect fingered 19-year-old Carl Miller as the gunman. Despite not matching either eyewitness's descriptions, not being picked out of the lin…

One day in May of 1992, 19-year-old Eron Shelman was driving around Detroit, MI with three of his buddies. Eron was at the wheel with his friend Antonio Knight beside him when suddenly, a shot rang out, and Antonio fell over, dead. “I almost crashed the car,” Eron recalls. “I had my dearest friend laying in my lap, bleeding out the back of his head…

On November 29, 2002, 7-month-old Samaisha Benson began to struggle to breathe while under the care of childcare provider Kim Hoover. After being taken to the hospital, the baby was found to have a skull fracture and bleeding on her brain and tragically passed away two days later. Doctors and authorities suspected Samaisha was a victim of Shaken Ba…

On Saturday, June 23, 1973, a man attacked Anne Kane outside of her apartment in Boston, MA. The man forced her inside, beat her, robbed her, raped her, and then kidnapped her dragging her all over the city for the next 6 and a half hours. She escaped into a local firehouse and ran away before the police arrived. A few days later, she identified Ty…

“When I tell people that I was sentenced 25 to 50 years, they automatically assume that I was accused of murder,” says Lorinda Swain. “And I always tell them, no, I was accused of worse than that.” In August of 2001, Lorinda was arrested in Calhoun County, Michigan for allegedly sexually molesting her adopted son, who was seven years old at the tim…

A house in Pittsburgh, PA, went up in flames on February 14, 1995, killing three firefighters while they were trying to put out the fire. A week later, a neighbor of 17-year-old Greg Brown came forward and said that he suspected Greg of lighting the fire. Greg and his mother lived at the house that had caught fire, and authorities suspected that th…

In February of 1999, 86-year-old Rosemary “Mama Rose” Williams arrived at a hospital in Queens NY, claiming that she’d been raped at knifepoint. She named her 36-year-old grandson, Gary, as the assailant. Despite there being no physical evidence that Ms. Williams was assaulted, and the fact that Gary was in another state he was sentenced to 25 year…

January 18, 2006, 3-year-old Trustin Blue tumbled down his basement stairs in Cincinnati, OH, became unresponsive, and later brain dead. Trustin had been under the supervision of his mother’s boyfriend, Lamont Hunter, at the time of the incident. When Trustin was declared dead, the police began suspecting that Trustin had been raped and abused by L…