Episodes

On August 20, 1991, 24-year-old Tae Jung Ho was robbed and shot to death while walking with a friend in Philadelphia, PA. A coincidence involving a rental car and license plate number led to Chester Hollman III being stopped by police and arrested. Chester was convicted of second-degree murder and robbery and sentenced to life without parole. In 1991, Jimmy was only 21 years old when he was wrongfully convicted of a gruesome murder committed in broad daylight in North Philadelphia, PA. Jimmy wa...

Chapter 7 of 9 Leo Schofield grapples with a devastating legal decision, and the intensity of his feelings towards Jeremy Scott. But he soon learns that Jeremy has more to say. Leo is granted another hearing, and Jeremy testifies once again. This time, he tells a different story. For photos, images, and the full transcript of this episode visit: bit.ly/BVS1E7 To read and sign the petition from the Innocence Project of Florida visit bit.ly/BringLeoHome Bone Valley is a production of Lava for Go...

On March 18, 1997, two men exited a minivan and walked into the lobby of a bank in St. Louis, MO wearing ski masks and armed with semi-automatic rifles. Shots were fired and a security guard, Richard Heflin, was shot and fatally wounded. Billie Allen, aged 19, was arrested at about 2am the next morning and taken to police headquarters where he remained in an interrogation room, handcuffed to a table, for the next several hours. Later that morning, he was positively identified in a line-up by two...

Chapter 8 of 9 Leo Schofield faces more legal setbacks. Gilbert and Kelsey attend Leo’s latest hearings: one before an appellate court, and one before the parole board. In the aftermath, Gilbert writes a letter to Jeremy Scott. Soon, Jeremy begins sending detailed letters, and sharing more and more information about his crimes. Gilbert and Kelsey make arrangements to interview Jeremy in person. For photos, images, and the full transcript of this episode visit: bit.ly/BVS1E8 To read and sign th...

On July 10, 1994, Wendell Scott Simpson was found dead in his car on Kilmer Street in Dayton, OH. Shortly after police arrived, they encountered 16 year old Raymond Allan Warren who also lived on Kilmer street. Warren told the police that he and his friends Antonio Johnson and Chante Hunt saw Simpson looking to buy drugs earlier that day. Police later questioned Johnson and Hunt who were both pressured into testifying that Warren was the shooter. By relying on the testimony of 2 minors and a que...

In March of 1987, a female University of Alabama student was returning to her apartment in Tuscaloosa, AL, when she was attacked by a masked man who raped her and stole her car keys and bank card. The woman’s abandoned car was later located, and a witness reported seeing a man emerge from it some time earlier. This witness’s singular identification of 23 year old Jeffrey Holemon, who had been in jail on an unrelated, nonviolent charge, led to Jeffrey’s conviction and life sentence. Beth is an a...

Chapter 9 of 9 Gilbert and Kelsey travel to the Florida prison where they will interview Jeremy Scott. Jeremy tells them about his interactions with prosecutor John Aguero, his involvement in a 1987 unsolved homicide, his encounter with Michelle Schofield, and how he copes with the violence of his past. Gilbert visits Leo Schofield one last time, and reflects on this tragic injustice. For photos, images, and the full transcript of this episode visit: bit.ly/BVS1E9 To read and sign the petitio...

Early on the morning of August 11, 1979, an intruder broke into a Manchester, GA home to find a 74-year-old woman asleep on her couch. The man beat and sexually assaulted the woman and then demanded all her money. She gave the attacker cash from her purse and then he left through the back door. The victim was taken to a local hospital for treatment, but no rape kit was collected due to the extent of her injuries. At the victim’s house, Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) crime scene investiga...

On January 7, 2002, Heidi Fero was taking care of 15 month old Brynn and her 4.5 year old brother, Kaed, along with her own two similarly aged children. That evening, Heidi called the children’s father, reporting that Kaed physically hurt Brynn by pushing her head against the wall. Within hours, Brynn was unresponsive and Heidi called 911. Brynn survived, but she will forever require a caregiver from the injuries she endured. Heidi was ultimately prosecuted and convicted for first degree assault...

On April 29, 2007, six undocumented immigrants from El Salvador were living in a trailer in Slidell, LA when they were robbed at gunpoint. The robbery went awry and Jose Carlos Matinez-Carpio was shot and killed. Two men were arrested for the killing and one of the men, Edric Cooper, implicated Jace Washington in an effort to earn leniency from the state. Jace had no prior criminal record, and no physical or forensic evidence pointed to him. Nevertheless, Jace Washington was convicted and senten...

In 1993, Herman Williams, a decorated member of the US Navy, was stationed in Waukegan, IL where he lived with his ex-wife, Penny, and their two children. On September 26, Penny’s deceased body was found in a shallow pond and Herman immediately became the sole suspect. Based on faulty forensic science as well as prosecutorial and questionable police conduct, Herman was sentenced to life in prison without parole. As Co-Director of the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern Pritzker Schoo...

Maggie Freleng, Pulitzer prize winning host of Wrongful Conviction with Maggie Freleng sits down for a Q&A with Gilbert King and Kelsey Decker from the new podcast Bone Valley. Listen in as Gilbert and Kelsey share with Maggie the answers to many questions from their listeners and reveal some of the details that went into creating one of the finest podcasts of the year. For photos, images, and full transcripts of each episode visit: https://lavaforgood.com/bone-valley/ To read and sign the peti...

Brothers, Dennis and Lee Horton, were having a pleasant Memorial Day in 1993 until they decided to visit their father in North Philadelphia and ran into a childhood friend, Robert Leaf. Unbeknownst to the Hortons, Robert Leaf had committed an armed robbery turned homicide earlier that day. Shortly after Robert joined the brothers in their car, police pulled them over. All three were arrested and tried for second degree murder. Robert Leaf's attorney used confusion among the witnesses about the i...

On September 17, 2007, two men broke into a home in Detroit, MI and fatally shot four people. 14 year old Davontae Sanford, who lived nearby, went outside in his pajamas to see the commotion. Police approached Davontae and brought him back to the station where he was interrogated for two days without a parent or guardian present. The questioning ended when Davontae falsely confessed. Despite someone else taking responsibility for the crimes, Davontae was sentenced to 37 to 90 years in prison. A...

On June 1, 1996, Kevin Jackson and Antwaun Cubie accompanied Jeremy Bruder to buy a set of rims for his Jeep. When they arrived, Kevin and Jeremy went to make the purchase while Antwaun waited in the car while on the phone with his girlfriend. Several gunshots rang out and Jeremy was shot multiple times. He died the next day. Kevin and Antwaun were both taken in for questioning at which point Kevin, in exchange for leniency from the state, alleged that Antwaun killed Jeremy. After a series quest...

In the summer of 1987, Joyce Watkins received a call from her sister asking for help caring for their 4 year old great niece who lived in Georgia. Joyce agreed to come pick up the little girl and bring her to her home in Nashville, TN. Joyce noticed almost immediately that the girl was acting strangely and suffering from abnormal vaginal bleeding. Joyce took her to the hospital and learned that the little girl suffered from a vaginal injury and bleeding on the brain. She received emergency care...

On October 10, 1982, a 22-year-old woman was abducted at gunpoint outside a tavern in Louisville, KY and taken to a nearby park where she was beaten, raped and robbed. The victim described her assailant as about 5’ 11” tall, weighing more than 200 pounds and with blue eyes and curly dark brown hair. Michael VonAllmen, despite having brown eyes, was picked out of a photo lineup and charged with the crime. With no physical or forensic evidence tying him to the crime, and 3 alibi witnesses, VonAllm...

Just past 1am on November 26, 1995, 50 year old Harry Kaufman was working the token booth at a subway station in Brooklyn, NY, when multiple men set the booth on fire, causing explosions, an eruption of flames, and ultimately, Kaufman’s death. Hefty rewards were offered for information, and police received many tips from multiple informants. Ultimately, they honed in on James Irons, Thomas Malik and Vincent Ellerbe. The three were ultimately convicted based on confessions they made to the Detect...

On July 1, 1977, the Welcome Inn bar in New Orleans, LA was robbed by two armed men and a bar patron, Cecil Lloyd, was killed. Weeks after the crime, 19 year old Elvis Brooks became a suspect when he was identified in a photo array by three strangers who had been inside the bar at the time of the robbery. But during the crime, the robbers touched two beer cans inside the bar and left them on the counter after they fled. Investigators from the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) collected finger...

On September 2, 1986, a Springfield, MA drug deal turned into an armed robbery, which turned into the death of an innocent bystander named Victoria Seymour. Six men, all of whom were later determined to have been involved in the robbery, identified Mark Schand as the one responsible for Seymour’s death. Despite the lack of physical evidence, and the fact that he was 30 miles away the entire evening that the crime took place, Schand was tried, convicted, and sentenced to life in prison without pa...

One month apart in 1996, two crimes occurred in Portsmouth, VA. Terrence Hobbs was arrested and convicted for both of them, but he committed neither. In the first, two individuals were shot and killed, and in the second, a bank robbery occurred that hurt no one. Terrence’s ex-girlfriend was a victim of the double murder, and prosecutors fell back on the convenient assumption that the ex-boyfriend was jealous and must have been responsible. Once a few convicted felons were offered and ultimately ...

This is an updated episode that originally aired on September 25, 2017. On the afternoon of April 15th, 1994, two men were sitting in a powder-blue Cadillac in the Quindaro neighborhood of Kansas City, KS. A man dressed in black ran up to the passenger side, raised a shotgun and fired four rounds in what looked like a drug-related hit, killing the two passengers Doniel Quinn and Donald Ewing. Lamonte McIntyre, who was 17 at the time, was arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree murd...

Pulitzer prize winning podcast host and producer Maggie Freleng returns for Season 2 of Wrongful Conviction with Maggie Freleng. Maggie shares intimate conversations, in her unique and celebrated style, with men and women who have spent years in prison for crimes they did not commit. Some have been fully exonerated and reunited with family and friends while others continue to languish in prison. Wrongful Conviction with Maggie Freleng will be available every Monday beginning January 9th right he...

In June of 1979, a 17 year old girl was found brutally murdered near Fort Peck, Montana. 17 year old Barry Beach was a classmate of hers and learned of her death on the news. He was interrogated by police three times, and all three times was told he was cleared and no longer a suspect. Several years later, while living with his father in Louisiana, Barry’s step-mother had him arrested for supposedly helping her 14 year old daughter run away. Police found out Barry had been questioned for the Mon...