Episodes

On October 12, 2003, Mark Fisher was found shot and killed in a driveway in Brooklyn, NY after spending the night hanging out with a group of his peers, including John Giuca and Antonio Russo. Upon interrogation, a few of the people that Mark had been with late the night before led police to believe that John and Antonio were involved in Mark’s murder. Despite no physical evidence and no eyewitnesses linking him to the crime, John was convicted of the murder and sentenced to 25 years to life in ...

On October 12, 2003, Mark Fisher was found shot and killed in a driveway in Brooklyn, NY after spending the night hanging out with a group of his peers, including John Giuca and Antonio Russo. Upon interrogation, a few of the people that Mark had been with late the night before led police to believe that John and Antonio were involved in Mark’s murder. Despite no physical evidence and no eyewitnesses linking him to the crime, John was convicted of the murder and sentenced to 25 years to life in ...

On May 7, 1993, Margaret Grondin brought her four-year-old daughter to the hospital in Lorain, OH. Grondin claimed her daughter had told her that her school bus driver, Nancy Smith, a 37 year old mother of 4, had not taken her to school that day, but instead took her to the house of a man named Joseph, who tied her up, taped her eyes shut, and sexually molested her. The doctors examined her and did not see any signs of injury to her body. And despite substantial evidence that the allegations wer...

In 1999, Brian Neirynck and Roberta Smedley separated and got into a custody battle over their three-year-old son. In June of the following year, Smedley reported to the South Bend, IN police that Neirynck molested their son. The boy failed to implicate his father, and only after many leading and suggestive therapy sessions, did he say the abuse happened. Despite no physical signs of molestation, Neirynck was arrested, tried, and convicted of sexually assaulting his own son. He was sentenced to ...

In March 2000, Tami Vance and Leigh Stubbs completed a 60-day drug rehab program. Once discharged, their friend Kim Williams joined them and they went to Kim’s boyfriend’s house. He had been in a car accident and always had an ample supply of Oxycontin to manage his pain. Kim had stolen his pain pills in the past and did so again that night. She and Tami took them while Leigh drove to a motel. Tami woke up the next morning violently ill. Kim remained asleep until Tami and Leigh found her overdos...

On June 29, 2009, and into the following morning, James Richardson was out at The Other Place nightclub in Greenville, NC. James and another club goer exchanged words and were escorted out of the club. Shortly thereafter, a white BMW came barreling down the street, as someone in the car opened fire, killing two individuals standing outside of the club. None of the eyewitnesses identified James as the shooter, but police, prosecutors, and the media pursued him as the sole suspect. James was convi...

From an extremely young age, Amanda Busse endured severe physical and sexual abuse, not only by her father, but also by her father’s friends, who were all feared by much of the community as they were rumoured to control the local drug trade. After her mother passed, Amanda’s father sold her to a 36 year old acquaintance of his, to be his wife. Amanda was 17 at the time. On November 15, 1997, a local woman was found brutally murdered in the Meramec River in MO. Amanda’s father, husband, and 3 oth...

In May 2001, Talalelei “TJ” Edwards, his wife and son were sharing an Anchorage, AK apartment with a woman named Melissa along with Melissa’s 1 year old son, Derrick. Talalelei often watched the boys on the days when other sitters were not available. On the morning of May 8, Derrick slept for a few hours until Talalelei noticed his odd breathing. Trained in child caregiving, Talalelei responded by blowing air on the child’s face, and performing CPR. When he did not respond, Talalelei took Derric...

In November of 2001, in Sacramento, CA, four month old Nadia was declared brain dead after being rushed to the hospital the day prior. Nadia’s father, Zavion Johnson, eventually told authorities that he had dropped Nadia by accident when giving her a bath on November 24th and that she was unusually sleepy and ultimately stopped breathing following the accident. But authorities believed that Nadia died from Shaken Baby Syndrome and the prosecution presented three witnesses to attest to this in co...

In 1987, five elderly women passed away at a nursing home in Grand Rapids, MI. Gwen Graham and Cathy Wood both worked at this nursing home, and the pair had been in a brief relationship at the time. Months later, when Gwen broke up with Cathy and started seeing someone new, Cathy became angry and told her ex-husband that the five women did not die naturally, but that she and Gwen had smothered them as part of a lover’s pact that would bind them together for life. Shocked, he reported this to aut...

In preparation for the upcoming parole hearing in Tallahassee on May 3rd, Gilbert and Kelsey travel to Florida to preview what’s at stake for Leo. They visit a halfway house in Tampa, and speak to Crissie, Ashley, Jessie Saum, and Seth Miller. They also accompany Scott Cupp to meetings with Florida Senator Jonathan Martin and parole commissioners. Leo Schofield’s parole hearing will be at 9:00 am on May 3, 2023, and is open to the public: Florida Commission on Offender Review Betty Easley Conf...

On the evening of October 30, 1994, Marcus Boyd and Greg Elking were sitting on Marcus’s front porch in St. Louis, MO when two men, wearing ski masks and armed with guns, ambushed them and shot Marcus several times leading to his death. Police gathered that 20 year old Lamar Johnson may have had a conflict with Marcus, so Lamar became a prime suspect. Based on fabricated identifications and the word of a jailhouse snitch, Lamar was convicted and sentenced to life without parole. Lauren Bright Pa...

On New Year’s Eve in 1993, Hank Skinner fell asleep early on his couch after being rendered comatose from a cocktail of vodka, xanax and codeine. His girlfriend, Twila Busby, left for a party, and when she returned, she and her two sons were brutally murdered. Pampa, TX law enforcement knew Hank from previous charges and he was the sole survivor of the attack, so he soon became the prime suspect. Despite evidence that Hank was incapable of committing these murders, Hank faced 27 years on Texas d...

On October 3, 2004, in Port Huron, MI, Terry Ceasor was at home alone with his girlfriend Cheryl’s 1 year old son, Brenden. Terry and Brenden had been playing a game that consisted of Terry chasing Brenden behind the couch when Terry briefly stepped away from the room to use the bathroom. After he left the room, Terry heard a loud thud and found Brenden unconscious on the living room floor. The medical professionals at the hospital believed that Brenden was a victim of Shaken Baby Syndrome and T...

He thought the police would recognize this was just a dream, not reality. Laura Nirider and Steve Drizin bring us a story from Ada, OK where a young woman went missing. A few months after her disappearance, a man named Tommy Ward told police that he’d had a bad dream about her murder. Incredibly, the police took that dream and turned it into a false confession... and into a prison sentence that continues to this day, 35 years later. Since this episode's original release, in January 2021, a Dis...

No body, no bones, no motive. Just a decades long nightmare that has not ended. For the final episode of Season 2 Laura Nirider and Steve Drizin take us back to Ada, OK, for the second half of the story of Tommy Ward and Karl Fontenot. When we left off last week, Tommy and Karl were sitting on death row, after police turned Tommy’s bad dream into a murder confession. This week, we hear about some serious twists in the case, from the discovery of the victim’s body to the revelation of hidden evi...

On Wednesday, May 3, 2023, Gilbert and Kelsey are on the way to Leo’s parole hearing. Live update from the hearing coming soon. For photos, images, and full transcripts of each episode visit: https://lavaforgood.com/bone-valley/ To read and sign the petition from the Innocence Project of Florida visit: http://bit.ly/BringLeoHome Bone Valley is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Leo Schofield’s parole hearing is held in Tallahassee, FL on May 3rd, 2023, before the Florida Commission on Offender Review. In the lead up to the hearing, Gilbert and Kelsey check in with Scott Cupp and Crissie Schofield. Following the commission’s decision, Leo’s friends, family, and supporters grapple with the outcome. And Leo processes the news. For photos, images, and full transcripts of each episode visit: https://lavaforgood.com/bone-valley/ To read and sign the petition from the Innoc...

Why do we tell these stories? Laura Nirider and Steve Drizin tell us the story of Peter Reilly, one of the first modern-day false confessors. In 1973, police continued to interrogate 18-year-old Peter until he started to believe he was actually guilty of murdering his own mother. But Peter’s friends and neighbors believed in his innocence. Their small-town campaign for Peter’s freedom was eventually joined by a host of big name celebrities. This episode was originally the finale of Wrongful C...

In December of 2002, a mother dropped off her 3 month old daughter, I.Z., at daycare in Romeoville, IL. Jennifer Del Prete was working at the daycare center and later that day, Jennifer noticed that the girl was not breathing so she called 911. I.Z. died almost a full year later. The state hypothesized that I.Z. died of Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS). Since Jennifer was providing care for I.Z. on the day she initially showed medical issues, Jennifer was charged and convicted of murder. Since Jennife...

Ashley Lytton was a typical mom and wife in suburban Utah with three children until she discovered her husband’s horrifying secret. It was a shocking crime that would alter Ashley’s life and jeopardize the safety of her children. This season Betrayal will focus on one mother’s fight to find justice for her daughter and protection from a predator too close to home. Listen to Betrayal Season 2 on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts. https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-betrayal-95...

On September 13, 1983, Delbert Baker was found dead – shot and with his throat slashed – in Auburndale, FL. Witnesses gave the police a lead on two suspects but they quickly dismissed it since one of the suspects was working as a police informant. A few months later, after a $5,000 reward was offered for information, another individual came forward and said that Juan Roberto Melendez was responsible. This person was known to dislike Juan, and on more than one occasion declared that he would “get...

Today we present a special episode of The War on Drugs podcast. Hosts Clayton English and Greg Glod are live on stage with some of the top names in podcasting including Gilbert King from Bone Valley, Jason Flom from Wrongful Conviction and Ben Bowlin and Noel Brown from Stuff They Don’t Want You to Know to discuss the intersection of The War on Drugs and wrongful convictions. Recorded Live at iHeart Media in Atlanta, GA on April 26th, 2023 Featuring hosts from the following podcasts; Bone Val...

One July night in 1995, Deputy Sheriff William G. Hardy was shot behind the Crown Sterling Suites hotel in Birmingham, Alabama. At the same time as the murder, at least ten people saw Toforest Johnson four miles away, at a popular nightclub called Tee's Place. But detectives zeroed in on him as a main suspect in Deputy Hardy’s murder anyway, ultimately resulting in Toforest being tried, convicted, and sentenced to death. For over a quarter century, Toforest has been confined to a 5’ by 8’ cell o...