Wrongful Conviction

On March 14, 1998, 16-year-old Benjamin Urias was shot in the Pico-Union neighborhood in Los Angeles, CA. The shot was not fatal, but Urias was hospitalized for two days. Urius was member of the 18th Street Gang, and told investigators that the shooter walked with a limp and shouted “Burlington Locos,” the name of another Los Angeles gang. Four days before the shooting, Oscar Eagle turned 18 years old. And two days befo...

Six 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 triumph.

Wrongful Conviction with Lauren Bright Pacheco will be available every Thursday beginning November 13 wherever you ge...

Wrongful Conviction with Lauren Bright Pacheco is back November 13th with all new episodes. So today, we’re revisiting one of the most memorable episode from her last season, episode #454, James Soto:
James “Jimmy” Soto was wrongfully convicted at age 20 for a 1981 double homicide in Chicago’s Little Village despite no physical evidence and multiple al...

On September 19, 1988, drug dealer Richard Valdez and his pregnant girlfriend Sharon Condon were shot in their house near Scottsbluff, NE. Police quickly focused on Jeff Boppre based on a purported “dying declaration” that Valdez, after being shot multiple times, wrote parts of Boppre’s name in engine grease on the ground next to him. The investigation was built against Boppre and he was convicted of two counts of...

On December 5th, 1984, the naked body of Theresa Fusco was pulled out of a wooded area in Lynbrook, NY - the 3rd in a string of recent disappearances, putting pressure on police to find the monster among them. The medical examiner determined that a rape lkely occurred and the cause of death was ligature strangulation. Dennis Halstead had been linked to one of the victims, and in a police interview about Halstead, John Restivo inadv...

On October 15, 2015, Quortney Tolliver was attacked with a hammer in her home in Ravenna Township, OH. She woke up from a medically induced coma weeks later with absolutely no recollection of the incident. Nevertheless, Portage County detectives pressed her to identify the person they “found out who did this” – 47 year old David Smith. Ms. Tolliver refused to identify Mr. Smith until she faced her own charges and ...

On May 21, 1988, about 5:00 a.m., the victim, after an argument with her boyfriend, left his parked car and walked alone toward her home in St. Louis, MO. Shortly thereafter, three males pulled their car alongside her, jumped out of the car, grabbed the victim by the hair, pulled her into an alley, pushed her to the ground, and tore her dress. Two of the men held her down, while the third man sodomized and raped her.  The vict...

Jason Flom sits down for an interview with Maggie Freleng, the Pulitzer prize-winning producer, journalist and host of Bone Valley Season 3 | Graves County. In this special episode, Maggie talks with Jason about her experiences reporting this show from a small town in Kentucky for over 2 years, and how truth and justice can get lost in the pursuit of retribution.

Graves County is out now in the Bone Valley feed. New episodes are av...

On April 9, 1997, shortly after midnight in Buffalo, NY, Officers Charles “Skip” McDougald and Michael Martinez were patrolling near Northampton and East Parade in Buffalo’s East Side when they observed what they described as a “suspicious person.” According to police accounts, when they approached, the individual produced a handgun and fired. Officer McDougald was struck in the chest and fatally wound...

Maggie Freleng, along with Executive Producers Gilbert King and Jason Flom bring you the first episode of Maggie’s new documentary series, years in the making: Bone Valley Season 3 | GRAVES COUNTY. 

In it Maggie takes us to a small town in Graves County, Kentucky, where a terrible discovery on the front lawn of a middle school invites a string of amateur and professional investigators to try to solve a murder. Maggie is ...

On the night of February 4, 2011, Avalisa Morris was shot and killed at a birthday party in the basement of a two-family home in Queens, NY. The fatal gunshots were fired from outside the party, through the closed door of the entrance to the basement. Even though no eyewitnesses placed Allen at the door with a weapon, he was tried under an acting-in-concert theory, and convicted of second‑degree manslaughter and related firearms ch...

In Season 1 of Bone Valley, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Gilbert King tells a story of a man, Leo Schofield, fighting to prove his innocence in the case of his wife Michelle’s murder.

In Season 2, “JEREMY” Gilbert King brings us a story about her actual killer, Jeremy Scott, fighting to prove his guilt. The State of Florida does not believe either man.

Bone Valley Season 3 | GRAVES COUNTY is a new story about a n...

18-year-old Jessica Currin’s burned and decomposing body was discovered on August 1, 2000 behind Mayfield Middle School in Mayfield, KY. Jessica had lacerations on the back of her head, nose and chin, and stab wounds. The medical examiner also believed she had been strangled but there was no evidence to support this theory. The case went cold for a few years, until a couple of supposed eyewitnesses came forward, motivated by ...

In the late 80’s and early 90’s, the US found itself wrapped up in the “Satanic Panic” - a general state of fear revolving around Satanism and satanic ritual, real or imagined. On May 5th, 1993, in West Memphis, AR, three 8-year-old boys—Steven Branch, Michael Moore, and Christopher Byers—were reported missing. Their lifeless bodies were found the following day in a Robin Hood Hills creek, naked ...

Calvin "Cal" Harris was charged with the murder of his estranged wife Michele Harris, who disappeared in September 2001 from their home in Spencer, NY. Despite no body being found, Cal was tried four times and eventually acquitted in 2016. He later filed federal and state lawsuits alleging malicious prosecution and evidence fabrication. His case highlights investigative tunnel vision, suppressed evidence, and ongoing questions abou...

On February 1, 1997, Charles Newsome, a member of the 18th Street Group was murdered while driving through the Mayfair Apartments in West Memphis, AR. The city was caught in a wave of retaliatory violence between two groups: Foxwood and 18th Street. 
Kendrick Gillum, who was loosely affiliated with Foxwood, became a suspect based on inconsistent and coerced witness testimony from a single eyewitness who initially told polic...

On August 10th, 1994, a man and a woman were in a van in West Philadelphia, when two males approached. One blocked the passenger door, while the other shot the man before he could get out of the van. The witness identified 16 year old Johnny Berry from a photo, but rescinded the ID at a preliminary hearing. Inexplicably, Johnny was re-arrested and sent back to juvenile detention, where he met Tauheed Lloyd who had admitted to being...

On July 12, 1994, 19-year old Steven Smith was killed after being struck by a single bullet to the head in Newport News, VA. Within weeks three individuals, two teenage boys, and one in his twenties, were arrested for the crime. Darryl Hunter, his older brother Nathaniel Pierce, and his friend Reginald Fletcher, were each tried and convicted solely on witness testimony. They were sentenced collectively to over 200 years in prison. ...

On September 8, 1985, dozens gathered on Keeler Avenue in Chicago, IL for a friend's birthday party. In the early morning hours, while walking back to the party after getting cigarettes, 19-year-old Ivan Mena and 21-year-old Bouvier "Bobby" Garcia broke up a fight between 16-year-old Reynaldo “Scooby" Munoz and another partygoer. Munoz walked home after that fight, but Mena and Garcia returned to the party. Shortly after, aro...