An All-American young man was enjoying the best time of his life in college when he was arrested for the murder of Kent Heitholt, a popular sports editor in their hometown of Columbia, Missouri.
The tall and strapping Heitholt was found beaten and strangled in the newspaper parking lot after getting off late from work on Halloween night 2001.
The case went cold quickly, and police had no leads until Charles ‘Chuck’ Erickson said he had a dream after reading an article revisiting the unsolved murder.
Chuck said he dreamed that he and his friend Ryan Ferguson may have killed the reporter after partying that night in the same area where Heitholt was killed.
Chuck said he was so high on drugs the night of the murder, including cocaine, Adderall, and alcohol, he wasn’t sure they killed Heithold, but in his drug-addled mind he speculated that he and Ferguson could have been the two shadowy figures witnesses saw at the scene.
The hazy, disjointed, and incomplete account didn’t stop Chuck from confessing or dragging Ryan into the investigation.
And it didn’t stop police and the prosecution from building a case on a string of mistakes, lies, and manipulation that ended up sending both young men to prison.
Chuck Erickson cut a deal for 25 years in prison and he testified that Ryan was the main killer, who was sentenced to 40 years in prison.
But Ryan Ferguson and his dad never gave up hope that he would be freed and eventually his father’s relentless pursuit of the truth paid off and his son was exonerated.
Join us for the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “Chuck Erickson’s dream becomes Ryan Ferguson’s nightmare!”
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