1 00:00:02,520 --> 00:00:06,960 Speaker 1: On November one, nineteen seventy five, Leslie and Georgine Mark 2 00:00:07,440 --> 00:00:10,600 Speaker 1: and their two young children were discovered fatally shot in 3 00:00:10,640 --> 00:00:15,800 Speaker 1: their Iowa farmhouse. The extended family was notified immediately, except 4 00:00:15,880 --> 00:00:19,040 Speaker 1: for Leslie's older brother, Jerry, who was on a motorcycle 5 00:00:19,120 --> 00:00:21,919 Speaker 1: ride that took him from California to at least as 6 00:00:21,960 --> 00:00:27,520 Speaker 1: far as Nebraska, but a few inconsistencies about the first 7 00:00:27,520 --> 00:00:31,160 Speaker 1: two days of his journey led authorities to doubt his alibi. 8 00:00:32,600 --> 00:00:35,800 Speaker 1: They theorized that he'd set out for the family farmhouse 9 00:00:35,840 --> 00:00:39,040 Speaker 1: in Cedar Falls, Iowa, to exact revenge for losing his 10 00:00:39,159 --> 00:00:43,000 Speaker 1: stake in the family farm to his younger brother, and 11 00:00:43,200 --> 00:00:47,480 Speaker 1: despite evidence to the contrary, the state produced enough circumstantial 12 00:00:47,520 --> 00:00:53,280 Speaker 1: evidence and junk science to convince a Jerry this is 13 00:00:53,320 --> 00:01:03,600 Speaker 1: wrongful conviction. You're listening to Wrongful Conviction. You can listen 14 00:01:03,600 --> 00:01:06,080 Speaker 1: to this and all the Lava for Good podcasts one 15 00:01:06,080 --> 00:01:09,319 Speaker 1: week early and ad free by subscribing to Lava for 16 00:01:09,400 --> 00:01:20,679 Speaker 1: Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Welcome back to Wrongful Conviction, 17 00:01:20,760 --> 00:01:23,800 Speaker 1: where we have a case that pitted brother against brother 18 00:01:23,959 --> 00:01:27,600 Speaker 1: and a canaan able type of clash. When it turns 19 00:01:27,600 --> 00:01:30,520 Speaker 1: out that there were at least two other motivated parties, 20 00:01:30,760 --> 00:01:33,600 Speaker 1: none of whom were our guests today. And our guest 21 00:01:33,600 --> 00:01:38,080 Speaker 1: today is calling in from an Iowa correctional facility. Jerry Mark. 22 00:01:38,240 --> 00:01:41,399 Speaker 1: Welcome to Wrongful Conviction. I'm sorry you're here, but we're 23 00:01:41,520 --> 00:01:42,440 Speaker 1: very honored to have you. 24 00:01:42,720 --> 00:01:44,280 Speaker 2: Thank you now to. 25 00:01:44,200 --> 00:01:47,640 Speaker 1: Help explain what happened way back in nineteen seventy five 26 00:01:47,720 --> 00:01:50,880 Speaker 1: and ever since. Erica Nichols Cook, who heads up the 27 00:01:50,880 --> 00:01:54,600 Speaker 1: Wrongful Conviction Unit for the Iowa Public Defender's Office, thanks 28 00:01:54,680 --> 00:01:55,880 Speaker 1: for doing this with us today. 29 00:01:56,040 --> 00:01:58,240 Speaker 3: Of course, thank you for having me now. 30 00:01:58,360 --> 00:02:01,480 Speaker 1: Jerry's backstory is kind of epically. It's like a movie. 31 00:02:01,800 --> 00:02:05,760 Speaker 1: He's going to be eighty two in January twenty twenty five, 32 00:02:06,320 --> 00:02:09,160 Speaker 1: so when this happened back in nineteen seventy five, he 33 00:02:09,240 --> 00:02:12,480 Speaker 1: was thirty two, and by that age he'd already lived 34 00:02:12,720 --> 00:02:13,680 Speaker 1: the hell of a life. 35 00:02:13,720 --> 00:02:16,880 Speaker 2: I was the second born of four brothers. My older 36 00:02:16,919 --> 00:02:20,600 Speaker 2: brother was Richard. My name is Jerry Allen Mark. Next 37 00:02:20,680 --> 00:02:24,280 Speaker 2: younger is Thomas, and then the youngest of all is 38 00:02:24,400 --> 00:02:28,040 Speaker 2: Leslie Wayne Mark. Mom and dad on day two hundred 39 00:02:28,080 --> 00:02:30,919 Speaker 2: Digger farm in northeast Iowa. We lived in a huge 40 00:02:31,160 --> 00:02:34,680 Speaker 2: seventeen eighteen room farmhouse. It had been built for very 41 00:02:34,760 --> 00:02:38,560 Speaker 2: large families and previous generations of the Mark family. So 42 00:02:38,680 --> 00:02:41,800 Speaker 2: I grew up on a farm. And the person that 43 00:02:41,880 --> 00:02:45,360 Speaker 2: I was accused of murdering and his family was my 44 00:02:45,480 --> 00:02:48,400 Speaker 2: youngest brother, Less, who was seven years younger than me, 45 00:02:48,480 --> 00:02:50,519 Speaker 2: and I was his mentor, and I kind of taught 46 00:02:50,600 --> 00:02:52,680 Speaker 2: him out to do all the farm chores. Dad was 47 00:02:52,720 --> 00:02:55,560 Speaker 2: away a lot because Dad switched over from being a 48 00:02:55,560 --> 00:02:57,679 Speaker 2: farmer to being a real estate broker. 49 00:02:58,080 --> 00:03:02,840 Speaker 3: Today farming more corporate right, And Wayne was a pioneer 50 00:03:02,880 --> 00:03:07,040 Speaker 3: in that he was buying smaller farms and amassing thousands 51 00:03:07,080 --> 00:03:11,519 Speaker 3: of acres, and he wasn't always well liked. In fact, 52 00:03:11,600 --> 00:03:15,000 Speaker 3: he and an attorney in town, a friend. They had 53 00:03:15,120 --> 00:03:18,919 Speaker 3: a corporation called vy Vim, and they would use it 54 00:03:18,960 --> 00:03:21,919 Speaker 3: to make purchases of farmland for people who didn't want 55 00:03:21,960 --> 00:03:23,480 Speaker 3: to sell to Wayne. 56 00:03:23,600 --> 00:03:26,480 Speaker 2: These would be widows whose husbands had died and left 57 00:03:26,520 --> 00:03:28,960 Speaker 2: them a farm, and the farms were worth a lot 58 00:03:29,040 --> 00:03:33,200 Speaker 2: more than the old ladies realized, and the attorneys could 59 00:03:33,440 --> 00:03:36,480 Speaker 2: persuade the class to sell the farm a straw buyer 60 00:03:36,720 --> 00:03:39,680 Speaker 2: with either farm. One farm we found out they sold 61 00:03:39,720 --> 00:03:42,760 Speaker 2: for two hundred and fifty thousand bucks, and then a 62 00:03:42,800 --> 00:03:46,880 Speaker 2: few months later turned around the straw purchaser resold the 63 00:03:46,920 --> 00:03:49,080 Speaker 2: farm for seven hundred and fifty thousand, so they made 64 00:03:49,160 --> 00:03:51,800 Speaker 2: half a million dollars on just one farm transaction. 65 00:03:52,280 --> 00:03:54,600 Speaker 1: It appears that the rest of the Mark family was 66 00:03:54,680 --> 00:03:58,200 Speaker 1: unaware of these crooked dealings. In fact, Jerry had planned 67 00:03:58,240 --> 00:04:02,600 Speaker 1: to join his dad's partners after law school, but first 68 00:04:02,920 --> 00:04:04,720 Speaker 1: he joined the Peace Corps. 69 00:04:04,520 --> 00:04:07,640 Speaker 2: Which was a response to President John Kennedy. He brought 70 00:04:07,640 --> 00:04:10,800 Speaker 2: out these feelings of paid tritism and service in people 71 00:04:10,880 --> 00:04:13,480 Speaker 2: like me, and so I went to Brazil for two 72 00:04:13,560 --> 00:04:16,680 Speaker 2: years in nineteen sixty two and sixty three. 73 00:04:16,839 --> 00:04:19,600 Speaker 3: He's the first class in the Peace Corps and so 74 00:04:19,800 --> 00:04:23,159 Speaker 3: with his farming background, he's placed in rural Brazil, where 75 00:04:23,160 --> 00:04:26,960 Speaker 3: he meets the Bleistra family and he becomes friends with 76 00:04:27,000 --> 00:04:31,920 Speaker 3: Renato Blestra. Renato's dad is like the mayor. Jerry ends 77 00:04:31,960 --> 00:04:35,720 Speaker 3: up staying with Renato. They become very close. When Jerry's 78 00:04:35,760 --> 00:04:38,119 Speaker 3: time is up in the Peace Corps, he returns home 79 00:04:38,720 --> 00:04:41,640 Speaker 3: and then gets a visa for Renato to live in 80 00:04:41,720 --> 00:04:44,560 Speaker 3: Cedar Fall. It's with the Mark family. Jerry actually goes 81 00:04:44,600 --> 00:04:47,240 Speaker 3: back to school to finish college and then gone to 82 00:04:47,320 --> 00:04:50,640 Speaker 3: law school and Renato stays with Wayne and Dorothy on 83 00:04:50,680 --> 00:04:54,919 Speaker 3: the farm. He gets his pilot license and goes to Vietnam. 84 00:04:55,279 --> 00:04:58,400 Speaker 1: So while Renato served in the US military, gaining a 85 00:04:58,440 --> 00:05:01,400 Speaker 1: path to the US citizenship, Jerry was able to go 86 00:05:01,480 --> 00:05:05,120 Speaker 1: a different path. Before the draft was reinstated, he joined 87 00:05:05,120 --> 00:05:08,200 Speaker 1: the Navy, but he refused an officer commission for another 88 00:05:08,320 --> 00:05:09,000 Speaker 1: role at home. 89 00:05:09,360 --> 00:05:12,760 Speaker 2: I strongly opposed that war. Two of my very dearest 90 00:05:12,760 --> 00:05:16,599 Speaker 2: friends volunteered to go to Vietnam, so we were patriotic. 91 00:05:16,960 --> 00:05:20,159 Speaker 2: It was just kind of accidental that I learned enough 92 00:05:20,200 --> 00:05:24,800 Speaker 2: about the Vietnamese independence movement to understand that we were 93 00:05:24,800 --> 00:05:27,160 Speaker 2: on the wrong side of that, and I found myself 94 00:05:27,240 --> 00:05:30,719 Speaker 2: drawn into the civil rights movement here in the United States. 95 00:05:31,200 --> 00:05:33,520 Speaker 2: In the summer of sixty four, I volunteered to be 96 00:05:33,760 --> 00:05:37,440 Speaker 2: the fundraiser for James Jackson, and first African American elector 97 00:05:37,440 --> 00:05:39,720 Speaker 2: to the Arwood Legislature in modern times. 98 00:05:39,920 --> 00:05:42,680 Speaker 1: So through college and law school, Jerry was engaged in 99 00:05:42,720 --> 00:05:45,560 Speaker 1: politics and the anti war movement, and in nineteen sixty 100 00:05:45,600 --> 00:05:48,000 Speaker 1: eight he and his wife Rebecca were Iowa delegates for 101 00:05:48,080 --> 00:05:52,359 Speaker 1: Bobby Kennedy before his assassination, which in turn ushered in 102 00:05:52,480 --> 00:05:56,080 Speaker 1: Richard Nixon and the war escalated, while Jerry joined the 103 00:05:56,160 --> 00:05:58,960 Speaker 1: Legal Aid Society to protect the Indigenous as well as 104 00:05:58,960 --> 00:06:01,720 Speaker 1: those who were pro so rights and opposed to the war. 105 00:06:02,200 --> 00:06:05,160 Speaker 2: By this time, I have already had a reputation as 106 00:06:05,160 --> 00:06:09,600 Speaker 2: a radical attorney, and I was playing right into their images. 107 00:06:09,680 --> 00:06:11,839 Speaker 2: I guess I had long red hair and a red 108 00:06:11,880 --> 00:06:15,159 Speaker 2: beard living in Berkeley. I had become such an anti 109 00:06:15,200 --> 00:06:19,560 Speaker 2: war fanatic that my wife had basically given me an ultimatum. 110 00:06:19,960 --> 00:06:22,400 Speaker 2: I had to settle down and have a normal family 111 00:06:22,440 --> 00:06:26,360 Speaker 2: life somewhere, or she wanted a separation. We had two 112 00:06:26,360 --> 00:06:29,200 Speaker 2: little girls, and I just didn't take it seriously enough. 113 00:06:29,440 --> 00:06:32,160 Speaker 1: Jerry and Rebecca divorced and shared custody of their girls, 114 00:06:32,160 --> 00:06:35,320 Speaker 1: and soon Jerry met somebody knew, a neighbor of his 115 00:06:35,760 --> 00:06:38,720 Speaker 1: at a Berkeley, California trailer park named Mimi, who was 116 00:06:38,800 --> 00:06:42,320 Speaker 1: also divorcing her husband, Alga Forrest, and in the spring 117 00:06:42,360 --> 00:06:45,280 Speaker 1: of seventy five, the new couple returned to Cedar Falls 118 00:06:45,320 --> 00:06:48,479 Speaker 1: with the girls to visit Jerry's ailing father and to 119 00:06:48,600 --> 00:06:50,840 Speaker 1: discuss the future of the farmhouse. 120 00:06:51,240 --> 00:06:53,719 Speaker 2: I was very assertive toward Dad, and I finally got 121 00:06:53,800 --> 00:06:56,159 Speaker 2: Dad to promise me that in the early part of 122 00:06:56,200 --> 00:06:58,680 Speaker 2: summer that he would make the move. That Mom already 123 00:06:58,680 --> 00:07:01,839 Speaker 2: had picked out a home nearby for them to move into, 124 00:07:02,320 --> 00:07:04,840 Speaker 2: so a Lesson Georgian could move into the farmhouse. 125 00:07:05,240 --> 00:07:09,280 Speaker 1: So, despite advocating for his brother, the state later used 126 00:07:09,320 --> 00:07:12,400 Speaker 1: Alga Forrest to argue that Jerry killed Less and his 127 00:07:12,520 --> 00:07:16,320 Speaker 1: family over Less inheriting the farm, all while ignoring both 128 00:07:16,360 --> 00:07:19,360 Speaker 1: the victims of Wayne Mark's crooked real estate dealings as 129 00:07:19,400 --> 00:07:22,880 Speaker 1: well as the powerful enemies that were Naobo Lestra had made. 130 00:07:23,200 --> 00:07:26,320 Speaker 3: In the early seventies, Renato had some problems with his 131 00:07:26,440 --> 00:07:31,280 Speaker 3: pilot license here and that's when he took a job 132 00:07:31,840 --> 00:07:35,920 Speaker 3: flying drugs from Paraguay to Miami. He is one of 133 00:07:35,920 --> 00:07:40,360 Speaker 3: the pilots with Caesar Bianki and he turned state evidence 134 00:07:40,560 --> 00:07:44,440 Speaker 3: and he testifies in New York and federal court against 135 00:07:44,480 --> 00:07:49,200 Speaker 3: August Record and Caesar Bianki. Wayne posted Renato's bond. Renato 136 00:07:49,280 --> 00:07:51,600 Speaker 3: stayed with Wayne and Dorothy while he was on bond 137 00:07:51,720 --> 00:07:54,720 Speaker 3: before he had to go back and testify. And there 138 00:07:54,760 --> 00:07:58,640 Speaker 3: was also several August Record and Caesar Bianki co defendants 139 00:07:59,080 --> 00:08:01,800 Speaker 3: who escaped from the Federal Detention Center in New York 140 00:08:02,160 --> 00:08:04,640 Speaker 3: and are never accounted for they were part of the 141 00:08:04,760 --> 00:08:06,480 Speaker 3: enforcers of that cartel. 142 00:08:07,040 --> 00:08:11,160 Speaker 1: So by Halloween nineteen seventy five, Wayne, Dorothy, and Renato 143 00:08:11,280 --> 00:08:14,760 Speaker 1: were all out of the farmhouse, inadvertently leaving Less and 144 00:08:14,840 --> 00:08:18,560 Speaker 1: his family in harm's way. Meanwhile, Jerry was struggling with 145 00:08:18,640 --> 00:08:21,360 Speaker 1: the idea of jumping into a new marriage with Mimi. 146 00:08:21,760 --> 00:08:24,120 Speaker 2: So I had basically said to her, I need to 147 00:08:24,160 --> 00:08:26,360 Speaker 2: take off for a week or so and spend some 148 00:08:26,440 --> 00:08:30,000 Speaker 2: time by myself. I wanted to do some introspection. I 149 00:08:30,040 --> 00:08:33,400 Speaker 2: had recently bought a motorcycle, and my attention was to 150 00:08:33,440 --> 00:08:37,360 Speaker 2: go south in southern California rather than come east and 151 00:08:37,400 --> 00:08:40,280 Speaker 2: then being on the road, I had encountered people, and 152 00:08:40,360 --> 00:08:43,480 Speaker 2: I had actually picked up a girl, Aytoker along the way. 153 00:08:43,840 --> 00:08:46,360 Speaker 1: Her name was Ginger, and she was heading east. So 154 00:08:46,400 --> 00:08:49,720 Speaker 1: they hopped on I eighty on Wednesday, October twenty ninth, 155 00:08:49,800 --> 00:08:54,240 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy five. Despite some mutual attraction, Jerry claims that 156 00:08:54,280 --> 00:08:57,559 Speaker 1: he remained faithful to Mimi, and Ginger took off in Cheyenne, 157 00:08:57,559 --> 00:09:01,320 Speaker 1: Wyoming on Thursday evening, at which point Jerry intended to 158 00:09:01,360 --> 00:09:03,439 Speaker 1: head back to Berkeley and try. 159 00:09:03,280 --> 00:09:06,280 Speaker 2: To get back over the Continental Divide. A Thursday night, 160 00:09:06,760 --> 00:09:09,600 Speaker 2: it was so cold and it snowed a little bit 161 00:09:10,120 --> 00:09:12,720 Speaker 2: that I couldn't make it. I actually spent a lot 162 00:09:12,720 --> 00:09:17,000 Speaker 2: of early morning hours during Thursday night Friday morning at 163 00:09:17,280 --> 00:09:22,480 Speaker 2: restaurants and cafes. Anyway, I decided I would come down 164 00:09:22,920 --> 00:09:27,040 Speaker 2: to a lower altitude in western Nebraska, camp out, rest up, 165 00:09:27,120 --> 00:09:29,040 Speaker 2: then get a hold of my body renowned till the 166 00:09:29,080 --> 00:09:33,080 Speaker 2: next day. He had a general aviation business in eastern Nebraska, 167 00:09:33,440 --> 00:09:36,839 Speaker 2: so he could have my motorcycle ship back to California 168 00:09:37,120 --> 00:09:40,720 Speaker 2: and fly me back to California. So Friday night, that's 169 00:09:40,760 --> 00:09:44,240 Speaker 2: when I camped at the first rest area at a 170 00:09:44,280 --> 00:09:46,600 Speaker 2: lower altitude down in Nebraska. 171 00:09:47,000 --> 00:09:50,079 Speaker 1: The rest area was in Chapel, Nebraska, about a nine 172 00:09:50,120 --> 00:09:52,920 Speaker 1: hour ride from Cedar Falls, Iowa, where Less and his 173 00:09:53,040 --> 00:09:55,800 Speaker 1: family were murdered at some time during that night. 174 00:09:56,240 --> 00:09:59,480 Speaker 3: So October thirty first, nineteen seventy five, it is Halloween 175 00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:03,000 Speaker 3: and it is also harvest, so at the Mark family 176 00:10:03,040 --> 00:10:05,679 Speaker 3: farm there's a lot of people in and out. So 177 00:10:05,840 --> 00:10:08,720 Speaker 3: this night Less is seen pretty late at night. Victor 178 00:10:08,840 --> 00:10:12,040 Speaker 3: is there, the uncle who's helping with harvest, and he 179 00:10:12,080 --> 00:10:15,480 Speaker 3: goes home. Everything is fine. A trooper drives by, who 180 00:10:15,520 --> 00:10:19,240 Speaker 3: knows Less from the Army National Guard. He sees lights on, 181 00:10:19,800 --> 00:10:22,320 Speaker 3: he goes to a call. He comes back, gets like 182 00:10:22,520 --> 00:10:24,319 Speaker 3: one am. The lights are off. 183 00:10:24,480 --> 00:10:27,600 Speaker 1: According to the clocks in the house, someone had cut 184 00:10:27,640 --> 00:10:31,160 Speaker 1: the power around three am, and it's unclear if there 185 00:10:31,200 --> 00:10:33,560 Speaker 1: was any relevance to a blue sedan that was seen 186 00:10:33,559 --> 00:10:36,920 Speaker 1: in the area. Then in the morning, a neighboring farmer 187 00:10:37,000 --> 00:10:39,480 Speaker 1: named Clark Renner, who had been working in tandem with 188 00:10:39,559 --> 00:10:42,760 Speaker 1: Less on the corn harvest, got no response from Less 189 00:10:42,800 --> 00:10:45,199 Speaker 1: at the farmhouse, and he saw that a front door 190 00:10:45,280 --> 00:10:48,360 Speaker 1: window pane and a potted plant inside had been broken, 191 00:10:48,480 --> 00:10:50,760 Speaker 1: so he went and got Dorothy and Wayne. 192 00:10:51,000 --> 00:10:54,000 Speaker 3: When Dorothy gets there, Wayne is sick. Dorothy pulls a 193 00:10:54,080 --> 00:10:57,079 Speaker 3: key down off a nail, lets yourself into the house. 194 00:10:57,120 --> 00:11:00,120 Speaker 3: They're calling for Less and Georgine. They go through a 195 00:11:00,160 --> 00:11:02,439 Speaker 3: couple of rooms to the bedroom that they know Less 196 00:11:02,440 --> 00:11:05,560 Speaker 3: than Georgane. Use The door's closed, but they see blood 197 00:11:05,640 --> 00:11:09,400 Speaker 3: seeping out from under the door. Clark Renner pushes on 198 00:11:09,440 --> 00:11:11,640 Speaker 3: the door and it's there's something against it and he 199 00:11:11,679 --> 00:11:14,320 Speaker 3: can't get it opened very far. He gets it open 200 00:11:14,480 --> 00:11:17,880 Speaker 3: enough to look in and he sees Georgane's body on 201 00:11:17,960 --> 00:11:21,000 Speaker 3: the floor, and then he can see less against the door. 202 00:11:21,280 --> 00:11:24,800 Speaker 3: At that time, he and Dorothy believe that it must 203 00:11:24,840 --> 00:11:27,199 Speaker 3: have been a murder suicide. So then Dorothy and Clark 204 00:11:27,240 --> 00:11:30,520 Speaker 3: go upstairs to check on the children, and they find 205 00:11:30,880 --> 00:11:35,640 Speaker 3: Julie in her bed with gunshot wounds. They find Jeffrey 206 00:11:36,000 --> 00:11:40,360 Speaker 3: in his crib, also with gunshot wounds. So Clark first 207 00:11:40,360 --> 00:11:42,679 Speaker 3: goes to the basement to try to flip the power 208 00:11:42,720 --> 00:11:46,040 Speaker 3: back on, and they find a couple of cigarette butts 209 00:11:46,120 --> 00:11:47,520 Speaker 3: down there under the fuse box. 210 00:11:47,960 --> 00:11:51,240 Speaker 1: And in nineteen seventy five, all they had was roology, 211 00:11:51,440 --> 00:11:54,120 Speaker 1: not the DNA testing that would later clear Jerry from 212 00:11:54,120 --> 00:11:57,760 Speaker 1: these cigarettes. It tested positive for tybo blood, same as 213 00:11:57,800 --> 00:12:00,640 Speaker 1: forty percent of the population, by the way, and Jerry 214 00:12:00,920 --> 00:12:03,520 Speaker 1: and there were two more stamped out upstairs. 215 00:12:03,920 --> 00:12:07,400 Speaker 3: The only DNA and fingerprints we've been able to identify 216 00:12:07,480 --> 00:12:10,559 Speaker 3: to anyban have all came back to law enforcement. They 217 00:12:10,559 --> 00:12:12,680 Speaker 3: were not treating it like a crime scene at first. 218 00:12:12,960 --> 00:12:15,599 Speaker 3: The first responders worked off for theory that it was 219 00:12:15,640 --> 00:12:18,600 Speaker 3: a murder suicide. I don't fully understand that sense of 220 00:12:18,640 --> 00:12:21,880 Speaker 3: the broken window, you know, but they apparently thought it was, 221 00:12:21,920 --> 00:12:24,320 Speaker 3: and that's why they made coffee and everybody's sitting around 222 00:12:24,400 --> 00:12:28,199 Speaker 3: smoky cigarettes. Then you know, hours later they get permission 223 00:12:28,280 --> 00:12:30,680 Speaker 3: from the corner to move Less's body to look for 224 00:12:30,720 --> 00:12:33,320 Speaker 3: the gun, and there is no gun, so all of 225 00:12:33,320 --> 00:12:34,600 Speaker 3: a sudden, now it's murder. 226 00:12:34,800 --> 00:12:37,560 Speaker 1: There's also evidence that Less and Georgine had been awake. 227 00:12:37,840 --> 00:12:40,839 Speaker 3: There's a theory that they were awake and are having 228 00:12:40,920 --> 00:12:44,199 Speaker 3: sex because there's some condoms, one on Georgine, one on 229 00:12:44,240 --> 00:12:46,600 Speaker 3: the floor. You know they'd either had sex before they 230 00:12:46,600 --> 00:12:49,480 Speaker 3: went to bed or were awake. There's a total of 231 00:12:49,520 --> 00:12:53,160 Speaker 3: fourteen shots one Gray's wound, so clearly they woke up 232 00:12:53,280 --> 00:12:56,360 Speaker 3: or were awake, and there's some bullets found on the 233 00:12:56,440 --> 00:12:59,800 Speaker 3: floor by the bed where they either went through or missed. 234 00:13:00,480 --> 00:13:06,160 Speaker 3: But at autopsy both Les and Georgine, they are multiple 235 00:13:06,160 --> 00:13:09,959 Speaker 3: gunshots to the heart, a gunshot back of the head. 236 00:13:10,679 --> 00:13:13,520 Speaker 3: From what we've understand, to leave a crime scene so clean, 237 00:13:14,040 --> 00:13:20,199 Speaker 3: without identifiable fingerprints, without being seen, a car being seen, 238 00:13:20,800 --> 00:13:25,319 Speaker 3: the gunshots on the victims execution style shots, so this 239 00:13:25,400 --> 00:13:29,600 Speaker 3: could have been a professional cartel, organized crime type hit. 240 00:13:29,840 --> 00:13:31,679 Speaker 2: I think Lets tried to put up a fight, and 241 00:13:31,720 --> 00:13:33,360 Speaker 2: I know him well ms to know that he would 242 00:13:33,360 --> 00:13:37,040 Speaker 2: have put up a fight even if he was caught unawares. 243 00:13:37,440 --> 00:13:39,800 Speaker 2: But the way the kids were killed that was so 244 00:13:39,960 --> 00:13:40,680 Speaker 2: cold blooded. 245 00:13:41,280 --> 00:13:45,199 Speaker 3: The children were clearly asleep. Julie just has two wounds, 246 00:13:45,640 --> 00:13:48,440 Speaker 3: one in her temple and one in her heart. Jeffrey 247 00:13:48,520 --> 00:13:50,800 Speaker 3: is the same, and the bullet that went through his 248 00:13:50,920 --> 00:13:55,560 Speaker 3: heart went through the crib mattress and lodged itself in 249 00:13:55,640 --> 00:13:57,240 Speaker 3: a children's book under his bed. 250 00:14:08,640 --> 00:14:11,840 Speaker 1: This episode of wrongful conviction is proudly sponsored by Erase 251 00:14:11,920 --> 00:14:16,760 Speaker 1: PTSD Now. Every day, countless individuals face the invisible wounds 252 00:14:16,760 --> 00:14:20,440 Speaker 1: of trauma and PTSD. 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These people knew me, even though 262 00:15:00,760 --> 00:15:02,960 Speaker 2: I had been a bit of a rebel, rouser or 263 00:15:02,960 --> 00:15:06,480 Speaker 2: a trouble maker. They knew that I was not an evil, 264 00:15:06,560 --> 00:15:10,040 Speaker 2: violent person. They knew that I was an idealistic kid. 265 00:15:10,400 --> 00:15:14,600 Speaker 2: They knew there's no evidence connecting meet at the crime. 266 00:15:15,240 --> 00:15:17,080 Speaker 3: I can never quite get past the fact that he 267 00:15:17,280 --> 00:15:20,680 Speaker 3: is a Peace Corps volunteer. He refused a commission in 268 00:15:20,680 --> 00:15:23,240 Speaker 3: the Navy and cleaned toilets instead of going to Vietnam. 269 00:15:23,760 --> 00:15:26,680 Speaker 3: He didn't hunt, and he's supposed to be able to 270 00:15:26,840 --> 00:15:29,320 Speaker 3: kill an eighteen month old in her crib with two 271 00:15:29,520 --> 00:15:33,680 Speaker 3: clean kill shots. It doesn't even seem possible. 272 00:15:34,800 --> 00:15:38,560 Speaker 2: Saturday morning, I got up and went to the restroom 273 00:15:38,720 --> 00:15:42,040 Speaker 2: where I had camped off in western Nebraska, and that's 274 00:15:42,080 --> 00:15:45,760 Speaker 2: where I met Leslie Warren, a maintenance man who took 275 00:15:45,800 --> 00:15:49,880 Speaker 2: care of an interstate restroom. The murders had happened in 276 00:15:50,000 --> 00:15:53,560 Speaker 2: Cedar Falls earlier that morning. This is six hundred miles 277 00:15:53,600 --> 00:15:54,960 Speaker 2: away from the sea of the murders. 278 00:15:55,760 --> 00:15:58,800 Speaker 1: The rest area was in Chapel, Nebraska, a nine hour 279 00:15:58,960 --> 00:16:02,680 Speaker 1: drive from Cedar Fall, where the murders happened only five 280 00:16:02,840 --> 00:16:06,200 Speaker 1: hours earlier, and Jerry was spotted twice more that morning 281 00:16:06,360 --> 00:16:10,440 Speaker 1: driving from Chapel toward Renato's aviation business in eastern Nebraska, 282 00:16:10,480 --> 00:16:12,920 Speaker 1: once by a waitress, and then by another woman named 283 00:16:12,960 --> 00:16:13,880 Speaker 1: Jean Doyle. 284 00:16:13,800 --> 00:16:16,960 Speaker 2: A lady cashier at a gas station where I guessed 285 00:16:17,040 --> 00:16:21,120 Speaker 2: up my motorcycle had idead me. She saw me about 286 00:16:21,160 --> 00:16:25,520 Speaker 2: ten am on Saturday morning, about an hour's drive eastward 287 00:16:25,760 --> 00:16:30,280 Speaker 2: toward my buddy Renato's location, but also toward Iowa. 288 00:16:30,440 --> 00:16:34,080 Speaker 1: Jean Doyle noted that he was traveling west to east, importantly, 289 00:16:34,240 --> 00:16:37,440 Speaker 1: not fleeing Iowa east to west, but both of these 290 00:16:37,480 --> 00:16:41,880 Speaker 1: witnesses were hidden from the defense. Now it appears that 291 00:16:42,000 --> 00:16:45,040 Speaker 1: Jerry had learned that Renata was unavailable, so he turned 292 00:16:45,080 --> 00:16:47,600 Speaker 1: back west and eventually hitched a ride with a trucker 293 00:16:47,640 --> 00:16:50,280 Speaker 1: who was heading to Seattle with an empty horse trailer 294 00:16:50,280 --> 00:16:50,800 Speaker 1: for the bike. 295 00:16:51,160 --> 00:16:55,280 Speaker 2: So I rode with him to Provo, Utah, and somewhere 296 00:16:55,320 --> 00:16:59,360 Speaker 2: after Salt Lake City. Sometime on November two, I was 297 00:16:59,400 --> 00:17:01,920 Speaker 2: calling and I didn't get hold of my girlfriend, And 298 00:17:01,960 --> 00:17:04,320 Speaker 2: when I couldn't get an answer from her at home, 299 00:17:04,480 --> 00:17:08,440 Speaker 2: I called her mom and dad. They lived in South Lake, Tahoe, 300 00:17:08,640 --> 00:17:10,960 Speaker 2: and her mom told me on the phone that I 301 00:17:10,960 --> 00:17:12,960 Speaker 2: should call home, and I said I had been trying 302 00:17:13,000 --> 00:17:17,399 Speaker 2: to call home. Maybe he doesn't answer and then she said, no, Jerry, 303 00:17:17,560 --> 00:17:19,960 Speaker 2: something terrible has happened. Your brother's been killed. 304 00:17:20,320 --> 00:17:23,000 Speaker 1: Jerry went to Mimi's parents' house in Lake Tahoe, where 305 00:17:23,040 --> 00:17:25,920 Speaker 1: he accurately represented to the police where he had been 306 00:17:25,960 --> 00:17:28,760 Speaker 1: on Friday and to Saturday. But he was also trying 307 00:17:28,760 --> 00:17:31,920 Speaker 1: to shield be me and her parents from knowing about 308 00:17:31,920 --> 00:17:33,879 Speaker 1: Wednesday and Thursday with Ginger. 309 00:17:34,280 --> 00:17:36,480 Speaker 2: I think that was the biggest issue for them that 310 00:17:36,560 --> 00:17:37,879 Speaker 2: made them suspicious of me. 311 00:17:38,359 --> 00:17:41,600 Speaker 3: And he's always questioned in front of them. Law enforcement 312 00:17:41,680 --> 00:17:44,600 Speaker 3: never took him aside by himself so that he had 313 00:17:44,640 --> 00:17:50,879 Speaker 3: an opportunity to provide information without that pressure, So he 314 00:17:50,920 --> 00:17:54,600 Speaker 3: doesn't give an accurate history of where he drove, where 315 00:17:54,600 --> 00:17:56,679 Speaker 3: he stopped, and where he called from. 316 00:17:56,880 --> 00:17:58,840 Speaker 2: I think I told the cops that I made a 317 00:17:58,840 --> 00:18:03,119 Speaker 2: loop through Southern Caliph, came up, got back on Interstate eighty, 318 00:18:03,200 --> 00:18:06,240 Speaker 2: and went eastward on eighty and ended up as far 319 00:18:06,320 --> 00:18:09,359 Speaker 2: as Western Nebraska. I told the cops, go find the 320 00:18:09,400 --> 00:18:11,560 Speaker 2: maintenance man, you'll verify that I was there. 321 00:18:11,880 --> 00:18:14,359 Speaker 1: At this point, the police sought out the maintenance ban, 322 00:18:14,600 --> 00:18:17,720 Speaker 1: Leslie Warren, as well as Mimi's phone records. 323 00:18:17,840 --> 00:18:20,639 Speaker 2: Mimi had insisted that I check in every night and 324 00:18:20,800 --> 00:18:23,679 Speaker 2: so I did that, and MEMI said I won't be 325 00:18:23,720 --> 00:18:26,320 Speaker 2: home Friday night. I'm going over to one of my girlfriends. 326 00:18:26,560 --> 00:18:28,840 Speaker 2: And Friday night was the night I needed to have 327 00:18:28,920 --> 00:18:31,679 Speaker 2: called because I would have established my alibi. 328 00:18:31,840 --> 00:18:35,040 Speaker 1: The phone records clearly showed that Jerry had called from 329 00:18:35,119 --> 00:18:38,560 Speaker 1: payphones a long I eighty on Wednesday and Thursday, and 330 00:18:38,640 --> 00:18:41,680 Speaker 1: not from southern California as he had initially said, which 331 00:18:41,800 --> 00:18:45,960 Speaker 1: raised suspicions. And on November three, they found the maintenance 332 00:18:46,000 --> 00:18:48,919 Speaker 1: band Leslie Warren and asked about Jerry's story for the 333 00:18:49,000 --> 00:18:52,679 Speaker 1: more important dates of October thirty first and November first. 334 00:18:52,720 --> 00:18:55,639 Speaker 2: When they founded the maintenance man. He initially did verify it, 335 00:18:55,680 --> 00:18:58,200 Speaker 2: and then later on they persuaded him to saying he'd 336 00:18:58,200 --> 00:19:01,919 Speaker 2: see me the day earlier. Then they could create a 337 00:19:02,000 --> 00:19:06,800 Speaker 2: false rout of travel for me traveling into Iowa and 338 00:19:06,840 --> 00:19:10,120 Speaker 2: committing the murders the following day, which is when they 339 00:19:10,119 --> 00:19:11,120 Speaker 2: needed to have be there. 340 00:19:11,359 --> 00:19:14,760 Speaker 3: Eventually, Leslie Warren, he testifies he saw Jerry on Friday. 341 00:19:14,920 --> 00:19:17,520 Speaker 3: He's like, oh, well, I had a doctor's appointment, you know, 342 00:19:17,600 --> 00:19:21,359 Speaker 3: it couldn't have been Saturday. So what we learn eventually, though, 343 00:19:21,480 --> 00:19:24,159 Speaker 3: is that as medical records showed that he had a 344 00:19:24,160 --> 00:19:27,280 Speaker 3: doctor appointment Friday and he was working Saturday, and so 345 00:19:27,920 --> 00:19:30,480 Speaker 3: it corroborated Jerry's story, And. 346 00:19:30,520 --> 00:19:34,080 Speaker 1: It appears that the state hid those records from the defense, 347 00:19:34,359 --> 00:19:38,560 Speaker 1: knowing full well that they corroborated Jerry's innocence while also 348 00:19:38,720 --> 00:19:42,000 Speaker 1: contradicting their witness. Meanwhile, Jerry and Mimi were in Cedar 349 00:19:42,040 --> 00:19:45,119 Speaker 1: Falls for the funeral when they were confronted about Jerry's 350 00:19:45,119 --> 00:19:48,480 Speaker 1: whereabouts on the far less important dates of October twenty, 351 00:19:48,520 --> 00:19:49,360 Speaker 1: nineteen thirtieth. 352 00:19:49,600 --> 00:19:52,320 Speaker 2: We went in together saying we'd be interviewed together. So 353 00:19:52,440 --> 00:19:54,760 Speaker 2: they told me to come back in a couple of 354 00:19:54,800 --> 00:19:57,480 Speaker 2: hours and that they were going to interview her first 355 00:19:57,520 --> 00:19:59,560 Speaker 2: and then verify what she had said. 356 00:19:59,560 --> 00:20:01,760 Speaker 3: By inter me, they put her in front of a 357 00:20:01,840 --> 00:20:06,200 Speaker 3: judge to be questioned about Jerry, lying about whether Jerry 358 00:20:06,520 --> 00:20:09,800 Speaker 3: bought the motorcycle specifically for this purpose, whether she knew 359 00:20:09,800 --> 00:20:11,800 Speaker 3: he was going to go kill less when he left 360 00:20:11,840 --> 00:20:12,960 Speaker 3: California that day. 361 00:20:13,160 --> 00:20:15,920 Speaker 2: When I came back from my interview after an hour 362 00:20:16,000 --> 00:20:17,399 Speaker 2: or of it, started accusing me. 363 00:20:17,880 --> 00:20:20,240 Speaker 3: Now, he explains, well, you know, I met a girl. 364 00:20:20,440 --> 00:20:22,760 Speaker 3: I was smoking some weed. I didn't want Mimi and 365 00:20:22,800 --> 00:20:23,879 Speaker 3: her parents to know. 366 00:20:24,160 --> 00:20:27,360 Speaker 2: After being accused for a while, I just said, am 367 00:20:27,400 --> 00:20:29,399 Speaker 2: I under arrested and they said no. I said, okay, 368 00:20:29,400 --> 00:20:31,000 Speaker 2: well I don't want to talk to you anymore. I 369 00:20:31,119 --> 00:20:34,000 Speaker 2: left and that's when I found out this Mimi is 370 00:20:34,200 --> 00:20:36,560 Speaker 2: under arrest. As soon as they arrested me, they let 371 00:20:36,560 --> 00:20:40,119 Speaker 2: her brother take her back to California. And I didn't 372 00:20:40,119 --> 00:20:43,040 Speaker 2: get arrested until the tenth when the cops were discovered 373 00:20:43,040 --> 00:20:46,560 Speaker 2: that I had bought a box of ammunition in California. 374 00:20:47,040 --> 00:20:49,360 Speaker 3: Even in seventy five, when you bought a box of bullets, 375 00:20:49,359 --> 00:20:51,520 Speaker 3: you had to sign for them, and Jerry had bought 376 00:20:51,560 --> 00:20:54,040 Speaker 3: a box to try to get someone to talk to 377 00:20:54,119 --> 00:20:58,600 Speaker 3: him about political stuff. Back then, they were very sure 378 00:20:58,680 --> 00:21:01,080 Speaker 3: that the bullets from the car I'm seeing where these 379 00:21:01,200 --> 00:21:05,240 Speaker 3: very rare special thirty eight long colt bullets. In seventy 380 00:21:05,240 --> 00:21:08,040 Speaker 3: five and seventy six, the FBI was still doing comparative 381 00:21:08,080 --> 00:21:12,080 Speaker 3: lead analysis, and so they took the bullets from the 382 00:21:12,119 --> 00:21:16,040 Speaker 3: bodies and they went back to that same gun shop 383 00:21:16,160 --> 00:21:20,600 Speaker 3: in California and bought more bullets. They compared them and 384 00:21:20,800 --> 00:21:23,920 Speaker 3: they said that they had the same lead composition. 385 00:21:24,320 --> 00:21:29,560 Speaker 1: The FBI has since officially ceased peddling CBLA or comparative 386 00:21:29,560 --> 00:21:33,480 Speaker 1: bullet lead analysis, as they'd like to maintain their own credibility. 387 00:21:33,560 --> 00:21:35,440 Speaker 1: It's not even clear if the bullets from the scene 388 00:21:35,440 --> 00:21:37,679 Speaker 1: were the same kind that Jerry had purchased, and the 389 00:21:37,720 --> 00:21:41,880 Speaker 1: States machinations didn't stop at just junk science. 390 00:21:42,280 --> 00:21:46,560 Speaker 2: The police have actually found those bullets matching the ones 391 00:21:46,640 --> 00:21:50,280 Speaker 2: that I had bought for sale at local sports stores 392 00:21:50,480 --> 00:21:53,560 Speaker 2: six miles from the murders, paid the owner for them, 393 00:21:53,600 --> 00:21:56,040 Speaker 2: and got them off the shelf, And then the prosecution 394 00:21:56,560 --> 00:22:00,439 Speaker 2: presented evidence to my jury that that make a model 395 00:22:00,480 --> 00:22:04,560 Speaker 2: of bullets weren't even available for sale in northeast Iowa, 396 00:22:04,720 --> 00:22:07,240 Speaker 2: in that whole region, so that it could not have 397 00:22:07,320 --> 00:22:10,000 Speaker 2: been some local person who bought the bullets. 398 00:22:10,280 --> 00:22:14,040 Speaker 1: It appears that this deliberate misrepresentation was only discovered years 399 00:22:14,040 --> 00:22:16,639 Speaker 1: after his conviction, and then this date went on and 400 00:22:16,720 --> 00:22:19,040 Speaker 1: employed still more junk science. 401 00:22:19,400 --> 00:22:21,800 Speaker 3: You remember, this is harvest, and this is a family farm, 402 00:22:21,840 --> 00:22:25,120 Speaker 3: and there's lots of people around. On November first, this 403 00:22:25,359 --> 00:22:29,240 Speaker 3: special sergeant he sees a trail that he believes supports 404 00:22:29,440 --> 00:22:33,440 Speaker 3: an intruder coming around the farmyard to the house. They 405 00:22:33,600 --> 00:22:37,080 Speaker 3: preserved them. I print something over them and then taking 406 00:22:37,080 --> 00:22:41,360 Speaker 3: some photographs, and they sent officers out with a photograph 407 00:22:41,560 --> 00:22:45,440 Speaker 3: of the shoe print to find shoes that would match it. 408 00:22:45,440 --> 00:22:49,160 Speaker 1: It's anyone's guess if these particular shoeprints were any more 409 00:22:49,200 --> 00:22:52,159 Speaker 1: relevant than the others. And I encourage our audience to 410 00:22:52,200 --> 00:22:55,119 Speaker 1: listen to our coverage of shoeprint analysis on Wrawful Conviction 411 00:22:55,240 --> 00:22:57,760 Speaker 1: Junk Science. It's going to be lenked in the episode description. 412 00:22:57,960 --> 00:22:59,240 Speaker 1: Now back to the investigation. 413 00:22:59,520 --> 00:23:02,600 Speaker 3: So they go and buy tennis shoes and they're like Converse, 414 00:23:02,640 --> 00:23:06,160 Speaker 3: which is very popular in seventy five, and they make 415 00:23:06,200 --> 00:23:09,480 Speaker 3: a shoe print next to the others. Decided this type 416 00:23:09,520 --> 00:23:12,040 Speaker 3: of shoes, what made these prints? We need to find 417 00:23:12,040 --> 00:23:15,119 Speaker 3: people who have these shoes. Uncle Victor has shoes that 418 00:23:15,160 --> 00:23:18,240 Speaker 3: are similar, and he'd been there working harvest. But this 419 00:23:18,480 --> 00:23:22,639 Speaker 3: special Sergeant Anton decides that the tread is too small, 420 00:23:22,800 --> 00:23:26,800 Speaker 3: it doesn't match. He rules them out. And this sergeant Anton, 421 00:23:26,880 --> 00:23:30,480 Speaker 3: he is eliminating law enforcement and anybody else on the 422 00:23:30,520 --> 00:23:33,320 Speaker 3: farm just by taking a look at their shoes, I mean, 423 00:23:33,680 --> 00:23:36,160 Speaker 3: not having them take their shoes off, not taking actual 424 00:23:36,240 --> 00:23:40,080 Speaker 3: prints of them for comparisons, obviously not following any best 425 00:23:40,119 --> 00:23:44,520 Speaker 3: practices for how you evaluate a print. When Jerry's arrested, 426 00:23:44,560 --> 00:23:47,040 Speaker 3: they search Jerry's apartment in California. He doesn't have any 427 00:23:47,040 --> 00:23:50,000 Speaker 3: shoes with this tread, so they bought shoes. They have 428 00:23:50,119 --> 00:23:53,160 Speaker 3: Jerry prit them on. They're too small, Jerry can't really 429 00:23:53,200 --> 00:23:54,240 Speaker 3: walk in them. 430 00:23:54,080 --> 00:23:57,119 Speaker 1: And for whatever reason, that doesn't rule Jerry out. So 431 00:23:57,359 --> 00:24:01,400 Speaker 1: then they bought a size up to fit Jerry right, 432 00:24:02,119 --> 00:24:06,000 Speaker 1: which of course then doesn't match the crime scene shoeprint. 433 00:24:06,320 --> 00:24:09,520 Speaker 1: And then this junk science was compounded with even more 434 00:24:09,880 --> 00:24:11,320 Speaker 1: junkier junk science. 435 00:24:11,600 --> 00:24:13,720 Speaker 3: They filmed Jerry walking in it, and then they have 436 00:24:13,840 --> 00:24:16,920 Speaker 3: him walk for a podiatriss and the podiatrist decides that 437 00:24:17,119 --> 00:24:20,639 Speaker 3: Jerry's gate matches the three prints they saved, so that 438 00:24:21,000 --> 00:24:22,240 Speaker 3: those are Jerry's prints. 439 00:24:22,640 --> 00:24:26,280 Speaker 1: So to recap Jerry's walk could produce the shoeprints that 440 00:24:26,359 --> 00:24:29,640 Speaker 1: his feet were too big to make. Got it okay, guy? 441 00:24:29,960 --> 00:24:32,679 Speaker 1: I have to laugh to keep from screaming. Then the 442 00:24:32,760 --> 00:24:37,119 Speaker 1: investigators turned to some dubious eyewitness practices to try to 443 00:24:37,200 --> 00:24:41,280 Speaker 1: place Jerry in Iowa on October thirty first into November. 444 00:24:41,280 --> 00:24:44,160 Speaker 3: First. They had Jerry's picture and that was the only 445 00:24:44,200 --> 00:24:47,000 Speaker 3: picture they were showing people when they started canvassing the 446 00:24:47,119 --> 00:24:50,439 Speaker 3: route they thought Jerry took, and so they convinced a 447 00:24:50,480 --> 00:24:53,320 Speaker 3: couple of people from truck stops in Iowa that they 448 00:24:53,320 --> 00:24:56,919 Speaker 3: saw Jerry. Mark van Hewan testified he saw Jerry and 449 00:24:57,000 --> 00:25:00,919 Speaker 3: Aclee close to Cedar Falls at eight pm Otober thirty first, 450 00:25:01,160 --> 00:25:04,760 Speaker 3: and then Jathan Hurd and Williams Iowa between three thirty 451 00:25:04,800 --> 00:25:08,680 Speaker 3: and five am on November first, and then Rosalie McGuinness 452 00:25:08,800 --> 00:25:11,199 Speaker 3: at seven thirty in the morning in Stuart, Iowa. But 453 00:25:11,400 --> 00:25:14,959 Speaker 3: I think that the current understanding of how I wouldn't 454 00:25:15,000 --> 00:25:18,199 Speaker 3: identifications are made and the reliability of those memories, I 455 00:25:18,240 --> 00:25:21,040 Speaker 3: think even the people who think they saw Jerry, they're 456 00:25:21,080 --> 00:25:24,639 Speaker 3: not reliable because of the way the identification was obtained. 457 00:25:25,000 --> 00:25:28,359 Speaker 3: They're only shown Jerry's photo that then brought in for 458 00:25:28,440 --> 00:25:30,560 Speaker 3: a lineup after us all hit the news. 459 00:25:30,960 --> 00:25:34,000 Speaker 1: In addition, each of these folks described Jerry dressed in 460 00:25:34,040 --> 00:25:37,640 Speaker 1: wildly different outfits. A judge later commented that Jerry's bike 461 00:25:37,680 --> 00:25:40,119 Speaker 1: couldn't have carried the amount of clothing necessary to support 462 00:25:40,119 --> 00:25:43,840 Speaker 1: the allegedi witness accounts, which were then presented as fact 463 00:25:44,160 --> 00:25:47,320 Speaker 1: by County Prosecutor Dave Dutton, who, in preparation for the 464 00:25:47,320 --> 00:25:50,159 Speaker 1: May nineteen seventy six trial, had resigned his position to 465 00:25:50,240 --> 00:25:53,800 Speaker 1: focus solely on this case. Meanwhile, those closest to Jerry 466 00:25:54,000 --> 00:25:55,200 Speaker 1: believed in his innocence. 467 00:25:55,520 --> 00:25:58,920 Speaker 2: I had total fun family support. Everybody knew I was emoson. 468 00:25:59,119 --> 00:26:01,720 Speaker 2: They knew how much loved less and how close we were. 469 00:26:01,880 --> 00:26:04,879 Speaker 2: And Dad and Mom also not only put up the 470 00:26:05,000 --> 00:26:08,760 Speaker 2: bond but a lonely fifty thousand bucks to hire a 471 00:26:09,080 --> 00:26:10,560 Speaker 2: team of lawyers to defend me. 472 00:26:11,000 --> 00:26:13,880 Speaker 3: He hired a really well known attorney in Iowa who 473 00:26:13,880 --> 00:26:17,120 Speaker 3: had been the Attorney General at one point, Larry Scalise, 474 00:26:17,359 --> 00:26:20,840 Speaker 3: and then Scalise put an associate, John Sondre, on it, 475 00:26:21,160 --> 00:26:25,719 Speaker 3: and John Sondre and Jerry. They went looking for alibi witnesses, 476 00:26:26,160 --> 00:26:26,639 Speaker 3: but they. 477 00:26:26,520 --> 00:26:29,480 Speaker 1: Didn't find the waitress or the gas station attendant to 478 00:26:29,560 --> 00:26:33,360 Speaker 1: combat Leslie Warren, who testified, contrary to his own medical records, 479 00:26:33,359 --> 00:26:36,200 Speaker 1: that he'd seen Jerry on the morning of October thirty first, 480 00:26:36,240 --> 00:26:38,960 Speaker 1: thereby making it possible for Jerry to have traveled to 481 00:26:39,040 --> 00:26:42,160 Speaker 1: Iowa in time to commit the murders, as well as 482 00:26:42,200 --> 00:26:44,320 Speaker 1: to be seen by the three others who testified to 483 00:26:44,359 --> 00:26:47,680 Speaker 1: see Jerry arriving in Iowa on October thirty first and 484 00:26:47,800 --> 00:26:51,520 Speaker 1: leaving Iowa on November first. Then the state continued to 485 00:26:51,520 --> 00:26:55,200 Speaker 1: impute Jerry's alibi with his deceit about October twenty ninth 486 00:26:55,240 --> 00:26:55,880 Speaker 1: and thirtieth. 487 00:26:56,119 --> 00:26:59,959 Speaker 2: Tim McDonald, the lead interrogator, got on the stand and described, 488 00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:03,360 Speaker 2: I have the false story about my motorcycle trip, itinerary 489 00:27:03,400 --> 00:27:06,639 Speaker 2: and activities, and they could prove that I was lying 490 00:27:06,720 --> 00:27:09,399 Speaker 2: by the phone calls that I'd made home to Mimi. 491 00:27:09,800 --> 00:27:13,520 Speaker 1: Of course, covering for potential infidelity does not make somebody 492 00:27:13,520 --> 00:27:16,800 Speaker 1: a murder, especially when Jerry was truthful about the night 493 00:27:16,880 --> 00:27:19,760 Speaker 1: that mattered. But even with the witness statements that placed 494 00:27:19,800 --> 00:27:23,159 Speaker 1: Jerry in Iowa, the state still needed to actually place 495 00:27:23,240 --> 00:27:24,560 Speaker 1: Jerry at the farmhouse. 496 00:27:24,800 --> 00:27:27,680 Speaker 3: Yeah, so there's the two cigarettes in the basement under 497 00:27:27,720 --> 00:27:31,760 Speaker 3: the fuse box, there is a cigarette in Julie's bedroom 498 00:27:32,119 --> 00:27:34,439 Speaker 3: that has been smushed out with a foot, and then 499 00:27:34,480 --> 00:27:38,919 Speaker 3: there's another cigarette found upstairs in a room that was unoccupied. 500 00:27:39,240 --> 00:27:42,960 Speaker 3: They argued at trial and present evidence that it was 501 00:27:43,040 --> 00:27:44,040 Speaker 3: Jerry's blood type. 502 00:27:44,240 --> 00:27:47,679 Speaker 1: Now, Jerry has type old blood, the same as forty 503 00:27:47,720 --> 00:27:50,520 Speaker 1: percent of the general population. And then one of the 504 00:27:50,520 --> 00:27:54,680 Speaker 1: officers who took the stand ended up impeaching the rology 505 00:27:54,880 --> 00:27:56,280 Speaker 1: expert by mistake. 506 00:27:56,920 --> 00:28:00,240 Speaker 3: Yes, a deputy testified at trial that he did smoke 507 00:28:00,320 --> 00:28:04,000 Speaker 3: that cigarette upstairs, but he's type A. They're even wrong 508 00:28:04,160 --> 00:28:07,960 Speaker 3: just about the errology, right, But the state still presented 509 00:28:08,119 --> 00:28:12,000 Speaker 3: that they were all, oh, and that's false testimony that 510 00:28:12,040 --> 00:28:13,280 Speaker 3: the judge let them put on. 511 00:28:13,840 --> 00:28:16,119 Speaker 1: But the judge was a little more discerning with the 512 00:28:16,119 --> 00:28:19,280 Speaker 1: shoe print evidence, refusing all of the evidence about the 513 00:28:19,320 --> 00:28:21,960 Speaker 1: different pairs of shoes, which probably would have damaged the 514 00:28:22,000 --> 00:28:24,040 Speaker 1: state's case if it had been admitted. 515 00:28:23,800 --> 00:28:25,840 Speaker 2: The shoe that fit me of that type of shoe 516 00:28:25,920 --> 00:28:28,119 Speaker 2: was a half inch longer than the shoe prints on 517 00:28:28,200 --> 00:28:29,080 Speaker 2: the crime scene. 518 00:28:29,200 --> 00:28:30,920 Speaker 3: And the judge is like, that's a little too far, 519 00:28:31,040 --> 00:28:33,520 Speaker 3: but he lets everything else come in. So the jury 520 00:28:33,560 --> 00:28:36,000 Speaker 3: got to hear that Jerry's gate, the way he walked, 521 00:28:36,160 --> 00:28:39,200 Speaker 3: and only he walks that way made those prints. 522 00:28:39,320 --> 00:28:42,480 Speaker 1: But if the shoe didn't fit, then you must have quit, right. 523 00:28:43,240 --> 00:28:46,280 Speaker 1: And then came the bullet evidence. They believed that the 524 00:28:46,320 --> 00:28:50,160 Speaker 1: assailant had used thirty eight caliber long colts, which first 525 00:28:50,200 --> 00:28:54,200 Speaker 1: they falsely represented could not have been purchased locally in Iowa. 526 00:28:54,440 --> 00:28:58,280 Speaker 1: Then the FBI CBLA expert testified that the chemical composition 527 00:28:58,360 --> 00:29:01,000 Speaker 1: of the crime scene slugs were match to those that 528 00:29:01,120 --> 00:29:04,600 Speaker 1: the state, not Jerry, had purchased in California. So to 529 00:29:04,680 --> 00:29:08,560 Speaker 1: help solidify this tenuous and janky connection, they brought in 530 00:29:08,640 --> 00:29:11,160 Speaker 1: Mimi's ex husband, Alga Forrest. 531 00:29:11,440 --> 00:29:14,360 Speaker 3: Alga Forrest says that an old gun of his is 532 00:29:14,440 --> 00:29:18,320 Speaker 3: missing and he believes Jerry stole it, and they have 533 00:29:18,480 --> 00:29:21,760 Speaker 3: Alga do this whole gun lineup thing in California where 534 00:29:21,920 --> 00:29:24,600 Speaker 3: Alga could pick the one that looked the closest to 535 00:29:24,640 --> 00:29:29,160 Speaker 3: the gun he'd lost, so that was a long colt apparently, 536 00:29:29,280 --> 00:29:32,280 Speaker 3: and also would have been able to fire those bullets. 537 00:29:32,600 --> 00:29:35,000 Speaker 3: And then they tried to argue that Jerry must have 538 00:29:35,040 --> 00:29:38,680 Speaker 3: picked up all the casings. The weapon that they think 539 00:29:38,720 --> 00:29:40,480 Speaker 3: he used didn't e check casings. 540 00:29:40,800 --> 00:29:43,800 Speaker 1: So both of these tidbits aren't proof of anything besides 541 00:29:43,840 --> 00:29:46,480 Speaker 1: the state's propensity for trying to fit a square peg 542 00:29:46,480 --> 00:29:49,880 Speaker 1: into a round hole. So other than cross examination, what 543 00:29:49,880 --> 00:29:50,760 Speaker 1: did the defense do? 544 00:29:50,960 --> 00:29:54,080 Speaker 3: They put on a private investigator who was a motorcycle 545 00:29:54,160 --> 00:29:56,480 Speaker 3: rider to talk about how long it took him to 546 00:29:56,600 --> 00:30:00,240 Speaker 3: make this trip. They put on a man who said 547 00:30:00,280 --> 00:30:03,120 Speaker 3: he saw a car at the Mark farmhouse that was blue, 548 00:30:03,640 --> 00:30:05,880 Speaker 3: So they tried to put some doubt in there that 549 00:30:05,920 --> 00:30:08,040 Speaker 3: somebody else was there. But they never found anybody with 550 00:30:08,080 --> 00:30:11,600 Speaker 3: a blue car. They never connected to anything. They called 551 00:30:11,880 --> 00:30:15,400 Speaker 3: the trailer park owner from California to talk a little 552 00:30:15,400 --> 00:30:17,680 Speaker 3: bit about Jerry and Alga and all of that, and 553 00:30:17,720 --> 00:30:20,840 Speaker 3: then Alga also testifies that Jerry was mad at his 554 00:30:20,960 --> 00:30:25,640 Speaker 3: dad and mad at his brother about not inheriting the farm, 555 00:30:26,040 --> 00:30:30,080 Speaker 3: and that is the basis of the state's whole theory 556 00:30:30,640 --> 00:30:31,920 Speaker 3: of why Jerry would do this. 557 00:30:32,400 --> 00:30:36,120 Speaker 2: They laid the groundwork for the can Enable analogy throughout 558 00:30:36,120 --> 00:30:39,800 Speaker 2: the trial. Now, Mom contradicted that in her testimony, But 559 00:30:39,920 --> 00:30:44,160 Speaker 2: we could have presented Dad's will, which showed that I 560 00:30:44,240 --> 00:30:46,720 Speaker 2: wasn't being screwed in any way, and we could have 561 00:30:46,800 --> 00:30:49,880 Speaker 2: presented evidence from other people who knew that I had 562 00:30:49,920 --> 00:30:53,520 Speaker 2: been urging Dad for years to move off the farm 563 00:30:53,640 --> 00:30:54,880 Speaker 2: so less could take it over. 564 00:30:55,280 --> 00:30:59,760 Speaker 3: And Dorothy testified about what a good relationship Lesson Jerry had. 565 00:31:00,200 --> 00:31:02,760 Speaker 3: I mean, they were each other's best man in their wedding. 566 00:31:03,240 --> 00:31:06,240 Speaker 2: There was a young woman on the jury. She started 567 00:31:06,240 --> 00:31:10,440 Speaker 2: crying when Mom was testifying, and I suspected this. She 568 00:31:10,600 --> 00:31:13,360 Speaker 2: thought that Mom was a victim, a loving mother who 569 00:31:13,440 --> 00:31:17,320 Speaker 2: was trying to protect her son Jerry, and so not believable, 570 00:31:17,720 --> 00:31:20,120 Speaker 2: and that made me really worry. And matter of fact, 571 00:31:20,400 --> 00:31:23,280 Speaker 2: we had a weekend break. The last weekend before I 572 00:31:23,400 --> 00:31:26,640 Speaker 2: was convicted. We from home from Sious City back to 573 00:31:26,680 --> 00:31:30,160 Speaker 2: Cedar Falls and I took my brother Dick aside. I 574 00:31:30,200 --> 00:31:32,600 Speaker 2: said to him, Dick, I believe the jury is believing 575 00:31:32,680 --> 00:31:34,920 Speaker 2: this frame up, and I think I'm going to get convicted. 576 00:31:35,320 --> 00:31:37,360 Speaker 2: And I asked him to promise to take care of 577 00:31:37,400 --> 00:31:53,960 Speaker 2: my daughters. There was only one telephone in this a 578 00:31:54,080 --> 00:31:58,480 Speaker 2: thousand men prison, and Christmas could use that weekly phone call. 579 00:31:59,040 --> 00:32:02,400 Speaker 2: I owe my son to my ex wife and daughters, 580 00:32:02,480 --> 00:32:04,880 Speaker 2: because the rest of the week I could be in 581 00:32:05,000 --> 00:32:07,840 Speaker 2: bthering about this or fighting this battle or that battle, 582 00:32:07,960 --> 00:32:11,880 Speaker 2: or feeling angry. But during that Saturday morning phone call 583 00:32:11,960 --> 00:32:15,160 Speaker 2: every week with my daughters, I had to be focused 584 00:32:15,240 --> 00:32:19,360 Speaker 2: on them. That intentional process of being aware of my 585 00:32:19,440 --> 00:32:24,360 Speaker 2: responsibility to my daughters was a key to starting to 586 00:32:24,480 --> 00:32:27,000 Speaker 2: get over the traumas of the murders of lesson his 587 00:32:27,120 --> 00:32:30,920 Speaker 2: family and treatment by the courts and being incarcerated. It 588 00:32:31,000 --> 00:32:34,000 Speaker 2: took me years to get over the anger at these 589 00:32:34,040 --> 00:32:37,560 Speaker 2: people what they did to me. I had good spiritual advisors, 590 00:32:37,560 --> 00:32:40,719 Speaker 2: Sister Irene Munnos, and helped me learn how to forgive 591 00:32:41,240 --> 00:32:44,200 Speaker 2: because I was angry and bitter and steing, and I 592 00:32:44,280 --> 00:32:47,040 Speaker 2: was destroying my own health and I had to do 593 00:32:47,200 --> 00:32:51,960 Speaker 2: my grieving. But Sister Irene Munnos, she said, I think 594 00:32:52,040 --> 00:32:55,680 Speaker 2: you need to pick out the one individual that you 595 00:32:55,760 --> 00:32:59,760 Speaker 2: feel did you the greatest wrong and pray for that person. 596 00:33:00,240 --> 00:33:03,440 Speaker 2: Took me a month to agree to the propositions, but anyway, 597 00:33:03,480 --> 00:33:06,920 Speaker 2: I picked out the prosecutor himself, Dave Duttan, who had 598 00:33:07,080 --> 00:33:10,560 Speaker 2: framed me, and pray for him. She said, pay only 599 00:33:10,640 --> 00:33:15,640 Speaker 2: positive stuff about him, and do this ritualistically every night. 600 00:33:16,040 --> 00:33:18,000 Speaker 2: It seems so absurd to me, but I was so 601 00:33:18,120 --> 00:33:21,440 Speaker 2: desperate that I actually started doing it. And from there 602 00:33:21,520 --> 00:33:25,800 Speaker 2: on I focused instead on trying to understand why they 603 00:33:25,840 --> 00:33:28,880 Speaker 2: had done what they had done and to be accepting 604 00:33:28,920 --> 00:33:29,280 Speaker 2: of it. 605 00:33:29,880 --> 00:33:32,800 Speaker 1: While Jerry tried to find peace, his direct appeal began 606 00:33:33,200 --> 00:33:36,640 Speaker 1: focusing on the eyewitnesses and sufficiency of evidence. 607 00:33:36,920 --> 00:33:41,200 Speaker 3: In Iowa. Once your convictions final, you have the right 608 00:33:41,280 --> 00:33:44,280 Speaker 3: to an appeal to the Iowa Supreme Court. Sometimes Iowa 609 00:33:44,280 --> 00:33:46,800 Speaker 3: Supreme Court will send it down to the Iowa Court 610 00:33:46,800 --> 00:33:50,080 Speaker 3: of Appeals and then if you don't like their ruling, 611 00:33:50,320 --> 00:33:53,640 Speaker 3: you can ask the Supreme Court for further review. That 612 00:33:53,680 --> 00:33:57,600 Speaker 3: didn't happen with Jerry's. The Supreme Court affirmed the convictions 613 00:33:57,840 --> 00:33:58,560 Speaker 3: pretty quickly. 614 00:33:59,000 --> 00:34:03,400 Speaker 2: During my directive, Mom put up a reward for information 615 00:34:03,720 --> 00:34:06,400 Speaker 2: that would help to clear me, and we had a 616 00:34:06,440 --> 00:34:09,719 Speaker 2: surprise lead. We thought the blue car that had been 617 00:34:09,760 --> 00:34:13,640 Speaker 2: observed in the lesson's neighborhood a suspicious car. We thought 618 00:34:13,680 --> 00:34:16,240 Speaker 2: we had located that car in the owner of that car, 619 00:34:16,560 --> 00:34:20,480 Speaker 2: and so in nineteen seventy eight, my appeal attorney took 620 00:34:20,520 --> 00:34:23,760 Speaker 2: that information to the ab Supreme Court, and the court 621 00:34:23,960 --> 00:34:27,440 Speaker 2: ordered copies of all of the police and the prosecutors 622 00:34:27,440 --> 00:34:32,080 Speaker 2: for investigative files, and all that material was put into 623 00:34:32,120 --> 00:34:35,439 Speaker 2: a filing cabinet in that Blackhawk County. 624 00:34:35,360 --> 00:34:39,760 Speaker 1: Courthouse, which is Attorney Jim Cleary soon accessed while filing 625 00:34:39,800 --> 00:34:41,279 Speaker 1: his first post convection motion. 626 00:34:41,640 --> 00:34:44,839 Speaker 2: That's how we found out about the prosecution knowing that 627 00:34:44,880 --> 00:34:48,600 Speaker 2: the maintenance man in Nebraska had not been at work 628 00:34:48,680 --> 00:34:51,880 Speaker 2: when he testified that I'd been there a day before. 629 00:34:52,000 --> 00:34:56,319 Speaker 2: They concealed the doctor's records from my defense, and they 630 00:34:56,400 --> 00:34:59,839 Speaker 2: still had him testify, and they knew he was miss 631 00:35:00,080 --> 00:35:03,120 Speaker 2: aChn or lying about the date that he had seen me. 632 00:35:03,600 --> 00:35:07,680 Speaker 2: They knowingly presented false evidence, and they concealed other alibi witnesses. 633 00:35:08,040 --> 00:35:11,000 Speaker 3: The Jerry never got to hear that Jeene Doyle identified 634 00:35:11,120 --> 00:35:14,239 Speaker 3: Jerry as being in North Platte, Nebraska on the. 635 00:35:14,120 --> 00:35:16,880 Speaker 2: First The other thing that we found out was that 636 00:35:17,000 --> 00:35:21,359 Speaker 2: the police had actually found those bullets matching the one 637 00:35:21,400 --> 00:35:23,840 Speaker 2: that I had bought in the very town six miles 638 00:35:23,840 --> 00:35:27,960 Speaker 2: from the murders Nelson's boat shop, and they proceeded to 639 00:35:27,960 --> 00:35:31,879 Speaker 2: present evidence that there were available at my trial. And 640 00:35:31,920 --> 00:35:36,360 Speaker 2: then Jim systematically interviewed every single cop that had been involved, 641 00:35:36,719 --> 00:35:39,640 Speaker 2: and a policeman named John Lang who was in charge 642 00:35:39,680 --> 00:35:42,279 Speaker 2: of the paperwork and the evidence. He ended up with 643 00:35:42,360 --> 00:35:46,759 Speaker 2: this box of bullets from the local sports store. He 644 00:35:46,880 --> 00:35:49,759 Speaker 2: still had those sixteen years later as a souvenir, and 645 00:35:49,800 --> 00:35:53,640 Speaker 2: he actually given a bullet or several bullets from the 646 00:35:53,640 --> 00:35:57,279 Speaker 2: box to other police investigators as souvenirs to keep for 647 00:35:57,360 --> 00:35:58,960 Speaker 2: their work in framing me. 648 00:36:00,360 --> 00:36:03,960 Speaker 3: Jeane Doyle, the schuprint evidence, the zerology stuff, you know, 649 00:36:04,120 --> 00:36:07,560 Speaker 3: the cigarette butts and Leslie Warren, all of that is 650 00:36:07,640 --> 00:36:10,680 Speaker 3: heard in that first post conviction in the eighties and 651 00:36:11,080 --> 00:36:15,239 Speaker 3: the Iowa District Court they deny relief. They concluded just 652 00:36:15,239 --> 00:36:17,520 Speaker 3: wouldn't have had an impact on the outcome of the triut. 653 00:36:17,719 --> 00:36:20,520 Speaker 2: They just ruled it didn't matter that there was so 654 00:36:20,600 --> 00:36:24,960 Speaker 2: much certain potential evidence and scientific evidence that proved my 655 00:36:25,080 --> 00:36:29,040 Speaker 2: guild that conviction should stand regardless of the fact that 656 00:36:29,080 --> 00:36:33,520 Speaker 2: the prosecution had misbehaved. And then I went into habeas corpus, 657 00:36:33,760 --> 00:36:37,120 Speaker 2: and that's when the federal judge helped to persuade the 658 00:36:37,440 --> 00:36:40,240 Speaker 2: Attorney General of Iowa to do some of DNA testing, 659 00:36:40,600 --> 00:36:43,040 Speaker 2: and that's when I was excluded from two of the 660 00:36:43,080 --> 00:36:44,240 Speaker 2: four cigarette butts. 661 00:36:44,360 --> 00:36:46,799 Speaker 1: If you recall, the other two were claimed by a 662 00:36:46,840 --> 00:36:49,680 Speaker 1: deputy at trial. So now Jerry had been excluded from 663 00:36:49,719 --> 00:36:52,480 Speaker 1: the remaining two type old blood cigarette butts that were 664 00:36:52,520 --> 00:36:55,319 Speaker 1: found by the fuse box. Additionally, at this time, an 665 00:36:55,440 --> 00:37:00,000 Speaker 1: FBI whistleblower exposed their crime lab for prosecution bias and misconduct, 666 00:37:00,360 --> 00:37:05,000 Speaker 1: and an internal investigation led to reassignments, reforms, and early retirements, 667 00:37:05,000 --> 00:37:08,360 Speaker 1: and the FBI issued a letter alerting prosecutors about the issues, 668 00:37:08,360 --> 00:37:11,399 Speaker 1: but only prosecutors who were then supposed to tell those 669 00:37:11,440 --> 00:37:15,759 Speaker 1: they'd convicted using the FBI crime lab, right, okay, And 670 00:37:15,800 --> 00:37:19,319 Speaker 1: in this case that meant the comparative bullet lead analysis 671 00:37:19,440 --> 00:37:22,360 Speaker 1: which Jerry had heard about while watching TV in his 672 00:37:22,440 --> 00:37:24,000 Speaker 1: cell in two thousand and five. 673 00:37:24,360 --> 00:37:27,360 Speaker 2: What sixty minutes and they found out that some retired 674 00:37:27,480 --> 00:37:30,839 Speaker 2: FBI agents who worked in that lab had become suspicious 675 00:37:30,880 --> 00:37:33,200 Speaker 2: of what they'd been doing. And the National Academy of 676 00:37:33,239 --> 00:37:36,359 Speaker 2: Science has appointed a scientific board to review all this 677 00:37:36,520 --> 00:37:39,440 Speaker 2: and came back saying that this is junk science. The 678 00:37:39,520 --> 00:37:42,640 Speaker 2: FBI and providing junk testimony for years, and it was 679 00:37:42,920 --> 00:37:46,200 Speaker 2: exactly what had happened in my case. And attorney Jim 680 00:37:46,239 --> 00:37:48,799 Speaker 2: Clary and then an attorney in des Mooine named Paul 681 00:37:48,880 --> 00:37:52,240 Speaker 2: Rosenberg piloted into the case in two thousand and six, 682 00:37:52,520 --> 00:37:55,960 Speaker 2: presented all the evidence to a federal judge and in 683 00:37:56,040 --> 00:37:59,040 Speaker 2: Sioux City named Donald O'Brien, and he issued a two 684 00:37:59,080 --> 00:38:02,480 Speaker 2: hundred plus paid age ruling detailing all of the violations 685 00:38:02,560 --> 00:38:05,400 Speaker 2: of law and granted my writ for habeas corpus and 686 00:38:05,520 --> 00:38:08,400 Speaker 2: ordered that I'd be given a new fair trial and. 687 00:38:08,920 --> 00:38:11,600 Speaker 3: Should have gotten a new trial. Then, unfortunately, the Eighth 688 00:38:11,719 --> 00:38:18,239 Speaker 3: Circuit did not agree that habeas relief was warranted, and 689 00:38:18,320 --> 00:38:23,400 Speaker 3: so they reversed judj O'Brien and reinstated the conviction. 690 00:38:23,239 --> 00:38:25,840 Speaker 2: That was in two thousand and seven that killed moms 691 00:38:25,920 --> 00:38:27,479 Speaker 2: of A year and a half later, she was dead, 692 00:38:27,840 --> 00:38:30,759 Speaker 2: broke her heart, and that was the last of my 693 00:38:30,880 --> 00:38:33,920 Speaker 2: parents I lost. And then I'd already lost everybody other 694 00:38:33,960 --> 00:38:35,080 Speaker 2: than my older brother Dick. 695 00:38:35,520 --> 00:38:38,480 Speaker 1: Between two thousand and seven and twenty thirteen, Jerry saw 696 00:38:38,680 --> 00:38:42,560 Speaker 1: DNA testing for more crime scene evidence like fingernail scrapings. 697 00:38:42,680 --> 00:38:45,920 Speaker 2: They basically said, despite the fact that you found DNA 698 00:38:46,000 --> 00:38:49,120 Speaker 2: evidence of the crime scene, they exonerated you were not 699 00:38:49,200 --> 00:38:51,759 Speaker 2: going to let you do any more DNA testing of 700 00:38:51,800 --> 00:38:55,560 Speaker 2: crime scene evidence. That ruling came down in twenty thirteen, 701 00:38:55,640 --> 00:38:57,400 Speaker 2: and that totally wiped me out. 702 00:38:57,600 --> 00:39:00,960 Speaker 3: You know, I started Jerry's case in part because I 703 00:39:01,040 --> 00:39:04,640 Speaker 3: read the twenty thirteen opinion about the DNA on the 704 00:39:04,680 --> 00:39:08,919 Speaker 3: cigarette butts and the courts like refusing to consider them 705 00:39:09,000 --> 00:39:11,880 Speaker 3: in the PCR and then CBLA and they don't even 706 00:39:11,920 --> 00:39:15,000 Speaker 3: want to consider the FBI letter, And so we started 707 00:39:15,280 --> 00:39:20,880 Speaker 3: just systemically investigating and looking at all of the scientific 708 00:39:20,920 --> 00:39:23,600 Speaker 3: evidence they used and what is left. 709 00:39:24,040 --> 00:39:27,319 Speaker 1: By then CBLA was recognized as jump not to mention 710 00:39:27,400 --> 00:39:30,840 Speaker 1: the misrepresentation that those bullets had not been available in Iowa. 711 00:39:31,000 --> 00:39:34,240 Speaker 1: The shoe print and gate analysis not only were they junk, 712 00:39:34,280 --> 00:39:36,960 Speaker 1: but then his foot was too big for a shoe 713 00:39:36,960 --> 00:39:39,239 Speaker 1: print that were not even sure was relevant in the 714 00:39:39,280 --> 00:39:43,000 Speaker 1: first place. The sorology was later completely refuted by DNA testing. 715 00:39:43,080 --> 00:39:46,440 Speaker 1: So all the remains are the witnesses Alga Forrest, who 716 00:39:46,440 --> 00:39:50,239 Speaker 1: had an obvious motivation as Mimi's ex husband, then four 717 00:39:50,280 --> 00:39:54,279 Speaker 1: allegedi witnesses who were gathered through questionable practices, three of 718 00:39:54,280 --> 00:39:57,080 Speaker 1: whom described Jerry in three different outfits on the same day, 719 00:39:57,200 --> 00:40:00,160 Speaker 1: and the last one, Leslie Warren, was discredited by its 720 00:40:00,239 --> 00:40:03,800 Speaker 1: own medical records, which were then hidden from the defense, 721 00:40:04,080 --> 00:40:07,800 Speaker 1: along with at least two more witnesses that corroborated Jerry's alibi. 722 00:40:07,960 --> 00:40:10,760 Speaker 1: This is why J. J. O'Brien ordered a new trial 723 00:40:10,960 --> 00:40:13,479 Speaker 1: and Erica has worked on it even more. 724 00:40:13,680 --> 00:40:16,600 Speaker 3: Since there's unidentified prints in the house that can't be 725 00:40:16,600 --> 00:40:19,560 Speaker 3: connected to anybody, we've been running them through aphis. The 726 00:40:19,600 --> 00:40:23,000 Speaker 3: other thing that we worked on is trying to figure out, well, Okay, 727 00:40:23,000 --> 00:40:27,040 Speaker 3: this Honda four fifty, it's not made for long distance travel. 728 00:40:27,080 --> 00:40:29,840 Speaker 3: It's not like a big Harley bike, it's not a 729 00:40:30,000 --> 00:40:34,160 Speaker 3: road bike, and how could he possibly have driven that 730 00:40:34,239 --> 00:40:36,759 Speaker 3: many miles in the middle of the night, you know, 731 00:40:36,840 --> 00:40:38,879 Speaker 3: when he had to stop for gas. And so we 732 00:40:38,960 --> 00:40:43,440 Speaker 3: talked to an expert in California who agreed that this 733 00:40:43,520 --> 00:40:48,239 Speaker 3: gas tank is very small, that it vibrates continuously, it 734 00:40:48,320 --> 00:40:50,360 Speaker 3: can get really hot, and you have to take breaks. 735 00:40:50,360 --> 00:40:53,680 Speaker 3: It's not made to ride for five or six hours straight, 736 00:40:53,920 --> 00:40:57,040 Speaker 3: that kind of thing, And so that again just reinforced 737 00:40:57,040 --> 00:41:00,520 Speaker 3: for us that it's not physically possible that he was there. 738 00:41:00,719 --> 00:41:03,120 Speaker 1: So even if you're of the mind to choose Leslie 739 00:41:03,120 --> 00:41:06,399 Speaker 1: Warren's statement over his medical records, Jerry would have had 740 00:41:06,440 --> 00:41:08,840 Speaker 1: all day Friday to take the nine hour ride to 741 00:41:08,880 --> 00:41:12,200 Speaker 1: Cedar Falls, but then only seven hours to complete an 742 00:41:12,239 --> 00:41:14,640 Speaker 1: eight hour journey to North Platte, Nebraska, in time to 743 00:41:14,680 --> 00:41:17,440 Speaker 1: see Gene Doyle on a bike that needed to cool 744 00:41:17,520 --> 00:41:20,440 Speaker 1: off and refuel every five hours. Don't forget so Erica 745 00:41:20,600 --> 00:41:23,560 Speaker 1: follow a success a PCR in twenty twenty four, containing 746 00:41:23,640 --> 00:41:26,880 Speaker 1: everything we've spoken about, including the alternate theories like the 747 00:41:26,920 --> 00:41:30,000 Speaker 1: real estate fraud victims or even a professional hit meant 748 00:41:30,000 --> 00:41:31,120 Speaker 1: for Ronado Blestra. 749 00:41:31,480 --> 00:41:35,359 Speaker 3: Years later, Ornato dies in a small plane crash, and 750 00:41:35,840 --> 00:41:39,319 Speaker 3: Caesar Bianki also dies in a plane crash. I'm not 751 00:41:39,840 --> 00:41:45,080 Speaker 3: a DA expert, but you know there's some similarities there 752 00:41:45,239 --> 00:41:49,120 Speaker 3: that you just have a hard time understanding. 753 00:41:49,440 --> 00:41:51,040 Speaker 1: And with that, we're going to ask for you to 754 00:41:51,080 --> 00:41:54,239 Speaker 1: scroll down to the episode description for action steps as 755 00:41:54,280 --> 00:41:57,359 Speaker 1: we go to closing arguments, where first I thank both 756 00:41:57,400 --> 00:42:00,200 Speaker 1: of you for joining us, and so now I'm just 757 00:42:00,239 --> 00:42:02,319 Speaker 1: going to kick back in my chair and listen to 758 00:42:02,600 --> 00:42:05,640 Speaker 1: anything else you feel is left to be said. So 759 00:42:05,800 --> 00:42:08,520 Speaker 1: start with Erica and then Jerry, you take us off 760 00:42:08,520 --> 00:42:09,360 Speaker 1: into the sunset. 761 00:42:09,760 --> 00:42:13,480 Speaker 3: Jerry Mark is this example of a wrongful conviction and 762 00:42:13,600 --> 00:42:17,280 Speaker 3: everything that could possibly have gone wrong. A tragedy happened 763 00:42:17,320 --> 00:42:20,759 Speaker 3: to their family and he got caught up in it. 764 00:42:21,120 --> 00:42:25,200 Speaker 3: Our system is so imperfect and there have been so 765 00:42:25,280 --> 00:42:29,280 Speaker 3: many chances to right this wrong, and yet we haven't 766 00:42:29,320 --> 00:42:31,560 Speaker 3: been able to do it. He's going to be eighty 767 00:42:31,600 --> 00:42:36,080 Speaker 3: two in January. He has grandchildren now, and he's persevered 768 00:42:36,160 --> 00:42:39,320 Speaker 3: through a lot, and yeah, as much support as he 769 00:42:39,400 --> 00:42:42,240 Speaker 3: can get. We don't have a big social media presence, 770 00:42:42,239 --> 00:42:44,200 Speaker 3: but we will definitely let you know if there are 771 00:42:44,280 --> 00:42:47,000 Speaker 3: updates and you can share that for us. Because we 772 00:42:47,120 --> 00:42:50,080 Speaker 3: are public defenders working out of a law school, we 773 00:42:50,160 --> 00:42:53,400 Speaker 3: are doing everything we can to correct this injustice for 774 00:42:53,480 --> 00:42:57,480 Speaker 3: him and his family, So we appreciate just sharing the story. 775 00:42:58,120 --> 00:43:02,800 Speaker 2: I'm deeply grateful to my friends and loved ones who've 776 00:43:02,800 --> 00:43:06,560 Speaker 2: been so supportive of me and so encouraging, and to 777 00:43:07,400 --> 00:43:10,600 Speaker 2: just a network of people, good hearted people in the 778 00:43:10,640 --> 00:43:13,400 Speaker 2: free world who had been kind and encouraging to me. 779 00:43:13,960 --> 00:43:16,560 Speaker 2: There's no way I can repay the goodness that's been 780 00:43:16,600 --> 00:43:20,200 Speaker 2: done for me, except to try to bring some attention 781 00:43:20,360 --> 00:43:24,200 Speaker 2: to other cases guys in prison who have been wrongly convicted. 782 00:43:24,320 --> 00:43:27,400 Speaker 2: So if I'm fortunate enough to be exonerated and freed, 783 00:43:27,800 --> 00:43:30,040 Speaker 2: I intend to do everything I can to be a 784 00:43:30,080 --> 00:43:33,520 Speaker 2: constructive citizen and to help in whatever way I can. 785 00:43:33,719 --> 00:43:36,600 Speaker 2: And I hope very much that the public will encourage 786 00:43:37,120 --> 00:43:40,560 Speaker 2: our judicial system to look at cases like mine with 787 00:43:40,680 --> 00:43:44,480 Speaker 2: a critical analysis. It's okay to assume that the prosecutors 788 00:43:44,520 --> 00:43:47,560 Speaker 2: and police have good intentions, but sometimes they get carried 789 00:43:47,600 --> 00:43:51,000 Speaker 2: away by the horrors or the heinous nature of the crime, 790 00:43:51,080 --> 00:43:55,120 Speaker 2: and they target the wrong individual and make mistakes. When 791 00:43:55,160 --> 00:43:58,399 Speaker 2: it's up to the judiciary, to the judges to take 792 00:43:58,440 --> 00:44:01,839 Speaker 2: a good objective life look at these cases and don't 793 00:44:01,880 --> 00:44:05,319 Speaker 2: let the due process rights of prisoners like me be 794 00:44:05,760 --> 00:44:10,879 Speaker 2: violated by overzealous or emotionally involved or biased prosecutors from 795 00:44:10,920 --> 00:44:12,640 Speaker 2: saying police. 796 00:44:17,280 --> 00:44:19,920 Speaker 1: Thank you for listening to Wrongful Conviction. You can listen 797 00:44:19,920 --> 00:44:22,319 Speaker 1: to this and all the Lava for Good podcasts one 798 00:44:22,360 --> 00:44:25,319 Speaker 1: week early and ed free by subscribing to Lava for 799 00:44:25,400 --> 00:44:28,200 Speaker 1: Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I want to thank our 800 00:44:28,239 --> 00:44:31,399 Speaker 1: production team, Connor Hall and Kathleen Fink, as well as 801 00:44:31,400 --> 00:44:35,200 Speaker 1: my fellow executive producers Jeff Kempler, Kevin Warnis, and Jeff Kleiber. 802 00:44:35,320 --> 00:44:37,399 Speaker 1: The music in this production was supplied by three time 803 00:44:37,480 --> 00:44:40,520 Speaker 1: OSCAR nominated composer Jay Ralph. Be sure to follow us 804 00:44:40,560 --> 00:44:43,640 Speaker 1: across all social media platforms at Lava for Good and 805 00:44:43,680 --> 00:44:46,680 Speaker 1: at Wrongful Conviction. You can also follow me on Instagram 806 00:44:46,680 --> 00:44:49,560 Speaker 1: at It's Jason Flamm. Wrongful Conviction is a production of 807 00:44:49,640 --> 00:44:53,239 Speaker 1: Lava for Good Podcasts and association with Signal Company Number One. 808 00:44:53,400 --> 00:44:55,920 Speaker 1: We've worked hard to ensure that all facts reported in 809 00:44:55,960 --> 00:44:58,799 Speaker 1: this show are accurate. The views and opinions expressed by 810 00:44:58,800 --> 00:45:01,000 Speaker 1: the individuals featured in the the show are their own 811 00:45:01,120 --> 00:45:03,560 Speaker 1: and do not necessarily reflect those of love of for 812 00:45:03,680 --> 00:45:03,879 Speaker 1: Good