WEBVTT - #458 Lauren Bright Pacheco with Alan Beaman - Part 1 0:00:00.680 --> 0:00:04.400 Hey, it's Lauren Brei Pacheco. This new episode of Wrongful 0:00:04.400 --> 0:00:08.880 Conviction covers the unbelievable case of Alan Beeman. Such an 0:00:08.880 --> 0:00:11.160 epic story that we needed to release it as a 0:00:11.160 --> 0:00:14.640 two parter, Part one right now and part two coming 0:00:14.680 --> 0:00:17.840 next week. If you're listening in the Wrongful Conviction Feed, 0:00:18.040 --> 0:00:20.600 stay right here. For those of you who've been listening 0:00:20.600 --> 0:00:23.160 to these episodes in the Murder and Illinois Feed, you'll 0:00:23.160 --> 0:00:25.599 need to head over to Wrongful Conviction for part two 0:00:26.000 --> 0:00:28.639 and for the rest of my season With Wrongful Conviction, 0:00:35.880 --> 0:00:39.559 tens of thousands of people incarcerated in the US have 0:00:39.640 --> 0:00:42.839 been wrongfully convicted and are being held in captivity for 0:00:42.960 --> 0:00:47.400 crimes even as they adamantly maintain their innocence. What's it 0:00:47.680 --> 0:00:50.360 like to be one of those imprisoned people, and what's 0:00:50.400 --> 0:00:53.680 it like to be their ally, the one outside committed 0:00:53.720 --> 0:00:57.240 to fighting for their freedom. I'm Lauren Brighte Pacheco, and 0:00:57.280 --> 0:01:07.640 this is Wrongful Conviction. Alan Beaman was twenty one years 0:01:07.640 --> 0:01:10.840 old when his life was forever altered. Going into his 0:01:10.920 --> 0:01:15.080 senior year in college specializing in theatrical lighting design, he 0:01:15.200 --> 0:01:19.440 suddenly found himself ensnared in a police investigation into the 0:01:19.480 --> 0:01:22.640 death of his former girlfriend. Twenty two year old Jennifer 0:01:22.640 --> 0:01:26.119 lock Miller was found dead August twenty eighth, nineteen ninety three, 0:01:26.400 --> 0:01:29.959 in her apartment in Normal, Illinois. She had been strangled 0:01:29.959 --> 0:01:32.800 with a clock radio cord and stabbed in the chest 0:01:32.880 --> 0:01:36.080 with scissors, even though at the time, Allan was living 0:01:36.120 --> 0:01:39.600 with his parents for summer break in Rockford, Illinois, over 0:01:39.640 --> 0:01:42.080 one hundred and thirty miles away from the murder. The 0:01:42.160 --> 0:01:47.040 following May, Normal Illinois police arrested Beeman on murder charges 0:01:47.080 --> 0:01:50.400 related to the death of Lockmiller an hour after he 0:01:50.440 --> 0:01:53.680 completed his final exam, just weeks before what would have 0:01:53.680 --> 0:01:57.120 been his graduation. Despite the lack of any evidence of 0:01:57.160 --> 0:02:00.440 his guilt, in nineteen ninety five, Beeman was con of 0:02:00.520 --> 0:02:04.400 murder and sentenced to fifty years. He would serve thirteen 0:02:04.560 --> 0:02:08.360 years before the Illinois Supreme Court reversed the conviction and 0:02:08.440 --> 0:02:12.080 the state opted to drop murder charges. It is my 0:02:12.240 --> 0:02:15.880 pleasure to welcome Alan and his parents, Barry and Carol 0:02:16.600 --> 0:02:19.480 to wrongful conviction. Thank you guys for joining me. 0:02:19.680 --> 0:02:22.040 Thank you for having us, Thanks Lauren for having us. 0:02:22.400 --> 0:02:24.680 Now I want to take a step back and Alan, 0:02:24.919 --> 0:02:27.400 let's go back a bit. Just tell me how you 0:02:27.440 --> 0:02:31.440 would describe your upbringing and your family before all of 0:02:31.480 --> 0:02:32.120 this happened. 0:02:32.840 --> 0:02:37.520 I grew up in a household that was very conservative 0:02:38.000 --> 0:02:44.560 and very involved in our community. I was raised to 0:02:45.840 --> 0:02:50.880 take the high road, to treat my neighbors with respect 0:02:51.120 --> 0:02:55.040 and dignity, and to withhold judgment until I've gotten to 0:02:55.040 --> 0:02:55.680 know a person. 0:02:56.160 --> 0:02:58.880 And what were your passions growing up? What were you 0:02:58.960 --> 0:02:59.600 obsessed with? 0:03:00.400 --> 0:03:04.639 We grew up out in the country, surrounded by pastures 0:03:04.760 --> 0:03:07.959 and cornfields. You know, you hear people talk about Generation 0:03:08.280 --> 0:03:11.720 X being the feral children, And I was exactly that 0:03:12.160 --> 0:03:15.120 left the house at seven in the morning and didn't 0:03:15.200 --> 0:03:18.840 come back until seven o'clock at night. And if my 0:03:18.919 --> 0:03:21.280 parents saw me in between, it was because I was 0:03:21.320 --> 0:03:23.720 either hungry or had to go to the bathroom or both. 0:03:26.520 --> 0:03:29.440 From the age of four, I was swinging a hammer. 0:03:30.240 --> 0:03:33.600 My parents and I and my brother built our house. Really, 0:03:34.080 --> 0:03:37.520 I was driving floorboard nails, and if it wasn't something 0:03:37.520 --> 0:03:40.240 that was safe for me to do, like a circular saw, 0:03:40.400 --> 0:03:42.760 I was still being instructed on how to do it. 0:03:43.480 --> 0:03:47.320 My mom was a teacher and used a very socratic 0:03:47.400 --> 0:03:51.920 method and got me to explore the things that I 0:03:51.960 --> 0:03:55.360 was curious about without trying to tell me what to think. 0:03:55.800 --> 0:03:59.720 So you know, I'm certainly grateful to them for that upbringing, 0:04:00.080 --> 0:04:01.920 for the support they've given me over the years. 0:04:02.040 --> 0:04:04.600 Wow, I can't believe you guys built your house together. 0:04:04.760 --> 0:04:09.240 That is definition of a hands on family with a. 0:04:09.160 --> 0:04:12.680 Lot of help from our friends and family and Barry. 0:04:12.760 --> 0:04:15.680 I know that Carol was a teacher, But what was 0:04:15.680 --> 0:04:16.920 your profession by trade? 0:04:17.720 --> 0:04:22.039 I started with a degree in physics from Illinois Wesleyan University, 0:04:22.160 --> 0:04:25.680 and that led me into the Air Force. After I 0:04:25.720 --> 0:04:27.679 got out of the Air Force, I ended up spending 0:04:27.680 --> 0:04:31.719 the rest of my career as a quality engineer, both 0:04:31.760 --> 0:04:35.040 in mechanical activities and in software. 0:04:36.279 --> 0:04:39.120 So, Allen, you have an engineer for a father, teacher 0:04:39.160 --> 0:04:42.159 for a mother. How did you end up getting drawn 0:04:42.240 --> 0:04:43.680 to theatrical lighting design? 0:04:44.920 --> 0:04:50.680 My mom told me that I was very dramatic, and 0:04:50.960 --> 0:04:54.960 I started getting involved with the drama club in middle school. 0:04:55.560 --> 0:05:00.520 I think getting involved in theater and just being naturally handy, 0:05:00.640 --> 0:05:02.600 I got appointed to do things. Oh you know how 0:05:02.640 --> 0:05:04.560 to do this? Okay, here you go. But as I 0:05:04.600 --> 0:05:08.120 got even older, going into college, I just lost interest 0:05:08.160 --> 0:05:11.120 in the performance side and really got sucked into the 0:05:11.200 --> 0:05:13.240 technical aspects, especially lighting. 0:05:14.240 --> 0:05:17.720 I've read that you were able to combine your love 0:05:17.760 --> 0:05:20.920 of music with a vision you had for your ultimate 0:05:20.960 --> 0:05:26.599 career in terms of working on design for concerts. 0:05:26.760 --> 0:05:30.039 Eventually, by the time I was in college, that's what 0:05:30.120 --> 0:05:32.239 I wanted to do. I wanted to do lighting design 0:05:32.960 --> 0:05:35.960 for rock bands. Not that I wouldn't want to do 0:05:36.040 --> 0:05:38.200 that for plays and other things as well, but I 0:05:38.240 --> 0:05:43.240 think I always verged on the motion of lighting, so 0:05:43.279 --> 0:05:47.320 I think I would have naturally gravitated towards lighting for music, 0:05:47.680 --> 0:05:49.320 a feature of that that. 0:05:49.240 --> 0:05:53.320 Takes us really pretty much to write about. When your 0:05:53.480 --> 0:05:59.480 family was abruptly altered by what ended up befalling Alan, 0:06:00.120 --> 0:06:03.559 So you're twenty one years old and you're just weeks 0:06:03.560 --> 0:06:08.480 away from graduation, about to start your adult life. How 0:06:08.680 --> 0:06:12.960 prepared were you or your family for what you'd collectively 0:06:13.520 --> 0:06:16.039 go through for the decades that would follow. 0:06:16.440 --> 0:06:21.080 We were not prepared at all to deal with the 0:06:21.200 --> 0:06:25.680 legal conundrums that came upon us at all. Growing up 0:06:25.960 --> 0:06:30.760 in that rural, conservative environment, I was raised to trust 0:06:31.080 --> 0:06:34.600 law enforcement. We did not ever perceive it as a 0:06:34.720 --> 0:06:40.560 hostile element that would overtake our lives and attempt to 0:06:40.600 --> 0:06:41.479 destroy us. 0:06:42.040 --> 0:06:46.120 For me, my experience was just with the police officers 0:06:46.160 --> 0:06:49.640 that served in my school, and they were my helpers 0:06:49.920 --> 0:06:53.359 if I had difficulty in a classroom. It wasn't something 0:06:53.400 --> 0:06:56.800 that even entered my mind in terms of entanglement with 0:06:56.880 --> 0:06:57.359 the police. 0:06:58.080 --> 0:07:00.600 So just to set then the stage, and just in 0:07:00.680 --> 0:07:06.960 terms of your relationship with Jennifer, how long had you 0:07:07.000 --> 0:07:10.000 guys dated? How long had you known each other? Were 0:07:10.040 --> 0:07:13.320 you in contact at the time of her murderer? 0:07:13.680 --> 0:07:18.520 I met Jennifer, I want to say, in the spring 0:07:18.640 --> 0:07:24.280 of my sophomore year in college, when we were both 0:07:24.320 --> 0:07:29.440 going to Illinois Wesleyan and we were friends. Nothing romantic 0:07:29.520 --> 0:07:34.680 occurred until the summer after that school year, and we 0:07:34.800 --> 0:07:39.760 started dating later in that summer and then throughout my 0:07:41.000 --> 0:07:46.280 junior year. We dated for about a year and we 0:07:46.480 --> 0:07:50.400 broke up about a month before she was murdered. 0:07:51.400 --> 0:07:55.040 So just that circumstance probably made you a little bit 0:07:55.200 --> 0:07:59.920 of an easy target in terms of a lazy investigation. 0:08:00.600 --> 0:08:03.520 But how would you categorize your relationship and the way 0:08:03.560 --> 0:08:07.160 it ended? Was it volatile or there was their animosity? 0:08:08.040 --> 0:08:12.080 What you're asking there is speaking to the initial suspicion 0:08:12.320 --> 0:08:16.400 we had an on again off again. Relationship, we broke 0:08:16.480 --> 0:08:21.200 up several times. There were a lot of public conflicts 0:08:21.240 --> 0:08:24.160 that we had in front of other people, friends and 0:08:24.360 --> 0:08:29.280 even family, and so I think it was only natural 0:08:29.400 --> 0:08:33.160 for a police investigator to initially say, hey, we got 0:08:33.200 --> 0:08:36.120 to talk to this guy, and if that had been 0:08:36.200 --> 0:08:40.680 where it ended, it would have made perfect sense. Unfortunately, 0:08:40.960 --> 0:08:44.360 as you mentioned, the potential for a lazy investigation with that, 0:08:44.440 --> 0:08:48.080 you know, the statistics probably tell them that most of 0:08:48.120 --> 0:08:50.800 the time it's the ex boyfriend, and that's great, that 0:08:50.960 --> 0:08:53.120 gives you a lead to start with, but that is 0:08:53.160 --> 0:08:58.200 not evidence. Is that should not be indicative of probable cause, 0:08:59.000 --> 0:09:01.600 And so I think they just jumped to that conclusion 0:09:01.760 --> 0:09:05.959 very early on and did not go through the steps 0:09:05.960 --> 0:09:10.480 that are necessary to rule things out with scientific method. 0:09:11.320 --> 0:09:15.520 Do you remember how you collectively found out as had 0:09:15.520 --> 0:09:17.199 happened in the first place. 0:09:17.400 --> 0:09:19.560 At the time of the murder, how he found out? 0:09:20.240 --> 0:09:22.880 It started with a knock at the door. Alan had 0:09:22.920 --> 0:09:26.560 just left to go meet some friends at Denny's who 0:09:26.640 --> 0:09:30.559 were leaving for college the next day, and within the 0:09:30.600 --> 0:09:33.240 hour of that knock on the door, we received a 0:09:33.240 --> 0:09:37.640 phone call from the county jail, where they had Alan 0:09:37.760 --> 0:09:40.440 for questioning and Alan said he had been allowed to 0:09:40.480 --> 0:09:43.120 call us, and he told us he was being questioned 0:09:43.160 --> 0:09:45.480 about something and he didn't know where his car was 0:09:45.520 --> 0:09:47.560 and could we come pick him up. He had been 0:09:47.880 --> 0:09:51.080 picked up on the road going into town to meet 0:09:51.080 --> 0:09:52.920 his friends and question. 0:09:53.120 --> 0:09:57.040 That was about two o'clock in the morning, as I recall, Yes, so. 0:09:57.320 --> 0:09:59.600 You thought your son was out with friends and he 0:09:59.679 --> 0:10:02.720 was a actually at the police station. Alan, how did 0:10:03.040 --> 0:10:04.080 you were just pulled over? 0:10:05.360 --> 0:10:09.360 Yeah? I was about halfway to the city limits when 0:10:09.400 --> 0:10:11.560 I noticed that there was a squad car behind me. 0:10:12.400 --> 0:10:15.160 I tried very hard to make sure I drove exactly 0:10:15.240 --> 0:10:17.520 the speed limit while he was behind me, and then 0:10:17.640 --> 0:10:21.000 crossed over into the city limits and was immediately pulled over. 0:10:21.480 --> 0:10:23.800 So then I thought I have long hair, you know. 0:10:23.840 --> 0:10:26.280 I thought it was the typical stuff that I had 0:10:26.840 --> 0:10:32.320 experienced while in college. But this time the officer was 0:10:32.360 --> 0:10:34.840 standing in front of me with his side arm drawn 0:10:35.720 --> 0:10:41.000 and there was a police dog, and I was told 0:10:41.000 --> 0:10:43.680 to get out of the car. They patted me down 0:10:43.720 --> 0:10:45.600 and then maybe asked if there were any weapons. 0:10:45.720 --> 0:10:46.839 What was going through your head? 0:10:47.520 --> 0:10:51.040 I was in shock. I really didn't have a coherent 0:10:51.120 --> 0:10:53.760 thought going on in my head, but when I was 0:10:53.800 --> 0:10:56.440 placed in the squad car, I finally gathered up my 0:10:56.600 --> 0:10:59.640 senses and I asked the officer, Hey, can you tell 0:10:59.679 --> 0:11:03.439 me what the is about? And he said, some detectives 0:11:03.440 --> 0:11:05.720 from Normal want to talk to you about a homicide. 0:11:06.240 --> 0:11:09.640 So I'm in shock, sitting in the squad car, thinking 0:11:09.679 --> 0:11:14.439 who do I know in Normal that could have possibly 0:11:14.520 --> 0:11:17.640 been involved in a homicide to where they want to 0:11:17.679 --> 0:11:21.400 talk to me? And I could think of a few people, 0:11:21.679 --> 0:11:24.720 and then of course there was Jennifer. I stayed in 0:11:24.760 --> 0:11:28.559 that squad car right there until a detective's car came 0:11:28.679 --> 0:11:33.240 up and it had passengers who were Tony Daniels, a 0:11:33.280 --> 0:11:39.280 detective from Normal, and Tony's partner. I got into that car, 0:11:39.400 --> 0:11:40.479 I was still handcuffed. 0:11:40.559 --> 0:11:45.880 So you're handcuffed. They've not told you why, what You've 0:11:46.360 --> 0:11:47.720 been accused of? Nothing? 0:11:48.040 --> 0:11:50.439 Nothing, I know. I'm in handcuffs and they want to 0:11:50.480 --> 0:11:54.320 talk to me about a homicide. And I guess if 0:11:54.360 --> 0:11:56.599 I were a little more street wise, I would have 0:11:56.720 --> 0:12:01.600 realized that I was a suspect. But I didn't grow 0:12:01.720 --> 0:12:04.360 up in the environment where I ever expected to be 0:12:04.480 --> 0:12:06.800 a suspect. I didn't know what was going on. I'm 0:12:06.880 --> 0:12:10.360 just supposed to speak when I'm spoken to, and respect 0:12:10.440 --> 0:12:13.040 the police officers who are doing their job. 0:12:13.080 --> 0:12:15.800 But even though you had long hair, you didn't exactly 0:12:15.840 --> 0:12:19.080 have a long wrap sheet. In fact, you had no 0:12:19.400 --> 0:12:22.400 criminal history, that is correct. When did they tell you 0:12:22.480 --> 0:12:24.840 that Jennifer had been murdered? And how did they tell you? 0:12:25.400 --> 0:12:29.120 When I got into the squad car with Tony Daniels, 0:12:29.520 --> 0:12:34.240 I asked him what is this about? And he simply said, well, Allen, 0:12:34.360 --> 0:12:37.959 we want to talk to you about your friend. And 0:12:38.040 --> 0:12:41.880 it seemed very cryptic to me. I felt like he 0:12:41.920 --> 0:12:45.120 did not really want to answer my question yet, and 0:12:45.240 --> 0:12:50.199 so I opted to be polite and again respect law enforcement, 0:12:50.240 --> 0:12:52.960 and I did not press the issue. We rode back 0:12:52.960 --> 0:12:56.679 to the police station in Rockford and I was placed 0:12:56.679 --> 0:13:02.319 in an interrogation room with a couple of chairs and. 0:13:02.240 --> 0:13:05.320 Questioned for how long before you could call your parents? 0:13:05.559 --> 0:13:07.000 I want to say it was about an hour and 0:13:07.040 --> 0:13:10.160 a half. And he gave me my Miranda rights and 0:13:10.200 --> 0:13:12.160 all that, and I probably could have walked out right 0:13:12.160 --> 0:13:14.600 then and there, but again, that's not something you do 0:13:15.240 --> 0:13:18.160 when you've grown up to respect law enforcement and you've 0:13:18.160 --> 0:13:21.920 got nothing to hide. And he started asking me questions 0:13:22.240 --> 0:13:26.520 and most of the questions were either about my whereabouts 0:13:26.520 --> 0:13:32.920 throughout the week or about Jennifer. And eventually I could 0:13:32.960 --> 0:13:36.040 figure out from the line of questioning something was going 0:13:36.040 --> 0:13:38.920 on with Jennifer, and they had told me there was 0:13:38.920 --> 0:13:43.160 a homicide, and so I pieced that together. And he 0:13:43.320 --> 0:13:45.640 challenged me, like, how come you haven't asked me if 0:13:45.679 --> 0:13:49.720 she's okay? And I said, is Jennifer dead? And he 0:13:49.840 --> 0:13:55.640 said yes. And I again still in shock, but now 0:13:55.679 --> 0:13:59.640 even more so in shock and being accused of now 0:13:59.679 --> 0:14:02.000 knowing something that I'm not supposed to know, just because 0:14:02.040 --> 0:14:05.000 I can put pieces together. And so he did this 0:14:05.080 --> 0:14:08.520 whole very sort of evasive and then accusatory, and then 0:14:08.600 --> 0:14:10.880 evasive and then accusatory. And he would tell me one 0:14:10.920 --> 0:14:14.400 thing and then he would change it and tell me, oh, no, 0:14:14.520 --> 0:14:17.680 that's not really what it is, it's this. And so 0:14:17.800 --> 0:14:20.120 he told me she was dead. He told me she 0:14:20.240 --> 0:14:24.440 was alive in a hospital calling my name. After about 0:14:24.480 --> 0:14:28.560 an hour and a half of this interview, where it 0:14:28.600 --> 0:14:31.160 really didn't seem like he was interested in hearing what 0:14:31.280 --> 0:14:34.200 I really had to say, but was just trying to 0:14:34.280 --> 0:14:37.320 provoke me and wanted me to say what he wanted 0:14:37.320 --> 0:14:40.280 me to say, I finally said, you said that I'm 0:14:40.280 --> 0:14:45.400 not under arrest, so that means I don't have to stay. 0:14:45.480 --> 0:14:47.960 So I'm leaving. And I got up and I left. 0:14:49.760 --> 0:14:52.280 But I walked out of the police station and I 0:14:52.280 --> 0:14:56.560 didn't know where my car was, and I could find 0:14:56.800 --> 0:15:00.760 a payphone, and so I called my parents. 0:15:01.080 --> 0:15:06.200 So all of this at this point early morning drama. 0:15:06.320 --> 0:15:10.680 Did it ever occur to you, Barry or you Carol 0:15:10.760 --> 0:15:14.600 that this was anything other than a horrible event and 0:15:14.640 --> 0:15:18.440 a crazy misunderstanding. Did you think was it in terms 0:15:18.480 --> 0:15:21.680 of what Alan had just been through. 0:15:21.800 --> 0:15:24.680 The next day, Alan was supposed to sing at church, 0:15:25.960 --> 0:15:28.560 and we asked him when we got him home, what 0:15:28.600 --> 0:15:31.040 are you going to do about that? And you want 0:15:31.120 --> 0:15:33.680 us to call and cancel? And he said no, he 0:15:33.800 --> 0:15:36.400 was going to go ahead. We went to church and 0:15:36.440 --> 0:15:40.120 he did his solo and then we talked to our 0:15:40.160 --> 0:15:43.800 pastor about what do we do next, and he got 0:15:43.840 --> 0:15:46.960 us in touch with a lawyer, a family friend who 0:15:47.480 --> 0:15:50.520 kind of advised Alan at that point and advised us 0:15:50.560 --> 0:15:53.160 to just keep Alan away from the police at that time, 0:15:53.960 --> 0:15:56.840 and they did show up at our house Sunday afternoon. 0:15:56.960 --> 0:15:59.840 Sunday afternoon, my father and I were trying to move 0:15:59.840 --> 0:16:03.200 a cabinet into the house that my parents had brought 0:16:03.320 --> 0:16:08.400 from their home to us, and these two huge men 0:16:08.600 --> 0:16:11.720 walked up and said, can we help you with that, 0:16:11.920 --> 0:16:14.920 and picked it up and moved it in forrest, set 0:16:14.960 --> 0:16:16.920 it in a corner, and then told us they'd like 0:16:17.000 --> 0:16:19.160 to talk to Alan. And I said, I got some 0:16:19.200 --> 0:16:20.320 concerns about this. 0:16:20.840 --> 0:16:24.960 And you all knew that, Allan, you were what over 0:16:24.960 --> 0:16:27.080 one hundred and thirty miles closer to one hundred and 0:16:27.080 --> 0:16:32.200 forty miles away from the scene of where this tragedy occurred, 0:16:32.840 --> 0:16:37.000 and you're living at home for the summer, So I 0:16:37.320 --> 0:16:40.400 should think that you all just thought, obviously it was 0:16:40.440 --> 0:16:43.080 impossible that you were involved. 0:16:43.840 --> 0:16:50.640 We all believed in my family that the detectives would 0:16:51.400 --> 0:16:55.000 do their job, investigate the case, and they are professionals 0:16:55.040 --> 0:16:57.280 and they know what they're doing, and that at a 0:16:57.280 --> 0:16:59.400 certain point they would realize, yeah, this is the wrong 0:16:59.440 --> 0:17:05.600 way to go, and that they would move on. Unfortunately, 0:17:06.560 --> 0:17:09.760 I think, you know, and I'm editorializing here, there was 0:17:09.800 --> 0:17:14.480 so much pressure on the department and on the county 0:17:15.119 --> 0:17:25.439 to find someone that when their investigation broke down and 0:17:25.600 --> 0:17:31.320 their ability to properly investigate failed they just decided, we 0:17:31.400 --> 0:17:34.080 got this guy here, he looks pretty crazy. We can 0:17:34.119 --> 0:17:37.600 probably make him look bad, and that's our guy. 0:17:37.720 --> 0:17:41.320 Alan. You mentioned having long hair, and your sense of 0:17:41.400 --> 0:17:45.680 righteous indignation was also growing. How do you think that 0:17:45.800 --> 0:17:48.520 combination could have made things worse for you? 0:17:49.119 --> 0:17:53.080 I was a dirty hippie in college, and I think, 0:17:53.160 --> 0:17:57.119 you know, it did probably add to the opportunity to 0:17:57.160 --> 0:18:00.000 make me a target. But I was also really frustrated 0:18:00.720 --> 0:18:04.360 that they were accusing me of something I didn't do, 0:18:04.440 --> 0:18:09.160 and I was very angry about that, and I reacted poorly, 0:18:10.080 --> 0:18:14.960 which should be understandable coming from an adolescent essentially who's 0:18:15.000 --> 0:18:16.840 being accused of something. 0:18:16.520 --> 0:18:17.879 And dealing with grief. 0:18:18.000 --> 0:18:23.600 Well, it was denied that I couldn't grieve because I 0:18:23.720 --> 0:18:30.160 learned about her death by being accused of murdering her, 0:18:31.119 --> 0:18:36.480 and I never had the opportunity to experience a neutral 0:18:38.800 --> 0:18:42.560 individual perception of her death, to say, you know, man, 0:18:42.680 --> 0:18:46.800 somebody that I cared about has died and I'm really grieving. 0:18:46.880 --> 0:18:49.439 And even though things didn't end great between us, I 0:18:49.440 --> 0:18:51.639 didn't wish this on her, you know, I didn't have 0:18:51.680 --> 0:18:55.480 the opportunity to do that, and under the circumstances with 0:18:55.560 --> 0:19:01.040 the police scrutiny and the obvious perception that went along 0:19:01.080 --> 0:19:04.120 with that. I didn't feel comfortable going to the funeral. 0:19:04.160 --> 0:19:09.560 I didn't feel comfortable interacting with other people that loved her, 0:19:09.640 --> 0:19:13.160 and so I was very much alone in my grief 0:19:13.280 --> 0:19:16.760 and I couldn't really explore it with other people who 0:19:16.800 --> 0:19:18.280 had the same feeling. 0:19:18.000 --> 0:19:20.640 Which also played into the narrative exactly. 0:19:20.680 --> 0:19:24.760 That was again further used against me, and so they 0:19:24.760 --> 0:19:28.000 had a lot of opportunity to say, Oh, he's really fishy, 0:19:28.240 --> 0:19:32.600 something's not right, and unfortunately, in the current state of 0:19:32.640 --> 0:19:35.200 our legal system, that is what passes for evidence. 0:19:36.040 --> 0:19:39.080 So you end up going back to school and Carol 0:19:39.160 --> 0:19:43.200 and Barry, you have been staunch defenders of your son 0:19:43.600 --> 0:19:49.439 and supporters of him and adamant believers in his enna sence. 0:19:49.720 --> 0:19:54.280 Did the police ever try to manipulate your opinion of 0:19:54.320 --> 0:19:57.600 your son or try to cast out on him or 0:19:57.640 --> 0:19:58.199 his character. 0:19:58.640 --> 0:20:05.840 No, they did not. Lieutenant Daniels, who was the was 0:20:05.880 --> 0:20:09.320 the lead detective coming to Rockford to talk to Alan, 0:20:10.040 --> 0:20:13.200 concluded by the time he left Rockford that Allan probably 0:20:13.240 --> 0:20:17.359 didn't do it, and he held that belief throughout the 0:20:17.400 --> 0:20:23.720 trial as well. Wow and eventually through depositions and things 0:20:23.800 --> 0:20:28.720 like that. Became one of Allan's top cheerleaders. 0:20:30.200 --> 0:20:33.440 So the nightmare certainly didn't end when you went back 0:20:33.480 --> 0:20:37.040 for your senior year. You go back and you're trying 0:20:37.080 --> 0:20:40.840 to focus on finishing up your degree and the police 0:20:40.880 --> 0:20:44.160 are continuing to pop in. How and when did they 0:20:44.200 --> 0:20:47.040 show up and how invasive was it in terms of 0:20:47.080 --> 0:20:49.240 your ability to be a student. 0:20:49.880 --> 0:20:53.440 It was always a surprise when they showed up. They 0:20:54.359 --> 0:20:59.159 occasionally would have somebody from campus security with them, sanctioning 0:20:59.200 --> 0:21:03.360 and supervisoring their visit to the campus. But I think 0:21:03.400 --> 0:21:09.480 the first time I met Tim Freiesmeyer was outside the theater, 0:21:10.240 --> 0:21:13.320 and I think he kind of was lying in wait 0:21:13.680 --> 0:21:16.800 for me to come out a door that I typically used. 0:21:17.000 --> 0:21:19.800 So the first time I met him, he served a 0:21:19.840 --> 0:21:27.600 warrant to collect biological samples from me. And my thought was, 0:21:27.680 --> 0:21:32.439 this is good. They're collecting actual evidence. That means that 0:21:32.520 --> 0:21:36.720 they have something to compare this to, and my worries 0:21:36.760 --> 0:21:39.720 will be over. They will realize, Okay, it wasn't him, 0:21:40.480 --> 0:21:43.119 and so you know, I didn't put up any fuss. 0:21:43.160 --> 0:21:44.880 I just went with them and I was like, all right, 0:21:44.920 --> 0:21:48.080 this is great. And they took me to the hospital 0:21:48.640 --> 0:21:52.280 and had a technician take samples from me. Then after 0:21:53.119 --> 0:21:55.639 those were taken, they took me back to the police 0:21:55.680 --> 0:22:01.600 station and fingerprinted me and took the miss photograph of 0:22:01.680 --> 0:22:07.280 me that eventually appeared in the newspaper, making me look 0:22:07.480 --> 0:22:10.879 very rough and scruffy, I should add. They picked me 0:22:10.960 --> 0:22:14.479 up in the middle of tech week for a show 0:22:14.520 --> 0:22:19.120 that I was designing for, and I had not slept 0:22:20.280 --> 0:22:23.480 the night before. I had not slept much that week 0:22:23.520 --> 0:22:26.000 at all. I had not bathed very much that week 0:22:26.040 --> 0:22:28.679 at all. I had not shaved, I had not brushed 0:22:28.680 --> 0:22:32.840 my teeth that night. I was disgusting, even more so 0:22:32.880 --> 0:22:35.479 than usual. And that's when they took the picture of 0:22:35.520 --> 0:22:37.959 me that they later put in the newspaper. 0:22:39.040 --> 0:22:43.840 So are you looping your parents in about the frequent 0:22:44.400 --> 0:22:50.160 visitors in your life at that point? Are you trying 0:22:50.160 --> 0:22:50.960 to protect them? 0:22:51.240 --> 0:22:53.560 Yeah, I'm just trying to protect not loop. 0:22:53.800 --> 0:22:56.760 Yes to protecting. I didn't believe it was really a 0:22:56.760 --> 0:22:59.680 big problem because I was so confident that they were 0:22:59.680 --> 0:23:01.960 going to to rule me out and move on. 0:23:03.400 --> 0:23:06.199 Did you guys, though, pick up on the fact that 0:23:06.960 --> 0:23:10.320 it was impacting Alan emotionally? 0:23:11.240 --> 0:23:15.160 We did not. However, we went down to campus one 0:23:15.160 --> 0:23:17.760 weekend to see the show that he had been working on. 0:23:18.359 --> 0:23:21.080 He wasn't there. He was over in Peoria at a 0:23:21.119 --> 0:23:27.240 friend's wedding that weekend, and we went to the show 0:23:27.400 --> 0:23:32.600 and one of Alan's faculty advisors said, do you realize 0:23:32.640 --> 0:23:35.399 how often he's being questioned? And that's the first we 0:23:35.480 --> 0:23:39.680 knew that he was being questioned frequently. And also on 0:23:39.720 --> 0:23:42.240 that first we found out that he was being taken 0:23:42.280 --> 0:23:45.600 out of classes from a professor who had a no 0:23:45.680 --> 0:23:52.760 cut policy, which eventually impacted Alan's graduation as well. 0:23:53.720 --> 0:23:56.959 And then you get arrested. Can you tell me how? 0:23:57.359 --> 0:23:58.600 And when that went down? 0:23:58.800 --> 0:24:01.679 It was on my life last day, my last final 0:24:01.720 --> 0:24:06.920 exam for my theater history class. And when I left 0:24:06.960 --> 0:24:11.040 the final exam, I went to the dining hall and 0:24:11.400 --> 0:24:14.840 while I was sitting eating my dinner, Tim Freiesmeyer came 0:24:14.880 --> 0:24:17.640 into the dining hall, walked up to me and said, Hey, 0:24:17.840 --> 0:24:20.720 can I talk to you for a minute, And so 0:24:20.800 --> 0:24:24.159 I was like, fine, let's let's go talk. And so 0:24:24.240 --> 0:24:26.320 I walked out of the dining hall with him, and 0:24:26.520 --> 0:24:29.240 I was walking towards a door that I typically used 0:24:29.280 --> 0:24:31.000 that would get us outside, and he was like, no, 0:24:31.400 --> 0:24:34.200 we need to go this way. So I followed him 0:24:34.240 --> 0:24:36.199 to the other side of the building, and when we 0:24:36.240 --> 0:24:38.280 walked out of the door, there was like twenty squad 0:24:38.280 --> 0:24:41.400 cars out there, just a whole bunch of cops out there. 0:24:41.720 --> 0:24:45.960 But I just remember looking around and seeing cops everywhere, 0:24:46.600 --> 0:24:50.119 so I thought, Okay, this is different. And he said, 0:24:50.400 --> 0:24:52.600