In this episode Robin again joins me for another passion case of his previously covered on the trail went cold (his original description and sources are below). Robin takes me through all the twists and turns of a case that clearly illustrates just how many ways the system can get it wrong and the difficulty one faces in righting those wrongs.
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November 1, 2001. Columbia, Missouri. Kent Heitholt, a 48-year old sports editor for the Columbia Daily Tribune, is severely beaten and strangled to death in their parking lot. Two-and-a-half years later, investigators are led towards a young suspect named Charles Erickson, who has told people he had vivid dreams of himself and his friend, Ryan Ferguson, murdering Kent after leaving a nearby bar that night. After Charles confesses to the crime, both he and Ryan are charged with Kent’s murder and Charles’ testimony helps convict Ryan and send him to prison for 40 years. However, after Charles and another key witness recant their testimony, Ryan’s conviction is vacated and he is released from prison in 2013. Even though many feel that Charles is also innocent of the crime, he continues to remain incarcerated. If Ryan Ferguson and Charles Erickson did not murder Kent Heitholt, then who did?
Additional Reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryan_W._Fergusonhttps://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetail.aspx?caseid=4304http://www.freecharleserickson.org/index.html