Episodes

  • #490 Maggie Freleng with Tom Rhodes
    Nov 4 2024

    On the night of August 2, 1996, Tom Rhodes and his wife Jane were on a boat ride on Green Lake, in Minnesota, when Jane fell overboard. Tom failed to find Jane, and her body was discovered the next day. Police suspected Tom from the get-go, focusing on previous marriage and financial troubles. This led the medical examiner to give his initial finding of undetermined cause of death a second look – working backwards from police suspicions, and eventually changing the cause of death to homicide. Tom was eventually sentenced to life in prison for first-degree murder.

    Click here to see the entire interview on our YouTube channel.

    To learn more and get involved, visit:

    Tom’s art gallery as mentioned in credits
    https://www.thomasdgalleries.com/

    Great North Innocence Project
    https://www.greatnorthinnocenceproject.org/

    Wrongful Conviction with Maggie Freleng is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1.

    We have worked hard to ensure that all facts reported in this show are accurate. The views and opinions expressed by the individuals featured in this show are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of Lava for Good.

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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    38 mins
  • #244 Jason Flom with Kevin Cooper
    Nov 5 2024

    On Saturday, June 4, 1983, three members of the Ryen family, as well as their neighbor’s son, Christopher Hughes, were brutally murdered in the Ryen home. 8 year old Joshua Ryen survived horrifying injuries, including a hatchet wound to the head and a slashed throat. The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Office immediately targeted Kevin Cooper because he had recently fled from the California Institution for Men (CIM), a medium security facility just a few miles from the Ryen home. A botched crime scene left little to go on, so many believe they fixed evidence to make the charges stick while ignoring compelling alternative suspects. Kevin has been defending his innocence from death row for almost 40 years. California Governor Newsom recently ordered a full Innocence Investigation into the case. Kevin and his team are confident that this investigation will finally clear his name.

    To learn more and get involved, visit:

    https://freekevincooper.com/

    https://kevincooper.org/

    https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kevin-cooper-case-death-row-inmate-san-quentin-murder-new-developments-48-hours/

    https://lavaforgood.com/with-jason-flom/

    Wrongful Conviction is a production of Lava for Good Podcasts in association with Signal Co No1.

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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    45 mins
  • #489 Guest Host Conor Hall with Brian Pippitt
    Oct 31 2024

    Evelyn Malin was the 84-year-old owner of the Dollar Lake Store in tiny Shamrock Township, 130 miles north of Minneapolis. On the morning of February 24, 1998, she was found beaten and strangled to death in the living quarters that were connected to her convenience store. Over a year later, Brian Pippitt was charged with premeditated murder based primarily on the incentivized testimony of two witnesses who later admitted to fabricating their statements. Brian was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison.

    To learn more and get involved, visit:
    https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/tell-gov-walz-stand-up-for-justice?nowrapper=true&referrer=group-drop-site-news&source=group-drop-site-news

    Wrongful Conviction is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1.

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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    47 mins
  • #488 Maggie Freleng with Belynda Goff
    Oct 28 2024

    On the morning of June 12, 1994, Belynda Goff woke up to find her husband Stephen bludgeoned to death in their Green Forest, AR, apartment. From the jump, investigators pegged Belynda’s reaction to the tragedy as suspicious. That initial hunch would set the course of the investigation and subsequent prosecution, leading law enforcement to ignore far more plausible leads and key witnesses, and imprison Belynda for 23 years.

    To learn more and get involved, visit:
    https://innocenceproject.org/

    Wrongful Conviction with Maggie Freleng is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1.

    We have worked hard to ensure that all facts reported in this show are accurate. The views and opinions expressed by the individuals featured in this show are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of Lava for Good™ Podcasts.

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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    45 mins
  • #487 Guest Host Conor Hall with Angel Bumpass
    Oct 24 2024

    On January 16, 2009, Linda Bonner found her husband Franklin duct-taped to a chair in their Chattanooga, TN home, with tape over his nose and mouth and signs of blunt force trauma. He was dead from suffocation. Police found fingerprints on the duct tape, but no matches were found. Nine years later, in 2019, 23-year-old Angel Bumpass was arrested after failing to appear in Kentucky court for a traffic ticket. Her fingerprints were taken upon her arrest and automatically searched against unidentified crime scene prints. Police said her fingerprints matched two partial prints on the duct tape from Franklin Bonner’s case. Even though she was only 13 years old at the time of the crime, Angel was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison.

    To learn more and get involved, visit:

    https://lavaforgood.com/podcast/398-wrongful-conviction-junk-science-fingerprint-evidence/

    https://www.instagram.com/justiceforangel/?hl=en

    https://www.tiktok.com/@thatsangelb

    https://www.imdb.com/title/tt26901702/


    Wrongful Conviction is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1.

    We have worked hard to ensure that all facts reported in this show are accurate. The views and opinions expressed by the individuals featured in this show are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of Lava for Good™ Podcasts.

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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    31 mins
  • #486 Maggie Freleng with James Degorski
    Oct 21 2024

    On January 8, 1993, seven employees at a Brown’s Chicken and Pasta in Palatine, IL. were brutally murdered. With no solid physical evidence, police unsuccessfully chased down hundreds of leads. Local officials established a $100,000 reward. Still, the case went cold for nine years. Then, in 2002, two of James Degorski’s ex-girlfriends came forward with a story implicating James, and what they said would land him in prison for life. He continues to claim his innocence.

    To learn more about James Degorksi and to contact James, visit:
    https://jamesdegorski.com/

    “The Brown's Chicken Massacre” by Maurice Possley
    https://www.amazon.sg/Browns-Chicken-Massacre-Maurice-Possley/dp/0425190854

    To learn more about Maurice:
    https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/Staff.aspx

    Bonjean Law Group
    https://www.bonjeanlaw.com/

    Wrongful Conviction with Maggie Freleng is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1.

    We have worked hard to ensure that all facts reported in this show are accurate. The views and opinions expressed by the individuals featured in this show are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of Lava for Good™ Podcasts.

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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    41 mins
  • #485 Jason Flom with Lamont Hunter
    Oct 17 2024

    January 18, 2006, 3-year-old Trustin Blue tumbled down his basement stairs in Cincinnati, OH, became unresponsive, and later brain dead. Trustin had been under the supervision of his mother’s boyfriend, Lamont Hunter, at the time of the incident. When Trustin was declared dead, the police began suspecting that Trustin had been raped and abused by Lamont, and had not actually fallen down the stairs as Lamont claimed. The case against Lamont was centered around allegations of prior abuse against Trustin and the manner of Trustin’s injuries. Lamont was convicted and sentenced to death for the incident.

    To learn more and get involved, visit:

    https://www.gofundme.com/f/3k5jem-free-after-wrongful-incarceration-on-death-row

    https://lavaforgood.com/podcast/473-jason-flom-with-robbie-roberson/
    https://lavaforgood.com/podcast/410-wrongful-conviction-junk-science-shaken-baby-syndrome/

    Wrongful Conviction is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1.

    We have worked hard to ensure that all facts reported in this show are accurate. The views and opinions expressed by the individuals featured in this show are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of Lava for Good™ Podcasts.

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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    44 mins
  • #484 Maggie Freleng with Ben Spencer
    Oct 14 2024

    On the evening of March 22, 1987 a businessman and father were robbed and killed in Dallas, TX. Just a few days later, 22-year-old Benjamine Spencer, a newlywed with a child on the way, was arrested for the crime. A reward for any information on the killing would lead several eyewitnesses to fabricate a story implicating Ben. Despite the fact that he had an alibi and there was no physical evidence linking him to the crime, Ben was sentenced to life in prison. He fought for the next 37 years to finally be declared an innocent man.

    To learn more and get involved, visit:
    https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/677738/bringing-ben-home-by-barbara-bradley-hagerty/

    https://www.theatlantic.com/projects/no-way-out/

    https://centurion.org/

    Wrongful Conviction with Maggie Freleng is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1.

    We have worked hard to ensure that all facts reported in this show are accurate. The views and opinions expressed by the individuals featured in this show are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of Lava for Good™ Podcasts.

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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    48 mins