1 00:00:01,360 --> 00:00:05,559 Hey, Southern Fried listeners, I want to tell you about a podcast that 2 00:00:05,679 --> 00:00:10,759 I think you'll enjoy called Suspect. Five Shots in the Dark. This latest 3 00:00:10,800 --> 00:00:15,439 season looks at a case with two victims, one murdered in cold blood and 4 00:00:15,599 --> 00:00:21,239 one imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit. It follows Leon Benson's story, 5 00:00:21,640 --> 00:00:25,399 a man who spent more than half of his life a total of twenty four 6 00:00:25,519 --> 00:00:30,079 years in an Indiana state prison for the murder of Casey Shane, a man 7 00:00:30,120 --> 00:00:34,320 he never met. Casey was murdered in the middle of an August night, 8 00:00:34,759 --> 00:00:40,280 shot point blank while idling in his Dodge pickup truck in North Indianapolis. There 9 00:00:40,399 --> 00:00:44,759 was no physical evidence, no known motive, and no one coming forward with 10 00:00:44,799 --> 00:00:51,759 information except one woman who swears to this day she saw Leon Detroit Benson pulled 11 00:00:51,759 --> 00:00:56,479 the trigger. He was sentenced to sixty years in prison, all because one 12 00:00:56,560 --> 00:01:03,600 person swore they saw something. But what if she was wrong? From Wondery 13 00:01:03,679 --> 00:01:10,120 and Campside Media comes season three of the hit podcast Suspect. This is a 14 00:01:10,200 --> 00:01:15,040 story of a botched police investigation, the dangers of shaky eyewitness testimony in a 15 00:01:15,159 --> 00:01:21,840 community who feared law enforcement with good reason. I'm about to play a clip 16 00:01:21,959 --> 00:01:26,319 from Suspect five Shots in the Dark while you're listening follow Suspect wherever you get 17 00:01:26,359 --> 00:01:32,840 your podcasts. You can binge Suspect ad free on Wondery Plus, find Wondery 18 00:01:32,920 --> 00:01:38,400 Plus in the Wondering app or on Apple Podcasts. A long time ago, 19 00:01:38,680 --> 00:01:44,480 I remember watching an episode of Oprah about eyewitness testimony. I actually I haven't 20 00:01:44,519 --> 00:01:48,159 been able to find the episode in question online. This would have been like 21 00:01:48,319 --> 00:01:52,120 three decades ago, when I was a kid home from school watching TV. 22 00:01:53,120 --> 00:01:56,799 It's entirely possible. I imagine parts of it, but in my memory, 23 00:01:57,079 --> 00:02:00,400 Oprah, without telling anyone, has this guy run on stage and snatch up 24 00:02:00,400 --> 00:02:06,319 a purse belonging to one of the panelists. And then afterwards Oprah asks everyone 25 00:02:06,359 --> 00:02:10,599 to identify the thief, but no one can. Each person Oprah asks they've 26 00:02:10,639 --> 00:02:15,800 got a different answer as to what the guy looked like. I don't remember 27 00:02:15,840 --> 00:02:17,840 how the show ended. I probably went off and played some duck hunt, 28 00:02:19,280 --> 00:02:22,759 but it lodged in my head. As I got older, started working in 29 00:02:22,840 --> 00:02:28,360 journalism and writing about the criminal justice system, it would periodically pop back into 30 00:02:28,400 --> 00:02:34,400 my head, a reminder of just how fallible the human eye and memory can 31 00:02:34,479 --> 00:02:37,360 be. So wait, let me just back up. Okay, tell me 32 00:02:37,520 --> 00:02:42,520 when you first noticed the truck. Oh, probably like it was maybe a 33 00:02:42,560 --> 00:02:47,759 block and a half north of there, but it was just driving down Pennsylvania 34 00:02:47,879 --> 00:02:53,080 passed where I was out of my vehindle. Do you think it stopped and 35 00:02:53,120 --> 00:02:55,360 then went around again or do you think it just went by? You went 36 00:02:55,400 --> 00:03:00,360 around and came back around. The Oprah segment came to mind the first time 37 00:03:00,360 --> 00:03:04,479 I heard this tape, which was recorded near Indianapolis in twenty twenty two. 38 00:03:05,360 --> 00:03:08,199 The details aren't really important, not yet. For now. All you need 39 00:03:08,280 --> 00:03:13,000 to know is that the first voice belongs to Laura Basilon. She's a law 40 00:03:13,080 --> 00:03:17,159 professor. The second voice belongs to a woman named Christy Schmidt. And yeah, 41 00:03:17,280 --> 00:03:23,280 those are wind chimes in the background. Nice right, Okay, So 42 00:03:23,599 --> 00:03:28,680 car stops, you don't think about it. That's you hear something that sounds 43 00:03:28,680 --> 00:03:30,840 like firecrackers that turns out to be gunshots. You look up, and what's 44 00:03:30,879 --> 00:03:37,159 the first thing you remember seeing when you looked up? Just the gentleman outside 45 00:03:37,199 --> 00:03:40,240 the drug on the sidewalk, Yeah, on the sidewalk on the passenger side. 46 00:03:40,560 --> 00:03:44,919 Can you describe whatever you remember him looking like? You know, I 47 00:03:44,960 --> 00:03:50,759 really couldn't you know, like anything that you remember, I would say, 48 00:03:50,840 --> 00:03:54,400 all I can really remember probably blackmail, And I remember I believe it's black 49 00:03:54,439 --> 00:03:59,639 pants with white stripes on him. This blackmail was about one hundred and fifty 50 00:03:59,680 --> 00:04:04,080 feet from Christy. It was early morning, dark and misty. Still Later, 51 00:04:04,400 --> 00:04:08,800 Christie goes to a police station and picks a face out of a photo 52 00:04:08,879 --> 00:04:13,199 array. There's the shooter. She says, do you remember how you felt 53 00:04:13,240 --> 00:04:16,639 when you were looking at the pictures and what kind of a situation that was 54 00:04:16,879 --> 00:04:20,040 were you? How are you feeling? Well? You know, I guess 55 00:04:20,560 --> 00:04:25,680 for lack of better I don't know, nervous, uneasy, but you know, 56 00:04:27,160 --> 00:04:32,160 but you know I don't and have never in twenty four years have I 57 00:04:32,240 --> 00:04:36,560 even thought that I could have identified it wrong. And what makes you confident? 58 00:04:36,879 --> 00:04:41,000 You know? I have to say that was one time that face literally 59 00:04:41,079 --> 00:04:46,839 jumped off that paper at me. I mean, it was basically went right 60 00:04:46,879 --> 00:04:53,920 back to that night. And I don't I don't doubt one bit that I 61 00:04:54,240 --> 00:04:59,600 that I made a false accusation about it or anything else. Well, Christy's 62 00:04:59,639 --> 00:05:04,079 saying it sounds so unambiguous, so certain, certain enough that it would lead 63 00:05:04,120 --> 00:05:09,040 to an arrest, an indictment, a guilty verdict, and a sentence of 64 00:05:09,160 --> 00:05:15,360 sixty years. But here's the thing. It was almost certainly wrong. What 65 00:05:15,480 --> 00:05:20,040 interests me most about that wrongness is not its rarity, but its commonness. 66 00:05:20,839 --> 00:05:27,399 Dig deep enough into any questionable conviction, and you'll inevitably find small errors that, 67 00:05:27,759 --> 00:05:31,800 over time have accrued their own terrible power, like a pellette of ice 68 00:05:31,920 --> 00:05:39,319 that becomes a snowball that becomes an avalanche. This is a story about one 69 00:05:39,319 --> 00:05:44,319 of those cases. But it's also a story about how difficult, how nearly 70 00:05:44,360 --> 00:05:47,560 impossible, it can be to dig a person out again, even when nearly 71 00:05:47,680 --> 00:05:56,399 everyone involved believes it's the right thing to do. Bench suspect ad Free Unwondering 72 00:05:56,519 --> 00:06:00,879 Plus. Find Wondering Plus in the Wondering app or on Apple Podcasts.