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<v Speaker 1>Hi, listeners, I want to tell you about a podcast

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<v Speaker 1>that we think you'll enjoy called Suspect. Five Shots in

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<v Speaker 1>the Dark. This latest season looks at a case with

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<v Speaker 1>two victims, one murdered in cold blood and one in

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<v Speaker 1>prison for a crime he didn't commit. It follows Leon

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<v Speaker 1>Benson's story, a man who spent more than half of

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<v Speaker 1>his life a total of twenty four years in an

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<v Speaker 1>Indiana state prison for the murder of Casey Shane, a

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<v Speaker 1>man he never met. Casey was murdered in the middle

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<v Speaker 1>of an August night, shot point blank while idling in

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<v Speaker 1>his Dodge pickup truck in North Indianapolis. There was no

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<v Speaker 1>physical evidence, no known motive, and no one coming forward

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<v Speaker 1>with information except one woman who swears to this day

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<v Speaker 1>she saw Leon Detroit Benson pull the trigger. He was

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<v Speaker 1>sentenced to sixty years in prison, all because one person

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<v Speaker 1>swore they saw something. But what if she was wrong?

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<v Speaker 1>From Wondery and Campside Media comes season three of the

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<v Speaker 1>hit podcast Suspect. This is a story of a botched

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<v Speaker 1>police investigation, the dangers of shaky eyewitness testimony, and a

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<v Speaker 1>community who feared law enforcement with good reason. I'm about

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<v Speaker 1>to play a clip from Suspect five Shots in the

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<v Speaker 1>Dark while you're listening follow Suspect wherever you get your podcasts.

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<v Speaker 1>You can binge Suspect add free on Wondery Plus, find

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<v Speaker 1>Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts.

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<v Speaker 2>A long time ago, I remember watching an episode of

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<v Speaker 2>Oprah about eyewitness testimony. Actually haven't been able to find

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<v Speaker 2>the episode in question online. This would have been like

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<v Speaker 2>three decades ago when I was a kid home from

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<v Speaker 2>school watching TV. It's entirely possible, I imagine parts of it,

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<v Speaker 2>but in my memory, Oprah, without telling anyone, has this

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<v Speaker 2>guy run on stage and snatch up a purse belonging

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<v Speaker 2>to one of the panelists. And then afterwards Oprah asks

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<v Speaker 2>everyone to identify the thief, but no one can. Each

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<v Speaker 2>person Oprah asks they've got a different answer as to

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<v Speaker 2>what the guy looked like. I don't remember how the

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<v Speaker 2>show ended. I probably went off and played some duck hunt,

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<v Speaker 2>but it lodged in my head. As I got older,

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<v Speaker 2>started working in journalism and writing about the criminal justice system,

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<v Speaker 2>it would periodically pop back into my head, a reminder

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<v Speaker 2>of just how fallible the human eye and memory can be.

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<v Speaker 3>So wait, let me just back up. Okay, tell me

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<v Speaker 3>when you first noticed the.

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<v Speaker 4>Truck, eh, probably liked it was maybe a block and

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<v Speaker 4>a half north up there, but it was just riding

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<v Speaker 4>down something in the past where I was out of my.

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<v Speaker 1>Hind of LA.

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<v Speaker 3>Do you think it stopped and then went around again

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<v Speaker 3>or do you think it just went by you went

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<v Speaker 3>around and came back around.

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<v Speaker 2>The Oprah segment came to mind the first time I

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<v Speaker 2>heard this tape, which was recorded near Indianapolis in twenty

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<v Speaker 2>twenty two. The details aren't really important, not yet. For now.

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<v Speaker 2>All you need to know is that the first voice

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<v Speaker 2>belongs to Laura Basilon. She's a law professor. The second

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<v Speaker 2>voice belongs to a woman named Christy Schmidt. And yeah,

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<v Speaker 2>those are wind chimes in the background.

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<v Speaker 3>Nice right, Okay, So car stops, you don't think about it.

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<v Speaker 3>That's you hear something that sounds like firecrackers that turns

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<v Speaker 3>out to be gunshots. You look up, and what's the

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<v Speaker 3>first thing you remember seeing when you looked up?

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<v Speaker 4>Just the gentleman outside the truck on the sidewalk, Yeah,

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<v Speaker 4>on the sidewalk on the passenger side. Can you describe

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<v Speaker 4>whatever you remember him looking like? You know, I really couldn't.

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<v Speaker 2>You know anything that you remember?

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<v Speaker 4>I would say, all I can really remember probably blackmail,

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<v Speaker 4>And I remember I believe it was black pants with

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<v Speaker 4>white stripes on him.

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<v Speaker 2>This black mail was about one hundred and fifty feet

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<v Speaker 2>from Christy. It was early morning, dark and misty. Still. Later,

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<v Speaker 2>Christy goes to a police station and picks a face

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<v Speaker 2>out of a photo array. There's the shooter.

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<v Speaker 3>She says, do you remember how you felt when you

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<v Speaker 3>were looking at the pictures? And what kind of a

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<v Speaker 3>situation that was?

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<v Speaker 4>Were you?

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<v Speaker 3>How are you feeling?

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<v Speaker 4>Well? You know, I guess for lack of better I

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<v Speaker 4>don't know, nervous, uneasy, but you know, but you know

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<v Speaker 4>I don't and have never in twenty four years have

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<v Speaker 4>I even thought that I could have identified it wrong.

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<v Speaker 3>And what makes you confident?

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<v Speaker 4>You know? I have to said that was one time

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<v Speaker 4>that face literally jumped off that paper at me. I mean,

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<v Speaker 4>it was basically went right back to the And I

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<v Speaker 4>don't doubt one bit that I made a false accusation

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<v Speaker 4>about it or anything else.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, Christy's saying here it sounds so unambiguous, so certain,

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<v Speaker 2>certain enough that it would lead to an arrest, an indictment,

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<v Speaker 2>a guilty verdict and a sentence of sixty years. But

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<v Speaker 2>here's the thing. It was almost certainly wrong. What interests

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<v Speaker 2>me most about that wrongness is not its rarity, but

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<v Speaker 2>its commonness. Dig deep enough into any questionable conviction, and

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<v Speaker 2>you'll inevitably find small errors that, over time have accrued

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<v Speaker 2>their own terrible power, like a pellet of ice that

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<v Speaker 2>becomes a snowball that becomes an avalanche. This is a

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<v Speaker 2>story about one of those cases. But it's also a

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<v Speaker 2>story about how difficult, how nearly impossible, it can be

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<v Speaker 2>to dig a person out again, even when nearly everyone

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<v Speaker 2>involved believes it's the right thing to do.

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<v Speaker 1>Binge suspect add free on Wondery Plus. Find Wondery Plus

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<v Speaker 1>in the Wondery app or on Apple podcasts.