#316 Guest Host Laura Nirider with Vincent Ellerbe

Wrongful Conviction

Lava for Good Podcasts

True Crime

4.6 • 5.7K Ratings

🗓️ 12 December 2022

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Just past 1am on November 26, 1995, 50 year old Harry Kaufman was working the token booth at a subway station in Brooklyn, NY, when multiple men set the booth on fire, causing explosions, an eruption of flames, and ultimately, Kaufman’s death. Hefty rewards were offered for information, and police received many tips from multiple informants. Ultimately, they honed in on James Irons, Thomas Malik and Vincent Ellerbe. The three were ultimately convicted based on confessions they made to the Detective Louis Scarcella. They were all sentenced to 25 years to life.

As Co-Director of the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, and co-host and writer of the award-winning Lava For Good podcast, Wrongful Conviction: False Confessions, Laura represents individuals who were wrongfully convicted when they were children or teenagers.

To learn more about false confessions, visit:

https://lavaforgood.com/false-confessions/

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Every week, hundreds of thousands of fans download the popular stuff they don't want you to know
0:05.0	podcast to get to the bottom of popular cultures biggest myths.
0:08.9	And now, the stuff they don't want you to know book separates conspiracy fact from conspiracy theory,
0:14.4	from biological testing to our endless fascination with the Kennedy assassination.
0:18.9	This holiday season give the gift that explains the unexplainable.
0:22.8	The stuff they don't want you to know book, available now.
0:25.9	Order at stuffyoushouldreadbooks.com or wherever you buy your books.
0:55.9	Subscribe to iHeartTrueCrimePlus today exclusively on Apple Podcasts.
1:25.9	I'm Jason Flom, host of Ronfell Conviction, but this week instead of hearing me,
1:35.7	I've invited a legitimate genius from the legal world to bring their knowledge and expertise
1:41.6	to the conversation as guest host. Here at Ronfell Conviction, we believe that sharing the stories
1:47.8	of the incarcerated innocent can create real change in the world, even beyond what these real-life
1:54.0	legal superheroes do every day. In the middle of 1 November night, in 1995,
2:02.9	there was an explosion in Brooklyn, New York. 19 different people called 911 to report what they
2:09.6	heard and what they saw. They reported seeing two men running up to a subway token booth
2:15.9	on Kingston Avenue. They poured gasoline into the coin slot and threatened the attendant with a
2:21.6	match. Almost immediately, the toll booth burst into flames. The attendant was a man named
2:27.7	Harry Kaufman and as the toll booth caught on fire, he did too. Harry was able to run up the street
2:33.9	where passers-by helped extinguish the flames on his body. More than 80% of his body was badly
2:40.4	burned. He died a few weeks later. The crime made headlines in New York and around the country,
2:47.2	prominent politicians like Senator Bob Dole and Mayor Rudy Giuliani mentioned the case in their
2:53.3	tough-on crime rhetoric. Pressure was mounting for the police to find the attackers.
	...

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