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Wrongful Conviction

#356 Wrongful Conviction: False Confessions - Peter Reilly

Wrongful Conviction

Lava for Good Podcasts

True Crime

4.65.7K Ratings

🗓️ 8 May 2023

⏱️ 46 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Why do we tell these stories?

Laura Nirider and Steve Drizin tell us the story of Peter Reilly, one of the first modern-day false confessors.

In 1973, police continued to interrogate 18-year-old Peter until he started to believe he was actually guilty of murdering his own mother. But Peter’s friends and neighbors believed in his innocence. Their small-town campaign for Peter’s freedom was eventually joined by a host of big name celebrities.

This episode was originally the finale of Wrongful Conviction: False Confessions Season 1. We are releasing this update because of its profound impact on Laura and Steve’s work and the movement for uncovering false confessions and wrongful convictions. It inspires the work that Steve and Laura do to this day.

To learn more and get involved, visit: https://cwc.law.northwestern.edu/

Wrongful Conviction: False Confessions 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

Sometimes the pop culture we love just teens hits differently in retrospect.

0:03.8

Maybe it's a tabloid story we couldn't get enough of or an illicit student-teacher relationship

0:08.6

on our favorite show. We're Suzy Banna-Karim and Jessica Bennett,

0:12.0

posts of the new podcast in retrospect, where each week we'll revisit a cultural moment from

0:17.1

the past that shaped us and probably you to try to understand what it taught us about the world

0:21.7

and our place in it. You're the first person that I've talked to about this for years and years.

0:25.7

Listen to In retrospect on the iHeartRadio app Apple Podcasts or wherever you find your favorite shows.

0:32.1

I'm Liz Flock. I want to tell you a story about how generations of trauma can lead to a point

0:37.8

of no return. In 2017 a black woman named Devon Gray killed her white boyfriend John Vance.

0:45.3

She says it was self-defense and he was incredibly abusive. But then she took a blind plea

0:50.3

for manslaughter and got 15 years. From lemon out of media this is blind plea.

0:57.7

Available now wherever you get your podcasts. See that sign? Employees only. That means keep out

1:04.5

buddy. It's just for us by well employees. This is where we talk freely about all the stuff

1:10.1

happening in the world. You can keep Meghan Markle for all I care. As long as I get to take Harry

1:15.5

to a weekend in Vegas I'm happy. It's employees only courtesy of Ron Howard the new podcast from

1:21.4

Imagine Audio. Pretty fast in iHeart Media. Listen on the iHeartRadio app Apple Podcasts or wherever

1:27.6

you get your podcasts. Evidence wise we have personally no evidence. In 1995 detective Tony

1:37.6

Richardson was trying to figure out who killed a fellow officer. The case comes down to who is

1:44.1

believed and who is ignored. Oh my goodness. We did connect an innocent man. I'm Beth Shelburn

1:51.1

from Lava for Good Podcasts. This is Ear Witness. Listen to Ear Witness on the iHeart Radio app

1:58.2

Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey there it's Lauren Eyreider. I'm here with

2:09.4

an update on a case we shared with you back in season one of False Confessions.

...

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