#551 Lauren Bright Pacheco with Marvin Grimm Jr.

Wrongful Conviction

Lava for Good Podcasts

True Crime

4.6 • 5.7K Ratings

🗓️ 20 November 2025

⏱️ 39 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

On November 22, 1975, a mother reported her three-year-old son missing after seeing him roaming in the vicinity of a wooded area behind their apartment complex in Richmond, VA. His body was found in the river nine miles from his home four days later. The murder garnered tremendous media attention and public outrage, yet the police failed to find a lead or suspect. 20-year-old Marvin Grimm Jr. lived across the hall from the family and, based on two arguments Grimm had with the boy’s father almost a month after the murder, police set their sights on him. After a nine-hour work day, police picked up Grimm and subjected him to another nine-plus hours of interrogation, causing Grimm to break down and confess to killing the boy. Grimm pleaded guilty, and the court sentenced him to life in prison.

To learn more and get involved:

https://www.arnoldporter.com/en

https://innocenceproject.org/

https://www.law.virginia.edu/clinics/innocence-project-uva-school-law

https://lavaforgood.com/podcast/236-jason-flom-with-thomas-haynesworth/

https://lavaforgood.com/podcast/401-guest-host-ashley-fantz-with-marvin-anderson/

Wrongful Conviction with Lauren Bright Pacheco 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.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This episode of wrongful conviction contains discussion of sexual assault and suicidal ideation.
0:05.8	Please listen with caution and care.
0:09.9	On November 22, 1975, a three-year-old boy was reported missing in Richmond, Virginia.
0:18.5	A 20-year-old neighbor named Marvin Grimm joined the search party mentioning that he may have seen the boy while running an errand.
0:25.6	After the body was recovered, investigators questioned Marvin, threatening him with the death penalty,
0:32.6	until they got a statement that corroborated what they already believed,
0:38.2	that the boy had died by exfixiation related to a sexual assault.
0:43.9	And any evidence that arose to the contrary was summarily ignored.
0:49.8	This is wrongful conviction.
0:56.4	The Fox Foundation is proud to support this episode of wrongful conviction and the work
1:02.2	of after innocents, a nonprofit that helps hundreds of people nationwide rebuild their
1:06.9	lives after wrongful incarceration. Each year, innocent people are released after spending
1:12.6	years behind bars for crimes they didn't commit. Nearly all of them leave prison with nothing
1:18.2	more than the clothes on their backs, with no help or compensation from the state as they face the steep
1:23.7	challenges of rebuilding their lives after wrongful imprisonment. After Innocence is changing that.
1:30.3	After Innocence helps exoneries get and make good use of essential services
1:35.3	like health care, dental care, mental health support, legal aid, financial counseling, and more.
1:41.3	Since 2016, they've brought that help to more than 800 exoneries across 46 states,
1:48.4	working tirelessly to ensure that no one released after wrongful incarceration is left behind.
1:54.3	Learn more at after-innocence.org and join Afterinnocence to support exoneries as they rebuild their lives.
2:07.6	I'm Lauren Bright Pacheco. Welcome back to wrongful conviction, where we have a Virginia case related to the subject of a
2:19.4	2023 podcast called Admissible. They covered 12 wrongful convictions related to one Virginia
	...

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