From Gimlet, this is Reply All.

I'm Alex Golder.

This week, the second part of On the Inside, a story by Reply All producer Shruthi Pinomaini.

If you haven't heard part one, go back to last week's episode and listen to it right now.

But here is a quick refresher.

In February of last year, Shruthi found a blog that was written by a man in a maximum security

prison in Illinois, his name is Paul Medrowski.

Shruthi spoke to Paul on the phone just to sort of understand how he's writing a blog

from a maximum security prison.

And their conversations turned into a weekly routine.

And at a certain point, Shruthi began to wonder about his case.

Paul is autistic and he claims that his autism played a big role in his conviction.

And he says that he's serving a life sentence for a murder that he didn't commit.

So Shruthi started to investigate.

Here she is.

So I started to look into Paul's criminal case this past September.

And it has taken me to all these different weird places that I never thought I would

go.

Maybe the best place to start is in the fall of 1988.

Paul was 13 and he was a freshman at a new school, Westmont High.

This is in the Chicago suburbs.

And Paul was starting this semester with a resolution.

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