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Cold Case Files

A Confession for Carmen

Cold Case Files

A&E / PodcastOne

True Crime, Society & Culture

4.18.2K Ratings

🗓️ 2 March 2021

⏱️ 22 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In a big city like Philadelphia, it's easy for an unsolved murder to slip into the cold files and be forgotten. But in this case, one victim's boyfriend was set on doing everything possible to make sure people didn't forget, and that police didn't stop investigating.

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Transcript

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0:00.0

Thank you for listening to this podcast one production.

0:02.9

Available on Apple Podcasts and Podcasts and Podcasts.

0:07.9

Thank you for listening to this podcast one production.

0:10.9

Available on Apple Podcasts and Podcasts and Podcasts.

0:15.6

I showed him the DNA report.

0:20.4

And I said, we're talking about quadrillion, 18 zeros after the number that says you.

0:28.6

So now his mind is racing because he also knows what's coming next.

0:35.5

On this podcast, we talk a lot about small town murders, violence that happened to communities where you at least expect it.

0:42.8

But what about the murders that happen in big cities?

0:45.8

Is it more likely that a case will go cold when it's one in a pile of dozens or even hundreds?

0:51.3

That's just what happened in Philadelphia in 1989 when a young woman named Carmen Barracall was raped and murdered.

0:58.0

Her case was one of hundreds and was quickly pushed to the bottom of the pile.

1:02.0

But for Carmen's longtime boyfriend, every day was a reminder that her murder had not been solved and her killer had not been brought to justice.

1:14.4

It would take over 15 years for Carmen's case to be solved.

1:18.2

In the meantime, more murders would pile up in Philadelphia,

1:21.1

and fewer people would remember the name Carmen Barracaw,

1:23.9

until one investigator reopened her file,

1:26.1

and finally brought the case to a close.

1:31.6

From A&E, this is Cold Case Files, the podcast.

1:38.5

I'm Brooke, and this story, adapted from a classic episode of Cold Case Files, is told by the esteemed Bill Curtis. This was the 202nd homicide in the city that year.

1:56.0

So we're kind of familiar with getting a lot of work in this area.

2:00.5

It's the summer of 1989, and the business of murder is brisk.

...

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