In 1998, a young man committed a random attack in a Houston wig shop.

A suspect was identified, and though the state and the victims and their families say they have the right person,

he has maintained his innocence for over 25 years. I'm Charlie and welcome to crime lines.

Hello and welcome to crime lines. This week's case is one that I thought was a listener suggestion,

but there wasn't a name next to it on my spreadsheet, so apologies if I missed getting your name on the list.

It is possible, though, that I put this one on the list myself because it was the first case that

Kelly Siegler and Dick Degarin went

head to head on. While both of these attorneys do have their wins and their losses and in some

cases controversies, I'm interested when I see two big personalities and just absolutely fierce

attorneys face off in a courtroom.

I covered one of the biggest cases. The two went against each other with the murder of

Belinda Temple, but the case we're talking about today known as the Whig Shop murder was the first.

When I dug into this case, I realized that beyond the attorneys involved,

there is a major issue at the core of this. On one hand, we have the victims and their families

fighting for justice. And on the other side, we have the family of the accused fighting what they

claim are false accusations. We know from our experience as

true crime consumers that public perception and media pressure can sway things, but Michael here

is not to sway you more than to inform you, let you decide what you think, and what side of this case you fall on.

We are going to start with Manuela Silvio, who was born and raised in Cuba, and was better known by her nickname Mani.

When she was 18, she moved to the United States and went to school to become a hairstylist. She had two daughters,

who she raised primarily as a single mom, and the three of them were very close. We're talking

three musketeers. Manny settled in the Houston, Texas area, and when she was about 30, she took a job

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