This is exactly right.

This story contains adult content and language, along with references to sexual assault.

Listener discretion is advised.

This book is about second shots and second chances.

Never give up in life.

I'm Kate Winkler Dawson, a nonfiction author and journalism professor in Austin, Texas.

I'm also the co-host of the podcast Buried Bones on Exactly Right.

And throughout my career, research for my many audio and book projects has taken me around the world.

On Wicked Words, I sit down with the people I've met along the way,

amazing writers, journalists, filmmakers, and podcasters who have investigated and reported

on notorious true crime cases. This is about the choices writers make, both good and bad,

and it's a deep dive into the unpublished details behind their stories.

In 1971, James Tappan Hall was gunned down in Maryland as the deputy sheriff patrolled

grounds of a country club. The police searched for suspects, which included a gang of teens

known for breaking into Coca-Cola machines,

but the case went cold for half a century until it finally broke.

But did they catch the real killer?

Author Michael Weisberg tells me the story from his book, A Second Shot,

The Pursuit of Justice in Maryland's oldest cold case murder.

You know, I've had people bring me cases before about their relatives.

It's a lot of weight on the writer, I think, because you're telling a very, very personal

story that you're invested in, but for a finite amount of time. And, you know, you care very much about

...