Hey, this is Will James. So we set lost patients in our home, the Pacific Northwest. And I believe

some of the most important, most telling stories about America unfold in this corner of the country.

It's a land of extreme politics, extreme problems, extreme idealism. It can feel like everything good and bad about America

exists here in a heightened state. And few people capture this aspect of the Pacific Northwest

better than my friend Leah Sotilly. Leah is an investigative journalist and author. You may have

come across her past podcast series,

Bundyville or Burn Wild. I'm here today to tell you, Leas got a new podcast out with Oregon Public Broadcasting. It's called Hush, and it tells the story of Jesse Johnson, who spent 17 years on

death row in Oregon, while the whole time insisting he was innocent.

It's a story about murder, about drug culture in the late 90s, about why Oregon spent 17 years

trying to kill Jesse and what happened when that case fell apart.

Like lost patients, this is a story about how complex institutions can break down and what happens to people without any power trapped inside of them.

So today, Lost Patience is bringing you the first episode of Hush.

Here's Leah.

Before we get started, this podcast contains graphic descriptions of violence.

Keep that in mind in choosing when and where to listen.

In 1999, two Oregon detectives traveled to North Little Rock, Arkansas.

Okay.

Do you have any problem with this conversation being recorded?

No, sir. Okay. The detectives came to Arkansas to speak with this man about a guy he grew up with

in the projects of Little Rock, a guy named Jesse Johnson. They asked all kinds of questions.

What kind of kid was Jesse Johnson? Was he good in school? A story stuck out to him about his old friend.

And it's almost like a scene from a movie like Stand By Me.

...