The Trail Went Cold - Episode 245 - Crystal Champagne

The Trail Went Cold

Robin Warder

True Crime, Tv & Film

4.5 • 3.2K Ratings

🗓️ 29 September 2021

⏱️ 47 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

July 19, 1996. Westwego, Louisiana. After leaving her apartment to walk to a supermarket, 14-year old Crystal Champagne fails to return and is found strangled to death in a wooded area the following evening. When Crystal’s 22-year old step-cousin, Damon Thibodeaux, is interrogated by police, he confesses to her murder and is subsequently convicted and sentenced to death. However, Damon maintains that his confession was coerced and none of the physical evidence from the crime matches him, so after 16 years of incarceration, Damon’s conviction is vacated and he is released from death row. But who was actually responsible for the death of Crystal Champagne? On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore the tragic story of an horrific murder which led to a wrongful conviction. Special thanks to listener Anne King for narrating the opening of this episode. Additional Reading: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/damon-thibodeaux-last-chance/ https://innocenceproject.org/cases/damon-thibodeaux/ https://caselaw.findlaw.com/la-supreme-court/1325303.html https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetail.aspx?caseid=4004 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/dec/07/dna-testing-frees-man-death-row https://www.startribune.com/life-after-death-row-damon-thibodeaux-s-resurrection/318969021/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/louisiana-death-row-inmate-damon-thibodeaux-is-exonerated-with-dna-evidence/2012/09/28/26e30012-0997-11e2-afff-d6c7f20a83bf_story.html https://www.startribune.com/damon-thibodeaux-escaped-death-row-for-a-crime-he-didn-t-commit-but-died-of-covid-19/600096179/ Download Best Fiends FREE today on the Apple App Store or Google Play. “The Trail Went Cold” is on Patreon! Visit www.patreon.com/thetrailwentcold to become a patron and gain access to our exclusive bonus content. “The Trail Went Cold” is now doing a weekly livestream show on GetVokl every Thursday from 7:00-8:00 PM ET as part of their “True Crime Thursday” line-up. For more information, please visit their website. The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

Transcript

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0:00.0	We would like to send out a special thanks to the fun and challenging Best Fiennes for sponsoring the trail and cold.
0:05.2	Best Fiennes is the binge-worthy mobile puzzle game.
0:08.2	Download Best Fiennes free today on the Apple App Store or Google Play.
0:11.8	That's Friends Without the R, Best Feeds. Thank you and enjoy the episode.
0:17.0	July 19, 1996, West Wigo, Louisiana. After leaving her apartment to walk to a supermarket, 14-year-old
0:26.2	Crystal Champagne fails to return and has found strangled to death in a wooded area the
0:31.2	following evening.
0:33.0	In Crystal's 22-year-old step-cousin, Damon Thibodeau, is interrogated by police,
0:38.0	he confesses to her murder and is subsequently convicted and sentenced to death.
0:43.0	However, Damon maintains that his confession was coerced
0:46.5	and none of the physical evidence from the crime matches him.
0:50.0	After serving 16 years, Damon's conviction is vacated and he is released from death row.
0:56.0	The Crystal's real killer is never found.
0:59.0	After that, the trail when cold. Oh, uh, I'm not. Oh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, and uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, okay.
1:25.0	Oh, uh, okay. Hello everyone and welcome to our latest episode of The Trail Went Cold.
1:41.0	I'm your host Robin Warder and today we're going to be exploring a crime which led to a wrongful conviction.
1:46.4	The 1996 Murder of Crystal Champagne. That voice you just heard narrating our intro was Anne King, the latest winner of our Trailit
1:55.2	called listener voiceover contest, so thank you very much, Anne. This is a monthly contest which we've
2:00.4	been holding for four years now, and if you'd like to enter and haven't already done so,
2:04.8	I will be providing instructions near the end of this episode.
2:08.2	Anyway, Crystal Champagne was a 14-year-old girl who went missing,
2:11.9	and was found strangle to death and almost immediately after the discovery of her body her step cousin
	...

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