In Defense Of A Ninja

In Defense Of A Ninja

Author: Framed Podcast, LLC August 3, 2026 Duration: 43:39

Over the last few weeks, a St. Clair jury had been introduced to a variety of alleged eyewitnesses to the crime, and listened to damaging - but sometimes conflicting - accounts of the events of the morning of November 5th, 1986. Additionally, they had heard key testimony as to the defendant's character – primarily from the victim's fiancée, Crystal Merrill, who had briefly dated Fred. Her scathing portrayal of Freeman as a manipulative and abusive individual – who, according to her testimony, claimed to be a Ninja warrior in a secret organization. The prosecution's case also featured the testimony of Phillip Joplin, a career criminal who contended that Freeman had nonchalantly confessed to the murder to him while the two were being held for a couple of hours in the same cell. But now it was the defense's turn, and they had strong eyewitnesses of their own to present. Could a parade of purportedly unbiased individuals – several who, frankly, didn't even particularly care for Fred Freeman – counteract the impact of the prosecution's case?

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There’s a story you think you know-the one that made the headlines, the official version, the tidy conclusion. FRAMED: An Investigative Story isn’t about retelling that story. Instead, this series digs into the layers beneath, where context, motive, and perspective reshape everything. Hosted by the team at Framed Podcast, each season is a deep examination of a single case or historical event, approached with the patience of a historian and the scrutiny of a detective. You’ll hear archival tape, original interviews, and painstaking analysis, all aimed at untangling how narratives are constructed. The show operates on a core idea: every side has its facts, but the picture that emerges depends entirely on how those facts are framed. It’s for anyone who senses that the full truth is often hiding in the margins, in the overlooked detail or the contested testimony. By blending true crime’s urgency with history’s broader view, this podcast doesn’t just present a mystery-it interrogates the very process of how we decide what’s true. Tune in for a thoughtful, unsettling, and meticulously researched journey that challenges the first draft of history.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 36

FRAMED: An Investigative Story
Podcast Episodes
4 - Fifteen Minutes [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 35:51
Brian Carrick walks into Val's Foods and never leaves again. Who sees him? Brian's coworkers tell us where they were and what they saw during the last fifteen minutes of Brian's life. Music by: Sergey Cheremisinov Follow…
3 - Southeast Corner [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 29:44
A frightened witness comes forward with information, but is the information reliable? What happened that night in the southeast corner of Val's Foods? Music by Sergey Cheremisinov Follow Framed on twitter: @FramedPod See…
2 - Motives [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 32:00
We've met our suspects. It's time to understand their motives. Who had reason to harm Brian Carrick? Music by Sergey Cheremisinov Follow Framed on twitter: @FramedPod See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and C…
1 - Brian Carrick [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 36:06
On December 20th of 2002, Brian Carrick disappeared, leaving nothing behind but a pool of blood and a trail of clues to follow. Two theories have divided the once close-knit community of Johnsburg, Illinois. Fifteen year…
Framed - Season One - Official Trailer [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:34
One unsolved crime has divided a community for more than a decade. This season on Framed we will go beyond the narratives and try to answer the question of what happened one fateful night in 2002. Framed premiers on Augu…