West Memphis Three (Part Five: Alford Plea)

West Memphis Three (Part Five: Alford Plea)

Author: Unresolved Productions April 10, 2026 Duration: 1:11:57
"When we told prosecutors we were innocent, they put us in prison for life. Now when we plead guilty, they set us free."

On 19 August 2011, three men - Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley Jr. - were transported from their respective facilities to a courthouse in Jonesboro, Arkansas. They were there to plead guilty to a crime they had spent the better part of two decades denying. At the same time, they were asserting their innocence and obtaining their freedom in an unusual legal maneuver called an Alford plea.

What led up to that decision was the culmination of years of painstaking progress. What had started back in 1996 as a single HBO documentary had become a movement by 2011 heralded by celebrity backers and advocates pushing new DNA evidence. Yet at the end of the day, three men regained their freedom at a cost while questions continue to linger about the deaths of three boys...



Learn more about this podcast at http://unresolved.me

Check out the podcast store at unresolved.dashery.com

If you would like to support this podcast, consider heading to https://www.patreon.com/unresolvedpod to become a Patron or Producer

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/unresolved-a-true-crime-mystery-podcast--3266604/support.

For those drawn to the shadows where stories lack a final page, there's Unresolved: A True Crime & Mystery Podcast. Hosted by Micheal Whelan, this podcast operates on a simple, haunting premise: some questions demand to be asked, even if the answers remain just out of reach. Since 2015, each episode is a deep, respectful exploration into the voids left by history and crime. You'll hear meticulously researched narratives on cold cases that have grown dusty, the enigmatic patterns of unidentified perpetrators, and disappearances that left only silence in their wake. This isn't about easy conclusions; it's about the weight of the unknown. The podcast gives voice to the details that complicate simple theories and honors the lingering questions that haunt families and investigators alike. By focusing on mysteries that refuse to be neatly solved, Unresolved creates a space for thoughtful reflection on the nature of justice, memory, and the stories we can't afford to forget. It's for listeners who find compelling narrative not in resolution, but in the pursuit itself, in following every thread no matter how faint or where it leads. Tune in for a sobering, immersive journey into the cases that defy closure.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Unresolved: A True Crime & Mystery Podcast
Podcast Episodes
Holiday Special: Die Hard (Re-Release) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 35:52
This is a re-release of the 2017 holiday special, in which I'm joined by a wonderful collection of podcast hosts as we try and determine whether or not Die Hard is, in fact, a Christmas movie. Happy Holidays! Become a su…
The Springfield Three (Part Five: "Closure") [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:53
"It's like those three missing girls from Springfield that still haven't been found... it's just been an ongoing thing."On 7 June 1992, Sherrill Levitt, 47, her daughter Suzanne Streeter, 19, and Suzanne’s friend Stacy M…
The Springfield Three (Part Four: No End) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:42
"All we could say is missing. There's no end. There's no end to that story."In November of 1995, the Missouri Violence Crime Support Unit finalized a review of Springfield P.D.'s investigation into the disappearance of S…
The Springfield Three (Part Two: 92-40169) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 32:41
"I'm beginning to think they're probably at the bottom of a lake somewhere. If they were alive, I'm sure, surely by now, somehow they would have contacted us."In the days, weeks, and months following the disappearance of…
The Springfield Three (Part One: Disappeared) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 41:33
"The only thing unusual about this house was that three women were missing from it. You had this feeling as you looked around that something was missing, that something had to be missing. But there wasn't. Just them."On…
Room 1046 (Part Two: Artemus Ogletree) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 40:16
"Love for ever - Louise"Throughout 1935, investigators in Kansas City struggled to not only determine the identity of the man calling himself "Roland T. Owen," but also had to untangle the strange circumstances that had…
The Delphi Murders (Update) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 3:44
There has been an update in the story of the Delphi Murders (episode #100 from May of 2019). On Monday, November 11th, 2024, 52-year-old Richard Allen was convicted of killing both Liberty German and Abigail Williams...R…
Room 1046 (Part One: Roland T. Owen) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 31:56
"My impression of this man from the expressions on his face and from his actions was that he was either worried about something or afraid."On Wednesday, 2 January 1935, a young man arrived at the Hotel President in Kansa…
Amber Thurman [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:20
"They would feel the need to wait for higher blood pressure, wait for a higher fever - really got to justify this one - bleed a little bit more."On the evening of 18 August 2022, Amber Thurman was rushed to the Piedmont…