In the early morning hours of April 27, 1982, 35 year old JoAnn Tate was stabbed in the chest and sexually assaulted while in her apartment in St. Louis, MO. Her 7 year old daughter, Melissa, was stabbed several times, and her 4 year old daughter, Renee, had her throat cut. The girls survived the attack, but their mother did not. For a while, Melissa had said that a man named Bill was the attacker, and she gave details of his car and house. Eventually, police showed Melissa a picture of Rodney Lincoln who had a previous murder conviction from a  decade's old bar fight and who also had dated her mother. Soon after, she was shown a highly suggestive four-person live lineup, resulting in Lincoln's arrest, charges, and conviction. She had maintained that identification through trial and nearly 4 decades until she saw photos of an admitted serial killer whose MO matched  the attack on her family.

To learn more and get involved, visit:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/9d49b-rodney-lincoln-free-after-36-years

https://www.gofundme.com/f/2nu2f-help-melissa-find-housing

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-real-killer/id1596167670

https://investigatinginnocence.org/bill-clutter

https://lavaforgood.com/with-jason-flom/

Wrongful Conviction is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1.

 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.