Criminal Case

The  Colorado Department of Transportation says the 420 mile markers on the  state's highways were stolen so often, they had to replace them with  419.99 mile markers. Many people know that "420"  represents marijuana - hence the popularity of the mile markers - but  very few know why. It's not a police code, it's not the number of  chemical compounds in cannabis, and it's certainly not Bob Marley's  birthday.

Kim  Dadou says she wishes she had a nickel for every person who has asked  why she didn't leave her abusive boyfriend. They stayed together for  four years. And then, in the middle of the night on  December 17th, 1991, Kim's entire life changed.This episode contains  descriptions of physical violence against women. It may not be suitable  for everyone. Please use discretion.

In  2014, 16-year-old Wildin Acosta left Olancho, Honduras and traveled  toward the U.S. border. When he arrived, he turned himself in to border  patrol agents. He was one of 68,541 unaccompanied minors who crossed the border into the U.S. that year.

People  have faked death to escape criminal convictions, debts, and their  spouses. In 2007, a man named Amir Vehabovic faked his death just to see  who showed up at the funeral (answer: only his  mom). It's an appealing soap-opera fantasy, but actually disappearing  requires an incredible amount of planning. How do you obtain a death  certificate, a believable new identity, or enough money to start a new  life?

In  2005, Teri Knight drove 650 miles on midwestern roads through Ohio,  Indiana, Iowa and Illinois, pleading with the public to help her do what  law enforcement and the FBI had not been able to:  find the remains of her children Sarah and Philip Gehring. An Ohio woman  read about Teri Knight's search in her local paper, and decided she  would try to help.

In  1849, abolitionist and attorney Wendell Phillips wrote: "We should look  in vain through the most trying times of our revolutionary history for  an incident of courage and noble daring to equal  that of the escape of William and Ellen Craft; and future historians and  poets would tell this story as one of the most thrilling in the  nation's annals, and millions would read it, with admiration of the hero  and heroine of the story." Unfortunately, almost 170 years later,  William and Ellen Craft aren't well known anymore.

In  2010, Michael McIntosh's son was incarcerated at the Walnut Grove Youth  Correctional Facility in the small town of Walnut Grove, Mississippi.  One Sunday, McIntosh went to visit his son and was  turned away because, he was told, prison officials "did not know" where  his son was. He spent the next six weeks searching for his son, only to  find him in the hospital  with severe injuries. And McIntosh's son  wasn't the only one who had been hurt at the facility. Walnut Grove was  such a violent prison that one Federal Judge called it "a cesspool of  unconstitutional and inhuman acts." Today, we have the story of an  especially troubled youth prison, the for-profit corporations that  managed it, and the small town that relied on it.The U.S. Department of  Justice Investigation of the Walnut Grove Youth Correctional FacilityThe  Southern Poverty Law Center LawsuitThe U.S. Department of Justice Memo  Re: Reducing the Use of Private Prisons

To  close out 2016, we're bringing you two lighter stories of people  exhibiting everyday genius under. . . unusual circumstances. Comedian  Dave Holmes' story begins with an upsetting phone  call from the IRS. Then we meet a Baton Rouge attorney with a story of  wild resourcefulness at Louisiana State Penitentiary, also known as  Angola.A word of caution, this episode contains language that may not be  suitable for everyone.

Since  1938, a weekly African-American owned newspaper called The Evening  Whirl has covered crime in St. Louis with a style all its own, using  alliteration and rhyme, and often omitting the  usual crime-reporting words like "accused" or "alleged." The paper has  been widely criticized for its casual approach to fact-checking and  sensational writing style. But the paper's owner, Anthony Sanders, who  has been helping out with it since he was 18 years old, doesn't have any  plans to change it. As the pages of The Whirl have said: “If that’s too  much for you, pick up the Times and read the theatre reviews.

The  Magic Castle in Hollywood has been a private club for magicians since  1963, and its walls are lined with portraits of magicians past and  present. Among them is a portrait of one of the  earliest American organized crime bosses and conmen, Jefferson Randolph  "Soapy" Smith. And though it may seem strange that this "mecca of magic"  honors a criminal, Soapy's legacy reveals just how blurry the line is  between a delightful trick and a dirty one.