Hands Tied

New insights from the lead detective, the task force tackling home invasion gangs and the role religion played in the trial... Host Maggie Robinson Katz and producer Maggie Latham share the revelations and the conversations that have stayed with them while making the show. 

Host: Maggie Robinson Katz

Series producers: Maggie Robinson Katz and Maggie Latham

Sound designer: Tom Brignell

Production support from: Dan Marchini and Mabel Finnegan-Wright

Managing Executive Producer (iHeart): Cristina Everett

Executive Producer (BBC Studios): Joe Kent

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Exoneree Amanda Knox on prison life, Manic Pixie Dream Girls, and the similarities she sees between her case and Sandy Medgar’s.

In the first of two special, bonus episodes, we also hear the latest developments in Sandy’s case from The Innocence Project of Texas’ Mike Ware.

Host: Maggie Robinson Katz

Series producers: Maggie Robinson Katz and Maggie Latham

Sound designer: Tom Brignell

Production support from: Dan Marchini Mabel Finnegan-Wright

Managing Executive Producer (iHeart): Cristina Everett

Executive Producer (BBC Studios): Joe Kent

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s been thirteen years since the murder of Lizz's father and she no longer recognizes the person she has become. But she hasn't given up, and is still fighting for justice every single day. 

Her spirit, her father's and those of her ancestors give her the strength to keep going, because this story isn’t over. 

Host: Maggie Robinson Katz

Producers: Maggie Robinson Katz and Maggie  Latham

Script consultant: Emma Weatherill  

Music research by Aisha Antwi

Sound designer: Tom Brignell

Production support from: Dan Marchini, Elaina Boateng and Mabel Finnegan-Wright

Managing Executive Producer (iHeart): Cristina Everett

Executive Producer (BBC Studios): Joe Kent

Hands Tied is a BBC Studios production for iHeartPodcasts

At iHeart podcasts:

David Wasserman is the Brand Marketing Manager and 

Ally Cantor-Graber is the director of marketing 

At BBC Studios Audio:

Micahel Fadda is the editorial standards advisor  

Ella Squire is  Podcast Marketing Manager 

Lucy Matthias is Commercial Lead 

Helen Penbury is the  Commercial & Business Development Director 

James Cooke is the creative director of Factual for Audio 

Richard Knight is the Director of Audio 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The jury has reached a verdict in the murder trial of Sandra Jean Melgar, but it’s not over yet.

Host: Maggie Robinson Katz
Producer: Maggie Latham
Script consultant: Emma Weatherill
Sound designer: Tom Brignell
Production support from: Dan Marchini, Elaina Boateng and Mabel Finnegan-Wright
Managing Executive Producer (iHeart): Cristina Everett
Executive Producer (BBC Studios): Joe Kent

Hands Tied is a BBC Studios Audio production for iHeartPodcasts

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A woman found tied up in a closet, her hands tied behind her back, the door jammed shut from the outside. Now, she’s on trial for stabbing her husband, without a motive.

Nearly five years after Jim Melgar’s death, Sandy Melgar is in court, accused of his murder.

Host: Maggie Robinson Katz
Producer: Maggie Latham
Script consultant: Emma Weatherill 
Sound designer:  Tom Brignell
Production support from:  Dan Marchini, Elaina Boateng and Mabel Finnegan-Wright
Managing Executive Producer (iHeart): Cristina Everett
Executive Producer (BBC Studios): Joe Kent

Hands Tied is a BBC Studios Audio production for iHeartPodcasts

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lizz has entered what feels like a parallel universe. Her mom is no longer Sandy Melgar,  or Nana, but The Defendant - accused of first-degree murder. As the wheels of justice slowly grind  on, they prepare for trial. 

Host: Maggie Robinson Katz
Producer: Maggie Latham
Script consultant: Emma Weatherill 
Sound designer:  Tom Brignell
Production support from  Dan Marchini, Elaina Boateng and Mabel Finnegan-Wright
Managing Executive Producer (iHeart): Cristina Everett
Executive Producer (BBC Studios): Joe Kent

Hands Tied  is a BBC Studios Audio production for iHeartPodcasts

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lizz knows her best chance of convincing the cops her mum didn’t kill her dad is to find out who did. So she starts investigating.

Host: Maggie Robinson Katz
Producer: Maggie Latham
Script consultant: Emma Weatherill 
Sound designer:  Tom Brignell
Production support from  Dan Marchini, Elaina Boateng and Mabel Finnegan-Wright
Managing Executive Producer (iHeart): Cristina Everett
Executive Producer (BBC Studios): Joe Kent

Hands Tied  is a BBC Studios Audio production for iHeartPodcasts

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sandy is back home, but her home is now a crime scene besieged by journalists. Friends rally around her, Lizz flies in to be with her and the police continue to suspect her. 

Host: Maggie Robinson Katz
Producer: Maggie Latham
Script consultant: Emma Weatherill 
Sound designer:  Tom Brignell
Production support from  Dan Marchini, Elaina Boateng and Mabel Finnegan-Wright
Managing Executive Producer (iHeart): Cristina Everett
Executive Producer (BBC Studios): Joe Kent

Hands Tied  is a BBC Studios Audio production for iHeartPodcasts

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sandy Melgar finds herself in a cramped interview room being questioned by cops, but is she there as a witness or a suspect? 

Just hours after her husband was found murdered and she was found shut in a cupboard,  her arms tied behind her back, Santy agrees to a police interview. She tells detectives she’s not well and that she can’t remember what happened. They want her to take a lie detector test. 

Host: Maggie Robinson Katz
Producer: Maggie Latham
Script consultant: Emma Weatherill 
Sound designer:  Tom Brignell
Production support from  Dan Marchini, Elaina Boateng and Mabel Finnegan-Wright
Managing Executive Producer (iHeart): Cristina Everett
Executive Producer (BBC Studios): Joe Kent

Hands Tied  is a BBC Studios Audio production for iHeartPodcasts

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A phone call that changes everything; something unimaginable has happened and Lizz needs to figure out how. In an instant, she goes from being interested in true crime to living it. 

Award winning journalist and host Maggie Robinson Katz take you inside the police investigation that followed, inside the courtroom drama as a jury wrestles with who’s responsible for the shocking crime, and inside Lizz’s ongoing battle for answers and for justice. Because there is one thing Lizz is convinced of, the wrong person is in prison for her dad’s murder.

Host: Maggie Robinson Katz
Producer: Maggie Latham
Script consultant: Emma Weatherill 
Sound designer:  Tom Brignell
Production support from  Dan Marchini, Elaina Boateng and Mabel Finnegan-Wright
Managing Executive Producer (iHeart): Cristina Everett
Executive Producer (BBC Studios): Joe Kent

Hands Tied  is a BBC Studios Audio production for iHeartPodcasts

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.