In October of 1997, in a quiet town in Texas, Julie Rae awoke in the middle of the night to an intruder in her house. She struggled with the man and chased him outside. She raced back into the house to check on her 10-year-old son, Joel. At quick glance, she did not see him in his bed. Fearing the intruder might have had an accomplice and Joel had been kidnapped, she enlisted help from the neighbors. Sadly, Joel was found between his bed and the wall in his bedroom, butchered with a knife. Ultimately, Julie was convicted of the unthinkable crime and sentenced to a long prison term.

In March 2002, award-winning crime writer and friend of the podcast, Diane Fanning, was writing her first book, Through the Window. Because of that book, Julie was granted a new trial where she was not only found not guilty, but officially declared innocent by the state. In the fall of 2021, Diane was a featured guest on a 20/20 episode on the Julie Rae case entitled GOODNIGHT, MOTHER and joins us now to share her amazing story.