In April 1989, a brutal assault on a young woman jogging through Central Park shocked New York City and gripped the nation. Within days, five Black and Latino teenagers—later known as the Central Park Five, and now widely referred to as the Exonerated Five—were arrested, interrogated for hours, and convicted in a case fueled by public outrage, sensational media coverage, and intense pressure on law enforcement to find answers. Years later, DNA evidence and a confession from serial rapist Matias Reyes revealed the truth: the five young men were innocent. Their convictions were vacated in 2002.

This episode revisits one of America’s most infamous wrongful conviction cases—exploring how fear, race, politics, and a rush to judgment collided in a tragedy that reshaped the national conversation about justice. Through the voices of those closest to the case, we examine not only what happened that night in Central Park, but how the fallout continues to echo decades later.

Intro Audio:  Gavin Prater

Outro Audio: Jason Poe

Source Credit: 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Park_jogger_case