Wrongful Conviction

Jason Flom sits down with journalist and podcast host Lauren Bright Pacheco and criminal defense attorney and podcast host Robert Motta to examine two devastating family tragedies, drawing connections between the cases and raising troubling questions about maternal mental health care, gender and racial bias, investigative practices, and the power of media narratives to shape perceptions of guilt and innocence.

In 2007, Christopher Vaughn was found bleeding from gunshot wounds along a road near Joliet, Illinois. Nearby, police discovered his wife, Kimberly, and their three children shot to death inside the family SUV. Convicted of their murders, Vaughn maintains his innocence and is serving four consecutive life sentences.

In 2023, Massachusetts mother Lindsay Clancy was charged with killing her three young children before attempting to take her own life. Unlike Kimberly Vaughn, Lindsay survived.

At the heart of this episode is one unsettling question: Had Lindsay Clancy not survived, would her husband have become another Christopher Vaughn?

Explore More From Our Guests:

Lauren Bright Pacheco | Journalist, Producer & Podcast Host
Website – https://laurenbrightpacheco.com

Murder in Illinois
iHeart – https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-murder-in-illinois-84071522/
Apple Podcasts – https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/murder-in-illinois/id1573417225

Murder on Songbird Road
iHeart – https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-murder-on-songbird-road-251918548/
Apple Podcasts – https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/murder-on-songbird-road/id1787370418

Robert Motta | Defense Attorney, Producer & Podcast Host
Website – https://www.defensediaries.com
Defense Diaries (YouTube) – https://www.youtube.com/@defensediariespod

BURIED: Inside the John Wayne Gacy Investigation
Apple Podcasts – https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/buried-inside-the-john-wayne-gacy-investigation/id1846746866
Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/show/0rIpFhRkd98JuEwljUELKY

Episode Resources:

Maternal Mental Health Support
Lisa Tremayne, RN, PMH-C, CBC | The Bloom Foundation – https://thebloomfoundation.org/
Postpartum Support International – https://www.postpartum.net

Mental Health & Crisis Support
If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health challenges or thoughts of suicide, confidential support is available.

988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline – Call or text 988 (U.S.)
https://988lifeline.org

National Maternal Mental Health Hotline – Call or text 1-833-TLC-MAMA (1-833-852-6262) (U.S.)
https://mchb.hrsa.gov/national-maternal-mental-health-hotline

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

​​We have worked hard to ensure that all facts reported in this show are accurate. The views and opinions expressed by the individuals featured in this show are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of Lava for Good.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the morning of December 29th, 1991, the body of a 36 year old woman was found nude in the men’s restroom of the bar where she worked in Phoenix, Arizona. She had been assaulted and fatally stabbed. No semen was left behind. With DNA testing in its infancy, serology could only show that any blood or saliva at the crime scene matched the victim’s blood type. There were, however, what appeared to be human bite marks on the victim’s breast and neck, and after a 34 year old bar regular named Ray Krone was identified as a potential boyfriend, the investigation relied on the junk science of bite mark analysis to send him to death row. Much later, DNA testing identified a convicted child molesterer as the actual killer, winning Ray’s freedom.

Learn more and get involved at:
https://www.witnesstoinnocence.org/
https://lavaforgood.com/podcast/s11e12-wrongful-conviction-junk-science-bite-mark-evidence
https://www.wrongfulconvictionpodcast.com/with-jason-flom

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

​​We have worked hard to ensure that all facts reported in this show are accurate. The views and opinions expressed by the individuals featured in this show are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of Lava for Good.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Maggie Freleng first brought us the story of Gwen Graham of 2023. Gwen has now spent more than 37 years in a Michigan prison for murders they’ve has always maintained never even happened. At the time this episode was produced, Gwen identified as a woman, they now identify as a trans man.

Gwen was convicted in 1989 of killing five elderly patients at the nursing home where they worked. The case rested largely on the testimony of their former girlfriend, Cathy Wood, who claimed she and Gwen had smothered patients as part of a so-called lovers’ pact. Despite the lack of physical evidence of smothering, Gwen was sentenced to life without parole. Meanwhile, Cathy took a plea deal, testified against Gwen, and was released on parole in 2020. Gwen remains incarcerated.

And the prison where Gwen is being held — Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility, Michigan’s only prison for women — is now facing serious scrutiny of its own. Toxic mold has been making prisoners sick, and several women have died from receiving substandard medical care. The problem has grown dire; incarcerated women and their families have joined forces with elected officials, advocates and even former guards to bring the horrific conditions to the public’s attention. The issue has now reached federal court.

So as Gwen continues to fight for their freedom, their story is also a window into what it means to grow old inside the prison system. Especially in a prison like Huron Valley.

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

​​We have worked hard to ensure that all facts reported in this show are accurate. The views and opinions expressed by the individuals featured in this show are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of Lava for Good.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The last time Terrel Barros’s story was featured on the show, there had been a major breakthrough. After spending 11 years in prison for a murder he has always maintained he didn’t commit, Terrel’s conviction was vacated in 2023, and he was released on bail into the arms of his mother. But the State of Rhode Island appealed that decision.

Now, we have another update with some very good news. In July 2026, the Rhode Island Supreme Court affirmed the decision that overturned Terrel’s conviction.

At the center of the case was powerful new evidence: the cousin of Stephen Bodden, the man Terrel has always said was the actual shooter, testified that Bodden confessed to her multiple times. On the night of the shooting, Bodden himself had told police, “It’s me. It’s all me. It’s all mine.” The lower court found the new witness credible and concluded that her testimony could have changed the verdict.

The Rhode Island Supreme Court agreed that this newly discovered evidence justified overturning Terrel’s conviction and upheld the ruling granting him post-conviction relief. The case now goes back to Superior Court, and the state still has to decide whether it will try Terrel again.

So Terrel’s fight isn’t completely over. But after more than a decade behind bars and years fighting to prove what he has said from the beginning, one of the biggest obstacles standing between Terrel and his freedom has finally fallen.

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

​​We have worked hard to ensure that all facts reported in this show are accurate. The views and opinions expressed by the individuals featured in this show are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of Lava for Good.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week’s episode is an update on the story of Kristine Bunch that was originally recorded in 2020. Kristine spent 17 years in prison after being wrongfully convicted of setting the fire that killed her three-year-old son, Anthony. It was a conviction built on junk fire science and evidence that was later shown to be false and misleading.

Since getting out, Kristine has devoted an extraordinary amount of her life to making sure other innocent people don’t suffer the way she did. She’s advocated for compensation for exonerees, helped train law enforcement, supported people coming home from prison, and worked alongside innocence organizations around the country. And now she’s taking that work even further.

In a remarkable full-circle moment, Kristine was named the first-ever Director of the Indiana Innocence Project — an organization she helped create. She can never get her son or the years she lost to her wrongful conviction back, but she has turned that loss into a life’s work of trying to make sure the same thing doesn’t happen to someone else.

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

​​We have worked hard to ensure that all facts reported in this show are accurate. The views and opinions expressed by the individuals featured in this show are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of Lava for Good.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week’s episode is a look back at the story of Greg Bright, as originally told to Lauren Bright Pacheco. Greg spent 27 and a half years in Angola for a murder he didn’t commit. He was a young man when he went in, and nearly 50 when he finally walked free in 2003. But Greg’s story is also a reminder that exoneration doesn’t give you those years back. And right now in Louisiana, Greg is at the center of a fight over what the state owes innocent people after taking decades of their lives.

Louisiana caps compensation for wrongful imprisonment at $400,000. Greg has now hit that cap, and his payments have stopped — even though he spent nearly three decades wrongfully incarcerated and lost some of the most important earning years of his life. Earlier this year, Louisiana lawmakers unanimously passed a bill that would have raised the cap to $600,000 and extended compensation from 10 years to 15. Governor Jeff Landry vetoed it. Think about that. The state takes 27 and a half years from an innocent man, acknowledges that he was wrongfully convicted, and then decides there’s a limit on how much of that lost time it’s willing to compensate him for. Greg is now 70 years old and has said he may have to sell the home he bought after his release just to cover his living expenses.

Greg’s story matters just as much today as it did when we first told it, because getting out of prison is not the end of a wrongful conviction. For people like Greg, rebuilding a life after decades taken away can be another fight entirely.

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

Never Fight a Shark in Water
The Jaguar Man by Lara Naughton

​​We have worked hard to ensure that all facts reported in this show are accurate. The views and opinions expressed by the individuals featured in this show are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of Lava for Good.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jeffrey Deskovic’s first Wrongful Conviction episode was originally published in 2017, and his story is one we’ve returned to many times over the years — not only because of the 16 years he lost in prison for a murder he didn’t commit, but because of what he chose to do with his life after he was finally exonerated.

Jeffrey’s story also has an extraordinary connection to two cases we’ve recently revisited on this show: Andrew Krivak and Anthony DiPippo. The same polygraph operator who helped extract a false confession from Jeffrey when he was just 16 years old was later involved in the interrogation that produced Andy Krivak’s false confession. And years later, Jeffrey and the Deskovic Foundation helped fight to free Andy — Jeffrey even put up his own home as collateral for Andy’s bail.

If you’ve been listening to Bone Valley: The Devil’s Quarry, Jeffrey’s story provides important context for the cases of Anthony DiPippo and Andy Krivak — and for how wrongful convictions like these happen in the first place.

Also, be sure to check out 16 Years, a film by Jia Rizvi about Jeffrey’s wrongful conviction and the work he’s done since.

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

​​We have worked hard to ensure that all facts reported in this show are accurate. The views and opinions expressed by the individuals featured in this show are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of Lava for Good.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When teenager Robin Murphy goes missing, her friends and co-workers organize a search.

Award-winning investigative journalist and longtime Rolling Stone Magazine contributor Paul Solotaroff hosts the next entry in the acclaimed Bone Valley anthology.

To hear this episode in its entirety, search for Bone Valley Season 6 | The Devil's Quarry II wherever you listen to podcasts. 

New episodes are available every Wednesday.

Listeners can hear new episodes ad-free by subscribing to Lava for Good+ on Apple Podcasts.

The Devil’s Quarry II is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with  Signal Co. No1.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This special episode was recorded in 2017 with Anthony DiPippo, 6 months after his release from prison.
Anthony’s case concerns the murder of Josette Wright, a 12-year-old girl whose body was found in November 1995 in a wooded area of Putnam County, NY with her hands and feet tied behind her back and her underwear shoved down her throat. A few weeks later, detectives from the sheriff’s office picked up an unsuspecting teenager on drug charges, and managed to coerce him into pointing the finger at a group of his friends, including Anthony DiPippo and Andrew Krivak. That same sheriff’s office used a since-discredited polygraph expert to get a false confession out of Andy, which ultimately led to both Andy and Anthony being sentenced to 25 to life for the rape and murder of Josette Wright.
Since the release of this episode, Anthony settled his civil suits against the sheriff’s department and was awarded $12 million by Putnam County.

To hear a lot more about Anthony’s story and where he is now, check out Bone Valley Season 5, "The Devil's Quarry." Host Paul Solotaroff deeply investigates Anthony’s case and the person who may have been implicated instead.

And a second installment of The Devil’s Quarry is coming soon. Paul is back in the same small New York town, reporting on a crime with eerie similarities to the one Anthony was originally convicted of. Look out for the first episode on September 30th, you won’t want to miss it.

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

​​We have worked hard to ensure that all facts reported in this show are accurate. The views and opinions expressed by the individuals featured in this show are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of Lava for Good.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If Season 1 of The Devil’s Quarry was a horror story, Season 2 is a ghost story.

More than 30 years after 17-year-old Robin Murphy vanished from Carmel, New York, investigative journalist Paul Solotaroff and reporter Kathleen Horan plunge into the cold case that has haunted the community for decades. Robin was last seen with a convicted violent predator who was never charged in her disappearance. Now, as the original case file is reopened, new witnesses emerge, old evidence is reconsidered, and the search for Robin enters its most critical chapter. Can the truth finally be uncovered before time runs out? Or will one of New York’s most haunting mysteries remain a ghost story forever?

Award-winning investigative journalist and longtime Rolling Stone Magazine contributor Paul Solotaroff hosts the latest entry in the acclaimed Bone Valley anthology: The Devil's Quarry II starting September 30.

Listeners can listen ad-free by subscribing to Lava for Good+ on Apple Podcasts.

Bone Valley Season 6: The Devil’s Quarry II is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.