48 Hours - By Two and Two

Episode Date: August 1, 2024

An investigation into the real-life murder mystery that inspired true crime author Jim Schutze of Dallas, TX to write "By Two and Two." Twin sisters Betty Wilson and Peggy Lowe were charged with first-degree murder for allegedly hiring a hitman, James Dennison White, to kill Betty’s husband, Jack Wilson. They were tried separately. One would be convicted and the other set free. “48 Hours" correspondent Richard Schlesinger reports. This classic "48 Hours" episode last aired on 6/24/2002. Watch all-new episodes of “48 Hours” on Saturdays, and stream on demand on Paramount+.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to this podcast ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app today. Even if you love the thrill of true crime stories as much as I do, there are times when you want to mix it up. And that's where Audible comes in, with all the genres you love and new ones to discover. Explore thousands of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals, with more added all the time. thousands of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals, with more added all the time. Listening to Audible can lead to positive change in your mood, your habits,

and even your overall well-being. And you can enjoy Audible anytime, while doing household chores, exercising, commuting, you name it. There's more to imagine when you listen. Sign up for a free 30-day Audible trial and your first audiobook is free. Visit audible.ca. In 2014, Laura Heavlin was in her home in Tennessee when she received a call from California. Her daughter, Erin Corwin, was missing. The young wife of a Marine had moved to the California desert

to a remote base near Joshua Tree National Park. They have to alert the military. And when they do, the NCIS gets involved. From CBS Studios and CBS News, this is 48 Hours NCIS. Listen to 48 Hours NCIS ad-free starting October 29th on Amazon Music. I'm Dan Rather. I'm Dan Rather, an explosive mix of sex, money and murder with twin sisters accused of the crime. 48 hours right now.

Dr. Jack Wilson and his wife Betty were millionaires with an unusual marriage. She had affairs and says he didn't mind. It wasn't cheating. In his words, it's only sex. It's just sex. But when Jack turns up dead, Betty is charged with murder, and her lifestyle is put on trial. The fact that I'm a fool does not make me a killer.

Prosecutors say Betty didn't act alone. She had help from her twin sister, Peggy. Peggy. Peggy Lowe, any comments? Two sisters, two trials, the same evidence, but two very different versions. A 48 Hours Mystery by 2&2. Twins, born at nearly the same moment, sharing the same genetic legacy. But is it possible all they had in common led them down the same murderous path? Good evening. A wealthy doctor is killed and his wife is accused of the crime.

Prosecutors say she had help, a conspiracy with her twin sister and a hitman. But something doesn't seem to add up. The whole case rests on the credibility of the hired killer, the hitman, a conman, whose story changes as often as he tells it. Richard Schlesinger begins to unravel a complex search for the truth and the fate of twins accused of sharing the common bond of murder. It all came together here at the end of this road in this affluent Huntsville, Alabama neighborhood in this house. A crime that quickly became one for the books. It had it all. Sex, money, murder, what else? That's what they have on murder she wrote every time, isn't it? The victim was Jack Wilson, a wealthy doctor. the defendants, his widow, Betty Wilson,

and Peggy Lowe, the charge, first-degree murder. It's unusual for two women to be charged with murder. What's more unusual, Betty Wilson and Peggy Lowe are twins. Born 12 minutes apart, their fates would be joined together in court because of the way the case was built they either were both guilty or they were both not guilty I think there was an attempt to play off the twinhood that these were two people who in some strange way operated as one author and veteran journalist Jim Schutz followed both of the twins' trials. At the outset, this looked like an open-and-shut case.

JIM SCHUTS, Author and veteran journalist Jim Schutz, I was 90 percent sure that this was going to be a story about two women who were accused of murder and who were indeed guilty. PAUL SOLMAN, But that's not how it turned out. It defies logic, but Betty Wilson was found guilty. Her sister Peggy Lowe was acquitted. And many were left wondering how two people facing the same charge, the same evidence, involving the same conspiracy could receive such different verdicts. There's no way Betty can be guilty if I'm innocent.

There's no way I can be innocent if she's guilty. Two sisters, two juries, two different verdicts, and one burning question. Did she get away with murder, or was she wrongfully convicted? But it's the same evidence, same witnesses, same everything in her trial. Why did she get acquitted and you didn't? She didn't have an affair with a black man. But that's the end of the story. Hi, everybody. This is the beginning.

Betty Wilson, a doting grandmother and recovering alcoholic, was returning home from an AA meeting. She and her husband Jack Wilson, a popular eye doctor, were planning to leave the next day for vacation. It was 9.30 in the evening, May 22, 1992, when Betty arrived home. I went upstairs. I saw Jack lying on the floor. Trees were blowing outside the house, and I could see the shadows on the walls. You know, it wasn't a question of thinking something. It was a question of feeling feeling and the feeling was run. Betty Wilson ran two doors down to a neighbor's house and called 911. You know if the person that hurt him is still inside? I don't know. I've got a friend.

We've got an ambulance and we've got the police. At 5'4 and 122 pounds, Jack Wilson never had a chance. He was beaten 19 times with a blunt instrument stabbed twice in the stomach and strangled a bloody baseball bat was found next to his body i did not know that jack was dead until mr brantley the detective said how old was your husband and i asked him what do you mean by was? And he said, he's dead. How old was he?

He was 55. Through the night, police combed the house for a fingerprint, a fiber, a record of a phone call, anything that might lead them to the killer of Dr. Jack Wilson. Huntsville Police Detective Mickey Brantley led the investigation from the start. The thought came to me that it was probably somebody within the family. Why? I can't really explain how. It didn't take long for Detective Brantley to discover lots of reasons to suspect Betty. As he began to question her, an unflattering portrait began to emerge of life inside this house. It was a history of

alcoholism, of adulterous affairs, and unholy matrimony. The Wilsons were not your average couple. Did Jack know about the affairs? Yes. How did he know? He insisted upon it. He insisted upon knowing? Upon my having affairs. Your husband insisted upon you, pardon the expression, cheating on him? It wasn't cheating. In his words, it's only sex. It's just sex. Though they often led separate lives, Betty insists she and Jack loved each other. I needed my husband. I needed him desperately. Police suspected she needed his money. It's your birthday.

Betty Wilson was living it up, surrounded by her swimming pool, her furs, her BMW. Run, go, run, go! It was a lavish lifestyle, funded by Jack Wilson's fortune of $6 million. What happened to the money? How did Jack divide up his money in the will? It was strictly he and I.

As far as you know, why would Betty want to kill her husband? Well, there was probably about 6 million reasons plus why she might want to kill her husband. But Brantley had nothing but his suspicion to go on, nothing to connect Betty Wilson to her husband's death. Mr. White, was anybody paying you to do this? Until he found this man. Four days after the murder, police picked up James Denison White. They'd received a tip that White had talked about killing someone in Huntsville.

in White. They'd received a tip that White had talked about killing someone in Huntsville. White was a part-time carpenter, but also a full-time con man, drug addict, and a felon. He was a guy who lived on the far margins of society and sort of got by with little scams. But nobody knew if James White had any connection to Dr. Jack Wilson until Detective Brantley began to question him. I went to business elementary school. You know, she had closed some closets. I had a new addition to the school, and I met Miss Peggy Lowe.

The time I met her, I had told her her name was Miss Lowe after it was a religious letter. Mrs. Peggy Lowe was Mrs. Betty Wilson's twin. They shared most of the same genes, but few of the same manners. Peggy was a middle-class, soft-spoken schoolteacher, and if she had little in common with her sister, she had even less with James White. But there was no denying that Peggy knew White and knew him pretty well. There were a couple of times I think we did talk on the telephone a long length of time, but it was... What did you talk about?

His problems. To Mickey Brantley, the conspiracy was becoming clear. Betty Wilson wanted her husband killed. She got her sister Peggy Lowe to hire James White to do the job. But there was still no physical evidence against anyone, so Detective Brantley bluffed and told each the others had confessed. I was scared. I was shocked. I knew that what he was saying was a lie, and it was.

I didn't know that they had Betty there telling her the exact same thing. That they had confessed on my behalf that I was involved in his death, and I knew that that couldn't be true. It didn't work on the twins, but when Brantley bluffed James White, he folded. Assured he could plea bargain his way out of the electric chair, White confessed to murdering Jack Wilson and said he was paid to do it by the twins. Any comment on the charge of capital murder for the brutal murder of your husband? Betty Wilson and Peggy Lowe, born together, were arrested together.

Perhaps the only twin sisters in the United States ever charged with capital murder. They would face the death penalty. Betty would be tried first and would have to defend her lifestyle in order to save her life. The fact that I'm a fool does not make me a killer. I'm not a killer. That's next. Did you pay someone to kill your husband? Before this, the only trouble Betty Wilson had with the law was one speeding ticket. Now, along with her twin sister, Peggy Lowe,

she's facing the electric chair, charged with first degree murder in the death of her husband, Dr. Jack Wilson. I was terrified. I suppose I was afraid of the unknown, of how this could possibly be happening to me. How could this possibly be happening? I'm Cliff Hill here in Tuscaloosa covering the most talked about trial in recent history.

Because of all the publicity, Betty's 1993 trial was moved from Huntsville to Tuscaloosa. I can walk faster if you can. But there was no escaping the commotion. The case of the Alabama twins was a spectacle, a happening, and a tourist attraction. JAMES WHITE, I got calls from James while I was working on the book. He would call me from jail all the time trying to talk to me about movie rights. It was almost like being in a soap opera.

For prosecutor Jimmy Fry, it was a chance for a starring role and the challenge of a lifetime. Because so much of the evidence against Mrs. Wilson was circumstantial, Mrs. Wilson was circumstantial. Rarely do you have a case involving murder where there's not more of a direct link than in this case. Which meant that for the most part, Fry would build his case against Betty Wilson not on fingerprints or forensics, but on the word of the confessed murderer, James White. A liar, a bum, a wretch of a human being, the only person who can give the first-hand account of what actually occurred. Prosecutors expected some trouble with White's credibility, but they got a lot more than they bargained for. White had been hospitalized numerous times with psychiatric problems, complaining that he constantly hears voices but doesn't know what they're saying.

He was locked up for selling drugs, escaped, and was diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder, as suggested by a history of violent, impulsive, criminal behavior. If you didn't have James White, how strong a case would you have against these two women? How strong? Without James White, we probably wouldn't have had a case would you have against these two women? How strong without James White, we probably wouldn't have a case. So lead detective Mickey Brantley and the local DA offered White a sweetheart deal in writing. If he gave testimony substantiating the complicity and involvement of the twins in a murder-for-hire scheme, and it could be corroborated, he'd not only avoid the death penalty, but James White,

the confessed killer, would soon be eligible for parole. Told James, if you don't do this, James, if you don't do that, they're going to carry you to court, find you guilty, and send you to the electric chair. Told James, if you do like we asked you, if you just cooperate with us, you will make parole in seven years. White, of course, took the deal. Then he took the stand and delivered. With cameras allowed to shoot only through a courtroom window, White testified that Betty and Peggy advanced him $2,500 for the murder. They both denied it. White also said that two days before the killing, the twins met him at this dam near Peggy's house and gave him a gun intended to be used on Dr. Wilson.

He said he got the gun from you on a date when you, in fact, were with your sister near that dam. You could have done it. It's possible. I think he would have said anything to have saved his own life. He would have said anything. But White seemed to have proof. After his arrest, he produced a.38 caliber Smith & Wesson revolver he'd hidden. It was registered to Betty Wilson. Author Jim Schutz doesn't believe White. You have to believe that Betty, this kind of tough, cunning woman,

was so stupid that she gave a gun registered to herself to James to do the shooting with. Anyone knows that guns are traceable. Remember, Dr. Wilson was not shot, and crime scene video of the Wilson home shows an open, empty gun case in the bedroom, suggesting White may have stolen the gun on the night of the murder. But Jimmy Fry had better evidence against Betty. What's your best evidence against her? The book.

Prior to her husband's killing, while attending an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting at this lodge, Betty placed $200 inside this library book and had a uniformed security guard deliver it to James White, who was waiting outside. Why are you giving money to this guy who subsequently is arrested for killing your husband? I gave money to a lot of people. It doesn't look good, though, Betty, you know? It doesn't look good. But I'm not clairvoyant. There's no way that I could have known the future. White testified it was a down payment for murder.

But Betty says there's another explanation. It was so innocent. That she gave White the money because Peggy asked her to. Peggy says she knew White was an alcoholic and needed help getting to the AA meeting. He was not the first person whose room and board she had paid for at an AA convention. Why, if this was a murder for hire scheme, did Betty involve a uniform security guard in handing the money over to the man

who allegedly was going to kill her husband? She assumed he should never get caught. Why do any murderers do what they do? Without mistakes, then none would ever be caught. James White was just one damaging witness. Some of Betty's former friends took the stand, and this woman, Brenda Serha, claimed that six years before the murder, Betty said to her, I want to kill Jack. Will you help me?

As the trial progressed, the testimony focused more and more on Betty's excessive lifestyle and her persistent adultery. I was tried as a slut, as a rich bitch. Was she easier to prosecute because she slept around and had this weird marriage? Sure. Even though that really doesn't mean murder? It doesn't mean murder, but it could mean motive, which is indicative of murder. To drive that point home to the jury, Jimmy Fry called to the stand just one of the men

with whom Betty Wilson had had an affair. The witness didn't know a thing about the murder of Dr. Wilson. In fact, there was nothing remarkable about this man at all, except perhaps for one thing, the color of his skin. Just saying to the jury, look at this guy. He's black. I think that was all part of painting Betty as a witch. Yeah, but you know what the problem with that is? Three of the jurors were

black. Well, it may have been the state's very acute perception that these were three very conservative black jurors who would dislike an interracial love affair just as much as white jurors. You didn't play the race card just a little on the theory that — Robert H. No. I would have been much happier if he had been a Caucasian male, and then I wouldn't have had to worry whether or not the black jurors on that jury thought that I'm trying to incite this because of race. Ben Wattenberg- How damaging was that moment for you? I think it was the coup de grace. Ben Wattenberg- That think it was the coup de grace.

That's it. The coup de grace. The fatal shot. But only the 12 jurors know for sure if that testimony played into their judgment of Betty Wilson. Betty herself had little doubt as the judge pronounced her guilty of capital murder.

Her face was expressionless. Her family was overcome. The jury had made up their minds that even if I did not commit a murder, I didn't deserve to live. Because? Because I was a rich bitch who had had an affair with a black man. The judge called Betty Wilson to the bench. Sparing her the death penalty, he sentenced her to life

in prison without parole. He asked if she had anything to say. Betty said two words, I'm innocent. And even as she was taken away, troubling questions were being asked. Message for your family, Betty. About the way she was convicted. Are you saying that Detective Brantley violated the law?

Yeah. But he did it with good intentions. That's next. I'm Erin Moriarty of 48 Hours, and of all the cases I've covered, this is the one that troubles me most a bizarre and maddening tale involving an eyewitness account that doesn't quite make sense a sister testifying against a brother a lack of physical evidence Crosley Green has

lived more than half his life behind bars for a crime he says he didn't commit listen to murder in the orange grove the trouble case against Crosley Green, early and ad-free with a 48-hour plus subscription on Apple Podcasts. Have you ever wondered who created that bottle of sriracha that's living in your fridge? Or why nearly every house in America

has at least one game of Monopoly? Introducing The Best Idea Yet, a brand new podcast from Wondery and T-Boy about the surprising origin stories of the products you're obsessed with and the bold risk takers who brought them to life. Like, did you know that Super Mario,

the best-selling video game character of all time, only exists because Nintendo couldn't get the rights to Popeye? Or Jack, that the idea for the McDonald's Happy Meal first came from a mom in Guatemala? From Pez dispensers to Levi's 501s to Air Jordans, discover the surprising stories of the most viral products.

Plus, we guarantee that after listening, you're going to dominate your next dinner party. So follow The Best Idea Yet on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to The Best Idea Yet early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus. It's just the best idea yet. James White seemed to be such a good witness against Betty Wilson because he seemed to have such a good memory.

be such a good witness against betty wilson because he seemed to have such a good memory he knew where betty was the day of the murder what she wore what was inside her car now how would he know that if he wasn't with you he was not with me that much i can assure you on all i hold dear i can assure you he was not ever with me. But White's inside knowledge was the best evidence that he and the twins were co-conspirators. How could it be that this man could be lying when he knows so many details? Because he knows so many details, we know he's lying. As attorney David Johnson prepared to defend Peggy Lowe,

he developed a theory that White knew so much about the twins not because he was plotting with them, but because he was improperly, perhaps unwittingly, fed information by the police. They were feeding him information and he was gulping down whatever they fed him. Just like the case against the twins, the case against the police is circumstantial. The clues are found in the tangle of lies scattered throughout White's seven different statements to Detective Mickey Brantley.

You can start with the story of the gun. This past Tuesday was about two weeks ago. The middle was lower when Mrs. Betty Wilson bought me a.38 Winston-Watson pistol. In that statement, White says the twins gave him a gun on May 12th. But White later changed the date to May 19th. What didn't work about that? Well, because Betty and Peggy weren't together. But then Detective Brantley made a discovery

that the twins had rented a video together near Peggy's house on May 20th. What do you think happened? What do you think they said? They call up Mr. White and they think happened? Bingo. Bingo. What do you think they said? They call up Mr. White and they say what? The 19th's not going to work. Just one week after police confirmed the video rental, James White took the

stand and changed the date yet again to May 20th. The way I testified is I went to Logan Martin Dam on the 20th. A car pulled up. Peggy got out of the car and brought me a gun. Did you, on May 20th, go to that dam, get out of your sister's BMW, and give James White a gun? Did you ever give James White a gun? Not on May 20th, not on May 19th, not on May 12th, not any time. What made White change his story so many times? After the trial, he told us he was prompted by Detective Brantley's leading questions.

Let me tell you what Mr. White said. I'm being threatened with the electric chair. Threatened with the electric chair. And if you're sitting there and you're saying, well, James, you sure it wasn't such and such a date? James, you sure it wasn't such and such a date? James, you sure it wasn't this time? You sure you wasn't here at this time and this date?

After a while, it becomes a suggestion. Is it possible that you did what James White says you did? At no time was anything suggested to James White or given to James White to use as evidence against their crime they committed. But White changed significant details with each statement, and each revision tied the twins more directly to the murder. Me and Jack run into each other face to face. Jack grabbed me.

Then I hit him. He turned me loose, and I run out the back door. This is what I testified in court. What did James White do after his run-in here with Dr. Wilson? That depends on which story you believe. He told three different versions. White's first story was that he ran from the house up through these woods to the highway. In fact, a police dog followed a scent up that very trail.

But three days after he was arrested, White changed his story, saying Betty Wilson drove him away from the house in her black BMW. It was a very damning accusation, placing Betty at the scene of the crime. But there was a problem. There was no DNA in the car. There was never any hair, no trace of anything found in that automobile that would indicate that he'd ever been in the car. Attorney Buck Watson worked for both Betty and Peggy. If this happened, he's got to be covered with blood. He's got to have it all over him.

No blood in the car, no blood anywhere. Two months later, White tried to clear that up with another story. This time, he told police he ran out here to the woods, blacked out, came to, ran back into the house, changed into fresh clothes, and then got into Betty's car. And the neighbor says she saw Betty driving near the house at about that time. How many versions of this story have you told?

Do you remember? I think there's about five versions of it, five to seven. But despite all the reworking, there was one big problem with White's stories and Detective Brantley's case. There was almost no physical evidence and no trace of the clothes White said he wore during the murder. But White solved that problem with another statement. Author Jim Schutz. James White, through his attorney, contacts Brantley and says, Oh, I forgot. I buried a bag of my clothes in the yard.

The buried bag, discovered two months after the killing, tied up a lot of loose ends. The only problem is the police dog who scoured the area just after the murder never found any clothes. I think those clothes were planted. I think they were planted by someone. I don't know by whom. I think those clothes were planted. I think they were planted by someone. I don't know by whom. I think that James White did it to fill this hole in the case. They need physical evidence.

I'll give them physical evidence. How did that get explained? It can't be explained. Well, didn't he have a... It's a lie. It can't be explained. Defense attorneys are convinced the police and prosecutors sincerely believed the twins were guilty, but faced so much pressure

they stepped over the line to make James White's story work. The police were feeding White and White wasn't feeding the police. Detective Brantley denies the charge categorically. I'm not in the business of going out here and creating murders. If that's the case I need to be in jail not Betty Wilson. But if police did feed White information, then there's no way Betty Wilson got a fair trial. And as her sister Peggy prepared for her trial, some of the most basic parts of the state's case came into question. It appears that he was murdered somewhere else,

and then his body was brought here and dumped here. That's coming up next. Huntsville, Alabama police say Betty Wilson and her twin sister Peggy Lowe conspired to murder Betty's husband. The motive? Money. Betty stood to inherit millions. James White, an alcoholic ex-con, testifies the sisters hired him to kill Jack Wilson. Prosecutors focus on Betty Wilson's infidelities, including an interracial affair, and largely on the basis of James White's testimony, she is convicted of murder. But White's confession and his ever-changing versions of what happened before and after

the killing raise hope for the defense as Peggy now goes to trial. Richard Schlesinger continues our story. As she began her trial in Montgomery, Peggy Lowe stood halfway between James White, a confessed murderer, and her sister, Betty Wilson, a convicted one. Peggy was the only connection between the two. Well, it was, they said, a conspiracy. If one member of the conspiracy is guilty, it stands to reason that the other one would be. And if one's innocent, doesn't it stand to reason that the other is? Peggy's attorney, Buck Watson, knew the stakes were raised with Betty's conviction. Were you scared in a way, knowing that you had to start defending the

alleged co-conspirator in this murder-for-hire scheme? Of course. I don't know what scared means, but I'll tell you this. As the judge said to me, the price of poker just went up. But Peggy, who was released on bail, was holding better cards than her twin sister. Peggy sang in the church choir. Betty was an alcoholic. Betty had affairs. Peggy came across as the loyal wife.

Oh, this thing like babies. But in order to prove Peggy innocent, the lawyers would have to prove Betty was innocent too. Because if Betty was guilty, then Peggy was guilty. Hilda Smith was an investigator on Peggy Lowe's defense team. You had to unconvict Betty? Absolutely. This wasn't Betty's trial. That was over and done with.

But the evidence was the same. The jury had to believe that White didn't do it the way he said he did, that White was lying. Once again, James White was the star witness for the prosecution. But this time, Peggy's defense team saw openings her sister's lawyers never exploited, like White's flimsy description of the murder he said he committed.

I think that I testified that I hit him, and they wanted to know what I hit him with. And at first, I told them I hit him with my fist, and they said, no, James, did you hit him? I said, well, I might have fooled around and fumbled around because he had a hold of me, and I might have fumbled around until I found something on the table or felt something on the table, and I picked it up and hit him and then I'd run out the back door. They ask him to tell them how he killed him and why, give details of the killing,

and he can't and he will not. But Peggy's lawyers didn't just attack White's story about the murder. They attacked the very basics of the state's case, starting with the assumption that Dr. Wilson was killed right here and that he was killed with this bat. I'm quite confident that this is not a baseball bat. Dr. Chris Sperry was hired as an expert witness for the defense. He testified that Jack Wilson's head wounds were not the broad, crushing injuries a bat would inflict, but long, narrow injuries

caused by a much thinner weapon. Like a fireplace poker or a piece of steel reinforcing rod or something like that. Sperry, now chief medical examiner for the state of Georgia, also testified the crime scene was suspiciously tidy given the savage beating that killed Dr. Wilson. He had 11 lacerations on his head, but yet in this environment here, the walls, the ceiling, there is no blood spatter. And this is essentially contradictory to the laws of physics because you cannot hit something that is soaked with blood without having it spray all over the place. If Jack Wilson was killed here, where's the splatter? Sperry has a startling theory. It appears that he was murdered somewhere else and then his body was brought here and

dumped here. The state's forensic pathologist, who declined an on-camera interview, strongly disputed Sperry's findings. So does Jimmy Fry, the prosecutor in Betty's trial. My question is why would you murder someone somewhere else and in broad daylight in a city of a quarter of a million transport a body into an upper scale neighborhood, up the stairs and dump the body in their own home? It's just implausible. But to Peggy's defense team, the inconsistencies in White's story make the case against the

twins implausible. If he doesn't know about how this murder occurred and the nuances that are there, then is his confession actually valid? Then is his confession or his implication of the two sisters, is it valid? But if White wasn't hired by Betty and and peggy why would he kill jack wilson one theory is that the murder was set in motion when betty tore into white in a heated phone call i'm pretty sure i called him a son of a betty says she was furious at white because after giving him money to attend the aa meeting at this lodge he failed to show up. She thought she was being used. I think when she confronted him, she just pushed him over the edge.

And everything else that happened, happened because of that. Author Jim Schutz believes White went to the Wilson home to burglarize it, but wound up in an unexpected struggle when Jack Wilson came home and surprised him. The jury pondered that theory while Peggy Lowe waited, her life on the line. PEGGY LOWE, I remember describing the feeling to my family as being awake at my own funeral. I saw how people reacted at witnessing my death. After deliberating just two and a half hours, the jury spoke.

We, the jury, have a decision not to. Two sisters, two trials, two different verdicts. And you ask yourself, why did 12 people in a very short period of time find Peggy Lowe innocent under the same facts and evidence? The answer to that is … Because they weren't guilty. The defense has said that the key to their victory there was unconvicting Betty, because

Peggy — Bull. Really? Bull. Doesn't your conspiracy theory kind of suffer if one of the conspirators is acquitted? Not in my case. You got your conviction. That's right.

A conviction based largely on James White, a murderer who could barely describe the murder. He didn't know how Jack Wilson died. He didn't know where he was hit. He didn't know enough about it. He didn't know why, because he was on drugs and drunk and crazed? Or that he didn't do it. He didn't know why, because he was on drugs and drunk and crazed? Or that he didn't do it. If he didn't kill him, or he didn't kill him the way he did, then none of his story is true. It's all concocted. It's not just overzealous defense lawyers who say James White made it all up. It's James White himself. Did Betty Wilson and Peggy Lowe hire you to kill Jack Wilson?

No, sir. They did not. Did they ever discuss that with you? No, sir. They did not. James White, the star witness, recants his story next. Hot shot Australian attorney Nicola Gaba was born into legal royalty. Her specialty? Representing some of the city's most infamous gangland criminals. However, while Nicola held the underworld's darkest secrets, the most dangerous secret was her own. She's going to all the major groups within Melbourne's underworld, and she's informing on them all.

I'm Marcia Clark, host of the new podcast, Informants Lawyer X. In my long career in criminal justice as a prosecutor and defense attorney, I've seen some crazy cases, and this one belongs right at the top of the list. She was addicted to the game she had created. She just didn't know how to stop. Now, through dramatic interviews and access, I'll reveal the truth behind one of the world's most shocking legal scandals. Listen to Informant's Lawyer X exclusively on Wondery Plus.

Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. And listen to more Exhibit C true crime shows early and ad free right now. Did you know that the movie Candyman was partly inspired by an actual murder? Listen to Candyman, the true story behind the bathroom mirror murder, early and ad-free on Wondery Plus and the Wondery app. Just off the road in Wetumpka, Alabama, locked behind the aging walls of the Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women, Betty Wilson is serving her time. Nine years down, the rest of her life to go. BETTY WILSON, There's a lot of talk about the death penalty now.

But I can assure you that life without parole is worse than death. JOHN TURNER, You would prefer to be put in the electric chair? BETTY WILSON, Yes, I would. I am an innocent woman. I am in torment. Every day is a living hell on earth. A convicted murderess who says she didn't do it. That's not unusual.

What is unusual is that the man who put Mrs. Wilson away is saying it as well. I was never approached by Mrs. Wilson away is saying it as well. I was never approached by Miss Betty Wilson to kill her husband or get rid of her husband in any other shape, fashion, form. I've never met Betty Wilson. I don't know Betty Wilson. James White has recanted his testimony that convicted Betty Wilson. The story about the twins giving him a gun that May 20th, he says it was a lie. On May the 20th, I was probably sitting in my trailer with some friends getting drunk and smoking dope. Now, that was probably what I was doing on May the 20th.

The $200 from Betty in the library book? White says when he testified it was a down payment for murder, that was a lie. The money was originally given to me to go to the AA retreat because I was a recovering alcoholic. White has signed two sworn affidavits disavowing his trial testimony, but he can only help Betty Wilson if he tells it to a judge. White was about to do just that seven years ago, but decided against it when prosecutor Jimmy Fry paid a visit and told him what would happen if he said he lied at trial. If he went into court and lied in breach of his deal with the DA's office, that myself or any other district attorney in the state of Alabama would put him in the electric chair where he belonged.

Fry insists White told the truth at trial and says White is lying now when he claims Betty Wilson didn't hire him. You asked the jury to believe James White. I asked them to believe the testimony that he gave after viewing the evidence that tended to corroborate what he said. Are you certain today that justice was done in this case? In my own professional judgment, I absolutely am.

The problem is that this is a straight accusation case. There's just absolutely no evidence that's independent of James White's story. Let me ask you straight out. Did you kill Jack Wilson? No, sir, I did not. How did he die? I was told he got beat to death with a baseball bat. Yeah. Were you there? No, sir, I was not. Why should we believe him now? White says that by appearing on 48 Hours, he risks having the state take away the only thing that matters to him in prison, a once-a-month phone call with his children. It turns out James White is part con man, part family man. You've never been in that situation where one phone call a month meant everything to you.

And now I'm taking a chance to lose that. By telling this story now? By telling the truth. But good luck trying to figure out when James White is telling the truth. Just five days after he sat before our cameras here to recant his testimony, he sent us this letter saying 85% of the interview was a lie. That's right. When James White talked to us, he was lying about lying. At least that's what he says now. Remember, Betty Wilson is in prison because a jury believed James White.

I believe enough of his story. I believe that he's not a very credible person, but I believe you get what you pay for. She didn't pay much and she didn't get much. Mark Allison and Morgan Tunstall are two of the 12 jurors who convicted Betty Wilson. We didn't just drop out of the sky and start believing everything he said. When he made a statement and later other witnesses made statements that corroborated what he said, then we tended to believe that he was right. Are you certain beyond a reasonable doubt as we sit here today that Betty Wilson is guilty of murder? Beyond a reasonable doubt. That doesn't mean that I don't have a few doubts.

Nine years after her acquittal, Peggy Lowe has no doubt her sister is innocent. You do not share a womb with a mother. You do not stand up and walk 15 minutes apart for the very first time. You don't live as closely with another human being as I lived with her and not know whether or not they are capable of something as hideous as murder. And Betty is not capable of murder. Do you think, Betty, that you're going to die in this prison? Yes. Have you accepted that?

Yes. Have you accepted that? Yes. I would rather be dead than to have an endless life of this. You know, I can barely remember life. There! There we are! There! It's like a book that I read that I can only vaguely recall. Coming up, does Betty Wilson have any hope of getting out of prison? That's just ahead. In the Pacific Ocean, halfway between Peru and New Zealand,

lies a tiny volcanic island. It's a little-known British territory called Pitcairn, and it harboured a deep, dark scandal. There wouldn't be a girl on Pitcairn once they reach the age of 10 that would still have urged it. It just happens to all of us. I'm journalist Luke Jones and for almost two years I've been investigating a shocking story that has left deep scars on generations of women and girls from Pitcairn. When there's nobody watching, nobody going to report it, people will get away with what they can get away with. In the Pitcairn

trials, I'll be uncovering a story of abuse and the fight for justice that has brought a unique, lonely Pacific island to the brink of extinction. Listen to the Pitcairn trials exclusively on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. So Peggy Lowe is free, but her twin sister, Betty Wilson, is imprisoned for life in the murder of Betty's husband. And no one is more vexed by the contradictions in this case than author Jim Schutz. I started work on this book with the assumption that Betty Wilson and Peggy Lowe were guilty of the murder of Jack Wilson. I continued to feel that way through

the Betty Wilson trial but midway into the Peggy Lowe trial, I could see that these cases against the twins were just falling apart. In fact, I woke up in my motel room at 3 a.m. one night and I thought, my God, they didn't do it. It only makes sense if they're innocent. That second trial didn't just acquit Peggy Lowe, it unconvicted Betty Wilson. I'm not a lawyer, but it's very difficult for me to live with the thought that Betty Wilson is going to die in prison for a crime that she did not commit. Two times since her conviction, Betty Wilson has appealed to the Alabama courts for a new trial, citing what she calls new evidence. Both times her appeal was denied. But in a strongly worded dissent, one

appeals court judge did argue that, quote, the state failed to corroborate the testimony of James White, adding that White's plea agreement to avoid the death penalty may have encouraged him to commit perjury. The United States Supreme Court has also refused to hear her case. Since we last aired this broadcast, Betty Wilson's attorneys have been pushing for DNA testing on the evidence. So far, unsuccessfully. They say advances in such testing could ultimately prove Betty Wilson is innocent. In the meantime, Peggy Lowe visits her twin sister in prison every other weekend. If you like this podcast, you can listen ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app.

Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a quick survey at wondery.com slash survey.