48 Hours - Ryan Ferguson: Wrongfully Convicted

Episode Date: January 31, 2016

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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 haven't had time to actually think about what it is to be free, what it means to be free, what it is to have this life back. I get out and it's such a different world. There's so much more going on. I'm ready for anything, really.

I kind of want some Dairy Queen. All right, please. I'm Erin Moriarty. All right, please. I'm Erin Moriarty. I've been following the case of Ryan Ferguson since 2005, when he went on trial for the murder of newspaper sports editor Kent Heithold. From the beginning, there was just something not right about this case. There is no physical evidence whatsoever to connect Ryan to the crime scene.

Recording this will be Detective Stroher. A lot of it's kind of foggy, kind of fuzzy to you as to what you remember. Your Honor, the state calls Charles Erickson. I looked up, and Ryan was over the victim. He had his foot on his back, and he was pulling up on the belt. The reality is that he chose to lie about me. Asked to count one guilty of murder in the second degree. It just sucked the air right out of us.

We were absolutely devastated. Ryan Ferguson never should have been tried for this murder. This case is full of holes. It's just full of holes. Ryan Ferguson is actually innocent. I think I saw Ryan. Oh my God. It's there. Oh my God. Woo! You cannot get better than that.

Oh my God. I think I've proven my innocence. I think most people in the world, in the whole world, can see that. End of story? Not yet. Not for Ryan Ferguson. It's very daunting. You don't know what you're doing in this world, and you don't know how to navigate it and operate in it.

And not for his accuser. It was really easy for the police and the prosecutors to manipulate me. I'm angry. I'm angry at myself. I feel like I've been played for a fool, and I feel like I should be released from prison. I know that Charles Erickson is absolutely innocent. When you've got innocent people locked up, you've got the murderer still on the street.

They need to find the real killer. Tonight on 48 Hours, Ryan Ferguson, wrongful conviction. 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 bolder 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+. It's just the best idea yet. As a kid growing up in Chicago, there was one horror movie I was too scared to watch. It was called Candyman.

The scary cult classic was set in the Chicago housing project. It was about this supernatural killer who would attack his victims if they said his name five times into a bathroom mirror. Candyman. Candyman? Now we all know chanting a name won't make a killer magically appear, but did you know that the movie Candyman was partly inspired by an actual murder? I was struck by both how spooky it was, but also how outrageous it was.

We're going to talk to the people who were there. And we're also going to uncover the larger story. My architect was shocked when he saw how this was created. Literally shocked. And we'll look at what the story tells us about injustice in America. If you really believed in tough on crime, then you wouldn't make it easy to crawl into medicine cabinets and kill our women. Listen to Candyman, the true story behind

the bathroom mirror murder, wherever you get your podcasts. It's an incredible feeling. I can go where I want and do what I want. That's just something I haven't experienced in my whole adult life, pretty much. Do you feel a little behind? Absolutely. There's so many things that you haven't done in a decade, and you have to learn them immediately. Now a free man.

I was by myself for the first time driving down the highway. That's when I actually felt free. Ryan Ferguson spent nearly a decade trapped inside this Missouri state prison. The circumstances that put him there are bizarre. They began appropriately enough on Halloween night in 2001. Kent Heitholt, the well-liked sports editor of the Columbia Daily Tribune, was murdered. How would you describe his personality? Wonderful. Wonderful guy to work with and he's easy to learn from. He's one of the most popular men I've known. Part-time sports writer Michael Boyd, who spoke with 48 Hours in 2010,

was among the handful of people working into the early morning hours with Heitholt. Sometime after 2 a.m., Boyd recalls, he left the office. Heitholt came out a few minutes later, and they chatted. Did he seem concerned about anything at that moment? No, just like normal. It was just a normal night. Shortly after Boyd drove off, two janitors came out on the loading dock and noticed Heitholt's car was still there. I had that gut feeling that something was wrong. One of those janitors, Shawna Ornt, remembers seeing two shadowy figures emerge from behind the car. One, a college-age male, she says, stopped to speak. Looked me dead in the eyes and said, somebody's hurt. And he walked off casually like nothing had happened.

Scared, Shawna went for help. Two reporters rushed out and found their boss by his car in a pool of blood. Kent Heithold had been bludgeoned and strangled. She's 6'4". No one's going to mess with Kent. Who's going to mess with Kent? Earlier on that same night, Ryan Ferguson was at a local bar just blocks away from the murder scene. He and Chuck Erickson, another 17-year-old, had sneaked in together.

We were there for approximately two hours, probably 11.30 to 1.30. I drove him home and went home myself. Did you have anything to do with the death of Kent Heidholz? Absolutely not. Whoever did kill Kent may have left clues. Police found hair, fingerprints, bloody shoe prints. They also spoke with the janitors. One could not provide a detailed description of the two men he saw, but the other, Shauna Ornt, did. Police released a sketch and fielded dozens of

leads. All dead ends. It just doesn't seem possible that anybody could hurt him. And being as nice as he was, why? Two years passed with no breaks in the case, and then a tip came into Crime Stoppers. Chuck Erickson told friends that he was having dreamlike memories of the crime. He soon found himself in a police interrogation room. It's just so foggy, like I could just be sitting here fabricating all of it. He didn't seem to know many details. Can you tell me exactly where this happened?

Even when they took him to the crime scene. The parking lot is right there. Does this look familiar to you? I don't remember most of what happened. Even when they took him to the crime scene. The parking lot is right there. Does this look familiar to you? I don't remember most of what happened. But Erickson seemed eager to cooperate, especially as the questioning got aggressive. It's you that is on this chopping block, and I don't want to hear, oh, all of a sudden I just think I may have fabricated all this. Eventually, Erickson told them what they wanted to hear. He said that he and Ryan had run out of drinking money and decided to get more by robbing someone.

Whose idea was it? It was Ryan's idea. Ryan's idea. Ryan, then in college, was also brought in. I wasn't there. I didn't do anything. Police questioned him for hours, but he stood his ground. You're trying to get me to admit to something I didn't do. I'm not lying to you, man. I was not there.

In March 2004, both men were arrested and charged with murder. Erickson took a plea 25 years and agreed to testify against Ryan. It's beyond comprehension that Ryan could ever be in this situation. Ryan's father, Bill. It just tears at your heart. When Ryan stood trial a year later... Is the state ready to proceed? Chuck Erickson, the once seemingly confused teen, Could you raise your right hand, please?

had become a polished witness. He had been allowed to study police reports and crime scene photos. I'm just doing this because I know it's the right thing to do. The story Erickson told was riveting and revolting. And I hit it.

You hit it just like that? Well, I hit it harder than that. How'd you him. You hit him just like that? Well, I hit him harder than that. How'd you hit him? I hit him like that. After he hit him with a tire tool, Heitholt fell to the ground, Erickson said. Then Ryan turned Heitholt's belt into a weapon. He was down here and he had a belt.

And he had his foot on his back, on the victim's back. And he was pulling up on the belt like this. Still, none of the physical evidence, nothing tied Ryan or Chuck to the scene. You're talking here about a very messy crime. And yet there's no physical evidence that connects them to the scene. If I've got physical evidence at the scene, that's great, but I don't go, I can't prosecute this case

if there is no physical evidence. Boone County prosecuting attorney at the time, Kevin Crane, spoke to 48 Hours in 2005. Are you saying then, really, what most convinces you that Chuck and Ryan Ferguson killed Kent Heithold is Chuck saying, we did this? Mm-hmm. Yes. You nervous?

Shawna, the janitor who helped police create the sketch, said she couldn't identify either man. You may call your next witness. But Prosecutor Crane had a Trump card. Jerry Trump. Trump, a convicted sex offender, was the janitor who told police he couldn't describe the man he saw at the crime scene. And yet at Ryan's trial... If you see the individual, would you point to that individual, please? Yes.

Trump claimed his memory had been jogged by the arrest photos in the newspaper. I recognize Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. witnesses against him, Ryan Ferguson was doomed. He was found guilty and sentenced to 40 years. Bill Ferguson is convinced his son is innocent, and shockingly, that Chuck Erickson is too. The police did a great job of talking somebody into a crime they did not commit.

He believes Erickson was strong-armed by police into giving a false confession. One day, Chuck's going to wake up in his cell and go, Oh my gosh, what have I done? 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 reached the age of 10 that would still have heard 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. Hotshot 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 Marsha Clark, host of the new podcast, Informants Lawyer X. In my long career in criminal justice as a prosecutor and defence 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+. Join Wondery in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. And listen to more Exhibit C true crime shows early and ad-free right now. I started going to the crime scene within a week of the arrest. Bill Ferguson was determined to prove his son's innocence after Ryan was sent to prison in December 2005. I'd go down at 1.30. I'd stay down until 3 o'clock. Bill spent night after night in the parking lot where sports editor Kent Heitholt was attacked and killed.

How many times have you gone down to the crime scene? 40 or 50 at least. Ryan Ferguson's appeals all failed. And then in 2009, a new attorney came on board. Kathleen Zellner is a tough Chicago lawyer with a reputation for winning freedom for the wrongly convicted. She agreed to take Ryan's case pro bono. What is the best way to describe Ryan Ferguson's case? The analogy I think of is that he's in quicksand and I'm trying to grab a hold of him.

Once you're convicted, the system works completely against you. It just becomes overwhelming to find evidence that a court will accept. Soon after she took on the case, she got a break. Out of the blue, Ryan received a mysterious letter from his accuser. It says, Ryan, have your lawyers come speak to me the next time that they're down here. Zellner quickly paid a visit. May I call you Chuck? Mr. Erickson or Charles. Mr. Erickson.

I'm going to go by Chuck. Okay. She videotaped Charles Erickson as he read a prepared statement. Things happened much differently than I had previously stated. I could not accept in my conscious mind that I was the sole perpetrator. Four years after his testimony put Ryan behind bars, Erickson had a change of heart and told Zellner that he had lied. Erickson said he was the one who committed the murder. I beat the victim, Kent Heithold, until he was on the ground. Then I took his belt off

and strangled him with it. Erickson even said that Ryan tried to stop him. I regret now that I put an innocent man through that. He didn't deserve it. But Erickson's new story still put Ryan at the crime scene. Ryan was actually the one who pushed me off of the victim. He's exonerated you by saying you had nothing to do with the murder, but he has said you were there.

Isn't there a problem? I believe he thinks that he committed the crime. My personal belief is that he didn't. You don't even think he was there either. I don't think he was there. I know I wasn't there. Erickson's news story is a problem. But all that matters to attorney Kathleen Zellner is that his statement gives Ryan a new opportunity for an appeal.

I made up what I said about Ryan being on top of the victim. I lied about him strangling the victim. That was a lie. Ryan never touched the victim. I think what's more important than the details of what he's saying about the crime is he's saying repeatedly, I lied to the jury. I committed perjury. And she sets out to prove that the story Erickson told at trial couldn't be true. The whole story about the robbery is preposterous. She points out that Heidhold's wallet wasn't taken. Only his keys and a watch were missing.

What did they do, take Heidhold's watch back and barter for drinks? Erickson had also claimed that he attacked Kent Heidhold with a tire tool. How'd you get it? I didn't want to do that. But that's not consistent with the evidence, says Dr. Larry Bloom, a forensic pathologist hired by Zellner. The tire tool would not really fit the injuries at all. A heavy tire tool would have left skull fractures, says Dr. Bloom. The victim had none.

There were no skull fractures associated with any of the outward injuries that were present. with any of the outward injuries that were present. Dr. Bloom says Heidholdt's wounds are more consistent with a two-pronged tool, like this nail puller. In a defensive posture with the hands up, it would cause two parallel marks on the skin in this fashion. There were several on Mr. Heidholdt's forearm, wrist area, back of the hand. Bloom estimates that the struggle lasted about six to eight minutes. That's important because, Zellner says,

that means police overlooked a potential suspect. Michael Boyd, the part-time reporter, puts himself at the scene very close to the time the crime was reported. Boyd says he left the lot around 2.20 a.m., only six minutes before 911 was called. What was the last thing Kent said to you? I can't remember the exact words of what he said, but it was just more lines of see you later, and I thought it would. What do you think happened to him? I don't know. In this 2010 interview, Boyd told us that he returned to the parking lot later that night after learning about the crime.

This appears to be him in a crime scene photo. He cooperated with detectives who interviewed him briefly. He denies having anything to do with Heidhold's murder. Did you fight with Kent that night? Did you have anything to do with Heidhold's murder. Did you fight with Kent that night? Did you have anything to do with his murder? No, ma'am. No, ma'am. But Boyd, the last known person to see Heidhold alive, was never subjected to a thorough investigation. Did the police ever check your car, check your clothes,

ask you to take a polygraph? No, they never asked me to do anything. Ask for DNA, fingerprints? to take a polygraph. No, they never asked me to do anything. Ask for DNA, fingerprints. No. Nothing. Nothing. Zellner says police didn't consider Boyd a suspect because they just assumed the white men the janitors saw were the killers.

We are going to establish that Ryan Ferguson is actually innocent of the murder of Ken Heidel. In 2012, she was hoping to convince a new judge that the wrong man went on trial. So this is the whole ballgame. This is it. It's as if we're retrying the case. Were police too focused on finding the men the janitors saw? Chat now with correspondent Aaron Moriarty on Twitter. How do so many people get it so wrong that you end up in prison for 40 years for something you didn't have anything to do with.

My life was taken because a jury made a decision based off of lies. Seven years after his trial, after 11 failed appeals, Ryan Ferguson is back in court asking a judge to overturn his conviction. Kathleen Zellner calls police interrogation expert Joseph Buckley to the stand. Be very leery of the voluntary confession. The person who walks in and says, I did it. Because it's not typically what murderers do. Buckley tells the court that the confession of Charles Erickson, the state star witness, is suspect because the police fed him too many details. The number one thing you want to do is ask open-ended questions.

That's not the case here, says Buckley. Watch what happened when Erickson is asked how Kent Heidhop was strangled. I think it was a shirt or something. Well, I know it wasn't a shirt. It's like maybe a bungee cord. We know for a fact that his belt was ripped off of his pants and he was straining with his belt. Really? Does that ring a bell? Not at all. And look at Erickson's face when police take him to the crime scene. That is the parking spot where Mr. Heidhold had his car parked.

It's impossible, Buckley says, to tell what Erickson knew on his own. At the end of the day, you don't know what you have. Even though he was so convincing at trial. And he was pulling up on the belt like this. His story does not match this crime scene. That is not what happened. At the hearing, Zellner calls a witness Ryan's jurors never heard. Michael Boyd, that last known person to see Heithold alive.

No one checks either of your cars. That's right. And nobody asked you what clothes you were wearing that night? No. But the most important witness to Zellner is an eyewitness who did testify before. Jerry Trump. Back in 2005, Janitor Jerry Trump was a critical witness for the prosecution. Would you point to that individual, please?

Yes. At Ferguson's trial, Trump told the jury that he had been in jail on a sex offense at the time Ferguson and Erickson were arrested. His wife sent him the newspaper article, Trump said, and the mugshot suddenly jogged his memory. But seven years later, at this hearing, Trump says his trial testimony was a lie. And when you pointed to Ryan Ferguson in the courtroom and you said, that's the person you saw at the Columbia Tribune parking lot, was that true or false? False. The truth, he says, is what he first told the police. He could not identify either man he saw that night.

It was very difficult for you to admit that you've lied. Absolutely, extremely difficult. Trump claimed it was the prosecutor, Kevin Crane, who showed him that newspaper. He said it would be very helpful if you could help us with this by identifying them. He says Crane assured him they had the right men. I felt very intimidated because the only thing I wanted to do at that point was to do the right thing. I'd been in enough trouble. But after trial, Trump says he was haunted by what he did. This time, when he points to Ryan, it's for a very different reason. I'd like to have forgiveness from Ryan and his family.

I couldn't even move. I couldn't hardly think. I did feel sorry for the man, because you can just see the pain that he's been dealing with. He has a conscience. He was really evaluating his life, and he felt that what he'd done was terrible. Kevin Crane, now a judge, also takes the stand, and he denies trying to influence Trump's testimony in any way. Did you show Mr.

Trump this article that day? Absolutely not. Crane claims Trump volunteered the information. Mr. Trump's in the doorway of my office and unsolicited. Very soon into the conversation, he said, I think I can identify these guys. But then there's a surprising revelation, something Ferguson's team had never heard before. And it comes from Crane's own investigator, William Haas. Where did he get the article? He said his wife sent it to him. As it turns out, Haas tried to confirm Trump's story by speaking with Trump's wife. I explained to her that Jerry had said that she sent him an article and she said,

I don't remember that and I really don't want to talk to you about this. That's crucial evidence, says Kathleen Zellner, that the prosecution never told the defense. All right. Zellner says that if Ryan's lawyers had known that at trial, they could have argued that Trump was lying. Finally, the court is about to hear from another witness whose story has changed. I think it was a shirt or something. Again. He was down here and he had a belt.

And again. I beat the victim, Kent Heithold, and I took his belt off and strangled him with it. What will Charles Erickson say to this judge? Logically, nobody should believe anything that I say because I'm a liar. When he walked in, it was a very strange feeling seeing him again. You swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth to help you guy? I do.

When Charles Erickson takes a stand at Ryan Ferguson's 2012 hearing, it is the first time since the trial that the man come face to face in court. I know that he chose to lie about me, so it kind of hurts that a person would do that for reasons that I don't understand. It was good to see him. It was good to see that he's doing all right and that he's alive. Erickson was in a Missouri prison serving his 25-year sentence when we first spoke with him in January 2013. He told us then that his entire testimony at Ryan Ferguson's trial was fabricated. The reason I felt I needed to lie and make things up is because I couldn't remember anything. Whose idea was it?

It was Ryan's idea. Ryan's idea. Despite everything he said before, Erickson now says he has never had any memory of what happened the night Kent Heidholt was killed, at least not after he sneaked into that bar. Do you remember leaving the club? No, I don't remember leaving at all. Do you remember driving home? No, I don't even know if Ryan took me home.

What's the next thing you remember? I remember waking up in the morning and having to go to school. Erickson's use of drugs and alcohol as a teen is well documented. On that particular night, he says, along with abusing cocaine and the prescription drug Adderall, he consumed a large amount of alcohol. I remember drinking green drinks. I remember being pretty intoxicated. Did you find any blood on your clothing when you woke up? No, I had no blood on my clothing. I had no injuries. I had no murder weapons.

Was there anything through that day that made you think that you had been involved in a horrific murder? No. And yet, a full two years later, after reading an article about the unsolved murder, Erickson suddenly became convinced, almost obsessed with the idea, that he might have done something terrible during his blackout. I read there were two white guys there, two white kids. I saw the picture in the paper, which is a sketch, and it looked like me. But I just realized I couldn't remember what I'd done that night. Help me out with this.

Why would you suddenly think, just because you couldn't remember what you had done that night, that you might be involved in a murder? I'm trying to think about that night when I was very intoxicated. There's a lot of drugs in between then. And when I'm trying to think about it, I'm high on something. I was probably paranoid because of all the drugs that I was doing. When Erickson ran into Ryan at a party, he told him about those strange thoughts. Maybe he thought I was crazy anyway, but man, you're tripping.

We didn't do that. You know, you didn't kill that guy. Why didn't you believe him when Ryan said we didn't do this? It's not that I didn't believe him. I'm thinking, well, maybe he knows I don't remember and he doesn't want to tell me because he thinks I'm going to say something or he thinks I'm going to flip out or he thinks I'm going to kill him because he's a witness. I don't know. It was an anonymous call to police that landed Erickson high on marijuana, he says, in that police interrogation room. I don't remember a lot of this. Erickson spoke to detectives hoping for answers.

I think I just blacked out. Instead, attorney Kathleen Zellner says they were focused on finally closing the case. Here's a kid that, for whatever reason, is trying to involve himself in this. I'm going to be point blank with you, pal. And they've got the perfect person to manipulate, bully, mold his testimony. I'm going to start talking and you're going to start listening. Because he's a kid with a drug and alcohol problem. Do you understand me? Yes.

And so they start working on him. You better start thinking very clearly. They take advantage of him and they scare him. Erickson began to panic, he says, when detectives claimed that Ryan was about to turn on him and Erickson would take the blame. Ryan's going to talk. Don't let Ryan tell the story for you. I was scared that he was putting it on me and I created this story basically to cover myself and I did lie. I lied. He stuck with the story and even began to believe it, he says, when he was shown police reports like this one, which states that a schoolmate, Dallas Mallory, saw him that night. At one point, Dallas Mallory is telling him that he saw me fleeing the scene and that Ryan was with me. But in 2005, Dallas Mallory told us he didn't see Erickson at the scene, although police pressured him to say that he did.

I was in tears. Tears? Scared, shaking. Why were you scared? Because I didn't know what was going on. They were saying that I could be charged with murder because I was with them. I was not with him at all. Attorney Zellner says Erickson was duped by investigators.

He didn't realize that Dallas Mallory had said, no, I was pressured by the police into saying you were there. He didn't realize that Ryan was not plotting against him. So he was completely misled about the evidence prior to entering his guilty plea. Four years after the trial, a sober Erickson began to have serious doubts about what he did. It's really hard to admit that you really screwed somebody over. That's why, he says, he spoke to Ryan's lawyer in 2009 and took full responsibility for the crime.

I could not accept in my conscious mind that I was a sole perpetrator and aggressor. But even that was a lie, he says. I thought that the only way I could help Ryan was to say that I'd done everything. He didn't know what I was going to do. He tried to stop me. Erickson says the real truth is what he tells the court at the hearing in April 2012, that

he doesn't know what happened that Halloween night and never has. I don't want to die, you know, knowing that I did the wrong thing. Good afternoon, Mr. Erickson. How are you? In cross-examination, a lawyer for the state challenges Erickson's credibility. You've testified in trial in front of a jury under oath and said you did it. Yeah. Because I had to save my ass. Are you saying then you remembered

and no you don't today? No, I'm just good at making stuff up. Am I telling the truth now? I'm telling the truth now. Do I expect you to believe it? No, I don't expect you to believe it. More important, this judge doesn't believe him. He rules that Erickson was more credible at the original trial

and upholds Ryan Ferguson's conviction. It just really made me feel like there was no hope for Ryan. That was 2012. A lot has changed since then. I feel like there is some light at the end of the tunnel. And it feels really, really good. You just cannot give up. You just have to keep going.

With Ryan still behind bars, Bill Ferguson takes to the road to tell his story. I've driven 9,000 miles in 21 days. Doing this is like a four-wheel billboard. He creates a free Ryan Ferguson Facebook page where supporters pose with signs. We have thousands and thousands of supporters all over the world. He continues to have great ideas and continues to do everything he can to help prove my innocence. Ryan is hanging his hopes on yet another hearing, this one in a Missouri appellate court. May it please the court. In September 2013, attorney Kathleen Zellner argues for his freedom. There is no evidence left in this case. So let's get to the legal issues. These judges, well versed on the case, seem particularly concerned about the

evidence used against Ryan at trial, specifically how the janitor, Jerry Trump, was suddenly able to identify Ryan. Mr. Trump had come to an awakening of sorts based upon a newspaper article that his wife had purportedly sent him in prison. Generally, I've got it right? Absolutely. But prosecutors knew that Trump's wife couldn't recall ever sending that newspaper and kept that crucial fact from the defense. I believe that there was an effort to conceal anything exculpatory that might have led the defense to question the identification. Thank you, counsel.

If you cannot get the conviction vacated at that stage, you're at the end of the road. If you cannot get the conviction vacated at that stage, you're at the end of the road. For two months, Ryan's parents anxiously look for a sign of the decision. The waiting, it's agonizing. And then on November 5th. I think I saw Ryan. Oh my God, it's there. Oh my gosh. The decision is unanimous. Convictions are vacated.

The judges ruled that Ryan did not get a fair trial and set aside his conviction. It's been a long, long road. Ryan. Hey, Ryan. Ryan, hey, man. Congratulations. Can't wait to see you. Can't wait for my really long hug. Hell yeah. A real hug. Aaron, good to see you. We spoke with Ryan shortly after he got the news. You are, as you stand here, an innocent man.

I'm an innocent man, and I hope the whole world can see it now. It's kind of overwhelming, but at the same time, you don't really feel it because you're still surrounded by these fences and the guards and everything. I think once I'm with my family, that's when it'll probably hit me. Nearly 10 years after he was picked up for questioning, Ryan is finally free. The state has decided not to retry him. I thought about that moment so many times in the past of actually walking out and getting out of prison. While I was in the moment, I almost couldn't feel anything. And then I get out and we drive away from the prison.

I'm just thinking, this is what it's like to drive with my family on a road. My first glimpse of him, he just looked so vulnerable, so small. I mean, he just reminded me of, you know, when he was a little kid. And I just remember standing there just on the verge of tears, not being able to really control my emotions in that moment. The amazing thing is, one hour later, he's doing a press conference. To get charged for a crime you didn't commit, it's incredibly easy. To get out of prison, it takes an army.

He was just so cool and so articulate. You must have been very proud. Oh, very proud. You're even emotional thinking about it. I am, I am. Is it over? No, not at all. It's not over because he lost 10 years of his life. Ryan Ferguson has filed a civil suit against the police and several investigators. has filed a civil suit against the police and several investigators. There has to be accountability for all of these people.

Brian Ferguson may be free, but the mystery remains. Who killed Kent Heitholt? What evidence exists today that could be tested or examined that might lead to solving the case? There's seven unidentified prints on the car. There's a big palm print and there's a thumb print on those papers that have Mr. Heidold's blood on them. And the people that were right there that they haven't eliminated.

People like Michael Boyd, says Zellner, that last known person to see the victim alive. Boyd has always denied any involvement, but even the appellate judges raised questions about Boyd's past testimony. In November 2013, the police issued a statement saying they would follow up on any new leads or information. But how can they investigate in earnest while Charles Erickson is still serving time for Kent Heitholt's murder? You haven't heard from Columbia Police. You haven't heard from any investigator

taking a new look at the case. Nope. Three months after Ryan left prison, we sat down again with Charles Erickson. Erickson would like to withdraw his guilty plea. After all, the only evidence linking him to the crime is his own confession, which he says is a false confession. Charles, as you sit here today, do you think you had anything to do with the death of Kent Heidel? No. No, I don't. But you've admitted that you lied at trial. Why should people believe you now?

All I can really ask is to look at the evidence. They should look at the first interrogation tape, and you can see how it happened. And while he still has no memory of the night, he says, the unidentified prints are proof that neither he nor Ryan had anything to do with the murder. What should happen to you now? I feel like I should be released from prison.

I try just to take it day by day and work on improving myself and educating myself and work on trying to get out of prison. But it's not going to be easy. He may have waited too long to file for some legal procedures. He may have waited too long to file for some legal procedures. Still, he has the support of a dedicated Facebook page and even Ryan Ferguson. I know he had nothing to do with this crime. I took him home. He went to sleep. There's just no way. But Charles knows that some people may never forgive him. I apologize, obviously.

I don't think that there's anything I can say to console anybody. I've given the Heidhold family false hope, and so I can't imagine the pain that I've caused them. You have a family, too. Has it been tough on your family? Incredibly, incredibly. My mom, my dad, they come and see me whenever they can. I'm just glad that they support me and they want me to get out.

What do you want people to know about you? What do I want people to know about me? I want people to know that I'm not crazy. I want people to know that, sort of just the whole story. The best part, he says, is that Ryan Ferguson is no longer behind bars. The best part, he says, is that Ryan Ferguson is no longer behind bars. It feels good knowing that he's out, and it really feels like my load has been lightened. And I hope that he's able to do all the things that he wants to do.

Are you bitter? I am bitter, but I try to take that negativity and I turn it into, you know, a positive action. I still have to pinch myself every day and I just love being able to watch him doing normal things. Ryan now has a girlfriend, Micah Kane. I have helped with the Facebook page and the website. A key supporter whom he got to know through letters while he was still in prison. It was kind of shocking at first when we got out because it was just chaos. She's there on a day-to-day basis. Like, here's how you turn on your phone, and here's when you need to get up, and here's how you get on an airplane.

So it's incredible. She's been amazing, and I'm so grateful to her. We're just excited to get some normalcy in her life. It'll be a new beginning for both of us. Ryan has been making public appearances. He and Micah have moved far from Missouri, where his case is still controversial. The challenge is putting the painful past far behind. Nothing feels quite right. You always kind of feel like an outcast. You always feel like people judge you. You just have to accept that and move forward in your own life. But it's just, it's hard.

If Charles Erickson's appeals fail, his earliest parole date is 2020. His earliest parole date is 2020. Do you think Charles Erickson should be released from prison? Chat now with correspondent Aaron Moriarty on Twitter. 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.