48 Hours - The Whole Truth

Episode Date: March 7, 2024

In March 1983, 17-year-old Bruce Lisker discovered his mother, Dorka Lisker, beaten severely and stabbed in her Sherman Oaks home. Bruce was arrested and sentenced to 16 years to life. Over the next two decades, he fought to overturn his conviction. With the help private investigator, Paul Ingels, and former LAPD sergeant, Jim Gavin, they discovered that the evidence against Bruce had apparently been fabricated. “48 Hours" correspondent Erin Moriarty reports. This classic "48 Hours" episode last aired on 5/28/2011. 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 audio book is free. Visit audible.ca. I'm Erin Moriarty of 48 Hours and of all the cases I've covered, this is the one that troubles me most. Listen to Murder in the Orange Grove, the troubled case against Crosley Green,

early and ad-free on Wondery Plus and the Wondery app. I loved my mother. And my mother loved me. A lot. I find it impossible to think about the family home that I grew up in without thinking of that terrible day. March 10th, 1983, I came home and found my mother beaten and stabbed nearly to death. Dorka Lisker was beaten severely with a trophy,

stabbed twice in the back, and there's blood everywhere. Los Angeles City Fire Department. My mom, she's been stabbed! I remember phoning for help. Oh my God, brother, oh my God. And then when help arrived, I was arrested. My name is Bruce Lisker. I've spent 26 years in state prison for a crime I had nothing to do with. The murder of my mother.

All of the evidence points that Bruce Lisker is as guilty as sin. There's only one problem. All of it's false. I'm Paul Ingalls. I'm a private investigator. I am convinced that Bruce Lisker was framed by the Los Angeles Police Department.

What's even scarier is 26 years later, they're still trying to cover it up. They still fight to keep Bruce Lisker in prison. to cover it up. They still fight to keep Bruce Lisker in prison. I'm Jim Gavin. I worked internal affairs where we investigated police misconduct. I believed in the LAPD

until the case of Bruce Lisker came across my desk. It destroyed what I believe in. It was all a facade. It was all a facade. It was a lie. The whole truth. Субтитры создавал DimaTorzok Bob and Dorka Liskar had everything. He was a successful Hollywood attorney. She was a film cutter for Hollywood movies. They had careers, friends, a house with a swimming pool,

everything, but a child of their own. My dad and my mom had tried to have kids. She became pregnant but miscarried, and so they wanted kids. Then one day Bob came home and presented Dorca with a baby boy that one of his clients had put up for adoption. And she was like, what? It was sort of thrown, but came to just love it.

It was just a delight to her. No surprise then that Bob and Dorca spoiled the child they named Bruce. There was the idyllic suburban childhood, Little League in the park, excursions to Disneyland and faraway places. I remember going to Hawaii Volcano National Park and taking trails and we just We just had a blast. But the good times faded early. Bruce was only 11 when he began a long and destructive romance with drugs. By the time I was about 15, 16, I was smoking pot or drinking every day.

As Bruce's drug use escalated, his grades plummeted. His relationship with his mom got so bad, the screaming matches so upsetting, his parents finally made a tough decision. They set him up in his own apartment nearby. Bruce dropped out of high school and surrounded himself with some tough characters, including a 15-year-old with a criminal record, Mike Ryan, who bragged about getting into knife

fights. Bruce liked to think he was on his own, but he was really just a spoiled kid, he says, whose parents were still taking care of him. I was entirely subsidized by my parents. My mom shopped for me. She did everything. All that would change forever one March morning in 1983. Tell me about that morning. How old were you at that point? I was 17 years old, just a few months from being 18. Bruce admits he started his day in typical fashion. Got up, got stoned, smoked some pot,

and then I had done some speed. Around 11 AM, he says, he drove from his apartment to his parents' house. Whenever I would come over, my mom would come out on the front porch. On that day, she didn't show up. So he says he knocked on the door. No answer.

But I'm like, okay, I just want to go and see. So I start walking around the house, make my way to the living room window, and I look as far as I can, and I thought I saw her feet. So I go to the next window, which is the dining room window, and I look in. And I could see the top of my mom's head. She was on the floor.

Bruce says he searched for the Heideki. It wasn't there. And the last way that I knew to get in was the way that I had come in when I was a kid and I would miss curfew. Bruce says he entered the house through this window, but only after carefully removing the louver panes. Once inside, Bruce made his way to the entry hall. And the scene that greeted me when I got to that final door was one that I don't wish on my worst enemies. His mother lay sprawled on the floor, beaten almost beyond recognition.

She was covered in blood. She had two knives sticking out of her back. She was unconscious, but she's heaving, she's breathing, she's alive. Bruce pulled the two kitchen stake knives out of Dorca's back, then ran through the house. He says to make sure the person who did this was not still there. Then he called for help.

Help me, please. I need an ambulance right now. I'm crying. My mom is even stabbed. She's been stabbed. Quiet down. Police arrived to find a hysterical teenager, high on drugs and screaming to get the paramedics to rush his mother to the hospital. As police subdued him. They did a choke hold, they handcuffed me behind my back. They believe Bruce Lisker was not just a distraught son, but was his own mother's attacker.

but was his own mother's attacker. I mean, Bruce, here they have a young man who has said to people he hated his mother, fought with his mother, was on drugs. They get to the house and you've got blood on your hands. You're crazed. Well, you're a pretty good suspect. I was somebody who needed to be looked at. I was somebody who needed to be talked to.

At the police station, Detective Andrew Mansu listened to Bruce's story and then told him it was nothing but lies from beginning to end. He said, well, none of that fits. None of that works. You're lying. I think you did something to your mom. And I'm like, this nightmare just got worse bruce's father arrived from the hospital and told bruce his mother had died then he asked the detective when he could take his son home detective moncey said oh

he's not going home he's under arrest arrest. You can go see him at Sylmar Juvenile Hall. And he was silent. My dad was silent. He didn't even know what to say. Bruce swore he was innocent. He and his father urged police to look into his troubled friend, Mike Ryan, who had gone to the house to see Bruce's mother the day before. But Detective Monsu was focused on Bruce as the killer, and he was ready to hand the prosecutor an open and shut case.

I was absolutely convinced that Bruce Lisker was the killer and that he was guilty. 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. 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+. It's just the best idea yet. The cops said that I beat my mother. I stabbed my mother, I choked my mother, I didn't touch my mother.

I loved my mother, and my mother loved me. Back in 1983, 17-year-old Bruce Lisker's denials fell on deaf ears, says LA Times reporter Scott Glover. fell on deaf ears, says LA Times reporter Scott Glover. The police zeroed in on Lisker from day one. Detective Andrew Monceau just kept his sights locked on Lisker for the entire case. Monceau, then a young detective making his name, was determined to put Lisker in prison, telling the judge at a hearing that the pattern

of blood spatter on Bruce's T-shirt showed he had been standing over his mother at the moment he bludgeoned her. The detective's statement that there was blood spatter on your shirt. Carried the day. Carried the day and it guaranteed that I would be tried for this crime.

Mansu continued building an airtight case, a case that even included a confession. Bruce Lisker told me he did it. He murdered his mother. In 83, Robert Hughes was another prisoner housed in the cell next to Lisker. He says Lisker gave him a blow-by-blow description of the gory murder. It was this Jekyll and Hyde thing going. It got weird.

It got vicious. Faced with overwhelming evidence, Bruce's father, always at his son's side, urged him to take a deal in exchange for getting a five and a half year sentence in a juvenile facility. Bruce Lisker made an astonishing statement. He pleaded guilty. If you're an innocent man, why would you plead guilty? Because of the reality of the matter. They were trying me for first degree murder. First degree murder carried 25 years to life. At some point, your family knows the truth.

And they say, do whatever you have to to get home to us as soon as possible. Even admitting to killing your mother? It wasn't an admission. It was a false statement. It was a lie. But Bruce appeared so violent, so lacking in remorse to a team of psychologists, they advised against him going to a juvenile facility. Their evaluation was a deal breaker.

The teenager would be tried as an adult after all. Lisker was allowed to withdraw his guilty plea and enter a new plea of not guilty. Philip Rabichow, now retired, prosecuted the case. How sure were you that Bruce Lisker killed his mother? I was absolutely positive. Rabichow believed Lisker's account of the murder was riddled with lies, and he put on his star witness to prove it. The prosecution's key witness was Detective Andrew Monceau. He testified that Lisker would not have been able to see his mother from the rear of the house

on the day of the killing, as he claimed he had. According to the detective's testimony, the son's reflection would have created a mirror effect and blocked Bruce's view. To prove it, the prosecution showed this picture of Detective Mansu's reflection. How important was that bit of evidence? It was the foundation of the prosecution's case. If he was lying about that, he was lying about everything. Rabichow argued that Liskor had the opportunity, he was there, and he had a motive, money. I think he went over there to get money for

drugs and that confrontation ensued and got out of hand one hundred and fifty dollars was reported missing from dorka Liskers purse that money was never found and would remain the one hole in the prosecution's case. What did you think had happened to the $150? That it had been hidden somewhere. By whoever killed her? By Bruce Lisker. Lisker insisted there was someone else in the house that day, an intruder who killed his mother.

But prosecutors argued the key footprints, including a bloody one in the bathroom, appeared to match Lisker. There was no evidence of anyone else that could have killed Dorca Lisker. If you're trying to blame someone else, where's the killer's footprints? After a three-week trial, Bruce's fate was in the hands of the jurors.

They deliberated three days before reaching a verdict. I remember going in and just feeling physically ill, just sick to my stomach. And the bailiff read, guilty. That was it. My life's over. His sentence, 16 years to life. The years passed. The teenager became a man. And all of his appeals failed.

But one thing remained constant. How much did you work on your case? It consumed me. I mean it consumed all of my time. It was it was my every focus. Throughout it all, the one person who continued to believe in him, his dad. I would call him every day at 10 a.m. That would when bruce was 30 years old i called him his secretary said that he'd had heart attack and he didn't make it that was the most difficult point my dad was all i had and then he was gone but not without leaving bruce one last4,000, money that enabled him to keep Hope alive, despite his diminishing legal options. Hope is an interesting thing.

It's very dangerous for a prisoner. If you have it too close, you'll suffer greatly. If you let it die, then you'll begin to die in prison. And I was not gonna die in prison. In 1999, 16 years after his mother's murder, Bruce Lisker took one more leap of faith and hired a man who would change his life, a bear of an ex-cop turned private eye, Paul Ingalls.

When you took a look at Bruce Liskers' case, what was your first reaction? If you're to believe what these officers are saying on the stand, he's guilty. Guilty as the day is long. Then Paul began taking a closer look at the evidence. This is the shirt that Detective Mansu says was covered with blood? It is. Where's the blood? There is no blood. You can see there's no blood on it.

When it was tested, there was no blood on it at all. None. It was covered only in grease. As Ingalls continued looking at the case, he says he came to a stunning realization about Detective Mansou. He's a liar. Mansou's a liar. I now know beyond any shadow of a doubt, Mansou's a liar. And what did that say to you about Bruce Lisker? He may be innocent. So began a 10-year investigation. This is the Lisker War Room. We have the murder books here.

We have satellite photos. We have the bloody shoe prints. Together, this unlikely duo, an ex-cop and a convicted killer, took on one of the most powerful police forces in the country, the mighty LAPD. I started learning more about the case, and it was like this snowball just keeps getting bigger and bigger, rolling faster and faster.

And along the way, they found an unlikely ally, a cop who would do his own investigation from the inside. I lived and breathed the LAPD and I believed in the criminal justice system until the case of Bruce Lusker came across my desk and that changed me forever. I lost all of my 20s, all of my 30s. Am I going to lose all of my 40s? 50s?

Paul Ingalls hoped the answer would be no. Over the years, this tough-nosed private eye became convinced of Bruce's innocence. But he knew he could never convince a judge, not without the critical crime scene photos and other evidence locked away inside the LAPD. I would wake up at 3 in the morning trying to figure out how to get my hands on the evidence to prove that Bruce Lisker was innocent. On one of those sleepless nights, Ingalls came up with a plan. I may be slow, but I'm not stupid.

A slightly crazy plan. This is Bruce Liskers' complaint of misconduct against Andrew Monzu. Ingalls had Bruce file a complaint against Detective Andrew Monzu, accusing him of falsifying evidence. What's the chance that the LAPD is going to take a complaint from a convict seriously?

It was a shot in the dark, but you've got to take it because it was our only chance to get to those photographs. And you never know whose desk that puppy's going to land on. It landed with Sergeant Jim Gavin, a 17-year veteran of the force. Sergeant Gavin prized three things above all else. His wife, Carol, a sergeant and third-generation police officer, their four boys, and the LAPD. I lived and breathed the LAPD. I believed in everything they did. As an internal affairs investigator,

Gavin looked into allegations of misconduct against police officers, which is exactly what he did when he got Lisker's complaint against Detective Mansu. What made this case unusual? He had supporting documents. It wasn't just a piece of paper that said, hey, I didn't do it. This document in particular caught Gavin's eye. A letter Detective Mansu wrote to the parole board 15 years after the murder. In it, he claims to have found proof that Bruce Lisker stole the money from his mother's purse. The new owners, he wrote, told him they found the money hidden in the attic.

There was just one problem. At any point, did you or your wife find $150 in the attic of this house? No. That new owner, Mort Borenstein, has no memory of speaking to Detective Mansu. You believe he lied? I don't like calling a police officer a liar, but in this situation, it's hard to avoid that conclusion. Gavin checked to see if Mansu had booked the $150 into evidence, the normal procedure. He hadn't. When you realize he didn't book the money,

what's the concern at that point? That he may have submitted a false report to the parole board. And how serious is that? It's very serious. If he lied here, is there a possibility that he may have lied in other places? Gavin turned his attention to the footprints, some of the most condemning evidence at trial. In the closing arguments of the case, the deputy DA said,

look at all the footprints in the house. They're the same as Bruce Liskers. If somebody else committed this murder, where's their footprints? Where's their bloody footprints? But Gavin discovered those footprints had never been analyzed. So he sent them to the LAPD's own analyst. He then called Paul Ingalls with the results. He says, in a nutshell, the bloody shoe print

that they used to convict Bruce excludes him. It's not his shoe print. What was your reaction, Paul? I'm getting goosebumps right now. I didn't know whether to cry or yell, but now we're cooking. Here's concrete confirmation that what I've been saying all along is the truth.

And it came out of the mouth of an LAPD analyst. It's huge. What did you just realize at that moment? That maybe we actually convicted the wrong person. That maybe what Bruce Lisker was saying was the truth. Paul Ingalls believes the real killer was under Detective Mansu's nose the whole time. Who do you believe killed Dorkalisker? Absolutely Mike Ryan.

John Michael Ryan is the murderer of Dorkalisker. Mike Ryan, Bruce's violent young friend. Ingalls believes he should have been the prime suspect from the start. Mike Ryan had talked to Dorka Liskert and asked for money and odd jobs just the day before the murder. Mike Ryan had a history of violence, a fascination with knives.

Prior to the murder, Ryan was so broke he was sleeping in carports, and then... The day of the murder, he all of a sudden had enough money to rent a hotel room. ...and then gave himself a phony alibi The day of the murder, he all of a sudden had enough money to rent a hotel room. And then gave himself a phony alibi by lying about the time he checked in, says Ingalls. And as you can hear in this recording, Detective Mansu knew it. You say you checked into the motel on Thursday morning at around 11 o'clock.

Well, that's bulls**t. I went to the hotel. You checked in at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. It was somewhere around 3, I don't remember. Monsu then bizarrely drops it and lets Ryan off the hook. I don't think he was helped kill his mom. I think Boots killed his mom. I never thought you killed his mom. Detective Monsu never questioned Mike Ryan again.

Paul Ingalls and Jim Gavin never got the chance. Ryan committed suicide before either could talk to him. But Paul Ingalls did get a chance to speak with Ryan's father. He was thoroughly, totally convinced that his son had committed the murder. And he said, you know, I was happy when my son committed suicide because the world is a safer place with him gone. As the private eye and the LAPD sergeant continued tearing down the state's case, Gavin discovered a piece of evidence that, unbelievably, no one had ever noticed before. I was looking at the autopsy photos,

and right above Dorka Liskar's ear was what I saw, and I believe was a footprint, like a stomping, like somebody had placed their foot on her head. Both Gavin and Ingalls knew what they had stumbled upon 20 years after the murder. Only the killer would stomp on the back of her head. So that shoe print could be, like, awesome for Bruce Lisker, or it could be really horrible.

But before they could test that footprint, which could be the most definitive piece of evidence in the case, Gavin's investigation had taken a stunning turn. My lieutenant told me to shut it down, that that mother****** was going to stay in prison. Did I understand that? 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. 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 Marsha 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 Informants'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. From what you know today, did Bruce Lisker get a fair trial? No. Did the jury hear the real evidence of this case?

No, they didn't. It wasn't what the Los Angeles Police Department wanted to hear. Neither was this. I think Bruce Lisker was framed. I think the lead detective had fabricated evidence. I realized what I had was the key to somebody being released from prison. Sergeant Jim Gavin was about to hand over the results of his investigation to the D.A. when his lieutenant took the case out of his hands.

And he goes, you're done. This mother is going to stay in prison. Do you understand me, Sergeant Gavin? People up the chain of command decided that they were going to decide the fate of Bruce Lister. They decided he was guilty. And the new evidence that might prove otherwise, Gavin feared, would never see the light of day. I knew that this was gonna be placed in a box and stored away, never to be seen again. Bruce Lisker received notice

that his letter of complaint against Detective Mansu was unfounded and therefore denied. That had to be a low period. That was your last hope. I mean, that... and therefore denied. That had to be a low period. That was your last hope. I mean that... Yeah. And so when they denied me, I was like, eh.

I kinda knew it. But Paul said, no. Screw that. That's not where it's ending. No. Paul Ingalls knew there was only one way left to get Bruce Lisker a new trial. He paid a visit to two award-winning investigative reporters at the L.A. Times, Scott Glover and Matt Late.

Our first reaction, seriously, was to try to prove his guilt, look for a place where he had lied. They embarked on their own seven-month investigation. Eventually, Sergeant Jim Gavin made a courageous decision to reveal the evidence he had uncovered, putting his own career at risk. You could have just quit. You could have walked away from this case, Jim. Why didn't you?

As I sit here now, I don't know why. Something inside me told me to do it, so I did it. Glover and Lape shared their findings with the toughest critic they could find, the prosecutor who sent Bruce Lisker to prison, Phil Rabichow. I walked away from that meeting worried that I had convicted an innocent person. Then, just as Glover and Laidt were about to publish, the LAPD came up with disturbing news. Remember the autopsy photo Sergeant Gavin discovered showing a shoe print on Dorka Liskar's head? The LAPD told the reporters it belonged to Bruce Liskar.

I mean, it's hard for Bruce to explain how his shoe print is on his mother's head. But as it turns out, the LAPD had never even tested it. When the footprint was finally sent to the lab, the result was astounding. It was not Bruce Lisker's footprint after all. And what does it mean? It means that someone else kicked Dorka Lisker.

Not Bruce Lisker. Not Bruce Lisker. After I heard that, I said, that's it. I have a reasonable doubt as to his guilt. A man that you put away. Yep. On May 22, 2005, 20 years after Bruce Lisker was sent to prison for the murder of his mother, the L.A. Times ran Glover and Leight's expose,

questioning the evidence of the detective who put Lisker behind bars, Andrew Monceau. After it ran, Monceau retired, just left the department. Andrew Monceau refused 48 Hours' request for an interview, and he was in no mood to explain himself. Detective Monceau. When we approached him. Can I just ask you questions about the Bruce Lisker case?

You just screwed up, lady. But Andrew Monceau wasn't the only prosecution witness against Bruce Lisker. Robert Hughes testified that Lisker confessed to him through a hole in the wall from his adjoining jail cell. As Glover and Lake discovered, Lisker was placed next to Hughes in the notorious snitch tank. Robert Hughes had actually, in the span, I think, of 18 months, claimed to have heard three murder confessions.

For his testimony against Lisker, Hughes got out of jail a couple of months early. got out of jail a couple of months early. 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. Listen to Candyman, the true story behind the bathroom mirror murder, wherever you get your podcasts.

Two months after the LA Times article ran, Bruce Lisker finally got the break that had eluded him for two decades. A federal judge granted a hearing to consider new evidence in the case. That was the first time I went, oh my God, oh my God. The thought that I could see the outside of a prison cell, and I could get beyond those fences that I've been looking at the inside of, the wrong side of, for over two decades, was so overwhelming. The only way to win freedom was to convince the federal judge that no reasonable juror could now find him guilty. And that meant discrediting one last piece of evidence,

what the prosecutor said was Bruce Lisker's biggest lie. Philip Rabichow, in his closing arguments to the jury, said his most condemning lie is that he could see his mother through the dining room window. The LA Times reporters had already been to the Lisker home to recreate the crime scene. Now Ingalls and lawyers from both sides went to conduct their own examination. Turn this way a little bit.

Ingalls retraced the path Bruce Sezzi took that morning at the same time of day. First to the window Detective Monsu claimed was impossible to see through because of the glare. Papa, I can see her feet. It looks like feet, but it's hard to tell for sure because there is a little bit of reflection. That's when Bruce says he walked to the other window for a better look. From here, Rabichow told the jury, it would have been impossible for Bruce Lisker to see his mother's head on the floor.

You are looking at exactly what Bruce Lisker saw the morning of March 10th, 1983. You wouldn't lie. You can see. You can clearly see. Twenty years after confidently telling jurors this was Bruce Lisker's big lie. My strongest piece of evidence I do not feel exists anymore. I can't say that it was a lie. Every piece of evidence that the prosecutor showed at trial has been proven to be false.

It would take four more long years. But finally, in August 2009, Bruce Lisker heard an answer to his pleas. A federal judge ruled that Lisker was convicted on false evidence and that he must be retried or set free. It was a validation. You've been vindicated. Vindicated, a statement by somebody outside, not working for me, that yes, everything that you say is true.

But incredibly, the DA refused to give up. Bruce Lister would face a second trial for the murder of his mother. What if you're convicted again? What other choice do I have? I have none. You want to try me? Let's go into court. 7 a.m. on August 13, 2009, my dream came true. After 26 years behind bars, a federal judge orders Bruce Lisker free on bail, pending his new trial. This is just absolutely amazing. Overwhelming, overwhelming.

It hasn't hit. There to pick him up, the man who helped free him. This would not be happening without you, man. Paul Ingalls. It was really pretty cool, you know. He was standing under a tree and he's staring at this tree. And I looked over at him and I said, Bruce, you look really weird looking at that tree.

I don't have any trees on the prison grounds, man. He goes, I haven't seen a tree in 26 years. What are you going to do first when you get back to L.A.? Take a swim. Despite the joy of the moment, Bruce knew his freedom could disappear as quickly as a wave back into the sea. Six weeks after his release, he goes back to court. Hey, Bruce, how did it feel?

Feeling good today? Feeling great. Well, we saw the district attorney walk in. He didn't have any boxes in his hand. 27 years is a very long time. The DA says he still believes Bruce Lisker killed his mother. Memories have faded. The DA says he still believes Bruce Lisker killed his mother. Memories have faded.

But too much time has passed to retry the case. And they had no choice but to dismiss the charges. It was just like, did I just hear that? And then, yeah. It's over. It's over. It's over. You're over. It's over. You're a free man.

Yes, I am. Both the LAPD and the District Attorney's Office declined to answer questions about the Lisker case, citing a lawsuit Lisker has now filed against the city. What did Bruce miss out on? the city. What did Bruce miss out on? Oh my goodness. A career, a family, marriage, college. How do you give that back?

There's no way. Bruce Lisker wasn't the only one to pay a heavy price. Sergeant Jim Gavin says doing the right thing cost him his career. How would you describe yourself within the LAPD now? Ostracized. That's the best way to describe it. Ostracized.

Gavin is still working at the LAPD and was promoted to lieutenant after excelling on the civil service exam. But in a lawsuit, he claimed the LAPD retaliated by sidelining his once promising career. The LAPD argued that Gavin, who had no training as a homicide detective, acted well beyond his area of expertise. Gavin lost the suit. Are you taking risks talking to us?

Absolutely. I would honestly be surprised if I am not disciplined for doing this. But you're doing it anyway. Because I want people to know. This could happen to you. This could happen to your loved ones. This should not

happen. Do you think if you had known then what you know now, Bruce Lisker would ever have been convicted? Well, I wouldn't have prosecuted him if I knew then everything I know now. Yet even so, some of the evidence in the original case troubles prosecutor Philip Rabichow to this day. Like Lisker's story of seeing his mother lying on the floor and then getting into the house by carefully

removing the louvered kitchen windows. It's more consistent with somebody who snuck into the house than it is with somebody who is breaking into the house to save his mother's life. Who you believe killed dorka lisker then i still think that there's a lot of evidence that points toward him and that he did it i'm just not sure i just don't know for anyone who still has questions i'm going to ask this question did you have anything to do with the death of your mother? Absolutely not. I would bet everything I own, my eyesight, my life, everything, I know that Bruce Lisker did not murder his mother. I'm absolutely convinced of it. There's no doubt in my mind. Paul Ingalls never gave up. Of all the cases you've had,

where would you put this? Oh, it's number one. It's dream come true. Dream come true. Jim Gavin put his career on the line. Would you do it again? Unfortunately, knowing me, I would do it again. You would? I would. In 1983, a frightened teenager disappeared into the California prison system. Today, against all odds, the man who vowed he would never die behind bars finally walks free.

What's next? Everything. Everything. Incredibly, the state asked the court to return Bruce Lisker to prison. The reason, not based on any evidence, but on a technicality. Arguing Lisker was late filing his petition for release. A judge rejected that motion. A judge rejected that motion. Bruce Lisker's civil suit against the city of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Police Department for wrongful conviction was settled for $7.6 million. If you like this podcast, you can listen ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app.

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