Were there any instances where the cops had the wrong idea about who committed a crime or simply horribly bungled the crime scene investigation?
The Freeman/Bible case comes to mind here.
And them thinking Dub Wackerhagen killed Latricia White and ran off with his son. Turns out now they believe her ex-husband was involved in her death.

I have thought about this while working on the database.

To start with, UM had a decent number of segments that were challenging the law enforcement narrative in a case. Arguably in those LE got it wrong, although not surprisingly they have not admitted to it in very many.

What you seem to be asking however is more along the lines of when UM presented the LE line, how often did that turn out to be wrong? Seems to me that has been fairly uncommon.

More common in my mind are the various cases "solved" by LE that appear to be done shoddily. Often this takes the form of closing a case without a conviction based on a theory about who may have done it. But in at least a few cases someone has been convicted by a case that was weak and should not have passed muster.

Two words: Patricia Stallings

Two words: Patricia Stallings

^ This one, although I can understand why they went wrong and why they were so sure they were right. I wouldn't expect the average police officer or even prosecutor to know what inborn errors of metabolism are. It was those physicians who heard about the story on television who are really responsible for cracking this case. What happened to Patty wasn't right, but it's not surprising to me that it did.

I bumped one of the threads about it recently so it's fresh on my mind: Kevin Ives and Don Henry's crime scene was pretty well bungled. The crime scene map was drawn with the back of the train being the central point of reference, so of course when the train eventually moved on, the map was rendered useless. Evidence was allegedly lost (i.e., the infamous tarp). One of Kevin Ives' feet was actually left at the scene for two days before it was eventually found and retrieved. The medical examiner's godawful investigation. That one was about as bad as bad can get.

Jaclyn Dowaliby. What those parents went through, with the father being convicted, and the murder is still unsolved...

Roger Dean

Little girl neighbor insisted she saw a black guy running away from the scene and was largely ignored because the cops initially believed that it was some sort of an inside job.

I can't think of a better example than Johnny Lee Wilson. What laughable "evidence" they used to coerce that poor kid into falsely confessing and any sane judge and/or jury would have immediately thrown the case out. I think my mother once stored some of her clothes in my closet when I lived at home so apparently that makes me a murderer? Make it make sense! I get angry watching David Dowaliby and Patty Stallings too but at least I can see some of the (twisted) logic the prosecutors used. I am 100% convinced not only of his innocent but also he wouldn't even hurt a fly.

Amy Bechtel was also never given the closure she deserved because the cops lied to Steve about "proof" they had against him and destroyed his trust and cooperation. If they spent half that time using common sense they could have officially nailed Dale Eaton for it. I am shocked and how many people think Steve must be guilty because he wisely stopped cooperating: no rational person would have done anything differently.

I can't think of a better example than Johnny Lee Wilson. What laughable "evidence" they used to coerce that poor kid into falsely confessing and any sane judge and/or jury would have immediately thrown the case out. I think my mother once stored some of her clothes in my closet when I lived at home so apparently that makes me a murderer? Make it make sense! I get angry watching David Dowaliby and Patty Stallings too but at least I can see some of the (twisted) logic the prosecutors used. I am 100% convinced not only of his innocent but also he wouldn't even hurt a fly.

Amy Bechtel was also never given the closure she deserved because the cops lied to Steve about "proof" they had against him and destroyed his trust and cooperation. If they spent half that time using common sense they could have officially nailed Dale Eaton for it. I am shocked and how many people think Steve must be guilty because he wisely stopped cooperating: no rational person would have done anything differently.


I agree with each of these.

There is another case. I can’t remember if it was UM of Forensic Files. Captain of a fishing boat hired a guy as a hand that was slow, like Johnny Wilson, but able to work. I can’t remember his name, but I believe his regular job was in a local grocery store.

The boat took on water and sank. The captain was killed and the young man managed to get rescued. LE immediately decided he murdered the captain and he was interrogated the same way as Johnny Wilson. Tried and imprisoned, he was later exonerated.

Roger Dean

Little girl neighbor insisted she saw a black guy running away from the scene and was largely ignored because the cops initially believed that it was some sort of an inside job.

Next month marks the 40-year anniversary of Roger's murder.

Looks like Michael Jefferson got his sentence in January 2025. I knew DJ was no longer with us but I did NOT know that she committed suicide in 2020, just several months before Jefferson was identified.

https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/michael-jefferson-sentenced-1985-murder-roger-dean-cold-case-colorado/

I knew DJ was no longer with us but I did NOT know that she committed suicide in 2020, just several months before Jefferson was identified.

It was never mentioned on UM, but apparently, LE thought DJ and/or her daughter were involved with Roger's murder and that's why they discounted the 9 year old neighbor's testimony from the onset.

Two words: Patricia Stallings

That poor woman...the amount of pain and suffering she had to endure. :crying:

Next month marks the 40-year anniversary of Roger's murder.

Looks like Michael Jefferson got his sentence in January 2025. I knew DJ was no longer with us but I did NOT know that she committed suicide in 2020, just several months before Jefferson was identified.

https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/michael-jefferson-sentenced-1985-murder-roger-dean-cold-case-colorado/

I feel bad for Tamara. Her brother gets killed by a train. Her father is murdered. Her mother commits suicide. I hope Tamara has good people in her life to get her through.

It was never mentioned on UM, but apparently, LE thought DJ and/or her daughter were involved with Roger's murder and that's why they discounted the 9 year old neighbor's testimony from the onset.

Why would they have thought that, especially the daughter?

Why would they have thought that, especially the daughter?

They were openly skeptical in the segment thinking it was an inside job that got out of hand. I believe once the extortion letters started, they thought it was something concocted between DJ and her daughter to throw off the investigation.

Sheriff Ed Allmaras in the Kathy Bonderson case who incorrectly insisted her death was caused by an accident.

Tony Miller, who was exonerated after serving 9 years in prison.

On this subject, I recommend the book Framed by John Grisham and Jim McCloskey which focuses on 10 separate cases of wrongful convictions. There's definitely a common thread of false confessions

Bike Path Rapist / Altemio Sanchez - officers dropped the ball 25 years before they captured him by having him on the radar and didnt do proper follow up. Results of that critical mistake - many more sexual assults on women, including 3 murders and poor Anthony Capozzi locked up 22 years for 2 crimes Sanchez commited.

I feel bad for Tamara. Her brother gets killed by a train. Her father is murdered. Her mother commits suicide. I hope Tamara has good people in her life to get her

Don’t forget, within a few months of the brother being killed by a train, DJ’s parents were both killed in a car accident. This is a family that experiences never ending cycles of tragedy.

Don’t forget, within a few months of the brother being killed by a train, DJ’s parents were both killed in a car accident. This is a family that experiences never ending cycles of tragedy.

Unsolved Mysteries bungled that information. Doris' (DJ) parents, Elvin and Alta Atkins, did indeed die in an auto accident, but that was on December 8, 1969, years before Troy and Roger's own deaths.

Just thought of another one: how on earth did Luis Diaz get fingered, let alone convicted as the Bird Road Rapist? There was literally no evidence aside from eyewitness statements, several later recanting. One victim even said the attacker was about 6'2" and Luis was 5'3" 120lbs: doesn't sound like much on paper but as a 6'6" guy married to someone 5'5" I completely tower over her and there is no way you couldn't notice the height difference. That's not getting into how he was an immigrant cook (who even back then usually worked ridiculous hours), would have had obvious smells on his clothes and SPOKE NO ENGLISH when the attacker was fluent. What is most shocking of all was not that he was found guilty but the judge said he had never seen a more obvious guilty verdict.

I took a deep dive to see what we are not being told and this is pretty much the whole story. What a joke of a settlement he got for over a quarter century wrongly locked up too.

I agree with all these. Say what you will about the Danny Casolara case but I think police screwed that one up. Also the case of Larry Costine. Detective Ore believed Jo’s ex-boyfriend’s alibi, and that Jo was still alive and probably responsible for Larry’s murder. Now we know it was indeed her ex boyfriend.

Sheriff Ed Allmaras in the Kathy Bonderson case who incorrectly insisted her death was caused by an accident.

Tony Miller, who was exonerated after serving 9 years in prison.

On this subject, I recommend the book Framed by John Grisham and Jim McCloskey which focuses on 10 separate cases of wrongful convictions. There's definitely a common thread of false confessions

Kathy Bonderson is a great segment to watch where you can see the importance of evidence gathering and thorough detective work. I found Sherriff Allmaras to be arrogant and he let his pride get the best of him.

Just thought of another one: how on earth did Luis Diaz get fingered, let alone convicted as the Bird Road Rapist? There was literally no evidence aside from eyewitness statements, several later recanting. One victim even said the attacker was about 6'2" and Luis was 5'3" 120lbs: doesn't sound like much on paper but as a 6'6" guy married to someone 5'5" I completely tower over her and there is no way you couldn't notice the height difference. That's not getting into how he was an immigrant cook (who even back then usually worked ridiculous hours), would have had obvious smells on his clothes and SPOKE NO ENGLISH when the attacker was fluent. What is most shocking of all was not that he was found guilty but the judge said he had never seen a more obvious guilty verdict.

I took a deep dive to see what we are not being told and this is pretty much the whole story. What a joke of a settlement he got for over a quarter century wrongly locked up too.
I got the sense that the detectives in that case were like sharks smelling blood in the water. they didn't seem to care who got charged, they found a suspect and preyed upon him by framing the eye witness testimony. There's also the Jeanine Nicarico segment where Rolando Cruz went to death row, wrongfully convicted of her murder. The murderer confessed and the evidence aligned with his confession, in spite of this the state of Illinois still took a long time and only when pressured by the media did they act to release Cruz.

I can't think of a better example than Johnny Lee Wilson. What laughable "evidence" they used to coerce that poor kid into falsely confessing and any sane judge and/or jury would have immediately thrown the case out. I think my mother once stored some of her clothes in my closet when I lived at home so apparently that makes me a murderer? Make it make sense! I get angry watching David Dowaliby and Patty Stallings too but at least I can see some of the (twisted) logic the prosecutors used. I am 100% convinced not only of his innocent but also he wouldn't even hurt a fly.

Amy Bechtel was also never given the closure she deserved because the cops lied to Steve about "proof" they had against him and destroyed his trust and cooperation. If they spent half that time using common sense they could have officially nailed Dale Eaton for it. I am shocked and how many people think Steve must be guilty because he wisely stopped cooperating: no rational person would have done anything differently.
It took a few days and the crime scene and all potential forensic evidence was completely compromised by the time they even considered Amy to be a victim of foul play. Some of that is hindsight being 20/20 because everyone thought Amy was most likely injured and would be found. the lead investigator was later dismissed for taking cocaine from evidence lockers. not exactly the hallmark of integrity. I do think Eaton should have been investigated initially when the lead came in from his brother. Eaton was known to frequent that area and other areas in the Shoshone National Forest. It is unusual for siblings to lie about something like that. If it weren't for the Unabomber's brother tipping off police, that case may have not been solved.