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When cameras become catalysts for justice... Join us as we explore gripping documentaries that changed the fate of criminal cases! These powerful films either freed the innocent or ensured the guilty couldn't escape, proving that sometimes the most effective detectives are the ones holding the camera.
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00:00I am complicit in Kathy's not being here.
00:03Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're delving into the gripping true stories
00:06where the tireless work of documentary filmmakers played a pivotal role
00:10in bringing perpetrators to justice or exonerating the wrongly accused.
00:14The Thin Blue Line
00:16Any prosecutor can convict a guilty man.
00:19It takes a great prosecutor to convict an innocent man.
00:22Errol Morris' groundbreaking 1988 documentary didn't just investigate a crime.
00:26It directly intervened to correct a profound injustice.
00:29The film meticulously re-examined the November 1976 murder of Dallas, Texas police officer Robert W. Wood
00:35for which Randall Dale Adams had been wrongly convicted and sentenced to death.
00:39Through extensive interviews with Adams, the actual killer, David Harris, and key witnesses,
00:43Morris systematically dismantled the prosecution's case.
00:46You have a DA.
00:49He doesn't talk about when they convict you or how they convict you.
00:56He's talking about how he's going to kill you.
00:58He exposed numerous inconsistencies, coerced confessions, and dubious testimonies that had led to Adams' conviction.
01:04The film's powerful narrative made it abundantly clear that Adams was innocent, and that Harris was the true culprit.
01:09Not long after the film's release, Adams' conviction was overturned, and he was released from prison.
01:13Well, what do you think about whether or not he's innocent?
01:16I'm sure he is.
01:19How can you be sure?
01:23Because I'm the one that knows.
01:24The Paradise Lost trilogy.
01:26Do you feel that the people that did this were worshipping, uh...
01:28Satan?
01:29Yes, I do.
01:30Why?
01:31And...
01:31Just look at the freaks.
01:34I mean, just look at them.
01:36They look like punks.
01:37The chilling 1993 murders of three eight-year-old boys in West Memphis, Arkansas,
01:42led to what became one of America's most infamous miscarriages of justice.
01:45The documentary exposed the satanic panic that gripped the community,
01:49showcasing how the boys perceived as outsiders and dabblers in heavy metal
01:52were railroaded by a justice system eager for quick convictions.
01:56Satanic panic.
01:57Yeah, that's a scary thing.
02:02But it's a scarier thing to convict someone with no evidence.
02:05The subsequent films continued to follow the case as new DNA evidence emerged,
02:10galvanizing public support and attracting celebrity advocates.
02:13This sustained media attention and the new DNA testing it helped fund
02:16ultimately led to the West Memphis Three's release on August 19, 2011.
02:20But to me, the state's acceptance of an Alfred foot,
02:23in which they maintain their innocence and releasing them,
02:27is evidence of the state's recognition of their innocence.
02:30Murder on a Sunday morning.
02:32In 2000, a terrifying incident in Jacksonville, Florida,
02:35saw an elderly tourist, Mary Ann Stevens, fatally attacked.
02:38The article said that a 15-year-old black kid had shot and murdered a white tourist
02:44and that he had confessed.
02:47And if it's true, that appeared to be the end of the story.
02:49Police quickly apprehended a 15-year-old black teenager named Brenton Butler,
02:53who was walking near the scene.
02:54Murder on a Sunday morning meticulously documented Butler's coerced confession,
02:58extracted after 12 hours of intense questioning by without his parents or legal representation present.
03:04Wouldn't it be relatively simple to go out and ask his parents,
03:08was he home?
03:11Yes, sir.
03:12Did you do that?
03:13No, I didn't.
03:14Crucially, the documentary followed tenacious public defense attorney Patrick McGinnis
03:18as he skillfully dismantled the prosecution's flimsy case.
03:21The cameras in the courtroom provided an unvarnished look at the proceedings,
03:25culminating in a dramatic and emotional acquittal for Brenton Butler on November 21st, 2000.
03:30Verdict as to count one.
03:32We, the jury, find the defendant not guilty.
03:34Please, please, please, everyone, please, please maintain the quorum in the courtroom.
03:41The staircase.
03:42What's wrong?
03:43My wife had an accident.
03:44She's still breathing.
03:45What kind of accident?
03:46She's out on the stairs.
03:48She's still breathing.
03:48Please come.
03:49Is she conscious?
03:50What?
03:50Is she conscious?
03:51No, she's not conscious.
03:52When Kathleen Peterson was found dead at the bottom of a staircase in her Durham, North Carolina
03:56home on December 9th, 2001, her husband, novelist Michael Peterson, claimed she fell.
04:01The ensuing murder trial captivated the nation.
04:03And Jean-Xavier de la Strade, the Oscar-winning director behind Murder on a Sunday Morning,
04:07was behind the camera to capture it all.
04:09And then I can remember, and it must have been very early while I was still in the kitchen,
04:14that a cop was on me instantly.
04:16Everywhere I went, a policeman was there.
04:18The film didn't explicitly solve the crime in the traditional sense,
04:21but rather laid bare the intricate legal battle, the conflicting evidence,
04:24and the various theories surrounding Kathleen's death.
04:26Ultimately, Michael entered an Alford plea on February 24th, 2017, for voluntary manslaughter,
04:31acknowledging that the prosecution had enough evidence to convict him without admitting guilt.
04:35Even though it's been 10 years, it's just like yesterday.
04:41It's just as alive to me, and I love her as much today as I did 10 years ago.
04:48Mississippi cold case.
04:49You know, David, when you first got involved in it, were you just hoping to shed light on the story
04:54and give these men, you know, justice?
04:58Or were you expecting the case to be solved?
05:00The depths of racial hatred and injustice during the civil rights era was brutally exposed
05:04in the horrific 1964 abduction and murder of two black teenagers,
05:08Charles Eddie Moore and Henry D., in Meadville, Franklin County, Mississippi.
05:12Mississippi cold case spearheaded by investigative journalist Jerry Mitchell
05:15and Canadian filmmaker David Ridgett meticulously pierced together the events of May 2nd, 1964.
05:20They had been killed by the same Klan group as the Mississippi burning case two months earlier,
05:25and nothing had been done.
05:27So I was interested in, basically, because they were black and not wealthy,
05:31their case did not come to the forefront.
05:34It directly highlighted the role of James Ford Seale,
05:36a Klansman long suspected by the FBI but never charged.
05:39In June 2007, Seale was arrested, tried, and ultimately convicted of two counts of kidnapping
05:43and one count of conspiracy to commit murder, receiving three life sentences,
05:47finally bringing closure to the victim's families over 40 years after the heinous crime.
05:52And I knew that I had built myself a living jail, you know, the hate and anger,
05:58and once I realized that I could forgive him.
06:01The Jinx.
06:02For the record, tell the ladies and gentlemen that you read your name.
06:06Robert Durst.
06:07This HBO miniseries explored the bizarre and chilling life of real estate heir Robert Durst,
06:12a man connected to three suspicious deaths over three decades.
06:15The series meticulously presented existing evidence, unearthed new details,
06:19and built a compelling case against Durst across all three crimes.
06:22The climax, however, was truly unforgettable.
06:23What the hell are you doing?
06:34Kill them all.
06:35Of course.
06:38His shocking hot mic confession combined with the newly discovered evidence that the filmmakers
06:41presented to authorities directly led to Durst's arrest for Susan Berman's murder on the eve of the documentary's final episode.
06:48It culminated in Durst's conviction on September 17th, 2021, and subsequent life sentence without parole.
06:53He died in prison in January 2022.
06:55Two years later, HBO aired a second season of The Jinx.
06:58I've said nothing to nobody about anything.
07:02So people out there have gotten very used to the fact they can say anything you want,
07:06because I'm never going to give an interview, so it's never going to be disputed.
07:10The keepers.
07:10There's no doubt that the nun returns to her parking space,
07:14but no one has proved that she ever came back to her apartment.
07:19Instead, she vanished.
07:22In 1969, the mysterious murder of Sister Kathy Sesnick,
07:26a beloved nun and English teacher at Archbishop Keough High School in Baltimore, Maryland,
07:29sent shockwaves through the community and remained unsolved for nearly 50 years.
07:33The keepers followed former students of Sister Kathy,
07:35notably Gemma Hoskins and Abby Fitzgerald,
07:37now grown women as they relentlessly pursued justice for their teacher.
07:40This is not Abby and Gemma sitting at a table being detectives or playing Clue.
07:46It's wrong.
07:47It's wrong what's happened, but they're still unsolved.
07:50We need justice for Kathy Sesnick and Joyce Malucki.
07:54Believing her disappearance on November 7th, 1969,
07:57and the discovery of her body on January 2nd, 1970,
08:00was connected to a widespread pattern of sexual abuse by priests and staff at the school.
08:04The documentary exposed horrific allegations of systemic abuse
08:07within the Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore,
08:09specifically implicating Father Joseph Maskell and others.
08:12When you take a look at where she lived and where she was found,
08:17it's just too many coincidences.
08:20Surviving R. Kelly.
08:21The world had whispered about R. Kelly's predatory behavior for decades,
08:24but it was Lifetime's six-part documentary series
08:26that finally ripped away the veil of celebrity.
08:28He was a hero.
08:34Robert, how do you feel?
08:35Was it you on the take?
08:36The series courageously brought together multiple women,
08:39including Jahonda Pace and Lisa Van Allen,
08:41who bravely shared their harrowing accounts of abuse, manipulation, and coercion
08:45at the hands of the Grammy-winning singer.
08:47The public outrage that followed was immense,
08:49sparking widespread hashtag mute R. Kelly campaigns
08:51and reigniting legal investigations that had stalled for years.
08:55I met Aaliyah once at the studio at CRC.
08:59At that point, I didn't see anything unusual,
09:04except a producer working with an artist.
09:09Within months of the documentary's release,
09:10R. Kelly was arrested on multiple federal and state charges,
09:13culminating in his conviction for racketeering and trafficking in Brooklyn, New York,
09:17on September 27th, 2021,
09:19and further convictions in Chicago, Illinois, on September 14th, 2022.
09:23There's a difference between R. Kelly and Robert.
09:27R. Kelly is this fun, laughing, loving guy.
09:31But Robert is the devil.
09:34Who killed Malcolm X?
09:35What you're saying is that the FBI has in its records,
09:39and indeed all along did,
09:42a narrative that would exonerate you?
09:45Oh, yes.
09:46More than half a century after the assassination of civil rights icon Malcolm X
09:49on February 21st, 1965,
09:51at the Audubon Ballroom in New York City,
09:53the question of who truly pulled the trigger remained fraught with controversy,
09:57particularly regarding the guilt of two of the convicted men,
09:59Muhammad Aziz and Khalil Islam.
10:01The series didn't just question the original trial.
10:04It presented compelling arguments about prosecutorial misconduct
10:07and the failure of both the FBI and the NYPD
10:09to disclose critical exculpatory evidence.
10:12Why would you leave a piece of evidence like that
10:14all those years that have been down there?
10:18In the basement.
10:19In a stunning development on November 18th, 2021,
10:22Aziz and Islam were officially exonerated by D.A. Cyrus Vance Jr.,
10:25who acknowledged that errors were made
10:27and that their convictions violated their constitutional rights.
10:30If a branch is not getting enough light,
10:31it will bend and twist and do whatever it has to do to get light.
10:37And people should do the same thing, but they often don't.
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10:56I'll be gone in the dark.
10:57Every investigator I know that's been given the opportunity
11:01to examine this case feels that it's the case
11:06that they want solved before they die.
11:08The chilling moniker Golden State Killer
11:09became synonymous with a reign of terror
11:11that spanned California from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s.
11:15HBO's docu-series, based on the unfinished,
11:17posthumously published book by true crime author Michelle McNamara,
11:20brought the decades-old case back into the national consciousness
11:23with unprecedented urgency.
11:24Part of the thrill of the game for him, I believe,
11:27was a kind of connect-the-dots puzzle he played with people.
11:32You may not think you have something in common with your neighbor,
11:36but you do.
11:38McNamara, who tragically passed away in April 2016,
11:41before completing her manuscript,
11:42dedicated years to obsessively researching the assailant.
11:45It was in April 2018, just two months after the documentary's book publication
11:49and before the series premiere that police used revolutionary genetic genealogy
11:53to identify and arrest Joseph James D'Angelo, a former police officer.
11:57D'Angelo pleaded guilty to 13 murders and other crimes on August 21st, 2020.
12:01After four decades of searching for this guy,
12:04it came down to testing a piece of tissue from his trash can outside.
12:11It was a 100% match to the Golden State Killer's DNA.
12:16Did we miss any other crimes that documentaries help solve?
12:18Let us know in the comments down below.
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