The Fire, The Lie, The Frame-Up: Why Michael Politte Was Accused of Murdering His Mother, Rita Politte

What was supposed to be an ordinary Saturday morning became the moment that would define and nearly destroy 14-year-old Michael Politte's life. We dive into the devastating 1998 case where a house fire in Florida led to a wrongful accusation that tore a family apart.

• The Tragedy: Michael woke up to the smell of smoke and crawled through his burning home, only to find his mother, Rita Politte, on fire in the hallway. Tragically, Rita died from her injuries.

• The Immediate Accusation: Before the smoke even cleared, investigators and medical examiners were pointing the finger at Michael. Due to the unusual nature of the fire and the location of the body, authorities immediately suspected the teenager, not the fire, was the cause of Rita's death.

• The Coerced Confession: Michael, a traumatized minor, was subjected to intense, long interrogations. We explore the shocking details of how investigators manipulated the frightened young man until he provided a false, coerced statement that contradicted the forensic evidence.

• The Fight for Justice: Michael was arrested and spent months in a juvenile detention facility, accused of murdering the person he loved most. The subsequent court battle, however, proved that the evidence—including the fire's origin and the lack of physical indicators of assault—simply did not support the state's case. He was eventually acquitted.

Join us as we detail this frustrating story of a mother lost to a tragedy and the horrific injustice faced by her son, who was wrongfully framed for a crime he did not commit. The true killer of Rita Politte has never been identified.

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TRANSCRIPT:

[00:00:00] What was supposed to be an ordinary Saturday morning became the moment that would define and nearly destroy 14-year-old Michael Pal's life. He woke up to the smell of smoke, crawled through his burning home, and found his mother on fire in the hallway. Within days, Michael was behind bars and being accused of murdering the one person he loved the most.

Hey guys, and welcome to the Moms and Mysteries podcast. A True Crime Podcast featuring myself, Mandy, and my dear friend Melissa. Hi, Melissa. Hi, Mandy. How are you? I am hanging in there. Hanging in there. Well, that's all I got for you if you're trying to beat the heat. I have a suggestion. I went, well, I mean, is it, I don't know.

I think I'm late to this, but my daughter and I went to go see Superman today and it was so good. Can you believe it? Superman beats the heat. Superman beats the heat. It was so good. I'm not like a superhero movies gal. Marvel's not my thing. [00:01:00] Avengers, no, thank you. I don't even know if Superman falls into either of those Right, but, or which one it does, if any.

I know, but I grew up watching, um, what was it, the new adventures of Lois and Clark when I was a kid, so, oh yeah. For whatever reason, I really love Superman. So, um, yeah, it was really good. People have been saying how good it is, but I'm like, sure, whatever. I don't care. I loved it. I really did. Awesome. This is like me with the Barbie movie all over again.

I see one movie a year and then I rave about it and then I won't go again. 'cause it's like $30 even for a matinee. Yeah. I'm not really like a comic book like, like fan or connoisseur or anything like that, or a superhero. Um, even though I have two boys, you would think that I could. At some point, definitely.

Yeah. It gets definitely, yeah, would've gotten me into it. But I do actually enjoy the live action, like all the Marvel movies and stuff that they've done. I think they've all turned out pretty well. My, um, kids do like to watch those. They watch pretty much. They've seen all of them. I have, this is the second Superman movie, right?

That I don't if it is, I don't know, maybe a different [00:02:00] person made it. This is with James Gunn, who's done like Guardians of the Galaxy, stuff like that. He's got like whatever IP I guess, to do these other things. But, um, it's, it's. It didn't seem like the second part of a two part. Okay. If that was it, it felt very much a standalone, but yeah, if you even like kind of have an interest in seeing it, I really enjoyed it.

Yeah. Well that's good to know. Maybe I'll take, uh, my boys before they go back to school. Good idea. Yeah. So our story this week begins in the small rural community of Hopewell, Missouri. Michael Pite was the youngest of three kids born to Rita Ann Smith and Ed Pale. Rita herself had a tragic childhood when both of her parents, Ollie and Marian died when she was just three years old.

They were going through a divorce and after a hearing where Marian was awarded custody and child support, Ollie snapped less than two hours after that hearing, he showed up at Marian's sister's house where she and the kids were staying. He had a shotgun and he demanded that Marian leave with him. When she refused, he shot her in the [00:03:00] face.

Marian's sister was also injured before Ali turned the gun on himself. The police found a new shotgun with the price tag still on next to the bodies, and they learned that Ali had bought it right after the court hearing and had the barrel sought off before he drove to the house. But despite this horrific start in life, Rita was always described as being someone who was happy and always smiling and laughing.

Rita and Ed raised their children in Hopewell. It was an area that felt so safe that they didn't even need to lock their doors. Their son, Michael, who went by Bernie as a child, was extremely close with his mom and could always be found hugging her or just attached at the hip to her. Unfortunately, ed was mentally and physically abusive, and he was frequently unfaithful to Rita.

At times, their arguments would turn physical and there was one incident where the police were called and Michael told an officer that his dad pushed his mom to the floor and choked her. According to Michael's sisters, their dad would often put [00:04:00] little Michael in the middle of adult arguments. In the summer of 1998, Rita and Ed divorced after 20 years of marriage, and this was largely due to Ed's infidelity.

This was not a pleasant divorce whatsoever. There were ongoing court battles over financial settlements, including child and spousal support, as well as squabbles over Ed's retirement. After the divorce was finalized, ed moved around 90 minutes away to Hazelwood, Missouri with his then girlfriend. Even though Ed actually offered to pay his son Michael to live with him, Michael chose to stay with his mom and sister, Melanie in Hopewell.

By that time, his oldest sister, crystal, was already an adult and had moved out. Michael struggled significantly after his parents' divorce. He started acting out and eventually he became truant from school. At one point, he threatened to kill his mom and himself, which led to him being hospitalized, but he later admitted that he didn't mean the threats, he was just lashing out.

Sometime around December 1st, 1998, [00:05:00] Rita had reached a significant financial settlement against Ed. She was awarded child support, alimony, and half of his retirement. And of course, ed was not happy with this and he had an outburst in the courtroom and shouted that Rita would never live to see a dime of that money.

His daughters later told 48 hours that when it came to their dad quote, you don't mess with his money. But still this threat was eerily similar to how Rita's own mother was killed when she was just a toddler. On the night of December 4th, 1998, Rita was out for a night with her friends. Her daughter Melanie, was at a friend's house and 14-year-old.

Michael was supposed to be with Ed, but Ed had called to say he wasn't going to be able to pick him up until the next day. Michael, who was home alone and bored, went down to the Hopewell store and met up with some friends to play pool. Then they stopped at a graveyard before heading back to his house to play video games.

Michael invited his friend Josh to spend the night and at around [00:06:00] 11:00 PM the boys went to the railroad tracks near their home and tried to burn a railroad tie before they returned home around midnight. Now my son is interested in fires, lights, lighting things. My husband apparently was a total pyro as a kid, but this does not seem like a very strange things like an unsupervised kid like.

No lighting anything on fire, right? No, not at all. I actually have a very vivid memory and I was probably, I mean, I was younger than Michael was here, probably I was maybe 12. But I have a vivid memory of my friend and I pretend like we were outside playing, pretend like we were out camping, but we were actually trying to light a fire like in my backyard, like with like sticks and leaves and stuff.

Literally just thinking we're just like playing and like, I don't know where I even found a lighter or just some, I don't even know where we got it from. You know? Of course our, my mom had no idea that we're in the backyard lighting sticks and no like leaves. Is on fire and stuff. But yeah, I can definitely see a just kids doing something like that, for sure.

Absolutely. Yeah. A short time later, [00:07:00] Rita returned home with sandwiches for herself and Michael. Michael shared his sandwich with Josh while Rita listened to messages on the phone and then went to bed. Michael and Josh went to sleep a short time later with Josh sleeping on the floor next to Michael's bed.

At around six 30 the next morning, Michael awoke to the smell of smoke. He asked Josh if he was smoking a cigarette, but he said no. When they opened the bedroom door, they realized that the house was filled with smoke. As the boys crawled to escape, Michael stopped at his mom's room and found something he never expected.

His mother was on fire in her doorway. Michael ran to get the hose outside, but it wouldn't reach which. Breaks my heart. Oh my gosh. The thought of this poor little kid grabbing a hose, which, you know, as an adult, like we know that's not gonna work, right? But like a kid, you know, doing whatever he can to help his mom.

But his friend Josh, ran to a neighbor who called 9 1 1. Two other neighbors, including Michael's uncle Chuck ran into the home and [00:08:00] tried to put out the fire with a pan of water. The fire department and first responders soon arrived and 40-year-old Rita was tragically pronounced dead first investigator, Jim Holdman was called to the scene and he arrived around 7:30 AM He found Rita lying face up on the floor with her leg spread.

She was wearing only underwear and her body was burned from her pelvis to her head. There was blood on Rita's left thigh, some on the floor, the carpet, a light switch, and a few drops on her bed sheet. The burns had gone through the carpet and the wood. An autopsy later showed that Rita had died of carbon monoxide poisoning, but she had also sustained blunt head trauma and a possible dislocated shoulder.

The pathologist said there likely would've been a great deal of blood at the time of the attack. While at the scene, investigator Holdman quickly concluded that a liquid accelerant most likely gasoline had been poured onto Rita's body before she was set on fire, but lab testing was needed to actually confirm this theory.[00:09:00] 

The carpet was taken for testing, but it wouldn't be done for quite some time. Police looked for a murder weapon and they collected a fire poker, a flashlight, and a baseball bat, but none of them were confirmed as being the weapon that caused Rita's head trauma and no murder weapon was ever located.

Meanwhile, Michael and his friend Josh were separated and questioned in the back of two different police cars. Detective Kurt Davis noted no blood scratches or defensive wounds on Michael or Josh, nor did he smell any gasoline or accelerant on them, which you would expect if they had just used some in an arson.

Michael's sister Crystal arrived at the house at some point and saw Michael in the back of a police car with soot and tear marks on his face. He told her, I don't know, mom's dead, which that whole scene just. Breaks me. It just crushing. It's absolutely just, mm-hmm. I can't, ugh. Ugh. It's so awful. And, you know, this little boy just wants to hug his mom, like right.

In a, in a [00:10:00] terrible, horrifying situation, the person kids naturally gravitate to, right. Typically is their mom. And that to be the person that he can't have is just, ugh. Kill So awful. So Michael and Josh were taken to the police station for further interrogation. On the way to the station, Michael, who keep in mind is 14 and has just been through this extremely traumatic event.

It's still ongoing. He's still in the middle of this traumatic event. He says to the officer, what's going to happen to my mom's truck? Will the question alone immediately place Michael under police scrutiny. Personally as the parent of teenage boys, I don't think it's that strange or alarming that a kid who has just been through something like this would ask questions like that.

Like without thinking like, oh, this is gonna make me look bad. This is a child who is desperately trying to figure out what is about to happen in every sense of the word, right? Like, totally where am I gonna live? Like where, you know, what's gonna happen to all this stuff? Like the, all those things are swimming around in this kid's brain at that moment, right?

Like, there's no way you could [00:11:00] convince me that he. Based on that alone that he had anything to do with this, right? Like is the idea that he's like, what hap what will happen to my mom's truck? I killed her to get the truck and I'm 14 years old and nobody's gonna notice like that, right? It doesn't, it seems like an out there question because the kid is.

In a state of shock. Absolutely. Yeah. I definitely don't think there was any like weird thing about that at all. It, it makes me very angry that they took that from there. Same. This whole thing makes me very angry, but that is one that I'm like, are you kidding me? Right, exactly. So in the interrogation room, Michael and Josh's account of what happened from the evening before to the time that the first responders arrived, were both consistent.

The only difference was that Josh recalled hearing a thud and a woman's voice at one point before he drifted off back to sleep. For the next two days, Michael and Josh were questioned multiple times. Josh later told 48 hours. That police repeatedly told him, no, that's not what happened. This is what happened.

And they started making him question whether or not he [00:12:00] was actually telling the truth or if his memory was even right. Michael was interrogated at least three more times by at least four different officers in multiple locations within 48 hours of his mother's death, all without adequate sleep. Unreal.

Yes, absolutely unbelievable. Michael was not provided an attorney, and he had no adult present on his behalf for most of these interrogations, interrogation. His father, who should have been a suspect himself, was present at times, which of course creates a conflict of interest. According to Michael's attorneys, and these are the attorneys that later took his case, he was traumatized in distress during these interrogations.

Of course, that's what you would expect, but Detective Davis interpreted this distress as signs of lying, guilt, and a lack of remorse. Based on this opinion, Davis made Michael take A-C-V-S-A test or computer voice stress analysis. This is a completely unreliable tool use of law enforcement to detect [00:13:00] deception.

The test was given about six hours after Michael found his mother, and of course, as predicted, it showed significant levels of stress. Oh, no way. Police decided that meant deception. I was also thinking of this. Okay, so he's sitting in here being questioned. His dad offered to pay him to live with him and he didn't wanna live with his dad, now his mom and like as a teenager or anything for money, but, and his mom is now dead.

I can't imagine the stress of knowing, oh my gosh, I'm gonna be living with my dad. This person, it doesn't seem like was his number one choice. Like everything about this. Duh. It's stressful. I'd be worried if it wasn't a stressful, right. Like if it didn't go off. Yeah. This is stressful. But this whole thing, Melissa, and I don't know if you've ever been, I mean, I can't.

I'm trying to think of like an actual example, but I know for a fact I have been in situations where I have been reacting and whether I've been like emotional about something or, but then it's being twisted, like you're being gaslit and youre like, oh gosh, you're, oh, that is, or because you, you know, you're upset and you don't wanna be caught, or whatever the case is.

And though, you know, like that's not the reason, like [00:14:00] I just. Get very emotional when I am stressed out or feel like cornered in any way. And sometimes totally it comes out as like crying or you know, whatever. But to have like a police officer say like, you're reacting that way because you're guilty. Yeah.

Of murder. Like, oh my gosh, I can't think of a worse. I really can't think of a worse situation to be in, and especially to be 14 years old. I know Fire Investigator Holdman and juvenile officer Jerry Chamberlain then interrogated Michael again, and this time it was with his father, ed present. They told Michael that he failed the CVSA test and that they knew he had killed his mom.

Michael later told 48 hours that at that point they weren't even questioning him anymore. They were just telling him that he did something. Keep in mind his dad, ed is present and. From what I know and what I've seen, I don't think Ed was denying that he did anything either in the room, you know, on his behalf.

Michael was exhausted and confused, but he continued to maintain his innocence and told the same consistent story. An Investigator Holman's [00:15:00] report, he wrote that Michael never showed any visible remorse and that the boy was calm, except for when Holdman would inform him that he wasn't telling the truth.

Next investigator, Bob Jacobson and his canine were brought in and they demanded that Michael hand over his shoes. The shoes were taken to another location outside of Michael's presence, and the dog allegedly made a positive alert for an accelerant. The shoes were then seized, and later testing supposedly confirmed that there was gasoline on them.

According to Investigator Holman, after the dog alerted on the shoes. Michael became very irate and started cursing, and they said that Ed had to calm him down. Michael tried to explain that the gasoline on his shoes meant absolutely nothing because he and his friends often set fires for fun. He and Josh had actually just set a fire on the railroad tracks hours earlier, which the police were able to confirm.

Michael was interrogated. A fourth time without an attorney and he gave the same consistent details. [00:16:00] Meanwhile, Josh was also repeatedly interrogated and the police were actively trying to pit him against Michael. But both boys maintain their stories and we still have so much more to get into after a quick break to hear a word from this week's sponsors.

And now back to the episode. Before the break, we introduced you to 14-year-old Michael Pale. He's a boy who had just lost his mom in the most horrific way imaginable. Rita had survived an unthinkable childhood only to be murdered just days after winning a bitter court battle against her ex-husband. Ed Michael, who was supposed to be with his dad that night, stayed at home instead.

He was the one who discovered Rita's burning body and ran for help. But instead of being treated as a grieving child, Michael was treated as a suspect within hours, he was interrogated multiple times without a lawyer given a stress test that police claimed showed deception and accused of having gasoline on his shoes all while being traumatized and sleep deprived.

And unfortunately, [00:17:00] the investigation was only just getting started. Despite believing that Michael was the killer. Investigators did interview other people. Rita's friends, Tina and Francis confirmed that she had been with them the night before, and that she had gone home around 1130 because she wanted to get Michael something to eat.

Police also interviewed Ed, who claimed he was 80 miles away with his girlfriend at the time of the murder. The police really didn't seem to look any further into this claim, even though Ed had just threatened Rita in court four days earlier, which would literally part be part of the court record like that seems like a very easy thing you could have seen for sure.

But they also didn't even consider the possibility that Ed could have hired someone to kill Rita. Rita's boyfriend. Rick was also interviewed and given that CVSA test, but he passed and was quickly disregarded as a suspect as well. Two days after Rita's murder on December 7th, Josh was offered immunity in exchange for telling the police what really happened.

[00:18:00] Michael's lawyers now believe that the prosecutors are trying to get Josh to testify against Michael, and he took the deal because he thought it would prevent them from pinning the murder on him. He gave a videotaped statement with officers and his mom present, and he told the same story that he'd been consistently telling the entire time, but when he was asked if he saw Michael in the room when he heard this thud sound.

Josh said no. So the officers pressed him further and said, so there's no doubt that he wasn't in the bed. Okay, and was he anywhere else in that bedroom? Josh seems really confused by the question, but he answered no, and he later told 48 hours that he didn't even remember saying anything like that and thought it must have just been a weak point in this interrogation.

Later, Josh clarified in a deposition that he never sat up from where he was sleeping that night. He said, it's not that I did not see him in his bed, it's that I couldn't see him in his bed, meaning it was dark and Josh was sleeping on the floor. So he did. He literally could not see if Josh was in his bed or not.

Yeah. But after Josh's immunity statement, Michael [00:19:00] was arrested for his mother's murder. He became visibly upset and asked for an attorney as he was handcuffed. He frantically asked officers to take his fingerprints because someone was trying to frame him. He desperately insisted that he did not kill his own mother.

At the time of Michael's arrest, police had no lab confirmation of gasoline and they had not thoroughly investigated other potential suspects in general. They had no motive or explanation for why Michael would kill his mom at all. Michael was sent to a juvenile detention center, but he believed he would ultimately be found innocent.

His sister, Melanie, and Crystal were absolutely shocked and thought the police were crazy. Uncle who lived next door and saw Michael shortly after Rita was found, also felt that the police had made a mistake. He said he never saw any blood or sign of a struggle, and that Michael was screaming and was very authentically upset.

Chuck also noted that the water hose was inside the house when he arrived, which was consistent with Michael and Josh's story of trying to put out the [00:20:00] fire. That visual just sticks with me just thinking of these two little boys trying to put this fire out. I don't know, it just, it, it's just a situation way beyond what they can handle.

Yeah, absolutely. The, Hmm, I just get very enraged in this story. Um, so the next day, December 8th, Michael attended his mother's funeral with his legs shackled and with a police escort. On December 9th, a detention hearing was held, and Michael's public defender described the case as thin and circumstantial at best.

But Michael was ordered to remain in custody. As the investigation continued, more flaws and errors emerged due to their arrest judgment of Michael as a killer. The police had ignored or failed to preserve significant forensic evidence, evidence that just so happened to not implicate Michael. Things that were overlooked included a fresh boot print outside Rita's home that didn't match Michael's shoes, DNA from a semen stain on a towel in Rita's bedroom that matched her boyfriend Rick, and [00:21:00] additional semen and nons semen stains on Rita's bed were found to be consistent with a genetic mixture of at least three people.

Furthermore, lab testing on the carpet showed no trace of accelerant, but instead of concluding that no accelerant was used. The police assumed it had just burned up. This was an assumption that was not based in science whatsoever. Other evidence, such as Michael's clothing and Rita's rape kit were not tested at all initially, and getting fingernail clippings after the fact would require exhuming Rita's body.

There was significant evidence pointing towards Rita's ex-husband ed, which police essentially just ignored while the investigation remained solely on Michael. On January 5th, 1999, exactly one month after his mom's death, Michael was caught attempting suicide while detained. He was found tying a sheet to a ceiling vent, and when he was asked why he was doing it, he said he didn't wanna live anymore and that he hadn't cared since they killed his mom.

[00:22:00] The state later alleged that what Michael said was that he hadn't cared since he killed his mom, but. That's not what he said. Counselor Karen Blankenship, who was called to Michael sell, wrote a detailed report that included that. Michael expressed fear of being tried as an adult, but he didn't mention any involvement in his mom's death.

Later, Karen amended her report at the urging of Deputy Officer Cheryl Graham. At this point, Karen includes that alleged confession. Another officer's notes also claim that Michael spontaneously yelled. I haven't cared since December 5th. That's when I killed my mom. At every point before this alleged admission, Michael had asserted his innocence to his family and to others.

In April of 1999, he told a sheriff's officer, I wish my mom was here. She would tell everyone that I didn't do it. Michael was offered a plea bargain. If he pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter, he'd get 15 years. [00:23:00] His public defender seemed to support this idea, but Michael rejected the offer and refused to plead guilty for a crime he didn't commit.

Michael later told NPR quote, I'll die here. I didn't murder my mother, and she's going to get her justice. Meanwhile, the state continued to interrogate Josh for a total of eight times over several years, but he always told the same story and he corroborated Michael's memory of the events and his innocence.

Since Josh's testimony did not align with the prosecution's theory, they didn't call him as a witness at trial even though he was the only other person in the house at the time of Rita's murder. By the time the case went to trial in January of 2002, Michael was physically much larger than the 14-year-old boy he was when his mom died.

This older, more mature person was who the jury observed the state's theory that Michael was responsible for Rita's death hinged solely on the gasoline that was supposedly found on his shoes. That was really the only piece of physical evidence that could potentially tie him to the crime. [00:24:00] Prosecutors used Michael's admission about setting a fire on the train tracks the night before to claim that the burn pattern on the tracks matched Rita's Burns, implying that Michael was the only person who could have possibly done this.

The jury also heard about a disagreement Michael had with his mom over money the week before. He was allegedly seen flicking a lighter afterwards, which the state used to portray him as threatening, but they didn't mention that in court. His dad said, you'll never live to see this money four days before.

Got it. Right, right, right. The state did not call Josh to the witness stand, but the jury was told that he'd been granted immunity and one juror later told 48 hours that it was confusing because if Josh was offered immunity, then they felt he must know something, so they were not sure why they didn't get to hear from him.

Michael's sisters were also not called to the stand fire Marshal. Jim Holdman was the state's key witness. He testified that the fire was set intentionally with an accelerant, though he admitted that there was none found in the carpet [00:25:00] sample, but he claimed it could have just burned up in the fire. The state also emphasized the bias interpretation of Michael's behavior after the fire and portrayed him as being guilty and remorseless.

A volunteer firefighter named Eric testified that Michael was not screaming, but his eyes were red as if he'd been crying. His statement actually wasn't even provided until three years after the murder. Detectives, Davis and Holdman testified that Michael was acting normal and not concerned about what happened, and that he had no visible signs of remorse until he realized he was a suspect.

They admitted that their belief in Michael's guilt was based on his behavior and statements. Sadly, Michael's defense counsel really did nothing to challenge the character assassination of their young client. The state also presented testimony from juvenile officers, Jerry Johnson and Cheryl Graham, regarding Michael's alleged confession during his suicide attempt.

They did not call Karen Blankenship to corroborate this, and there was no [00:26:00] audio recorded despite there being a camera present, which feels. Very convenient. Neighbors of Rita testified that Michael had no cuts, scratches, or blood on him and his uncle Chuck verified that Michael's account of events was true.

Michael was in a very tough position. He was being represented by a public defender with no prior homicide case experience, and he presented the D defense's case in less than half a day. They did not argue Michael's innocence directly, but instead focused on the lack of evidence such as a murder weapon, and the fact that Michael had no injuries or blood on him despite what prosecutors claimed was a violent attack.

In total, the defense only called three witnesses. Were Karen Blanketship, who testified that she only changed her report at the urging of Officer Graham, but she was not questioned effectively in a way that would challenge her. Amended statement. Michael's Aunt Patsy was also put on the stand, and she testified that Michael was in shock and that he had no blood or cuts on him.

After the murder [00:27:00] in the Washington County, coroner testified that Rita's time of death was likely six and 6:00 AM That's. Not saying a whole lot, no at all, like I don't understand. Michael did not take the stand and Josh was not called by the defense either. They pretty much did nothing to challenge the state's case.

They didn't even offer a rebuttal or do their own investigation into the gasoline and arson evidence or the questionable interpretations of Michael's behavior immediately after his mother was killed. Steve Failures on the defense's part were critical mistakes During four and a half hours of deliberation, the jury asked to see all photographs, videos, and notes.

They also asked specifically to examine Michael's shoes. After several votes, the jury returned a guilty verdict and convicted Michael of second degree murder at is sentencing. A few months later, his sisters testified in support of him and told the court that this [00:28:00] outcome would mean their family was denied true justice.

They believe their mother's killer was still at large and his sister Crystal said quote, today, you guys are putting an innocent person in jail. We still have more to get into after one last break to hear. Were from this week's sponsors, and now back to the episode. Before the break, we saw how investigators focused almost entirely on Michael, despite having no clear motive or solid evidence.

They did briefly question others like his father Ed, who had actually just threatened Rita, but they never seriously pursued any alternative suspects. When Michael's friend Josh was offered immunity, he stuck to his story, but one unclear answer led to Michael's arrest. Evidence that didn't support the theory was ignored or mishandled, and Michael was pushed toward a plea deal that he refused to take at the trial.

The state leaned on flawed science and Michael's trauma response while his defense barely even pushed back. In the end, the jury convicted him of second degree murder, and the real questions about who killed Rita were left [00:29:00] unanswered. After his sentencing, Michael was sent to the Missouri State Penitentiary, which was once called the bloodiest 47 acres in America.

Michael was absolutely stunned because he never thought that he would be convicted of his mom's murder. Prison was really tough for Michael especially because he was so young. It made him a target, and he got into a fight on his very first day and went on to face a number of threats. He became so desperate for safety that he actually joined a skinhead gang, which is something that he later said.

Was not at all what he wanted to do. He said, quote, it's not the way that I feel. It's not the way that mom raised me. I just didn't fit in. He said he felt like he had to join the gang just to survive his time in prison. Michael was determined to prove his innocence, but sadly, all of his initial appeals were denied.

His father, ed failed to help Michael hire a lawyer. So Michael lost hope for several [00:30:00] years and actually turned to heroin as a way to self-medicate. Michael and his sisters all eventually cut contact with their father. Five years after being convicted, Michael wrote a letter to the Midwest Innocence Project and they took on his case.

Attorneys, Tricia Bushnell, Megan Crane and Mark Emerson got involved in the case and they started meticulously reexamining everything. Beginning with the prosecution's claim that an accelerant had been used. They found that Investigator Holman's immediate determination that gasoline was used based only on visual patterns, actually contradicted the gold standard of fire investigating, which has to include lab testing.

In addition, when carpet samples showed no sign of accelerant, the police just ignored that and prosecutors explained it away by saying it could have just burned up, which is not a claim that's based in science. I'm assuming that what they're saying is like. That's not how it worked. We would still be able to detect accelerate.

Right. Even though it, you know, the fire had burned. That's why I was like the main fire detective saying like, well, I [00:31:00] guess it burned up in the fire or whatever. I'm like, don't you know how is this a thing that you're kind of questioning? Like, well that's why. How do you know that You don't know that? And it's wild that he was the expert in this case.

Right. In saying stuff like that. For sure. So what's worse is that the attorneys also found no concrete proof of gasoline on Michael's shoes as they had claimed when the shoes were retested. The Missouri State Crime Lab discovered that a chemical used in shoe manufacturing had been wrongly identified as gasoline.

Unreal. Absolutely unreal. In a letter written decades later in 2020, officials stated that while it wasn't widely known in the late nineties, it is now understood that solvents found in footwear adhesives actually do have similar properties to gasoline. The team also learned about evidence that was never even tested, as well as other relevant evidence that could have been examined with new technology.

Things like Michael's clothing or Rita's rape kit. These things could never be tested though because they weren't [00:32:00] properly stored. They were co-mingled covered with mold, and in some cases eaten by rats. Fingerprint evidence was lost and a baseball bat and evidence had no chain of custody form. It was incredibly sloppy, and that meant that physical evidence that could have excluded Michael as a perpetrator either was an available or never collected to begin with.

A former Washington DC homicide detective named Jim Traum looked over the case file at the request of Michael's attorneys and what he saw was appalling to him. He told NPR that the police had rushed in, came to their conclusions too quickly, cherry pick the evidence, which they did not document very well, and then used tactics during their interviews that were very problematic.

End quote. He said that when faulty scientific findings are added to the mix, the whole investigation kind of just falls apart. Michael's team also consulted a clinical and forensic psychologist who confirmed that Michael's behavior immediately after [00:33:00] Rita's death was not at all abnormal for a child experiencing extreme trauma.

The science has long proven that children's brains and trauma responses are not the same as adults. She actually insinuated that it was unfair for Michael to have been painted as remorseless due to his trauma response. The team also discovered that the police completely ignored other viable suspects.

Specifically Ed and his cousin Johnny. They actually believed that Ed was the one with a motive to kill Rita. They also identified witnesses who placed Johnny near the crime scene on the morning of the murder. A man named Larry, who actually knew Johnny, said he saw him walking on the railroad near Rita's house.

As sirens approached that morning, Johnny had asked if the man had heard about Rita and he said, quote, somebody killed her. A week later, Johnny showed up at Larry's door at 6:00 AM asking his wife what she knew about Rita's death. He claimed that he and Ed were doing their own investigation. It [00:34:00] definitely sounds more like, I wanna know what you know, and for sure not to be telling other people I.

Another man said that he saw Johnny's truck near the same spot that Larry saw him. Just as emergency vehicles were arriving, Michael and his sisters all felt that it was plausible that their dad had been behind the horrific murder. Michael later said that he believed his dad was responsible and that he had hired Johnny to help him.

According to Michael's sisters, ed has always denied involvement. When he was asked after their investigation, Michael's legal team was convinced that he had been wrongfully convicted. At some point, one of the jurors from his trial, a woman named Linda, contacted these attorneys and said that she had been torn during deliberations, but ultimately went along with the other jurors.

Over the years though, she had many regrets, and when she learned that the Midwest Innocence Project got involved, she wanted to work with them to help overturn Michael's conviction. Linda even tried to meet with the prosecuting attorney herself, but he actually wouldn't see her. [00:35:00] On August 22nd, 2021, Michael and his attorneys filed for a writ of habeas corpus.

In the petition, they stated that Michael had been wrongfully imprisoned for over 22 years for a crime he didn't commit with no valid evidence connecting him to the crime. They stated that his conviction rested on false fire signs and lies told by the state. They also pointed out that Michael and his sisters had been fighting for his freedom when they should have been grieving their mother.

It was suggested that the court should grant release based on his innocence, but also because his constitutional rights were violated by being convicted on false evidence and that the state knew was unreliable. They said Rita deserved justice, but she wasn't the only victim. Her family, including her then 14-year-old son, are also victims of the state's failure to properly investigate and prosecute her murderer, not to mention their knowing of misconduct.

After submitting the petition, Michael made statements in a press release. He said the judicial system was overseen by flawed human [00:36:00] beings who do not wanna get anything wrong. They don't want to admit that they wrongfully convicted a 14-year-old for murdering his own mother. He added that the most difficult part was waking up every day in prison, knowing that the person who really killed his mom is free and doesn't give it a second thought.

He said that justice for his family would mean his release and a true investigation into his mom's murder. He added that the only way she would be at peace is for him to be released. Less than a week later. Michael's petition was denied by the Court of Appeals, but his attorneys could still take the case to the Missouri Supreme Court and Michael vowed to keep fighting.

In 2021, a bill passed to Missouri that offered juvenile offenders convicted of serious crimes. A second chance a. Michael was now eligible for parole, so he went before the parole board and explained that he was innocent and laid out all the reasons why they should believe him, and that actually worked.

Michael was granted parole, but that still meant life on parole, where he'd be subject to quarterly [00:37:00] check-ins and would require permission to leave the state. I was shocked that they granted him parole at this point because so many times you hear that somebody goes to the parole board. That is innocent and says, I'm innocent.

I'm not saying I did this. And you'll have attorneys tell them or whatever, people in their ear saying, if you just say you did this, have remorse, you're more likely to get parole. I love that Michael said, absolutely not, not doing that. Here's what happened and here's why I'm innocent. And they actually granted him parole, which he deserves much more than that.

But um, for sure. Just unreal. So in April of 2022, after serving 23 years behind bars, Michael walked out of prison at 38 years old. His sisters were there with friends and family, and Michael addressed a crowd of people and expressed his overwhelming joy and sense of freedom. A friend who used to ride bikes with Michael brought two bicycles and Michael said, quote, we're gonna take a bike ride from the [00:38:00] parking lot to the railroad tracks.

I'm leaving here the same way I came here riding a bicycle, justice for Rita. Let's go. Let's go, man. End quote. After he was released, Michael moved in with his sister Melanie. He started covering up his prison tattoos with new art. He found a job as a carpenter and he got his driver's license. Though he was free from prison, Michael still wasn't completely free and he knew he needed to clear his name, find the real killer, and get justice for his mom.

As of today, five jurors, including Linda, who was who we mentioned before, have come forward with sworn affidavits questioning whether Michael got a fair trial. Michael's team reached out to the prosecutor's office and the predecessor to the original da, which was Josh Hedge. He agreed to reopen the case under the state's new wrongful conviction law.

Michael also sat down with 48 hours and talked about finding his mom on fire. He said, there's nothing in this world that anybody could ever do [00:39:00] to me that's gonna be worse than what I saw. The individual that did that to my mother, hated her with everything inside of them. He also talked about enjoying his time with his sisters, finally being able to grieve and vowing to get justice for Rita Da Hedge.

Coth told 48 hours. He doesn't believe that Michael had a fair trial. He said that on the evidence that he had today. He doesn't think he would file this case for retrial. He also said that he feels bad for Michael, who lost his whole childhood and his early adulthood, like most of it, the time when people were getting their stuff together, right?

He's in prison. In 2023, Michael's team filed another petition for habeas corpus, but DA hedge court's efforts to reopen the case faced jurisdictional complications. As the Missouri Supreme Court ruled, he couldn't pursue the case because the trial took place in a different county. The state quickly moved to fix this flaw, but in the meantime, hedge court actually lost his bid for reelection and unfortunately, the new DA that took over has shown no [00:40:00] interest in resuming the wrongful conviction case.

I'm just appalled. It's injustice. On top of injustice. On top of injustice. It's like how much more can one person have going against them? You know? Like it's horrible. You finally get a little pace, taste of freedom, but you're still on parole. You finally have somebody that says, yeah, I would not retrial this with what we have.

And the next person's like, well, you know, this is not really my problem. I don't agree with the last guy. Like, you just never have like real justice in this case. No, it's, it's horrible. In April of 2025, Michael spoke with NPR and reflected on his three years of freedom so far. He said he's focusing on his family and he's been working as a general foreman.

He spends the weekends with his sisters, niece, nephews, and his girlfriend. Michael is proud of the way he's transitioned back into society, but he reiterated that being on parole for life means that he is not truly a free man. If his conviction is not overturned, he has a life sentence. Even if that means a lifetime of checking in with parole [00:41:00] officers and getting travel permits just to be able to travel for his job, even he'll never be able to vote.

Never own a firearm or go hunting. Michael said quote, having a felony conviction on your record holds you back in so many aspects of life. You can't fully be productive. Michael shared that being exonerated would mean more than just freedom from parole. It would mean his mother's murder was technically unsolved and the investigation into it could and should be reopened.

As of today, Michael and his team are still pushing for Washington County prosecutor John Jones, to pursue a wrongful conviction case. If he doesn't, the court could act on the habeas petition that was filed in 2023, or the governor also has the option of granting a commutation. Uh, Michael absolutely resents the rules of his parole, but he has acknowledged that it does.

You know, it beats being in prison and I do agree with him there, but I also think he is well within his rights to be frustrated and yeah, feel like that sense of [00:42:00] hatred towards even being on parole. Absolutely. So. This case, if you couldn't tell, gets me very fired up because there's this poor boy who is, whose mom has been taken away from him.

All of his innocence has gone, his poor mom went through the same thing as a child. There's a very obvious suspect that was not looked into and one that I feel like through their son under the bus, like imagine that part. Going to prison. Imagine seeing your child go to prison knowing that you have more information allegedly, and knowing they're spending their life in prison for something you could have allegedly done.

I, I cannot even understand. A monster like that ever. No, I can't. And I, and there was one thing in the research where I had read that when they were first interrogating Michael, and in one of these, uh, moments when they were telling Michael, you know, that he was gonna be under arrest and they were charging him with murder.[00:43:00] 

And, um, his dad, ed was, was there at that, uh, for that particular meeting and. In one of the, uh, sources that said that Michael had this outburst and, you know, started like crying hysterically and like screaming, like using profanity and like saying like, you know, telling hi, begging his dad to like, you know, do something.

Tell them something like, you know, basically saying like, this is BS and like they were saying that Ed was just trying to calm him down and soothe him and like it'll be all right. But like, just thinking that allegedly if he did know something or have anything to do with it, like imagining him. Just what kind of a psychopath could even sit through that?

Like your son is frantic and is saying like, they're about to arrest me for murder and take me away and like you, you know something and you're doing nothing. You're letting it happen. Quite honestly, as a parent, even if you were not involved, wouldn't you like my natural response would be. I know my kid didn't do this.

I'm gonna do whatever I can to take it off of him if I have to [00:44:00] throw, I don't know, like there's just something about like a, you know, being a parent and wanting to protect your kid and the fact that. He doesn't hire him an attorney. You know, he did get to keep all of his benefits so we know he wasn't completely broke.

You know, he kept everything because Rita didn't get a dime. It just, it's just unreal how much it makes me angry. We've been wanting to do this case for a while. I was hoping we could do it when Michael's finally exonerated, but that still hasn't happened. But his case was actually on a show. I don't know if you've guys watched this, Mandy, I don't know if you saw it, but it was called Unlocking the Truth, and it was.

About some exonerations and it was actually on MTV, which I was surprised. I did not realize it was out in 2016. So this has been a while ago. Ryan Ferguson. So we covered Ryan Ferguson's case before he was exonerated. So this was like what he was doing. This project with MTV, Michael's, one of the cases that was on there.

And when I heard this story about Michael, I could [00:45:00] not believe, I, I just cannot understand for the life of me how prosecutors, how. Officers and there are very good ones and they're not, this is not directed towards any of them, but how you cannot have enough evidence how you could even think for a second.

Before putting a child behind bars, like do we know that? We know that we know. Like think of what's just happened here. Like I want to be so certain that I'm not traumatizing this person more. Also, when you convict the wrong person, then a murderer is free. I never understand why people will pigeonhole one person knowing that that means like somebody else could go kill somebody in your family.

You don't know why, right? Why is there so much? Why is. I guess Rush Justice, like they wanna be able to end it. Whatever just makes me so mad. But if you ever get a chance to watch Unlocking the Truth, there was another guy, Calvin, Michael Smith, who was on there that his story broke my heart. He ended up dying a couple years ago.

[00:46:00] It's just, it's. Wrongful convictions absolutely. Just break my heart. And I don't know, it just, it just feels like it's lazy. Police work, lazy everything. And the poor kid had no attorney that could do this. Like, it's not necessarily the attorney's fault, but. He doesn't have the resources. Even them saying like, they didn't test the evidence himself.

They probably didn't have the budget to do that, honestly. So, I don't know. Again, yeah, this works me up and I just, I, I've signed every petition. We'll put a petition in our show notes, sign it, share it. Um, I feel like he really does deserve, I, I can't imagine there's a part of him that. Won't feel healed from his mom dying until like his name is not attached to it.

I cannot imagine for sure. Yeah, no, I know. And it is frustrating in this case too, because like you said, like where's the human element of like compassion? Where's the common sense? Like none of the cops, yeah. That were involved or any of the prosecutors, [00:47:00] nobody was a parent themselves. Nobody's ever been around a child or a teenager like that could say like, you know what, actually.

I feel like you guys are making a much bigger deal outta these things than like what's reasonable? Like I can understand if you don't have a lot of experience with kids or you know, if you don't have any. But I feel like anyone who's been around children or a teenager would be able to say like, no, everything he did like seemed perfectly normal.

I know. And you know what else? The Josh of it all. Like this poor kid is in here. His friend, his best friend is being accused of killing him. They're sticking to the same story because it was the truth. But the idea that Josh didn't get in trouble, which obviously I'm glad he didn't, but the right idea is that Michael got up in the middle of the night, killed his mom, set the house on fire, they run out and grab a fire hose.

That doesn't make any sense like you would think it would be both of them or none of them. Yeah. Kids just aren't that. I don't know. I'll stop, but I am still fired up over this story. Yeah. No, it's definitely a, a very frustrating story and I absolutely hope [00:48:00] that Michael gets the justice that he deserves.

Totally. I hope that they are able to finally identify Rita's real killer one day, and if I feel like it could be pretty easy, it could be. Mm-hmm. But that's all I have to say. Yep. Alright guys, well that was the episode for this week, but before we go, we did just want to quickly remind you guys that we are going to be at Crime Con this year.

Yay. We're super excited. Uh, yeah, crime Con this year is gonna be in Denver, Colorado. So beautiful location. Should be beautiful weather. If you enjoy hot during the day and maybe a little bit cooler in the evenings, uh, and enjoy trying to figure out how to dress for that type of weather. You are really frustrated with that.

Yes, I know. Um, so it's happening on September 5th through seventh and you can use R Code Moms to get 10% off your standard badge. If you would like to attend. We will be there. We always have a great time at Crime Con meeting everyone, so we hope to see you guys there. Absolutely can't wait. All right. Have a great week everyone.

Bye [00:49:00] bye.