10 Times People Confessed to Murders They DIDN'T Commit

10 Times People Confessed to Murders They Didn’t Commit

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’ll be looking at 10 Times People Confessed to Murders They Didn’t Commit.

For this list, we’ll be examining the most egregious miscarriages of justice in which an innocent person was convicted of murder based on a false confession.

What other wrongful murder convictions did we miss? Let us know in the comments below!

Alstory Simon

Over the years, Northwestern University’s Medill Justice Project has done great work to help exonerate multiple wrongfully convicted people. However, in 1999, while handling the case of Anthony Porter, they ended up sending another innocent man to prison. Porter had been convicted of the 1982 murders of Marilyn Green and Jerry Hillard in Chicago. Northwestern University professor David Protess and his students helped secure evidence that exonerated Porter in 1999. Part of that evidence was the confession of another man named Alstory Simon, who was subsequently sentenced to 37½ years in prison. Simon, however, recanted his confession and it was later discovered that the Medill Justice Project had coerced him into admitting to the crime. Simon was released after spending 15 years in prison.

Christopher Ochoa

In October of 1988, Nancy DePriest, was assaulted and murdered at the Austin, Texas restaurant where she worked. Soon after, Christopher Ochoa and Richard Danziger, two men who worked for the same restaurant chain in another location, became prime suspects in the case. During an interrogation, Ochoa was reportedly threatened by police that he would be executed if he didn’t confess. Seemingly without any other option, Ochoa admitted to the crime and implicated his friend Danziger. Both men were eventually convicted and handed life sentences. Ochoa and Danziger were fully exonerated in 2002 after another Texas inmate, Achim Marino, wrote a letter to then-Governor George W. Bush owning up to the murder.

Robert Springsteen & Michael Scott

In 1991, four girls were killed at a yogurt shop in Austin, Texas. Whoever was responsible then set the place on fire seemingly in an attempt to destroy evidence. The case soon grew cold until 1999 when four young men were arrested and charged with the murders. Two of them, Robert Springsteen and Michael Scott, eventually confessed while the others, Maurice Pierce and Forrest Welborn, maintained their innocence. With no physical evidence implicating them, Pierce and Welborn were let go while Springsteen and Scott were tried and convicted, based on their confessions. The convictions were later overturned on constitutional grounds. A re-examination of the DNA evidence ruled out both men and the prosecution declined to re-try the case.

The Norfolk Four

Michelle Moore-Bosko, the wife of a US Navy sailor, was found dead in their Norfolk, Virginia apartment on July 8th 1997. Police arrested another Navy sailor Danial Williams, who confessed to the crime after a nine-hour interrogation. Three other sailors - Joseph Dick Jr., Derek Tice and Eric Wilson - were implicated and also confessed after lengthy interrogations. All four men were convicted and handed varying prison sentences, even though DNA evidence from the crime scene matched none of them. Another man named Omar Ballard was also convicted of the Moore-Bosko murder. Ballard gave a more accurate confession to police and was a match with the DNA evidence. The Norfolk Four were eventually exonerated in 2016 and granted absolute pardons the following year.

Laverne Pavlinac

The death of 23-year-old Taunja Bennett in Portland, Oregon confounded investigators, albeit for a short while. A few weeks after Bennett’s body was found, a woman named Laverne Pavlinac told police that her boyfriend, John Sosnovske, was the perpetrator. She also confessed to being an accomplice to the crime. Turns out, it was all a lie. Apparently, Pavlinac had conjured up the story in hopes of getting out of her violent relationship with Sosnovske by sending him to prison. But she ended up implicating herself and was found guilty, alongside Sosnovske, of the crime. Their convictions were overturned after Keith Jesperson, also known as the ‘Happy Face Killer’, admitted to taking Bennett’s life.

Peter Reilly

On the night of September 28th 1973, Peter Reilly returned home from church to find his mother’s deceased body. Responding police officers thought of Reilly’s behavior as suspicious and grilled him for over 24 hours. In the end, the 18-year-old signed a statement incriminating himself in the murder. Even though Reilly retracted his confession and there was hardly any evidence linking him to the crime, he was declared guilty. The case gained significant attention, including that of famed playwright Arthur Miller, who donated money to his legal costs. Upon appeal, Reilly’s lawyers were able to get the case dropped after the original prosecutor suddenly passed away and his replacement found inconsistencies in the case.

The Guildford Four

One of the most outrageous miscarriages of justice in British history, the Guildford Four were tried and convicted of the 1974 Guildford pub bombings. The tragic incident, which caused the deaths of five people and injured 65 others, was attributed to the Irish Republican Army. Paul Hill, Gerry Conlon, Paddy Armstrong and Carole Richardson were arrested in the aftermath and allegedly subjected to days of physical and mental torture. As a result, they signed confessions, which were instrumental in securing convictions and life sentences for all of them. After spending 14 years in prison, the Guildford Four were exonerated and freed when exculpatory evidence came to light. To date, no one else has faced justice for the bombings.

Joe Arridy

In August of 1936, Dorothy Drain and her sister Barbara were attacked in their Pueblo, Colorado home. Dorothy lost her life in the process while Barbara miraculously survived. In the neighboring state of Wyoming, a man named Joe Arridy was arrested for a misdemeanor but was eventually questioned about the Drain murder. Police capitalized on Arridy’s mental incapacities and coerced him into confessing to the crime. Even though another man who worked for the Drains had also confessed and was identified by Barbara, Arridy was convicted and sentenced to death. Due to his intellectual limitations, Arridy was seemingly oblivious of his impending execution, right until the day it happened. In 2011, he was posthumously pardoned by then-Governor of Colorado, Bill Ritter.

Willie Stuckey & David McCallum

On October 15th 2014, David McCallum walked out of prison after being wrongfully locked up for 29 years. Sadly, his alleged partner in crime, Willie Stuckey, passed away behind bars 13 years earlier. Stuckey and McCallum had been convicted of the 1985 murder of Nathan Blenner when they were just teenagers. A witness had placed them at the scene, resulting in their arrest and interrogation. Police manipulated Stuckey and McCallum to turn on themselves by stating that the other had implicated them in the crime. The two were convicted, largely based on their confessions, and sentenced to 25 years to life. They were exonerated in 2014 after a review of the case produced no physical evidence tying them to the murder.

The Central Park Five

On the night of April 19th 1989, Trisha Meili was jogging in New York’s Central Park when she was attacked and left for dead. Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana and Korey Wise, all black and Hispanic teenagers, were quickly arrested for the crime. The five boys were subjected to hours of intense interrogation without their lawyers present. Seemingly scared and exhausted, they eventually confessed to attacking Meili. Although they recanted their statements soon after, all five were convicted and handed varying sentences. In 2002, the Central Park Five were proven innocent after an inmate named Matias Reyes owned up to the crime. The men had their convictions overturned and subsequently received a $41 million settlement from New York city.