Last Chance

Summary

48 Hours – "Last Chance" (August 12, 2026)

Host: CBS News
Theme: The wrongful conviction and eventual exoneration of Damon Thibodeau in the murder of 14-year-old Crystal Champagne.
Episode Overview:
This episode of "48 Hours" investigates the tragic case of Crystal Champagne, a 14-year-old girl from Louisiana who was murdered in 1996. Her distant cousin, Damon Thibodeau, was swiftly convicted and sentenced to death based on a confession and circumstantial evidence. Years later, new investigations — fueled by legal teams, DNA testing, and re-examination of evidence — exposed massive flaws in the case and led to Thibodeau’s exoneration, throwing light on the perils of false confessions and the crucial importance of relentless advocacy in the justice system.

---

Key Discussion Points & Timeline

1. The Disappearance and Discovery of Crystal Champagne

• [01:06] - [02:40]
  • Dawn Champagne (Crystal’s mother) recounts the last time she saw her daughter and her growing panic when Crystal did not return home.
  • “Crystal Champagne was a 14-year-old, loving, caring child... She loved sports, she loved animals and she wouldn’t hurt anybody… That was the last time I seen her.” – Dawn Champagne
• [02:17] - [03:02]
  • Discovery of Crystal’s body under the Huey P. Long Bridge, evidence of ligature strangulation, and suspected sexual assault.

2. Rapid Focus on Damon Thibodeau

• [03:08] - [04:35]
  • Damon Thibodeau, a distant cousin and recent arrival for a family wedding, becomes a suspect.
  • “I got a job here as a deckhand.” – Damon Thibodeau
• [04:44] - [06:12]
  • Community pressure for a quick arrest leads to Damon being questioned intensively; the family initially trusted him.

3. The Interrogation and False Confession

• [06:12] - [07:38]
  • Damon undergoes a polygraph, is told he failed, and is subjected to repeated questioning for hours.
  • “They kept asking the same questions over and over... finally, I was too exhausted to take anymore. What did you tell them? Whatever they wanted to hear.” – Damon Thibodeau [07:05]
  • He confesses to both rape and murder but recants soon after meeting a lawyer.
• [07:59] - [08:47]
  • Damon believed the evidence would clear him, but nearly all his statements conflicted with the physical evidence.
  • "Almost nothing Damon said matched the evidence..." – Host

4. The Trial and Conviction

• [09:51] - [10:59]
  • The prosecution leans heavily on the confession, despite the state pathologist finding no evidence of rape or manual strangulation.
  • Dr. Fraser McKenzie laughs off police theories about lost physical evidence: "In my opinion. But I'm knowledgeable; for a jury, they're not knowledgeable." – Dr. McKenzie [10:50]
• [11:20] - [14:35]
  • Confession dominates at trial; jury takes only an hour to return a guilty verdict.
  • Damon is sentenced to death and sent to Angola Prison.

5. Efforts to Overturn the Conviction

• [15:09] - [16:20]
  • Anti-death penalty attorney Denny LaBeouf takes on Damon’s case, convinced of his innocence.
• [16:20] - [19:44]
  • Pro bono and Innocence Project lawyers join the fight; they re-examine timelines, evidence, and weaknesses in prior testimony.
• [17:24] - [18:22]
  • Dr. McKenzie, the original pathologist, signs an affidavit stating there was no rape evidence and that Damon’s confession did not match forensic findings.
• [19:11] - [19:44]
  • Damon's vulnerability as a young man with a troubled background is discussed as a factor in his susceptibility to coercion.

6. Big Breakthroughs: DNA and Collaboration

• [20:13] - [25:35]
  • Barry Scheck and the Innocence Project help persuade the DA’s office to review all evidence. Modern DNA testing finds no link between Damon and the crime.
  • “Was any DNA from Damon Thibodeau found on any of the evidence? No.” – Paul Connick, DA [25:28]

7. The Other Suspects and Unanswered Questions

• [26:48] - [27:33]
  • The original investigation failed to explore alternate suspects, including convicted criminals in the victim’s social circle.
• [27:33] - [36:41]
  • Focus on John Tomlinson, the family friend who found the body in an odd location and had a past conviction for indecent behavior with a juvenile.
  • His alibi’s strength is called into question, but his dream/intuition story remains bizarre.
  • He denies involvement: “On my mother’s soul, I never touched her.” – John Tomlinson [36:38]

8. Revisiting the False Confession

• [37:07] - [41:32]
  • Intensive scrutiny of Damon’s confession by both the DA and forensic psychiatrist Dr. Michael Wellner.
  • Dr. Wellner ultimately concludes: “As you sit here today, do you believe that Damon Thibodeau falsely confessed? I do.” – Dr. Wellner [41:32]
  • DA Paul Connick: “We relied too much on the confession in the beginning. We should have gone further.” [41:45]

9. Exoneration, Release, and Reunion

• [42:03] - [43:41]
  • A joint motion is filed; Thibodeau’s conviction is vacated, and he is released after nearly 16 years on death row.
  • Emotional reunion with his son Josh: “When you first saw him and you realized that was your son, what were you feeling? Relief. I finally got to meet him. It's indescribable.” – Damon Thibodeau [43:41]

10. Aftermath and Ongoing Search for Justice

• [44:19] - [45:23]
  • Damon starts over in Minneapolis, moving in with attorney Steve Kaplan.
  • The DA reflects: “The process was tough, but in the end, it’s what should have been done. In my heart, I knew what I did was the right decision.” – Paul Connick [45:15]
• [45:40] - [46:18]
  • Crystal Champagne’s murder remains unsolved and is under new investigation.
  • “Whoever did it, they were walking free and she didn’t have a chance to live.” – Dawn Champagne [46:18]
• [46:28]
  • Damon died in September 2021 from COVID-19 complications, after earning his GED and testifying before a Senate committee about death row conditions.

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On false confessions:
  “Until someone is in the position that I was put in, they will never understand why someone confesses to a crime they didn’t commit.” – Damon Thibodeau [03:49]

• On the power of evidence:
  “They had 84 pieces of physical evidence in this case, and not one went back to Damon Thibodeau.” – Paul Connick, DA [10:25]

• On flawed investigations:
  “There was never a wide ranging investigation as there should have been after a homicide.” – Paul Connick, DA [26:48]

• On exoneration:
  “I was thrilled because now I have something tangible to stick in front of the DA and say, look, you got the wrong guy.” – Damon Thibodeau [25:45]

• On the justice system’s failings:
  “We relied too much on the confession in the beginning. We should have gone further.” – Paul Connick, DA [41:45]

• On loss and hope:
  “All she wants is justice for her daughter, who went out to a store and never made it home.” – Host [46:10]

---

Key Timestamps

| Segment | Timestamp | Content | |---|---|---| | Last moments of Crystal, discovery of her body | 01:06 – 03:02 | First-hand accounts from mother, pathologist, DA | | Interrogation and confession | 06:12 – 07:38 | Damon’s detailed recounting of police tactics | | Trial and conviction | 11:20 – 14:35 | Confession as central evidence, jury decision, sentencing | | Introduction of defense team, Innocence Project | 15:09 – 20:13 | Denny LaBeouf, Steve Kaplan, Barry Scheck | | DNA testing results | 25:09 – 25:35 | No evidence linking Damon | | Alternate suspects, Tomlinson’s story | 27:33 – 36:41 | Scrutiny of Tomlinson and others overlooked by police | | Psychiatrist evaluation and DA’s reversal | 37:07 – 41:45 | Dr. Wellner’s findings, Connick’s admission of error | | Release and reunion | 42:03 – 43:48 | Damon freed, meets his son | | Future of the case and legacy | 45:40 – 46:28 | Active investigation, Damon’s later life and death |

---

Episode Takeaways

• False confessions pose a deep challenge to the justice system, especially under duress.
• Exonerating an innocent person can require years of relentless legal work, modern technology, and tenacity.
• The emotional toll of wrongful conviction reverberates through families, communities, and even prosecutors.
• Crystal Champagne’s murder remains unsolved — a reminder of the pain left unresolved and the enduring call for real justice.

---

For listeners seeking a profound look at the complexities of criminal justice — and the hopeful proof that truth can still prevail — this episode of 48 Hours is essential.

Transcript

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[Host/Interviewer]

Do you remember the case of Crystal Champagne?

[Dr. Fraser McKenzie (Forensic Pathologist)]

Yes. In my business most of the time you're doing autopsies on bad guys. But doing autopsies on children is something that quite often will stay with you. My name is Fraser McKenzie. I'm a forensic pathologist and in 1996 I was doing autopsies for the Jefferson Parish Coroner's office.

[Dawn Champagne (Mother of Crystal Champagne)]

Crystal Champagne was a 14 year old, loving, caring child that would help anybody. She loved sports, she loved animals and she wouldn't hurt anybody. Just somebody I miss very much. I am Dawn Champagne and I'm Crystal Champagne's mother. Everything seemed like it was just a regular day going on. I want to say she left my house about 5:15 and went to the store. She wanted to go get her some noodles. She liked her Chinese noodles and that was the last time I seen her. I was asking people if they seen her and I couldn't find her. I called the police.

[Police Officer/Investigator]

I need to get a cop to my house. Her 14 year old daughter's been missing for the last two and a half hours and we can't find her nowhere. She's been missing? Yes. Okay. What's your daughter's name, ma'? Am? Chris.

[Host/Interviewer]

That's the hardest night of my life.

[Police Officer/Investigator]

Champagne? Uh huh.

[Dawn Champagne (Mother of Crystal Champagne)]

Just staying up, waiting for her to come walking through the door.

[Dr. Fraser McKenzie (Forensic Pathologist)]

14 year old white female had been reported missing approximately 24 hours prior to her discovery.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Deputies found the Champagne's oldest daughter under

[Paul Connick (Jefferson Parish District Attorney)]

the Huey P. Long bridge last night.

[Dr. Fraser McKenzie (Forensic Pathologist)]

She was found unresponsive. A ligature was found around her neck. Manner of death is considered to be homicide.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Authorities believe she may have also been sexually assaulted.

[Dr. Michael Wellner (Forensic Psychiatrist)]

Damon thibodeau was a 22 year old drifter who came to town recently as a cousin of the family.

[Damon Thibodeau (Accused)]

I got a job here as a deckhand.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Thibodeau was someone the family trusted.

[Dr. Michael Wellner (Forensic Psychiatrist)]

Police were questioning Damon when news came of Crystal being found dead. By the end of the questioning, Damon confessed to the rape and murder of Crystal Champagne.

[Damon Thibodeau (Accused)]

Wrapped the wire around twice?

[Police Officer/Investigator]

Yes.

[Host/Interviewer]

You tell them you did do it?

[Damon Thibodeau (Accused)]

Yeah.

[Host/Interviewer]

You confess?

[Dawn Champagne (Mother of Crystal Champagne)]

I was in shock.

[Host/Interviewer]

You don't just say that you murdered her. You say you raped her.

[Dawn Champagne (Mother of Crystal Champagne)]

It was surprising to hear that. That he confessed to doing it.

[Damon Thibodeau (Accused)]

My name is Damon Thibodeau. Until someone is in the position that I was put in, they will never understand why someone confesses to a crime they didn't commit.

[Host/Interviewer]

Like so many places along the banks of the Mississippi, Weswego, Louisiana, attracts strangers in search of work on boats and barges. It is why 22 year old Damon Thibodeau, who had come to town for a family wedding, stayed. He had been in town for only a month when Crystal Champagne was killed.

[Paul Connick (Jefferson Parish District Attorney)]

These very high profile cases, there's a great deal of pressure to get the case solved and ease the worried mind of the public.

[Host/Interviewer]

Attorney Denny LaBeouf remembers the day in July 1996 when Damon was arrested for murder.

[Paul Connick (Jefferson Parish District Attorney)]

His picture's in the paper the next day. We got the guy that killed the girl.

[Host/Interviewer]

The Champagne family had befriended Damon when he first arrived at the New Orleans suburb. He was a distant cousin whom they barely knew, says Crystal's mother, Dawn.

[Dawn Champagne (Mother of Crystal Champagne)]

He just seemed to be an ordinary person.

[Host/Interviewer]

Was he ever inappropriate with your daughter?

[Dawn Champagne (Mother of Crystal Champagne)]

Not that I ever noticed.

[Host/Interviewer]

I mean, did you consider them as part of your family?

[Dawn Champagne (Mother of Crystal Champagne)]

Yeah.

[Host/Interviewer]

Damon was with the Champagnes on the hot Friday afternoon when Crystal said she was going to walk to the store. Had she asked you for a ride?

[Police Officer/Investigator]

Yes.

[Host/Interviewer]

And you said no?

[Damon Thibodeau (Accused)]

I said no.

[Host/Interviewer]

When she didn't return and her mother panicked and called police.

[Police Officer/Investigator]

Okay. What's your daughter's name, ma'? Am?

[Host/Interviewer]

Crystal Damon joined family and friends in a search all through the night.

[Damon Thibodeau (Accused)]

We checked the park where she plays softball at. We checked the shopping center right around the neighborhood. You know, just looking for her.

[Host/Interviewer]

24 hours after Crystal went missing, police brought in Damon and others for questioning. He was still there when the case became a homicide.

[Police Officer/Investigator]

The people come, walked over here a minute ago and they found a little girl dead by the river.

[Host/Interviewer]

Crystal's body was found by a family friend near the levee in Bridge City, about five miles from her Home.

[Damon Thibodeau (Accused)]

It's now a murder investigation. It's no longer missing persons.

[Host/Interviewer]

And the conversation, he says, got rough.

[Damon Thibodeau (Accused)]

I was increasingly under the impression that I was not going to be able

[Host/Interviewer]

to leave because they thought you had done it. Around 1am Damon agreed to take a polygraph. And what did they tell you? Did you pass it?

[Damon Thibodeau (Accused)]

No, they said I failed it. That's the point where I realized I was never going to walk out of there.

[Host/Interviewer]

Damon says he felt doomed as the grilling continued for another three hours.

[Damon Thibodeau (Accused)]

They kept asking the same questions over and over and over and over and over and over again.

[Host/Interviewer]

Finally, he says he was too exhausted to take anymore. What did you tell them?

[Damon Thibodeau (Accused)]

Whatever they wanted to hear.

[Host/Interviewer]

Damon told investigators that he had found Crystal at the store and drove her to the levee. When she resisted having sex with him, he said, what did she do?

[Police Officer/Investigator]

She started to fight.

[Host/Interviewer]

He killed her.

[Damon Thibodeau (Accused)]

When you left, how was she?

[Paul Connick (Jefferson Parish District Attorney)]

Lame.

[Damon Thibodeau (Accused)]

Face down.

[Host/Interviewer]

But you're confessing to a rape and murder.

[Damon Thibodeau (Accused)]

They were not going to let me go until I did it.

[Host/Interviewer]

Hours later, when Damon met with an attorney, he denied having anything to do with Crystal's death. But he had already been arrested and charged with rape and murder. Help me out with this a little bit, Damon, because I can't imagine in my wildest dreams admitting to a horrific crime, including giving some grisly details if I didn't do it.

[Damon Thibodeau (Accused)]

At first I thought so too. But after not sleeping, not eating, I'm thinking, well, okay, I'll give them what they want to hear, and the evidence will come out and it'll show I didn't do it. And people will see that.

[Host/Interviewer]

In fact, almost nothing Damon said matched the evidence, says attorney Denny LaBeouf.

[Paul Connick (Jefferson Parish District Attorney)]

They could have known within 24 hours that the confession was really stinky, that it almost couldn't be true.

[Host/Interviewer]

At first glance, it did appear that Crystal had been raped.

[Dr. Fraser McKenzie (Forensic Pathologist)]

Her shorts and her underpants were down about her knees.

[Host/Interviewer]

But when Dr. Fraser McKenzie conducted the autopsy, he found no sign of sexual assault. She didn't have those kind of injuries?

[Dr. Fraser McKenzie (Forensic Pathologist)]

No.

[Host/Interviewer]

Nor did he find any seminal fluid. Damon also told investigators that he choked Crystal with his hands. Not likely, says Dr. McKenzie. There's no kind of injury that would be associated with using your hands.

[Police Officer/Investigator]

Correct.

[Host/Interviewer]

Instead, the neck injury was caused by red industrial wire. Police found its source hanging on a nearby tree.

[Police Officer/Investigator]

I have wire or something, I don't know.

[Paul Connick (Jefferson Parish District Attorney)]

They ask him, where'd you get the wire? And he said, from the trunk of my car. They say, what color is the wire? And he said it was clear, like speaker wire.

[Police Officer/Investigator]

I've got black wires and gray wires in my car also.

[Paul Connick (Jefferson Parish District Attorney)]

And when the interrogator finally says, did you have any red wires?

[Police Officer/Investigator]

Come on. He wrapped the wire around twice. Yes,

[Paul Connick (Jefferson Parish District Attorney)]

we did believe that we had the right guy. We did believe that it was a good case, and we believe that he was the perpetrator.

[Host/Interviewer]

Paul Connick became the Jefferson Parish District Attorney six months after the murder.

[Paul Connick (Jefferson Parish District Attorney)]

It's hard to believe that anyone would confess to such a terrible crime if they didn't commit it.

[Host/Interviewer]

When Damon Thibodeau went on trial in 1997, he was confident the facts would show that he had falsely confessed.

[Damon Thibodeau (Accused)]

I'm thinking, well, this is all going to come out in the courtroom, and this jury's going to see, well, this guy didn't do this, and that'll be the end of it.

[Host/Interviewer]

There was no physical evidence tying him to the crime.

[Paul Connick (Jefferson Parish District Attorney)]

They had 84 pieces of physical evidence in this case, and not one went back to Damon Thibodeau.

[Host/Interviewer]

But a detective explained the lack of evidence of rape by suggesting that insects had consumed all the fluids. A theory that he never discussed with the state pathologist. You're actually laughing. Is his explanation laughable?

[Dr. Fraser McKenzie (Forensic Pathologist)]

In my opinion. But I'm knowledgeable for a jury. They're not knowledgeable.

[Host/Interviewer]

But could that have destroyed any evidence of sexual assault?

[Dr. Fraser McKenzie (Forensic Pathologist)]

No.

[Police Officer/Investigator]

No.

[Host/Interviewer]

The jurors also heard from two women who claimed seeing someone who looked like Damon on the levee the day of the murder. Damon did not take the stand, so he did not explain why he admitted to the crime before recanting. His incriminating words echoed in the courtroom.

[Damon Thibodeau (Accused)]

But everything you said here is true? To the best of knowledge, yes.

[Host/Interviewer]

What went through your mind as you're listening to these?

[Damon Thibodeau (Accused)]

Why couldn't I be a little stronger?

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[Host/Interviewer]

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[Host/Interviewer]

What was it like seeing Damon in the courtroom? It hurt.

[Dawn Champagne (Mother of Crystal Champagne)]

I just wanted to ask him why

[Host/Interviewer]

Dawn Champagne was convinced that Damon Thibodeau killed her daughter. These are people you consider family and they think you killed Crystal. What was that like?

[Damon Thibodeau (Accused)]

It was weird. I mean, what, what, what do you tell someone in a situation like that?

[Host/Interviewer]

Jurors took just one hour to reach their verdict.

[Damon Thibodeau (Accused)]

You get the sinking feeling that this isn't going to go right. And then here it comes.

[Host/Interviewer]

What do you remember hearing?

[Damon Thibodeau (Accused)]

Guilty.

[Host/Interviewer]

Guilty. Damon was convicted of the rape and murder of Crystal Champagne.

[Dawn Champagne (Mother of Crystal Champagne)]

I was glad because it meant that they had who did it.

[Host/Interviewer]

His sentence? Death by lethal injection. And in October 1997, Damon Thibodeau was sent to Louisiana's notorious Angola prison. He began to despair.

[Damon Thibodeau (Accused)]

You get to a point where you don't want to be in that cell anymore and that's the only way out.

[Host/Interviewer]

Execution.

[Damon Thibodeau (Accused)]

That's the only way out of that cell.

[Host/Interviewer]

What made you change your mind then?

[Damon Thibodeau (Accused)]

Denny.

[Host/Interviewer]

Denny as in Denny LaBeouf?

[Damon Thibodeau (Accused)]

She walks in one day, she said, look, I read your case.

[Host/Interviewer]

She's an anti death penalty attorney who fights to get inmates off of death row no matter what they did to get there. I mean, you make no bones about it. Most of your clients are guilty.

[Paul Connick (Jefferson Parish District Attorney)]

Absolutely. And the work that I do, I want to do on behalf of people who have tragically committed a homicide that ain't Damon.

[Host/Interviewer]

LaBeouf was convinced that Damon Thibodeau was innocent. She immediately appealed the verdict. But two years after Damon stood trial, the State Supreme Court reaffirmed his conviction. A major victory for Jefferson Parish District Attorney Paul Connick. You still feel it's a good verdict?

[Paul Connick (Jefferson Parish District Attorney)]

Absolutely. We had the confession. We had two witnesses who put him on the scene of the murder. Around the time of the murder.

[Host/Interviewer]

Denny LaBeouf couldn't give up, but she was overwhelmed. She sought help and found it in a place 1,200 miles away in Minneapolis.

[Steve Kaplan (Attorney)]

Here's where the body was found, down in here.

[Host/Interviewer]

Steve Kaplan was a partner at Frederickson and Byron, a well heeled civil law firm that takes on a few select criminal cases pro bono.

[Steve Kaplan (Attorney)]

As soon as I met him, it completely changed the stakes for me. It was not clinical. It was deeply personal. It was the look he gave me as he was saying goodbye that I remember. Will always remember.

[Host/Interviewer]

His life is in your hands.

[Steve Kaplan (Attorney)]

Correct.

[Host/Interviewer]

How big a difference did it make when you got help from Minneapolis?

[Paul Connick (Jefferson Parish District Attorney)]

Everything.

[Host/Interviewer]

Right away, the attorneys took another look at the witnesses who said they saw a man who looked like Damon on the levee.

[Paul Connick (Jefferson Parish District Attorney)]

But they then said, and you know, the police tape was around and the police were here. Well, that was the night they found her, not the night she was killed.

[Host/Interviewer]

They also reached out to the now retired state pathologist, Dr. Fraser McKenzie. When he testified at the trial, he didn't know the details of the case.

[Dr. Fraser McKenzie (Forensic Pathologist)]

All I know was there was a confession. I have no knowledge whatsoever of what is contained in that confession. None. And when you find out, then I'm really upset. The confession does not match the physical evidence.

[Host/Interviewer]

When you heard that he was convicted of rape, what did you think?

[Dr. Fraser McKenzie (Forensic Pathologist)]

I was just aghast because at my examination there was no evidence of a rape.

[Host/Interviewer]

MacKenzie signed an affidavit for the defense outlining the serious discrepancies he found in Damon's story.

[Dr. Fraser McKenzie (Forensic Pathologist)]

I want the truth to come out and for it to be known.

[Host/Interviewer]

What's more, MacKenzie was able to help establish the time of Crystal's death. Sometime before darkness fell at 7:50pm about two and a half hours after she left her home. That's crucial because Damon Thibodeau was with Crystal's family for most of that time.

[Steve Kaplan (Attorney)]

There was absolutely no time within which Damon could have possibly committed the crime.

[Host/Interviewer]

The defense contends that Damon was only on his own for about a half hour to 45 minutes.

[Damon Thibodeau (Accused)]

I sat in the parking lot in my car.

[Host/Interviewer]

And how long were you gone?

[Damon Thibodeau (Accused)]

Just Long enough to smoke a joint.

[Steve Kaplan (Attorney)]

That's 10 minutes from the apartment of the crime scene, another 10 to come back. That's 20 minutes. And it would have left no time for him to have done the murder, cleaned up, disposed of all the incriminating evidence, cleaned his car and gotten back to the Champagnes, presumably fully composed and ready to rejoin the search.

[Host/Interviewer]

Was there anything about Damon that made him more likely to be manipulated?

[Steve Kaplan (Attorney)]

I think so. He was only 22. He had never been through anything like this in his life.

[Host/Interviewer]

And his background made him even more vulnerable. Kaplan says. I'm not asking any specifics, but you were abused as a child, weren't you?

[Damon Thibodeau (Accused)]

Yeah.

[Police Officer/Investigator]

Yeah.

[Host/Interviewer]

Dropped out of school.

[John Tomlinson (Family Friend who found the body)]

Yes.

[Paul Connick (Jefferson Parish District Attorney)]

Damon had a childhood that was very, very tough. And that produced a guy who would just rather walk away from a fight.

[Host/Interviewer]

After spending nearly a decade in the most hopeless place There is, by 2005, Damon had dozens of legal professionals, all volunteers, fighting to get his case heard and overturned.

[Damon Thibodeau (Accused)]

I said, well, if these people are going to fight to prove I didn't do this, I'm going to fight with them.

[Host/Interviewer]

Also on his side, attorney Barry Scheck and the Innocence Project, based in New York.

[Damon Thibodeau (Accused)]

Well, this was a no brainer for us. You could see that this confession was quite problematic from the start.

[Host/Interviewer]

Scheck says that while 25% of the country's exonerated inmates had confessed to to crimes they didn't commit, the hard fact is no court is likely to release a man who admitted to such a brutal murder. So he came up with a novel and controversial idea. Instead of fighting lengthy court battles that were iffy at best, why not take Damon's case directly to their adversary?

[Police Officer/Investigator]

We believed that we could persuade the

[Damon Thibodeau (Accused)]

Jefferson County District Attorney's office that they were dealing with an innocent man.

[Host/Interviewer]

But that would mean showing the DA everything they had.

[Damon Thibodeau (Accused)]

There's always the danger that all of a sudden you'll come up with some

[Police Officer/Investigator]

horrible evidence of guilt. That can happen.

[Host/Interviewer]

If you don't get Damon out, he's gonna die.

[Paul Connick (Jefferson Parish District Attorney)]

I have been in the death house at midnight when they kill my client and watched that. And I know how real it is.

[Host/Interviewer]

450 miles away from Angola Prison in the rural town of Hantsville, Alabama, a 14 year old boy got a shocking letter from a death row inmate.

[Police Officer/Investigator]

I was like, what?

[Dawn Champagne (Mother of Crystal Champagne)]

Who is this?

[Host/Interviewer]

It was a birthday card from the father he had never known.

[Dr. Fraser McKenzie (Forensic Pathologist)]

I hope this card finds you well.

[Police Officer/Investigator]

You have questions and I want to answer them. I want to know you, so please write.

[Host/Interviewer]

How did you Sign your letter Damon, not Dad.

[Damon Thibodeau (Accused)]

I didn't think I earned the title dad, you know, because I was never there.

[Host/Interviewer]

Damon Thibodeau was when his son Josh was born. Damon lost contact with him when he broke up with Josh's mom.

[Damon Thibodeau (Accused)]

I wanted to be part of his life, but I was a stranger to him.

[Police Officer/Investigator]

I wrote him back and pretty much asked him who he was.

[Damon Thibodeau (Accused)]

I wanted Josh to know that I wasn't a murderer at that time.

[Police Officer/Investigator]

I didn't know if he was guilty

[Paul Connick (Jefferson Parish District Attorney)]

of it or not.

[Host/Interviewer]

After many letters over several years, Josh began to believe in his father.

[Police Officer/Investigator]

I wanted to meet him. I wanted to meet my dad. And he didn't want me to do that.

[Damon Thibodeau (Accused)]

Did I want to see him? Yes, very badly. But I wanted to be able to talk to him without having chains on my feet. Hug him without having chains on my feet.

[Host/Interviewer]

But fighting a case post conviction takes time, Lots of time. So in May 2007, having already spent nearly 10 long years on death row, Damon agreed to allow Barry Scheck and his other lawyers to show the district attorney all the evidence they had gathered.

[Damon Thibodeau (Accused)]

There was some skepticism.

[Police Officer/Investigator]

The man is on death row. He's on death row.

[Damon Thibodeau (Accused)]

It's a horrible murder.

[Host/Interviewer]

And surprisingly, Jefferson Parish District Attorney Paul Connick was willing to hear them out.

[Paul Connick (Jefferson Parish District Attorney)]

He came in along with his team. I had all of my chiefs in the room. The easy thing to do would be to rely on the conviction. You know, this is going to be politically a hot potato here. Why are we going to reopen this case? Let's just leave this lie and let the courts decide.

[Host/Interviewer]

I bet there are people in your office who said that.

[Paul Connick (Jefferson Parish District Attorney)]

They're thinking, hey, this is good conviction. Why are we going down this road? But certainly there was enough presented to me. Whereas I sat there, I'm thinking, I gotta look at this.

[Host/Interviewer]

Connick was troubled enough by what he saw that he agreed to open an investigation, not just working alongside the defense team, but also splitting costs. They would re examine the physical evidence.

[Damon Thibodeau (Accused)]

This was a bloody crime scene and a bloody struggle.

[Police Officer/Investigator]

There would have to be some transfer

[Damon Thibodeau (Accused)]

of trace evidence on the person who committed this crime.

[Paul Connick (Jefferson Parish District Attorney)]

I said, let's take another look at what was already tested using today's technology.

This is a very scary thing.

[Host/Interviewer]

The risk haunted Denny LaBeouf, who feared Damon's DNA could have innocently ended up on crystal.

[Paul Connick (Jefferson Parish District Attorney)]

They're going to test his clothing and his car. Four hairs. And she lived in the house where he slept on the sofa, she'd ridden in his car. It would stop this case. Cold, I believe if one little bit of forensic evidence matched Damon.

[Host/Interviewer]

But there was little choice. So every bit of the clothing that Damon and Crystal had worn was scrutinized for any specific of telltale DNA. In all the testing took another two years. Was any DNA from Damon Thibodeau found on any of the evidence?

[Paul Connick (Jefferson Parish District Attorney)]

No. No.

[Host/Interviewer]

Was anything from Crystal found on anything belonging to Damon Thibodeau?

[Paul Connick (Jefferson Parish District Attorney)]

No.

[Host/Interviewer]

Was there anything that connected Damon Thibodeau to the. To the crime scene?

[Paul Connick (Jefferson Parish District Attorney)]

No.

[Damon Thibodeau (Accused)]

I was expecting those results.

[Host/Interviewer]

But you had to be thrilled.

[Damon Thibodeau (Accused)]

Oh, yeah, definitely. I was thrilled because now I have something tangible to stick in front of the DA and say, look, you got the wrong guy.

[Host/Interviewer]

But Connick saw other problems with the case. Like the defense claim that Damon didn't have enough time to kill Crystal. Was that true? It all hinged on Crystal's mother, Dawn. She first told police Damon was back at her home with when she called 911.

[Police Officer/Investigator]

My 14 year old daughter's been missed for the last two and a half hours.

[Host/Interviewer]

But later at trial, she said he wasn't.

[Paul Connick (Jefferson Parish District Attorney)]

When we questioned her about her trial testimony, she went back and forth and finally said, whatever I told the police is my best recollection.

[Host/Interviewer]

If that's right and Damon was with the family by then, it was virtually impossible for him to have driven Crystal to Bridge City. Yet since he confessed so soon after Crystal's body was found, the police never looked into who else might have taken her there.

[Paul Connick (Jefferson Parish District Attorney)]

There was never a wide ranging investigation as there should have been after a homicide.

[Host/Interviewer]

LaBeouf says there were plenty of people to question. Like the friend who said he spoke with Crystal on the phone just hours before she disappeared. Or the relative with an arrest record for violent crimes who lived close to where her body was found. And Crystal did have friends in Bridge City, including one now serving life for aggravated rape of a juvenile.

[Paul Connick (Jefferson Parish District Attorney)]

I can't tell you if any one of those men did the murder or knows anything about the murder. I can't tell you sitting here. What I can tell you is that any decent investigation would have asked the.

[Host/Interviewer]

And what about that family friend who found Crystal's body hidden deeply in the brush along the Mississippi River?

[Police Officer/Investigator]

People come, walked over here a minute ago and they found a little girl dead by the river.

[Host/Interviewer]

Just how did he manage to do that? What made you go look that one other spot?

[John Tomlinson (Family Friend who found the body)]

Because of the dream. That's all I can say. Because of the dream.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

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[Police Officer/Investigator]

You have to look at the case and say, let's start with the oddities. The things that really don't add up

[Host/Interviewer]

and what really doesn't add up, says private eye Jen Vitry, is how and where 14 year old Crystal Champagne was found.

[Police Officer/Investigator]

This is the Huey P. Long Bridge

[Host/Interviewer]

and at the foot of the bridge

[Police Officer/Investigator]

here comes into a community called Bridge City.

[Host/Interviewer]

Vitri, who was part of Damon Thibodeau's Post conviction defense team is a CBS News consultant.

[Police Officer/Investigator]

When we walk down and you see where she was found.

[Host/Interviewer]

Crystal's body was discovered deep in the brush around five miles from where the teenager had disappeared. Alone on foot.

[Police Officer/Investigator]

Everybody in the entire police department is looking for her in West Wego, just 15 minutes away.

[Host/Interviewer]

So how did this man, John Tomlinson, happened to find her in the very first place he looked?

[John Tomlinson (Family Friend who found the body)]

It's something about me. See there's weird things that people don't understand about me. I can have a dream and it'll actually come true and it scares me.

[Host/Interviewer]

A dream Tomlinson now claims led him to the body. Although back in 1996 he told police it was his intuition. What did you actually dream?

[John Tomlinson (Family Friend who found the body)]

All I in my dream was remember just staring up and being standing right underneath the Huey P. Long Bridge.

[Host/Interviewer]

We tracked down Tomlinson to Ball, Louisiana where he was working as an auto Mechanic back in 1996. He was a 30 year old tugboat deckhand living in the same Wes Wego apartment complex as Crystal's family.

[John Tomlinson (Family Friend who found the body)]

It haunts me every day that I found her body. It kills me every day.

[Host/Interviewer]

What do you mean? Tell me.

[John Tomlinson (Family Friend who found the body)]

She's a good kid. She didn't deserve. She had a lot of life to go.

[Host/Interviewer]

Tomlinson had been dating a cliff friend of Crystal's mom, Stacy Malonson. Crystal often babysat for Stacy and was at her home just hours before she disappeared. Tomlinson insists he was on a tugboat asleep when Stacy called to tell him that Crystal was missing.

[John Tomlinson (Family Friend who found the body)]

It never really run my mind that she would run away. I mean, she was too good of a kid, she was too happy.

[Host/Interviewer]

The next evening, he says Stacy picked him up at the dock and they handed out flyers in the neighboring Bridge City even though they were far from Crystal's home. At a convenience store, he says a woman told them she had seen a girl who looked like Crystal walking alone on the levee about a mile from the bridge.

[John Tomlinson (Family Friend who found the body)]

So I said, okay Stacy, let's go take a little trip.

[Host/Interviewer]

But Tomlinson didn't search the area where Crystal was reportedly seen. Instead he drove on for about a mile, stopped the car and told Stacy to stay behind.

[John Tomlinson (Family Friend who found the body)]

That dream is what drug me there.

[Host/Interviewer]

Then without hesitation, he says he followed a path into the woods.

[John Tomlinson (Family Friend who found the body)]

Well, there's a little trail here. You know when I walk in and, and God love, there she was.

[Host/Interviewer]

Where was she?

[John Tomlinson (Family Friend who found the body)]

Dead under the Huey Pelong Bridge. When I looked up, I was looking at the same thing that I was looking at in my dream, that when I was standing on a Tugboat.

[Host/Interviewer]

I mean, how did you know that that's where you would find Crystal's body?

[John Tomlinson (Family Friend who found the body)]

A hunch. Just a hunch. Based on the dream? Just a hunch.

[Host/Interviewer]

That story obviously didn't go down well with investigators who took Tomlinson in for questioning.

[Police Officer/Investigator]

And I walked in about 10ft and found a body. What made you go there?

[John Tomlinson (Family Friend who found the body)]

Intuition. I went through nine and a half hours of intense interrogation because it was the same thing over and over and over. I really felt like they were trying to make me say that I did it.

[Host/Interviewer]

That is, until Damon Thibodeau, going through his own interrogation down the hall, told police that he did it. Police then lost interest in Tomlinson, especially since his alibi, claiming that he was on a tugboat that was far downriver on the night Crystal was killed, appeared to be backed up by the boat's logs.

[John Tomlinson (Family Friend who found the body)]

I proved why while I was on that boat, that there's no way that I could do it.

[Host/Interviewer]

But how airtight was that alibi? Today, Tomlinson concedes that crew members covered for each other all the time. Now, at the time, though, you told him it was impossible to get off the boat.

[John Tomlinson (Family Friend who found the body)]

Well, sure, you know, I mean, no, it's not. It never is, you know, but I always let my boss know when I was getting off that boat.

[Host/Interviewer]

But you could get off and nobody would have to know. And you could get right back on.

[John Tomlinson (Family Friend who found the body)]

Sure, you can get off and get right back on. It's no problem, you know, I mean, it's a boat.

[Host/Interviewer]

But some nights you would sneak off there and go see Stacy when you were supposed to be sleeping in the

[John Tomlinson (Family Friend who found the body)]

bed and I was sleeping at home.

[Host/Interviewer]

You didn't meet up with Stacy on that Friday night?

[John Tomlinson (Family Friend who found the body)]

No.

[Host/Interviewer]

What's more troubling is that Tomlinson was convicted of a sex offense two years before Crystal disappeared.

[John Tomlinson (Family Friend who found the body)]

His crime, indecent behavior with juvenile.

[Host/Interviewer]

Here's how he explains it.

[John Tomlinson (Family Friend who found the body)]

I pick up a 14 year old girl, thought she was 18 at least, at a bar and got in trouble for it. Paid my dues and done my time.

[Host/Interviewer]

And you never were inappropriate with Crystal?

[John Tomlinson (Family Friend who found the body)]

Never. That's the wrong thing, you know. I was raised the right way. You never tried to hurt a child.

[Host/Interviewer]

Crystal was also 14. But Tomlinson denies having anything to do with her murder. You had nothing to do with her death?

[John Tomlinson (Family Friend who found the body)]

On my mother's soul, I never touched her.

[Host/Interviewer]

He blames the crime on the man who once said he did it, Damon Thibodeau.

[John Tomlinson (Family Friend who found the body)]

He admitted to what he did wrong. He should be punished.

[Host/Interviewer]

That confession is no doubt the Biggest obstacle to Damon's freedom. Especially for the man who agreed to take a new look at the case, District attorney Paul Connick. After all was said and done, you still had this thing like, why would somebody confess?

[Steve Kaplan (Attorney)]

Why?

[Paul Connick (Jefferson Parish District Attorney)]

I'm not gonna take the boilerplate explanation for false confessions.

[Host/Interviewer]

Connick was skeptical that the interrogation tactics were to blame. So he turned to this man.

[Dr. Michael Wellner (Forensic Psychiatrist)]

I don't believe there exists evidence of any false confession in which a person confessed falsely to murder because he didn't get a meal.

[Host/Interviewer]

Dr. Michael Wellner, a tough forensic psychiatrist who often sides with the police.

[Paul Connick (Jefferson Parish District Attorney)]

I needed to know, can I rely on this confession? Because that's all I have.

[Dr. Michael Wellner (Forensic Psychiatrist)]

False confessions are extremely rare.

[Paul Connick (Jefferson Parish District Attorney)]

I trust him. I trust him. I really do.

[Host/Interviewer]

Dr. Wellner insisted on talking to Damon Thibenau by himself. No lawyer present.

[Paul Connick (Jefferson Parish District Attorney)]

Yes.

[Steve Kaplan (Attorney)]

Yes.

[Host/Interviewer]

That had to drive the defense crazy

[Paul Connick (Jefferson Parish District Attorney)]

and we knew it.

[Host/Interviewer]

With his life riding on this interview, Damon Thibodeau agreed to meet with Dr. Wellner alone.

[Paul Connick (Jefferson Parish District Attorney)]

I was afraid that he would paint the Damon as a different person than he is.

[Host/Interviewer]

Was Damon the person you were expecting to meet?

[Dr. Michael Wellner (Forensic Psychiatrist)]

From the background that was presented to me, I anticipated meeting somebody who would have been crushed, crumpled and spit out. That the person that I met was composed, self possessed. I was shocked.

[Paul Connick (Jefferson Parish District Attorney)]

What was going through my mind is, did we make a big mistake?

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[Police Officer/Investigator]

Evening Buyer's remorse. Buy A new car. I'll be moving in. Let's get started.

[Dawn Champagne (Mother of Crystal Champagne)]

Sorry.

[Paul Connick (Jefferson Parish District Attorney)]

I think.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

I think there's been a mistake. I bought it from Carvana.

[Dr. Michael Wellner (Forensic Psychiatrist)]

You what?

[Host/Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Great price. I even have seven days to love it or return it.

[Police Officer/Investigator]

So there's no.

[Dr. Fraser McKenzie (Forensic Pathologist)]

No.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

No buyer's remorse. More like buyers rejoice.

[Police Officer/Investigator]

I guess I'll let myself out. Congratulations. I mean it.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Buyers rejoice. Buy your car today on Carvana. Limitations and exclusions may apply. See our seven day return [e-mail].

[Damon Thibodeau (Accused)]

but everything you said here is true.

[Police Officer/Investigator]

Yes.

[Host/Interviewer]

Was Damon Thibodeau coerced by the police into giving a false confession?

[Dr. Michael Wellner (Forensic Psychiatrist)]

In my professional opinion, he was not.

[Host/Interviewer]

Forensic psychiatrist Michael Wellner does not believe that Damon was forced into confessing. But he does believe that if Thibodeau had committed the crime, there would be some physical evidence.

[Dr. Michael Wellner (Forensic Psychiatrist)]

It was a bloody event. It was a physical event that required restraint, that required contact.

[Host/Interviewer]

Still, Wellner says that Damon did blame himself, believing that if he had given Crystal a ride to the store on that fateful afternoon, she might still be alive. Had she asked you for a ride?

[Police Officer/Investigator]

Yes.

[Host/Interviewer]

And you said no?

[Damon Thibodeau (Accused)]

I said no.

[Host/Interviewer]

On top of that, guilt was Damon's failed polygraph.

[Dr. Michael Wellner (Forensic Psychiatrist)]

To some people, failing a polygraph is powerful evidence. You might be better off confessing.

[Host/Interviewer]

What's more, he says, guilty suspects try to minimize their involvement in crimes. Damon was admitting to a rape. That didn't happen. As you sit here today, do you believe that Damon Thibodeau falsely confessed?

[Dr. Michael Wellner (Forensic Psychiatrist)]

I do. There are many things about this case that I can't answer. But one thing that I can say is that I believe this to be a false confession.

[Host/Interviewer]

And now so does the man who once put Damon Thibodeau on death row.

[Paul Connick (Jefferson Parish District Attorney)]

We relied too much on the confession in the beginning. We should have gone further.

[Host/Interviewer]

Five years after that first meeting with Damon's team, District Attorney Paul Connick makes an extraordinary decision. He will not fight Damon's bid for freedom.

[Paul Connick (Jefferson Parish District Attorney)]

There's no way I can keep this man in jail. There's no way.

[Host/Interviewer]

The defense and Connick file a joint motion in court. That same day, a judge orders the conviction vacated, adding in a handwritten note that Damon should be immediately released. In September 2012, 16 years after Damon's arrest, his legal team gathers anxiously at the gates of Angola. Denny, have you ever come here then and watched someone walk out of here? Is this the first time?

[Paul Connick (Jefferson Parish District Attorney)]

This is the first time ever that

[Host/Interviewer]

you've ever watched someone walk out alive, out of Angola?

[Paul Connick (Jefferson Parish District Attorney)]

It is. First time.

[Damon Thibodeau (Accused)]

I hope I never see y' all here. Don't take it the wrong way.

[Police Officer/Investigator]

Thank you.

[Dr. Michael Wellner (Forensic Psychiatrist)]

Thank you.

[Dawn Champagne (Mother of Crystal Champagne)]

Thank you.

[Police Officer/Investigator]

How does it feel to finally be free?

[Host/Interviewer]

Good.

[Police Officer/Investigator]

Good.

[Host/Interviewer]

Seems like you're overwhelmed.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

No words.

[Damon Thibodeau (Accused)]

Yes, I am. In the car, driving away from the

[Police Officer/Investigator]

gate, starting to feel free.

[Host/Interviewer]

Five hours later, safe. Damon is in New Orleans, reunited with his family. His son Josh finally gets to meet his father in person. When you first saw him and you realized that was your son, what were you feeling?

[Damon Thibodeau (Accused)]

Relief. I finally got to meet him. It's indescribable.

[Police Officer/Investigator]

I love the water.

[Damon Thibodeau (Accused)]

Oh, yeah, it's great.

[Host/Interviewer]

They spend three days trying to catch catch up on all the lost years. And what did the two of you do today?

[Police Officer/Investigator]

We walked, we talked.

[Damon Thibodeau (Accused)]

We got to know each other a little better. The grounds on death row are kept like a mansion's grounds.

[Host/Interviewer]

So what do you think of your son?

[Damon Thibodeau (Accused)]

I'm proud. I mean, he's a great guy. He's a good man, you know, And I'm glad that I'm alive to see her.

[Steve Kaplan (Attorney)]

I think one of the great things of this is the opportunity now for father and son to have a real relationship with each other that's just unbelievably special.

[Police Officer/Investigator]

You got it all? Got it all.

[Host/Interviewer]

Attorney Steve Kaplan's commitment to Damon isn't over yet. Damon is moving in with him until he gets settled.

[Damon Thibodeau (Accused)]

We're coming up on Hughpy Long bridge.

[Host/Interviewer]

And so they embark on on the 1200 mile journey to Minneapolis.

[Damon Thibodeau (Accused)]

We're headed north, and I get to sit in the front seat.

[Steve Kaplan (Attorney)]

There you go.

[Damon Thibodeau (Accused)]

No chains, no chains. I'm not in the back seat, and I don't have bars on the windows. I'm shaking the chains off, and I'm starting over.

[Host/Interviewer]

This is a man that your office convicted, right. Put on death row, and then 15 years later to turn around and say, I'm going to let him go. Wasn't that a very tough decision?

[Paul Connick (Jefferson Parish District Attorney)]

The process was tough, but in the end, it's what should have been done. In my heart, I knew what I did was the right decision.

[Host/Interviewer]

And the fact that so much time now it's passed to start taking a new look at this case, isn't it going to make it very difficult to find the real killer?

[Paul Connick (Jefferson Parish District Attorney)]

It is. Again, what's the alternative? We can't stop. That's what we do. It's our job.

[Host/Interviewer]

The murder of Crystal Champagne is now an open case, so Connick cannot talk about specifics, but the state is actively reinvestigating. That's sure to mean taking a fresh look at several people, including John Tomlinson. Don Champagne can only hope that the renewed investigation will pay off.

[Dawn Champagne (Mother of Crystal Champagne)]

There's a lot of things I don't understand, a lot of things I don't know.

[Host/Interviewer]

All she wants is justice for her daughter, who went out to a store and never made it home.

[Dawn Champagne (Mother of Crystal Champagne)]

Because whoever did it, they were walking free and she didn't have a chance to live.

[Police Officer/Investigator]

After his release, Damon Thibodeau earned his GED and testified before a Senate committee about conditions on death row. Damon died in September 2021 due to complications from COVID 19. Now at McDonald's, everyone can get more of what they want when they want it. With McVowey, you can choose your wake up call, you can choose your study meal or even your drive thru dinner.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

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[Police Officer/Investigator]

Paw Patrol is coming to theaters and it's bigger than ever. Welcome to Dino Island Run to get tickets. I'm a bulldog.

[Advertiser]

This is it.

[Damon Thibodeau (Accused)]

As fast as I can go.

[Police Officer/Investigator]

Paw Patrol, the Dino movie Only in theaters August 14th. Rated PG.