Murder, Fire, and Doubt

Summary

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Podcast Summary: 48 Hours — "Murder, Fire, and Doubt"

Host: CBS News
Date: September 4, 2025

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Overview

This episode of "48 Hours" delves into the gripping and labyrinthine case of John Maloney, a former Green Bay police officer convicted of murdering his wife, Sandy, in 1999. The narrative explores not only the sequence of events leading up to Sandy's death and John’s conviction but also raises deep doubts about the integrity of the investigation, trial, and forensic evidence. The episode is marked by the shadows of addiction, small-town scandal, judicial corruption, and the enduring conviction of a family that the wrong man may be behind bars.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Crime and the Initial Investigation

• The Tragic Night:
  Sandy Maloney was found burned on a couch in her Green Bay home. The state claimed arson, with vodka as the accelerant, and asserted that John Maloney struck her, strangled her, and set the fire to cover his crime.
  “The contention that the state has is that the burn pattern on the floor in front of the sofa was caused by an accelerant... My opinion, that it was a deliberately set fire, that it was arson.” (00:53)

• The Call to 911:
  Sandy’s mother, Lola Cater, made the devastating discovery and immediately indicted John in her grief-stricken call.
  “My daughter is all burned up.” (01:44) — Lola
  “He was coming over to kill her. He hated her. He wanted her gone.” (01:51) — Lola

• John Maloney’s Background:
  John was a respected cop with 18 years of service, but the circumstances surrounding Sandy’s decline—her addiction, erratic behavior, and marital strife—became central to the prosecution’s case.
  “Everyone in the community turned on my dad. Everyone just gave up on him.” (02:07) — Matt Maloney, son

2. A Family’s Struggle

• Sandy’s Addiction and Familial Fallout:
  The episode paints a stark picture of Sandy’s descent into addiction, her failed attempts at rehabilitation, and the coping mechanisms of her children.
  “She’d go into rehab, but it wasn’t really by choice. My dad would get her signed in there, and then she would just figure out a way to get out…” (05:25) — Matt
  “She’d tell me to slip it under my tongue and just keep it under there until we left the place. And then I’d spit it out and she’d take it…” (05:54) — Matt

• Violence Claims Disentangled:
  Although prosecutors asserted John was abusive, no police reports corroborated physical abuse, and the children disputed those claims.
  “If anyone was fighting, it was my mom hitting my dad... and if anyone swung at anyone, it would be my mom hitting my dad.” (07:37) — Matt

3. Evidence, Prosecution, and the Undercover Set-Up

• The Undercover Tape:
  A key moment came from a police sting in Las Vegas, where John’s girlfriend, Tracy Hellenbrand, wore a wire to elicit a confession. Despite repeated denials, edited video and John’s rage influenced the jury.
  “I didn’t kill anybody. I didn’t kill her. Bitch. Cause I wasn’t.” (15:30) — John Maloney ([Las Vegas tape])
  “You solemnly swear that the testimony ... is truth.” (14:42) — [Setup for Tracy Hellenbrand’s testimony]

• Prosecutorial Zeal and Courtroom Theater:
  The DA, “Hollywood Joe” Paulus, was known for dramatics and ambition, coloring the jury’s perception.
  “We all know what the truth is here. Don’t get sidetracked. Just let the truth flourish.” (12:39) — Joe Paulus

• Editing Controversy:
  The integrity of the covert tapes was called into question due to evidence of heavy editing and guidance from the prosecutor.
  “I have replaced, modified, or added new excerpts to be included in the tape…” (25:38) — Note from Joe Paulus
  “Was there any editing done that could be considered doctored?”
  “Not from my knowledge.” (26:39–26:46) — Vince Biskupic

4. Doubt, Corruption, and a New Theory

• Sheila Berry’s Crusade:
  Novelist and investigator Sheila Berry, after reviewing 20,000+ documents, became convinced not only of John’s innocence, but also that there was no homicide at all.
  “I concluded that there was no crime.” (29:40) — Sheila Berry

• Suicide Theory:
  Berry’s expert-backed theory suggests Sandy, deeply intoxicated and despondent from personal loss, attempted suicide with an electrical cord in the basement and later accidentally started the fire with a cigarette.
  “She made a suicide attempt. At least enough of a gesture to jump off that coffee table and hit the back of her head…” (30:24) — Berry
  “There were quite a few suicide notes found in the trash on the first floor.” (31:10) — Berry
  “The autopsy showed that Sandy was very drunk that night…” (30:16)

5. The Maloney Family’s Unwavering Support

• Sons’ Loyalty:
  John Maloney’s sons never wavered, asserting their father’s innocence and their own firsthand experience of the tumultuous home.
  “The Maloney family is not giving up on my dad. We love him, and we know the truth.” (43:12) — Matt Maloney
  “If there’s any way that I thought my dad killed my mom, I would have nothing to do with this case right now…” (43:25) — Matt

6. The Prosecution Unravels

• The Paulus Scandal:
  Joe Paulus was later convicted of bribery and tax evasion for fixing cases during the very period Maloney was tried.
  “He was charged with bribery and income tax evasion...” (23:12)
  “John Paulus served more than six years in prison for taking bribes to influence cases and for evading taxes on those bribes.” (45:13)

• A Review and Remaining Doubts:
  An independent review led by attorney Stephen Meyer reaffirmed the original homicide finding, yet did little to quell the skepticism of Berry and the Maloney family.
  “Sandra Maloney was manually strangled. There’s no question in my mind... That’s the bottom line here.” (40:44) — Stephen Meyer
  “He’s standing there with the medical examiner, who presumably did know how to read the well.” (42:24) — Berry’s skepticism

• Denied Appeal:
  Despite new arguments citing possible evidentiary distortion and prosecutor misconduct, Maloney was denied a new trial.
  “...The court denied Maloney a new trial, ruling that he had failed to present sufficient evidence...” (44:55)

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Notable & Memorable Quotes

| Timestamp | Speaker | Quote | |-----------|----------------|--------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:44 | Lola Cater | "My daughter is all burned up." | | 02:32 | Sheila Berry | "It took so little time to convict him. Three hours to pick a jury. Eight days for trial. One day to deliberate." | | 07:37 | Matt Maloney | "If anyone was fighting, it was my mom hitting my dad...if anyone swung at anyone, it would be my mom hitting my dad." | | 12:39 | Joe Paulus | "We all know what the truth is here. Don’t get sidetracked. Just let the truth flourish." | | 15:30 | John Maloney | "I didn’t kill her." | | 25:38 | Paulus (note) | "I have replaced, modified, or added new excerpts to be included in the tape..." | | 29:40 | Sheila Berry | "I concluded that there was no crime." | | 31:10 | Sheila Berry | "There were quite a few suicide notes found in the trash on the first floor." | | 40:44 | Stephen Meyer | "Sandra Maloney was manually strangled. There’s no question in my mind." | | 43:12 | Matt Maloney | "The Maloney family is not giving up on my dad. We love him, and we know the truth." | | 44:55 | Host | "...the court denied Maloney a new trial, ruling that he had failed to present sufficient evidence." | | 45:13 | Host | "John Paulus served more than six years in prison for taking bribes to influence cases and for evading taxes on those bribes." |

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Timeline of Important Segments

| Time | Segment Summary | |--------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:53 | Introduction of the arson theory and Sandy’s mother’s 911 call, setting the emotional and factual stakes | | 02:32 | Speedy conviction and sentencing of John Maloney, raising questions about due process | | 05:25–07:55 | Exploration of Sandy’s addiction, family dynamics, and conflicting stories about violence | | 08:51–09:06 | Introduction of the undercover tapes that shaped the jury’s perception | | 14:30–17:17 | The Las Vegas setup and John Maloney’s statements under pressure, raising issues with evidence manipulation | | 18:13–21:21 | Sheila Berry’s post-trial investigation and exposures of flaws in the initial case | | 23:12–25:04 | Exodus of prosecutor Joe Paulus from law as he is exposed and sentenced for bribery and corruption | | 25:16–27:47 | Scrutiny of video tape editing and possible evidentiary tampering in Maloney’s case | | 29:40–33:38 | Sheila Berry and experts posit the suicide theory, supported by scene evidence and suicide notes | | 34:24–36:00 | Revelation that blood and forensic evidence could point to a non-homicidal cause of death | | 40:44–41:52 | Meyer’s independent review reiterates the homicide finding, deepening family frustration and skepticism | | 44:55–45:13 | Final legal decisions: Maloney is denied a new trial; Paulus’s ultimate disgrace and imprisonment summarized |

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Tone and Atmosphere

The episode’s storytelling is compassionate but rigorous, blending forensic details with a raw portrayal of family trauma, institutional bias, and the possibilities for both grave error and entrenchment within the justice system. Exchanges often feel tense and deeply personal; the Maloney family’s speeches are marked by emotional urgency and pain, while insights from Sheila Berry and other investigators are precise and at times, indignant.

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Conclusion

In “Murder, Fire, and Doubt,” "48 Hours" goes far beyond recounting a crime, probing the very fabric of justice in a small town stained by scandal. Despite mounting evidence pointing to profound misconduct and incomplete investigation, the case remains legally concluded—John Maloney remains incarcerated, his family unwavering in their advocacy and pain, and the shadow of a corrupt prosecution looms large. The episode challenges listeners to consider how easily narratives of guilt can take hold, how rarely all evidence comes to light, and what it truly means for justice to be served.

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Transcript

[A]

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[B]

We're fugitives from interval.

[A]

Like Bonnie and Clyde with better snacks. Espionage. You still as good a shot as.

[B]

You used to be? Better.

[A]

Is there love language? We like to walk that fine line between techno thriller, romantic comedy.

[B]

We make up our own rules.

[A]

NCIS Tony and Ziva. Now streaming on Paramount Pl. The fire does originate on the sofa. Sandy's body was badly damaged. The contention that the state has is that the burn pattern on the floor in front of the sofa was caused by an accelerator. My opinion that it was a deliberately set fire, that it was arson. The accelerant they allege was used was vodka. The vodka that Sandy had been drinking. My grandma is the one that fell in my mom's body and she called 911 dispatch.

[C]

My daughter is all burned up.

[A]

Your daughter's what, ma'? Am?

[C]

She's burned up.

[A]

Okay. We will be there shortly, ma'. Am.

[C]

He was coming over to kill her. He. He hated her. He wanted her gone.

[A]

My name is Matt Maloney. My dad was convicted of killing my mom. The prosecutor said that he hit her on the head, strangled her and then set the house on fire.

[B]

Do you firmly believe that John Maloney is a murderer?

[A]

Based on all the evidence that was presented in this case, yes. This was a very combustible relationship between John and Sandy. My dad was a veteran cop on the Green Bay Police Department. For 18 years he served the community as a liaison officer, detective, a beat cop. Everyone in the community turned on my dad. Everyone just gave up on him.

[C]

My name is Sheila Berry. I investigate and write about crimes. It took so little time to convict him. Three hours to pick a jury. Eight days for trial. One day to deliberate.

[A]

My dad was sentenced to life in prison for killing my mom.

[C]

The only problem is there never was a murder.

[A]

A question of murder packers number one.

[B]

Football's packers are the soul of Green Bay, Wisconsin. A hardworking blue collar town that takes pride in its team and its clean cut image and generally leaves violence on the field. But Green Bay's traditional values were rocked to the core in 1999 when a jury found one of the town's own police officers guilty of murder of strangling his wife and setting her on fire.

[A]

Jury has reached a verdict.

[B]

His name is John Maloney.

[A]

His sentence, mandatory life imprisonment.

[B]

Sentence is life.

[A]

Mr. Maloney is remanded to the custody of the sheriff. Sometimes I still wake up in the middle of the night and realize, look around and come back to reality that I am in this place, but I don't belong in here.

[B]

So you did not do this?

[A]

No, absolutely not.

[B]

Our 48 hours mystery begins where most end. John Maloney already has spent six years in prison protesting his innocence. For from the start, his protests might ring a bit hollow where there are not so many troubling questions about this case. He says the key to understanding what really happened is to understand his wife, Sandy.

[A]

I had known Sandy for 20 some years. I mean, that was somebody that I loved.

[B]

You had known her since high school?

[A]

Since high school. We met in high school in Green Bay. She was a fun, beautiful woman. You know, I married her with the intent of being with her for the rest of my life.

[B]

There were three kids, Matt, Sean and Erin. Oldest son Matt says their all American family began crumbling in the early 90s when Sandy developed neck pain and along with it, a serious addiction to prescription drugs.

[A]

If she couldn't get the pills from her doctors, her friends would provide it for her. I mean, they were no help to her. She'd go into rehab, but it wasn't really by choice. My dad would get her signed in there, and then she would just figure out a way to get out before she even got any treatment that she would need.

[B]

Things were so bad that if the boys needed a prescription, the local pharmacist would make them take the pill in front of him to make sure Sandy wouldn't steal it. Even that didn't work.

[A]

So she'd tell me to slip it under my tongue and just keep it under there until we left the place. And then I'd spit it out and she'd take it when we left.

[B]

You did that?

[A]

I did that. And I mean, you know, I knew I shouldn't have been doing it, but I was so young. I can't believe someone would do that, especially your own mom.

[B]

It's desperate.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Yeah. Her situation deteriorated complicated by depression, panic disorder, and alcohol.

[A]

Started finding vodka bottles all over the house and stuff.

[B]

And this prompted some fairly serious arguments?

[A]

Eh, well, yes.

[B]

Fights?

[A]

Yeah. Loud yelling, screaming. Yes. And, you know, doors slammed and stuff like that. I mean, it was, you know, a terrible time.

[B]

You never hit her?

[A]

No.

[B]

You never struck her?

[A]

No.

[B]

You never abused her physically during these fights at All?

[A]

No.

[B]

But at Maloney's trial, prosecutors told jurors Sandy had complained about John's violence to, among others, her psychiatrist.

[A]

She talked about her husband being verbally abusive and physically abusive. She indicated that the physical abuse had been going on in the marriage for some time, that she was.

[B]

He said Sandy even showed him bruises she. She said John had caused. Her kids say she'd say anything to get more drugs. And as for the bruises, that was.

[A]

When she was drunk. She'd stumble around and fall into everything.

[B]

Police were called to the Maloney home numerous times, but a 48 hours review found no report that made any reference to John Maloney abusing his wife.

[A]

If anyone was fighting, it was my mom hitting my dad. Like, people can say he was abusing her or whatever, but in all reality, we were the ones that were there and saw the stuff. And if anyone swung at anyone, it would be my mom hitting my dad.

[B]

None of you ever saw him hit her?

[A]

No, he never did.

[B]

In 1997, Sandy drunk, wrecked the family car, and John had had enough. He moved out, filed for divorce, and later took the boys with him.

[A]

It was a dangerous situation for them to be in, and I should have done something sooner than what I did.

[B]

John's two youngest sons say their dad was with them, putting together bunk beds at the time. Police say he was off murdering their mother. Their support for their father never has wavered.

[A]

He's missed almost seven years of our lives. Now. He's been in jail or prison since I've been in seventh grade. I'm in my second year of college now, so he's missed a lot. Do you solemnly swear that the testimony order.

[B]

But this image of a good man falsely accused got nowhere at trial, largely because of these.

[A]

This is the enhanced version.

[B]

Undercover videotapes.

[A]

I'm not gonna sit here and be interrogated by you.

[B]

That reveal a quite different side of John Maloney. A side the jurors felt they couldn't ignore.

[A]

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[B]

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[C]

Whenever we come to Green Bay, I stop at the mausoleum. It just is like I have to do this for her. It's the only way I can get close to her.

[B]

In fact, Lola Cater has thought about her daughter Sandy every single day for the last seven years.

[C]

This is just something I'll never get over with.

[B]

Indeed, how could she? It was Lola who discovered Sandy's charred body the morning after the fire.

[C]

They opened that front door and there was soot all over. I went right over to the couch and knowing Sandy had been sleeping there and I couldn't even see her. And so I ran through the house and calling her and I even ran down in the basement and looked and then I came back up and she was on the couch. She was burned.

[B]

And from that first instant, she blamed John Maloney.

[C]

He hated her. He hated her. When firemen and policemen came up, I said I knew he would do this. I hope he's happy.

[B]

He hated Sandy, she thinks, for dragging her feet on the divorce. Because by now Maloney had a new, much younger girlfriend, a 28 year old IRS agent named Tracy Hellenbrand. Lola thinks Sandy was getting in the way of their new life. So you think that he went there with that indictment?

[C]

I know he went there to kill her.

[A]

It was a very ugly case, a very ugly situation.

[B]

Special prosecutor Joe Paulus shared her certainty.

[A]

We all know what the truth is here. Don't get sidetracked. Just let the truth flourish.

[B]

The truth, as Paulus told the jury, was that John Maloney was under stress, deeply in debt and desperate to get out of this relationship.

[A]

He's paying her mortgage, he's paying her utilities, he's paying her bills, he's paying support to her. In the beginning he was wound tight.

[B]

So Paula said he went to Sandy's that night to be sure she'd be in court the next day. They argued. Maloney hit her over the head with a blunt object. The wound bled onto her shirt.

[A]

That man right there stuffed out his wife as though she were a rag doll.

[B]

He panicked, Paula said and strangled Sandy, putting his knee in her back as she lay on the couch and was.

[A]

Surprised to find a large area of hemorrhage within her lower back.

[B]

The medical examiner bolstered the case, concluding Sandy probably had been strangled, saying he'd found trauma to her neck.

[A]

The remainder of the injuries were in the front part of the neck. And again, we're dealing with hemorrhage, which is in deep muscle structures.

[B]

Finally, the DA told the jury, after discarding the bloody shirt in a hamper in the basement, the Maloney set the couch on fire to hide his crime, leaving behind half smoked cigarettes to make it look like an accident.

[A]

The fire is essentially after death.

[B]

The most damning evidence came from the Lady Luck Hotel in Las Vegas. Anything but lucky for Maloney. Five months after Sandy's death, Maloney had flown there for a weekend with girlfriend Tracy.

[A]

I don't even know why I even went out there. I shouldn't have even went out there.

[B]

Or why you stayed.

[A]

Right, right. I mean, I guess that's one of the foolish things that people do that think they're in love.

[B]

You solemnly swear that the testimony you.

[A]

Are about to give is truth.

[B]

What he did not know was that his love had had a change of heart.

[C]

I was the girlfriend of a man who may have committed murder.

[B]

Tracy secretly now was working with prosecutors who still were looking for concrete evidence against Maloney. The hotel room was wired. A video camera was hidden in a clock radio. Cops watched closely from next door. Tracy's job, get him to confess.

[A]

No, I didn't kill anybody.

[B]

Over and over again, for hours, she asked him, did you kill Sandy? Did you? Did you?

[A]

I didn't kill her.

[C]

Bitch. You just lit her on fire. I didn't light her on fire. And I didn't kill her. Bitch. Cause I wasn't.

[B]

But John Maloney kept denying he had killed his wife. Then finally, he appears to incriminate himself. He admits he was at stake. Sandy's house the night she died.

[C]

What triggered you to go over there that night? You did you go there to do it? No.

[A]

What did you go there? It gets done with divorce. It is done with. That videotape showed a man confessing to the crimes that he committed.

[B]

Prosecutors had heard enough. They arrested Maloney that same day. Tracy says at one point, did you go there to do it? No. You say. And she says, well, what did you go There for si.

[A]

From you to get done with the divorce.

[B]

To get done with the divorce. To get it done with. Now, how else can you interpret that except that you were there?

[A]

I guess. Yeah, technically you could look at that and say, well, yeah, you must have been there then if you said that.

[B]

But why would you say that? Why wouldn't you say, hey, I wasn't there.

[A]

I had numerous times and it just, it wasn't registering with her. And some of that was being said to get her to shut up. Have you ever had a conversation with somebody that doesn't let something go and you just say, well, okay, yeah, yeah, you're right. Whatever you say, that's the context for this. Right.

[B]

But the tape also shows a man with an uncontrollable temper.

[A]

You mother. I mean, I'm not proud of being that angry.

[B]

Well, you look at that tape and you can see how a jury might have said, whoa, you know, maybe he could have killed somebody. Look at him. Do you think those tapes are largely the reason you were convicted?

[A]

Well, a part. A part of it, yeah. Be seated, please.

[B]

The trial lasted eight days.

[A]

Ladies and gentlemen, I'll read the verdicts.

[B]

The verdict was read to a packed courtroom which included John's young sons.

[A]

We the jury find the defendant, John R. Maloney, guilty of first degree intentional homicide. I'm going to ask you to remove the children, please. They took us in a back elevator and I just fell on the floor and started crying my eyes out. And I can remember saying, what are we gonna do now?

[B]

Appeals can take years. But then someone who had never even met John Maloney took up his cause.

[C]

I probably reviewed at least 20,000 pieces of paper, 20,000 documents.

[B]

Her name is Sheila Berry. Part time novelist, part time investigator, part time head of Truth Injustice, a non profit group that tries to help people it feels are wrongly imprisoned.

[C]

It began right away with questions about the toxicology report. The testing that should have been done wasn't done.

[B]

After consulting with more than a dozen forensic experts, Barry now is convinced not only that Maloney is in innocent, but that Sandy Maloney was not murdered. That in fact there was no crime. But she was not strangled to death.

[C]

No.

[B]

No one that you have talked to, no one that none of your experts who's looked at this has had even any doubt about that.

[C]

That's correct.

[B]

So how did Sandy die? Sheila Berry says the explanation is right there in the evidence. But it's evidence the jury never saw. Behind his back, courthouse reporters dubbed District Attorney Joe Paulus, Hollywood Joe for his love of the camera.

[A]

We're gonna keep fighting for justice.

[B]

And for his dramatic courtroom theatrics.

[A]

Sorry, dude, I didn't mean for this to happen. Okay, Boom, boom, boom, boom. If that's a justification, if that's provocation to kill somebody, then there are gonna be a lot of dead people in this community. You wanna know how they get that soil?

[C]

He'd get right up there and he would act things out. His eyes are very dramatic, and he knows how to use them.

[B]

Sheila Berry worked for Joe Paulus back in 1990.

[C]

Any attorney would be happy to have those skills because they can skate you across a lot of thin ice.

[B]

But thin ice was the last thing Paulus had to worry about in 1998. Assistant DA Mike Balska says the ambitious paper prosecutor's career was on a fast track.

[A]

His goal was to become the US Attorney in Wisconsin, one of the US Attorneys. The Maloney case would probably be a good vehicle for that. The court, in the sentence of the law, they chew. John R. Maloney are sentenced to life imprisonment.

[B]

After the guilty verdict, Paulus praised the investigators, the jury, and backhandedly himself.

[A]

I think that ultimately the jury paid heed to what I talked to them about in my closing argument. And that is, we all know what the truth is here. Don't get sidetracked. Just let the truth flourish so that we can get to the right verdict.

[B]

Over the next few years, Paulus missed few opportunities to wax idealistic about truth and justice.

[A]

It's always unfortunate to have to bring charges against a member of law enforcement, but you know, they're like any other citizen. And if there are charges to be brought, we have to do it.

[B]

Truer words were never spoken, as both the people around Green Bay and Joe Paulus were about to find out quietly. In March of 2002, the FBI began investigating Paulus for corruption, looking into charges that the prosecution was taking bribes to fix cases. Soon the story leaked to the press.

[A]

Obviously, this is nothing more than allegation.

[B]

Innuendo, and rumor, prompting a torrent of righteous indignation.

[A]

I did nothing wrong. There was no impropriety here. All of this is a big fat lie. If there is an investigation out there, at the end of the day, absolutely nothing will come of it.

[B]

News of the FBI inquiry came as no shock to Sheila Berry, who'd had a run in with Paulus years earlier when he was her boss. It involved allegations that a star witness had lied. You told him this?

[C]

Oh, yes, I did. And he said, if you tell, I'll deny it. And no one Will believe you.

[B]

Wow.

[C]

So I told. I told the judge.

[B]

Not only did Paulus manage to keep this altar quiet and stay out of.

[C]

Trouble, he was Teflon Joe.

[B]

He fired Sheila Berry.

[C]

Several people in law enforcement urged me to leave the state. Said, he hates you. He is afraid of you. He is going to set you up on false criminal charges.

[B]

Were you afraid of him?

[C]

I knew he could do it.

[B]

But In April of 2004, Joe Paulus World of influence and power came tumbling down. He was charged with bribery and income tax evasion. Within weeks, he'd cut a deal, pleading guilty to accepting $48,000 to fix 22 cases, six of them criminal.

[A]

I am sorry.

[B]

This time Hollywood Joe let his attorney do the talking.

[A]

I deeply regret the cloud which I have placed upon the everyday good work of public officials who honestly strive to carry out their duties and responsibility.

[B]

The Paulus bribery investigation covered from June 98 to June 2000, the very time period in which John Maloney was arrested, tried and convicted. Which leads to the big did the corrupt district attorney act imprisonment properly in the Maloney case as well?

[C]

He had to have known that there were big question marks on whether this was even a murder or a homicide. This was Joe's private office.

[B]

Barry says despite their history, she has no axe to grind with Paulus. She just knows the man.

[C]

Here you've got a prosecutor who on the one hand is taking money to fix cases. And they are little cases. So what does he do to distract attention and pump up this image he has of being the big crime fighter, the big justice guy. He goes after high profile cases. They attracted him like a moth to a flame.

[B]

And you think that's why he went after John Malone?

[C]

Absolutely.

[A]

Anything with Joe Paulus? It wouldn't surprise me, wouldn't shock me.

[B]

In one of two ongoing investigations, Assistant DA Mike Balskus is collecting boxes of documents, examining more than 100 of Paulus past cases.

[A]

Here's a person who, if he's going to cheat, you know, dismissing cases, he's probably going to cheat when he's prosecuting cases on videotape. Mr. Maloney made claims.

[B]

Vaskas wonders if a zeal to go get John Maloney might have led to manipulating evidence. Consider those key video tapes.

[A]

I didn't kill her, bitch.

[B]

Paula sent the hours of tapes to a private outside company supposedly to cut them down for time, not to alter content. What then to make of the initial $27,000 editing bill or of this note from prosecutor Paulus to the editor? I have replaced, modified or added New excerpts to be included in the tape and this editor's. Some of your clips are so short, 1 1/2 seconds in duration that they may seem choppy.

[A]

No, it's because you're f ing delusional.

[B]

No.

[A]

Go, go, go.

[C]

Run.

[B]

Run and be free.

[C]

I'm not gonna hurt you.

[A]

In this case, I think a dark side of John Maloney was revealed quite a bit.

[B]

Paulus, co prosecutor Vince Biskupic. I'm asking, was there any editing done that could be considered doctored?

[A]

Not from my knowledge.

[B]

Taking words out of context, moving things around, whatever. As far as you know, nothing like that was done, right?

[A]

To my knowledge.

[B]

Maloney probably was hurt more by his actions on the tape. Thank you. Than by his words. But still, Balskus wonders to what lengths Joe Paulus went.

[A]

We the jury find the defendant John.

[B]

R. Maloney guilty of firsthand to win this case. You honestly think that he would intentionally ignore exculpatory evidence doctor Videotapes just for that?

[A]

Yeah, I mean it's just simply a mind boggling. It seems incredible.

[B]

Do you think based on what you know now that John Maloney got a fair trial?

[A]

I would say that. Did he get a fair trial? No. I don't know if John Maloney did it or not. But I think it's pretty clear that not all the evidence was presented to the jury.

[B]

Evidence like this.

[C]

An extension cord hanging down from a conduit pipe. And then it had a noose on the opposite end. Shopping is hard. I can never find anything in my size. I don't even know my size. I buy my clothes the same place I buy my groceries. There's a better way. Make it easy with Stitch Fix. Just share your size, style, budget and done. Your personal stylist sends pieces picked just for you. That was easy. Stitch Fix online personal styling for everyone. Free shipping and returns. No subscription required. Get started today@stitch fix.com.

[A]

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[B]

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[B]

Not only does Sheila Berry believe John Maloney did.

[C]

Not kill his wife, I concluded that there was no crime.

[B]

She's convinced that Sandy caused her own death. So how long did the Maloney's live here?

[C]

About 19 years.

[B]

So pretty much their whole marriage.

[C]

Right.

[B]

The evidence, she says, was right here in the basement of the Maloney house where police recorded a bizarre scene. Two VCRs atop a coffee table. And from the ceiling, what appeared to.

[C]

Be a ligature hanging from a conduit pipe right down in front of the coffee table.

[B]

The autopsy showed that Sandy was very drunk that night. And Sheila thinks she tried to hang herself with the electrical cord.

[C]

She made a suicide attempt. At least enough of a gesture to jump off that coffee table and hit the back of her head.

[B]

Then Sheila's theory goes, Sandy tried to clean up in the basement shower and head wounds.

[C]

Bleed like crazy.

[B]

Makes a mess, makes a mess. But ultimately she ended up on the first floor where she collapsed onto the couch, drunk and unconscious, cigarette in hand. And it was that lit cigarette, Sheila believes, that caused the fire.

[C]

There certainly was a big death wave going on. She did want to die.

[B]

Sheila's case is bolstered by what police found upstairs.

[C]

There were quite a few suicide notes found in the trash on the first floor.

[B]

Apparent suicide notes was how the police labeled them on the evidence list. Five in all, essentially the same. John, how could you throw everything away? Take care of the kids. I'm done fighting.

[C]

It was the day before the final divorce hearing. She had already lost custody of her kids. She could only see them in a public place, supervised visitation. So I think she just felt she didn't have anything left.

[B]

But the jury heard nothing about these notes and nothing either about her possible suicide attempt.

[A]

That man right there stuffed out his wife.

[B]

Did the lead prosecutor, Joe Paulus, intentionally ignore the evidence because it might favor John Maloney? Assistant DA Mike Balskas thinks it's possible.

[A]

They thought John Maloney did it, so they focused on him. The problem with that is you sort of put blinders on. You ignore other evidence.

[B]

Vince Baskupik, who was on Joe Paulus prosecution team, says the suicide theory is a fantasy. And the actual murder you believe happened upstairs?

[A]

Right.

[B]

Where did the head wound take place?

[A]

Well, it could take place a Number of areas either. Right in front of the couch. On the couch.

[B]

Here's a head wound that supposedly bled a lot. But why is there no blood upstairs?

[A]

Well, you know, a fire takes place, things happen.

[B]

What was the main thing that was found down here that was of interest? But Sheila says, of course there was no blood upstairs. Sandy cut her head in the basement where blood was found, her blood.

[C]

There was a sink here. They found a lot of blood spatter in here.

[B]

And none of this is visible to the naked eye.

[C]

Right. And somebody had cleaned up.

[B]

State investigators used a chemical spray called luminol, which illuminates blood traces even after a cleanup. In this case, Luminol detected blood in several parts of the basement, including the bathroom and shower. 48 hours compared an official luminol photo with a crime scene photo and came up with this result. You have blood spatter on the wall.

[C]

On the floor, and there were several blood spots on the glass, a bare footprint. There was also some on the shower head.

[B]

Blood evidence also was found in the laundry room on towels, on Sandy's shirt, and in another bloody footprint.

[C]

Well, they combed this place looking for any DNA link, any trace of John Maloney here, and they couldn't find it.

[B]

The only basement evidence prosecutors seemed to care about was Sandy's bloody shirt, which they say John Maloney took downstairs to the laundry after killing her. Upstairs, there's two bloody footprints that are reflected in the police report. None of that struck you guys as having any possible relationship to what had.

[A]

Happened other than him maybe covering up the scene at the end, panicking, walking downstairs to try and get rid of that shirt.

[B]

But if Sandy wasn't murdered, then how did she die? Sheila Berry's medical experts say it was alcohol poisoning, pure and simple. She drank herself to death.

[C]

Once you get into the scientific evidence, you can't reach any other conclusion.

[B]

As for the fire, Joe Paulus argued at trial that John Maloney set it to cover up his crime.

[A]

That man right there burned her body to hide the crime.

[B]

Sheila Berry's own arson experts, including James Munger, insist Maloney did nothing of the sort and called the prosecution's theory nonsense.

[A]

There is no question that the investigation conducted by the state is junk science.

[B]

The state speculated that Sandy's own vodka may have been used to get the fire going and pointed to the burn pattern in front of the couch as proof.

[A]

It has no sound scientific basis whatsoever.

[B]

To demonstrate for us why he doesn't buy that. Munger set a couch similar to Maloney's on fire.

[A]

The burn Patterns that we have here are caused by the burning and dripping polyurethane foam, not by an accelerant.

[B]

Almost immediately, the cushions melt, and it's the melting foam, not any accelerant, that causes the telltale burn pattern.

[A]

There is absolutely no question in my mind John Maloney is an innocent man.

[B]

So why didn't John Maloney's own lawyer, prominent defense attorney Jerry Boyle, make these arguments?

[A]

To have gone before a jury and said this was an accident, I think would have been malpractice, and I would have been sanctioned by an appellate Supreme Court. And she was murdered.

[B]

Boyle dismissed the apparent suicide notes and the basement evidence and instead came up with a third explanation, that, yes, Sandy was murdered not by John Maloney, but by his girlfriend, Tracy, the same woman who set him up in that Las Vegas hotel room.

[A]

Tracy Hellenbrand is an indefatigable liar, and she is a killer. Nobody to this day has shown me any evidence whatsoever that it was an accident.

[B]

But Maloney remembers things quite differently. And did you tell your lawyer, hey.

[A]

I think this was an accident numerous times. And whenever you talk to Jerry Boyle about that and you talk to him and he doesn't want to hear something you're saying, he blows up and left the room. I'm the captain of the ship, and we're going to do it this way.

[B]

So why didn't you fire him? You thought he was doing such a terrible job.

[A]

Why didn't I fire him? Because I didn't have another hundred thousand dollars to pull out of midair to pay another attorney.

[B]

In a report rejecting a complaint the Maloney family filed against Boyle, Wisconsin state officials called his defense strategy reasonable.

[A]

I could never have proven that that was not a murder.

[B]

So the defense attorney in this case ends up battling his own client. The prosecutor ends up going to prison, leaving behind one more bizarre twist.

[A]

And one of the strangest things about the Maloney case was that one of the last acts that Joe Paulus did as district attorney was to try to get that file out of the District attorney's office.

[B]

What do you mean?

[A]

He ordered someone to basically get rid of the file?

[B]

Balska says the file was transferred from office to office, and most of it never has been found. So you have no idea how much of the original file you still have?

[A]

We have very little of the original file. It'd probably be impossible to try them again.

[B]

All the controversy, ironically, has given John Maloney another chance.

[A]

Now Streaming. Hi again, TV's quirkiest crime solver.

[C]

I'm Elspeth Tasioni. I work with the police.

[A]

It's on the case.

[B]

I like my outlandish theories with a.

[A]

Heavy dose of evidence and ready to go toe to toe with a cavalcade of guest stars. Are you saying that this is now a murder? Murder investigation?

[C]

It's starting to look that way.

[A]

Don't miss a moment of the critically acclaimed hit Ellsbeth. All episodes now streaming on Paramount plus and return CBS fall. That sounds like fun. Obviously, murder's not fun. Time drags on and on in here. You do what you have to do to get along. You to survive.

[B]

For John Maloney, that means work as a prison custodian. It's a menial job. It pays only about a quarter an hour, but he says it keeps him from dwelling on the days, months and now years he's been away from his three sons.

[A]

My kids aren't getting any younger. And that's the most difficult part about.

[B]

Being here, is missing them.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

After the Joe Paulus corruption scandal and questions raised by Sheila Berry and local reporters, the state ordered a review of the Maloney case. Respected attorney Stephen Meyer conducted the year long investigation and he's about to release his conclusions on the Internet.

[A]

Talk about waiting for the verdict all over again. I'm in the case of murdering a disappear. Yeah. No.

[B]

We're just sitting here holding our breath. John Maloney's two youngest sons and other relatives wait for news at his sister Jenny's house. They didn't post nothing yet.

[A]

We don't have nothing.

[B]

When it finally appears, it's 23 pages long. They scroll through it quickly. Trial is such that a new trial is warranted. Is that right? Too quickly.

[A]

That's not his conclusion.

[B]

They've misread the bottom line.

[A]

This is a CBS 5 News special report.

[B]

The report's author lays the it out at a news conference later that morning.

[A]

Sandra Maloney was manually strangled. There's no question in my mind. You can't get away from that. That's the bottom line here.

[B]

A direct contradiction of Sheila Berry's theory and devastating news for the family.

[A]

It's unbelievable that this could have happened.

[B]

I mean, my God, what do they need Sandy to come back and tell them she wasn't killed? They wouldn't believe that either.

[A]

I'm not rendering an opinion on the perpetrator of the offense.

[B]

Meyer emphasized that he wasn't charged with deciding if Maloney was guilty or innocent, but only with determining if this death really was a murder or just an accident. On that score, he said 79 autopsy pictures which Sheila Berry's experts didn't have led him to only one conclusion.

[A]

It wasn't an accident. And I think the sooner everybody puts that to rest, the better off this case will proceed.

[B]

Only manual strangulation, he said, could have caused the deep injuries to her neck. They could not have been caused by a flimsy electrical cord fashioned into a noose.

[C]

I don't think he's qualified, no matter how many years he's practiced law, to interpret tissue slides.

[B]

Sheila Berry is unmoved. She says Stephen Meyer made a big mistake in not having an outside medical expert review the autopsy pictures. He's standing there with the medical examiner, who presumably did know how to read the well.

[C]

Yeah, but he's the guy who made that call in the first place.

[A]

This is a homicide death.

[B]

Give it to somebody with no.

[C]

Give it to somebody independent. No. Yeah. No past and no stake. How many doctors have you ever met who want to stand up and say, I blew that one?

[B]

Is there anything in this report at all that makes you have a second thought as to whether or not John Maloney did that? This?

[C]

No.

[B]

That may be, but the report certainly won't help his cause should he ever get a new trial. Still, Sheila Berry and the Maloney family remain convinced there's been a major injustice. This is a collect call from an inmate at the Dodge Corner.

[A]

They picked on the wrong family when they picked on us.

[B]

Well, it's not over. I don't give a care. Somewhat lost in all of this. John Maloney's sons.

[A]

I'm going to ask you to remove the children. I just can't believe that. That something so wrong can happen over and over again. The Maloney family is not giving up on my dad. We love him, and we know the truth. I believe in my dad, and I will fight until he is free by my side. If there's any way that I thought my dad killed my mom, I would have nothing to do with this case right now. I would not see my dad. I wouldn't talk to him at all. Why would we cover up for that?

[B]

They're your biggest champions.

[A]

Yes, they are. No question about it. And I'm very proud of all of them.

[B]

For both John Maloney and former prosecutor Joe Paulus, much has happened since we first broadcast this remarkable story. State officials filed new misconduct charges against Paulus. Please be seated. And in the interest of justice, the Wisconsin Supreme Court invited John Maloney's lawyers to present new arguments concerning Paulus conduct and those questions raised by the original 48 Hours broadcast. First was the fire, an accident.

[A]

There is a real issue as to cause of death and whether or not there was an arson.

[B]

And second, did the editing of the police tapes distort the truth?

[A]

The cameras aren't here just because John Maloney's in jail. They're here because the special prosecutor's in jail, because he corrupted the judicial system at the very same time that he was prosecuting John Maloney.

[B]

But in the end, those arguments weren't persuasive enough. The court denied Maloney a new trial, ruling that he had failed to present sufficient evidence. John Maloney vows he never will give up.

[A]

Joan Paulus served more than six years in prison for taking bribes to influence cases and for evading taxes on those bribes. He was released in 2010 and his license to practice law in Wisconsin was revoked. Now streaming on Paramount plus. It's an all new season of adventures. We have to stop this invasion. Get into this.

[B]

This crew is a team. We are going to find our way out of this.

[A]

Star Trek Strange New worlds New season. Now streaming on Paramount plus. Now streaming on Paramount plus. Someone is trying to frame us. Until our names are cleared we're fugitives from interval Like Bonnie and Clyde with better snacks. NCIS Tony and Ziva now streaming on Paramount plus.