A KSL employee receives a letter after talking about suicide prevention on the radio. It's from a man living on death row, who tells the story of how a little mouse helped him endure a period of darkness and despair. But is that inmate, Doug Lovell, telling an honest story? Or is the letter an attempt to cultivate a character witness? Cold season 2, Justice for Joyce, reaches its finale with a look at where Doug Lovell's appeal stands in 2021, as well as look back at what's changed since the murder of Joyce Yost.

Joyce Yost had never met the man who followed her home on an April night in 1985, who kidnapped and raped her. He threatened to kill her, but she went to police anyway. Then, she vanished. Joyce has never been found. Now, investigative journalist Dave Cawley delves into the decades-old case to uncover the details of a murder-for-hire plot to silence Joyce. Cold reveals flaws in the system that left Joyce unprotected, examines pitfalls of the death penalty and asks if there’s such a thing as justice for Joyce Yost.

Survivors of rape, sexual abuse and sexual assault and their allies in the United States can connect with free resources at https://www.rainn.org/.

See photos, files and more from this episode: https://thecoldpodcast.com/season-2/ep-13-last-chance-doug-lovell-mouse/

Episode transcript: https://thecoldpodcast.com/season-2-transcript/last-chance-full-transcript/

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Episode credits:

Research, writing and hosting: Dave Cawley
Audio production: Nina Earnest
Audio mixing: Trent Sell
Additional voices: Richie Steadman (as Doug Lovell)
Cold main score composition: Michael Bahnmiller
Cold main score mixing: Dan Blanck
KSL executive producers: Sheryl Worsley, Keira Farrimond
Workhouse Media executive producers: Paul Anderson, Nick Panella, Andrew Greenwood
Amazon Music team: Morgan Jones, Eliza Mills, Vanessa Rebbert, Shea Simpson

If you enjoy Cold, please try these other great shows from KSL Podcasts: The Letter, Ransom, Unsolved Histories

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