
Scott Baldwin is back in court for a resentencing hearing—one that could determine whether he dies in prison. Two overlooked tips may finally reveal what happened to Earl O’Byrne, and uncovered paperwork points to a conspiracy bigger than anyone imagined.
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Susan Simpson
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Lori Scott
It went perfectly.
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Jacinda Davis
So what's the problem?
Lori Scott
That is the problem. Nothing in my life goes to smoothly.
Susan Simpson
I'm waiting for the catch. Maybe there's no catch. That's exactly what a catch would want me to think.
Karen Raymond
Wow.
Jacinda Davis
You need to relax.
Susan Simpson
I need to knock on wood. Do we have wood? Is this table wood?
Claire Ward
I think it's laminate.
Lori Scott
Okay. Yeah, that's good. That's close enough.
Jacinda Davis
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Detective Harold West
Sometimes we as police officers grab onto a bone and we won't let go. We just stay focused because we know for sure that that individual did it. When in fact, you know, there are other avenues and other clues leading to the actual killer.
Jacinda Davis
I would imagine a fear of a detective is to convict someone wrongfully.
Detective Harold West
Oh God. My wife can probably tell you that was my biggest fear. Getting a conviction on an innocent person.
Susan Simpson
That's Detective Harold West. He's retired now, but for many years he was a detective with the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety. As you know, his role in Scott Baldwin's case wasn't as an investigator, he was actually an eyewitness. But when we spoke to him about what he saw outside the bike shop on the night Earl o' Byrne was killed, he also told us a little about his experience as a detective.
Detective Harold West
We just have to keep an open mind and keep our head on a swivel in terms of looking for the pieces of that puzz. You know, you may have your focus on your suspect and continue to build the case that you believe that that individual may be involved. But don't eliminate everything. Just keep looking, keep making that puzzle, getting that big picture.
Susan Simpson
For the Kalamazoo Cold case team, I think Scott Baldwin was a bone that they grabbed onto and just couldn't let go. Because at first glance, you. Yes, I can see why Scott would make for a satisfying suspect. I can see how talking to Stacey and hearing her story could have made it feel like all the pieces were falling into place. Except if Scott was guilty, then why are there all these other pieces of the puzzle still on the table, still unaccounted for? Pieces like, for example, the blond man that Detective west saw outside the bike
Detective Harold West
shop with Earl, as a detective, I want to make sure that I can fit all the pieces of the puzzle together. You know, if I'm missing a piece, should I be looking somewhere else?
Jacinda Davis
And sometimes you can push that piece in and make it fit.
Detective Harold West
Try and make it fit.
Susan Simpson
Yes.
Detective Harold West
Yeah. And that's when you get yourself in trouble.
Susan Simpson
On the night that Erle Byrne was murdered, Officer west saw something that does not fit with the theory that Scott Baldwin is guilty with. Earl had been a blonde man with a brown coat and possibly a cream colored car. This was not Scott. So who was it? The Cold Case team had no explanation for this piece of the puzzle. It did not fit the case they were building, so they ignored it. But while what Officer west saw didn't fit the case against Scott Baldwin, it turns out there were other puzzle pieces it did fit with. Because Officer west was not the only witness who saw something important outside of the bike shop. Only no one had ever followed up on what the other witnesses had seen. One thing we have found while working on this case is that there were actually two more people who called in reports about this. But it's 6:30 in the morning. They were two people commuting to work. And one of them saw a tan car parking on the side of the building. This person backed the car rear against the building.
Detective Harold West
Okay.
Susan Simpson
And it was a blonde man in a brownish coat of some sort. And then a second witness drove by and didn't see the person, but saw the same tan car parked there. It strikes me as curious that it's fairly close to what you saw much earlier in the day.
Detective Harold West
You're giving me information that I.
Susan Simpson
This is information that no one knew? Apparently, Yeah.
Detective Harold West
I never had that information. And that's what we call a clue. Well, I'm just saying.
Susan Simpson
I'm Susan Simpson.
Jacinda Davis
And I'm Jacinda Davis.
Susan Simpson
I'm an attorney and investigator.
Jacinda Davis
And I'm a true crime TV producer.
Susan Simpson
And this is Proof Season three, Murder at the Bike Shop. Proof is a red Marble media production in association with Glassbox Media.
Jacinda Davis
New episodes are released on Mondays and on Thursdays. You can catch our sidebar episodes where we talk about the case, talk to guests, and tell you more about what's going on behind the scenes.
Susan Simpson
This is episode 11. 8948 Days.
Jacinda Davis
The two new reports from eyewitnesses who saw something outside the bike shop early the next morning came from Silent Observer. We'd sent in a records request and got back all of the Silent observer tip sheets. There was a lot in there that was interesting. But when Susan saw the two tips about the early morning sightings outside the bike shop, she called me in shock.
Susan Simpson
Okay, get this. There are two different tips from some observer for people the next morning, like 6:30am who saw a tan vehicle and a blond man outside the bike shop.
Jacinda Davis
Holy shit. That matches what Wes said.
Susan Simpson
Yeah, no, that's what Wes said, basically. Exactly.
Jacinda Davis
Oh, my God. From what we could tell, these two tips had never been investigated before. Because if they had, it's unlikely Scott would have been arrested, much less convicted. The first tip was anonymous, but the caller told Silent observer that at 6:30am on the day Earl's body was found, she'd seen a man walking by the bike shop. He'd gotten into a tan car and parked it backwards against the bike shop. Subject was wearing dark tan pants and a dark tan coat and baseball cap. Subject had dark object in left hand. The caller described the man as blonde. The hair was shortish, but long enough to stick out from under his cap. What the caller reported was strikingly similar to what Officer west had seen when he drove by the bike shop at 12:45am six hours earlier.
Susan Simpson
Does it seem significant to you that potentially the same?
Detective Harold West
Well, yeah. I mean, you know, think about it. Here you got a car, you know, backed up to a building on the side. That in itself is going to ring bells. Okay, so why is that car backed up in an area that there is no vehicle traffic next to the train tracks. You know, that's something that's going to draw your attention.
Susan Simpson
That's why it drew their attention.
Detective Harold West
Yeah. So why is that vehicle there?
Susan Simpson
So as if it was trying to hide the plate, maybe.
Jacinda Davis
By the time we got the silent observer tips, we didn't know what James Long had looked like. But later on, we got some photos from the Kalamazoo Gazette. Back in 1988, they'd sent a photographer to Earl's funeral. James Long was a pallbearer for Earl. The photos show him carrying Earl's casket. His blond hair was shortish, but it hung down a bit on the back and sides, almost like a long bowl cut. His hair would have absolutely stuck out from under a cap, just like the silent observer tip had described.
Detective Harold West
I mean, that's a lead that I would, you know, follow up on. This is just me, you know, having the experience that I have now, you know, asking pertinent questions that I think that need to be answered.
Jacinda Davis
Remarkably, there was a second tip from someone who had seen something outside the bike shop that morning. The second tipster had driven by at 6:45am about 15 minutes after the first tipster. Here's what the silent observer tip sheet says.
Richard Vindeville
Caller looked at the bike shop as her bike was there to be repaired and she was going to pick it up that day. She saw an older model vehicle, tan or cream color, parked next to side of building with trunk against building. The car was gone at 10:30 when she stopped to pick up her bike.
Jacinda Davis
When combined with what Officer west saw, these two tips suggest something significant. They suggest that someone was at the bike shop late on the night Earl was killed and either stayed there all night or left only to return again early the next morning. There was no indication that these silent observer tips were ever followed up on by investigators, but they could have been. While the first tipster had been anonymous, the second tipster wasn't. She left her name and we found her.
Sally Brinkman
My name is Sally Brinkman.
Susan Simpson
What did you think when I first called you?
Sally Brinkman
I was surprised that anyone was showing an interest in. It hasn't been in the news for a very long time.
Susan Simpson
I was surprised that you immediately knew what I was talking about.
Sally Brinkman
Well, I'm kind of a detail person.
Susan Simpson
Sally is very much a detail person. When I'd called and told her I was looking into the bike shop murder, she'd instantly known why I wanted to talk to her. And she'd instantly recalled what she'd seen there nearly 40 years ago.
Sally Brinkman
Now, at the Time I was working at Borges Hospital in their laboratory, and my shift started at 7 and got over around 5, and so I drove past it. That was my route to work every day. It was about quarter to seven in the morning and it was summertime, and it was unusual to see a car in the parking lot that early. I don't expect to see the owner there at that time or anybody else. The car that was parked there was parked unusually. It was backed in, like normally if you pull in, you just park face in. This was facing out.
Susan Simpson
Sally wasn't a regular customer of the bike shop, but she'd been there a few times. In fact, she'd recently dropped off her own bike at Earl's shop so he could make a few repairs.
Sally Brinkman
I knew my bike was ready because I had called the shop the day before and they said it was ready to pick.
Susan Simpson
This is why Sally is absolutely certain that the morning she saw the car parked backwards against the bike shop was the same morning Earl's body was found.
Jacinda Davis
When you came back, the police were there?
Sally Brinkman
Yeah, it was all yellow, taped off, and it was pretty chaotic. I stopped and talked to them because they told me I could not have my bike. It was being held as evidence, and they would contact me later when I could pick up my bike.
Susan Simpson
Do you think you told them then about what you saw that morning?
Sally Brinkman
Yeah, I did. I talked to a policeman then. I don't think he wrote anything down.
Susan Simpson
He did not.
Sally Brinkman
No, he did not. And when it was going on much later, I thought, well, I did see something, so I'm going to call it in.
Susan Simpson
Sally reported what she'd seen that morning to a police officer she spoke to outside of the bike shop. But a few months later, when she saw on the news that the case was still unsolved, she had called Silent observer to report it again, just to make sure police knew about it. Did anyone ever follow up with you when you called in the tip? You clearly could have been contacted, but did you ever hear back from anyone?
Jacinda Davis
No.
Sally Brinkman
You were the first.
Susan Simpson
Decades later, As we were talking to Sally, I could almost feel my heart sink knowing what she could have meant for Scott's case. As a witness, she would have been credible and compelling. And what she saw strongly suggests that someone who was not Scott Baldwin had spent a lot of time at the bike shop on the night and morning that Earl was killed. Sally alone could have made the difference in this case, only she wasn't alone. The other tipster had seen the same car that Sally described and had also seen A blonde man parking it.
Sally Brinkman
I didn't see a person in the car.
Susan Simpson
They were about 15 minutes before you would have been there. And by then I guess the person was gone. But it's so rare to have two witnesses like that see the same thing and corroborate each other. The first tipster, the one who saw the tan car and blonde man at 6:30am had not left a name with their silent observer tip, but they had left a phone number. 38 years later on, I have not been able to figure out who that tipster was, but in 1988 there was. They would have only been a phone call away if only someone had tried. You know, I think I'm not typically a picky person when it comes to food or things like that. There's one thing I am incredibly picky about.
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Susan Simpson
Who would be at the shop at 6:30?
Karen Raymond
Nobody.
Jacinda Davis
We told former bike shop employee Lori Scott about the two silent observer tips we'd found. She immediately began putting the puzzle pieces together for herself.
Karen Raymond
Nobody should have been there at 6:30. And I wonder, is it the same tan car that was there that night?
Susan Simpson
They just say older tan car.
Karen Raymond
I don't know what James Partner drove.
Jacinda Davis
Laurie was wondering the same thing we'd wondered. Could the tan or cream car have belonged to James Long's boyfriend? Another silent observer tip held a possible answer. The caller had been anonymous, but whoever they were, they'd clearly had their own suspicions about James Long.
Richard Vindeville
James Long lived with James Connell. Connell owned a beige vehicle and following the murder, went south to work.
Jacinda Davis
We showed the silent observer tips to bike shop employee manager Karen Raymond as
Susan Simpson
well, and they didn't look into this.
Jacinda Davis
We talked to the woman who called in the tip and she said, you're the first people who've ever followed up with me.
Susan Simpson
We wanted to ask you, is there a reason someone would be there at 6:30?
Jacinda Davis
No.
Susan Simpson
Like there's no deliveries being made. There's no.
Jacinda Davis
No.
Susan Simpson
There's no good reason for a car to be there. 6:30?
Detective Harold West
No.
Jacinda Davis
We don't know who the blonde man at the bike shop at 6:30 in the morning was, but we do know it wasn't Scott Baldwin. One, he's not blonde. And two, because Stacy has always said that after Scott crawled through the basement window that morning, he didn't leave. Again. Scott Baldwin's girlfriend at the time, she says Scott was home at 5am that morning.
Susan Simpson
So 6:30 can't be him. You look disturbed.
Jacinda Davis
I just think.
Susan Simpson
I mean, it would be a shame
Claire Ward
if the wrong person's in jail for this.
Susan Simpson
Right?
Jacinda Davis
The two tips about someone at the bike shop early the next morning after Earl was murdered also provided a possible answer for another mystery in this case. Because when Lori Scott had found Earl's body, she'd noticed something that should have set off alarm bells for every investigator who has ever worked on this case.
Karen Raymond
His arm was like up in the air, kind of like he was in rigor mortis type thing and he wasn't moving.
Jacinda Davis
Yeah.
Susan Simpson
So the arm was actually sticking up in the air.
Karen Raymond
Yeah.
Jacinda Davis
A few hours after someone dies, rigor mortis sets in. Their muscles contract and stiffen. And for several hours after that, the body will be locked into that Position. Which means there's only one way Earl O. Byrne's hand could have been sticking up into the air. Like Laurie remembers, he was moved after death.
Karen Raymond
So you mean he might have died in a bike shop and they moved him into the air?
Susan Simpson
Well, so with Rickor mortis, it'd be like if it set him. When you're lying on your side and then you're flipped over, your hand will stay sticking up in the air.
Karen Raymond
Okay.
Jacinda Davis
What Laurie remembers suggests that Earl o' Byrne had died while lying on his side with his arms stretched out beside him. And then some hours after death, he was rolled over onto his back, leaving his arm now extended into the air.
Susan Simpson
There's another detail, too, that hadn't seemed significant before, but did now. James Long testified at Scott's trial over the phone since he was in Alabama, and mentioned seeing Earl's body lying in the bedroom. Prosecutor Stuart Finton had asked, what was Earl's condition when you found him? Oh, Earl was already dead, James Long answered. He was laying sort of on his side. I didn't see no injuries on his body or anything. I felt down for a pulse and didn't find any. It's a small detail, but James description of Earl's body lying on its side doesn't quite fit with what Laurie remembers and what the crime scene photos show with Earl lying on his back. Maybe he was just misremembering. But after finding the two silent observer tips, I couldn't help but wonder, is it possible that what James Long was describing here is not what he'd seen at 9am or when he went into Earl's room after Laurie found the body, but what he'd seen at 6:30am could he have gone to the bike shop early that morning to check on Earl, perhaps to make sure that he was okay after whatever had happened happened the night before? Had James Long found Earl in bed lying on his side and rolled him over to check for a pulse? Could that be why Earl's arm had been left sticking up in the air?
Karen Raymond
It was definitely up in the air, yeah.
Susan Simpson
So there's evidence that Earl's body was moved several hours after he died. And there's evidence of a blonde man at the bike shop in the early morning hours when no one should have been there? Had these clues been followed up on in 1988 by the original investigators or in 2000 by the Cold case team, what would they have found? Would they have found evidence that this crime was committed by someone other than Scott Baldwin? Would they have found that the blonde man was actually James Long. It's something that should have been on the table, it looks like, and it never was, which I don't get.
Karen Raymond
Yeah, because if his partner drove that tan car and then that tan car was there that night and it was there the next morning at 6:30, that's what I. I never knew that, that there was a car there.
Susan Simpson
But it would explain why the doors were locked. Because James could have locked him.
Karen Raymond
Yeah, could have locked him on the way back out. And he couldn't have put the bar across because it's on the inside.
Susan Simpson
So there were still pieces of the puzzle we didn't have. Of course, if the blonde man was James Long, like we'd wondered, then why had he been there at the bike shop at 12:45am and why was he walking to the back of the building? That part had never seemed to make any sense.
Detective Harold West
Well, he was walking from close to the drive and then walking north in front of the building.
Susan Simpson
But to what? There's nothing there.
Detective Harold West
If I had to guess in my mind, I would have probably believed that maybe he was checking to make sure there was nobody back there or on that side. I really don't know why, but that's what I recall seeing.
Susan Simpson
Officer west was just speculating, but it makes sense. There's literally nothing back there of note. And former bike shop employee Lori Scott had wondered something similar. Maybe someone had tried to break into the back of the shop, she said, and Earl had called someone for help.
Karen Raymond
That's what I'm wondering if that night Earl heard something, so he called James and they drove over and that's why he was walking around.
Susan Simpson
We hadn't known it when we spoke to Lori, but there was evidence that could suggest this exact scenario. One of the records requests we had sent in to the Kalamazoo police had been for all the prior police reports from the bike shop. It turns out there were a bunch of them. And in 1986 and 1987, the two years prior to Earl's murder, he had repeatedly called the police in the middle of the night to report suspicious noises or activities. He had made at least seven such reports in all. And in most reports, Earl told the police that the disturbance had been on the north side of the building, at the back of the building where Officer west had seen the blonde man walking. So Earl would call the police and tell them he'd heard noises, and the police would be dispatched to the scene. But most times, the reports note, officers found nothing when they got there and quickly left again on the night that he was killed? Could Earl have once again heard a disturbance at the back of the bike shop? Could someone have been trying to find a way in? And instead of calling the police, could Earl have called someone else instead? Earl wouldn't have called Karen Raymond for a problem like that. But he might have called his second most trusted employee, James Long. So had James come over to check things out that night? Had he walked to the back of the bike shop to check for a break in while Earl watched from the door? If so, after checking the back of the store and presumably finding nothing, maybe James had gone inside to talk to Earl. Could they have then gotten into some kind of disagreement? There had been disagreements between them before. Karen said she thought that James and Earl were in conflict sometimes or that he was jealous of her.
Karen Raymond
I guess before Karen came along, Earl depended on James a lot. And then Karen came along.
Susan Simpson
So she was kind of replacing him, I guess.
Katie Ring
Yeah.
Susan Simpson
Yeah. The scenario we're proposing here looks something like Earl heard a noise in the middle of the night. He called James to come check it out. James drove over. After making sure the back of the building was still secure, James went inside the bike shop and somehow an argument began between him and Earl. It ended with James beating Earl over the head. We know from the autopsy that the killer hadn't used that much force. It didn't seem like the attack was intended to be fatal and Earl had survived. Initially, could James have tried to help him stop the bleeding? After, could James have helped him back into his bed? Maybe that's why Earl never called 911. Maybe James had asked him not to, promised Earl he'd be back again in the morning to check on him. Then when James came back at 6:30am he had rolled Earl over and felt for a pulse, only to realize that Earl had died in the night. So James had locked the bike shop back up again and returned at 9 to open the shop for business. As if he'd had no idea what had happened. Only he did know, which is why Laurie had been so unnerved by James lack of reaction when they discovered that Earl was dead.
Karen Raymond
He didn't act surprised. I mean, I was a wreck. He didn't act surprised. I'm not accusing anybody. I'm just saying he did not act surprised.
Susan Simpson
If anything like this is what happened, then I wonder if it might also explain another odd coincidence in the case. Because one of those silent observer tips about Nutter's alleged confessions says something interesting.
Richard Vindeville
Nutter had gone to the Old Man Bike Shop on Harrison street to get some money and that he did not kill the old man, but that he was dead when he got there.
Susan Simpson
What if Nutter had tried to break into the bike shop that night? What if he hadn't been able to get in and then discovered the next day that the owner of the bike shop had been killed the same night that he tried to break inside? That's certainly something that would make an impression on you and might explain another baffling question in this case, which is why on earth would Alan Nutter have bragged about killing the old man at the bike shop? Because it doesn't make you seem very tough or intimidating to beat an old man to death. It's not the kind of lie you'd make up for street cred. But if you had tried to break into a store only to find out the next day that the owner had been murdered inside, you might talk about that. You might mention how weird and strange of a coincidence it was, how you were there the night it happened. This is all speculation. We don't know who killed Erla Byrne, and we may be several decades too late to ever know for sure. Evidence is gone, memories have faded, and key witnesses are dead. But something like this could be what happened here. The puzzle pieces align and form a bigger picture of what might have been going on that night. And it all fits together in a way that the case against Scott Baldwin never.
Katie Ring
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Gone South Host
for years, gone south has been a podcast about crime in the American South. But for our new season, we're widening the lens through deeply reported, narrative driven stories. In conversations with journalists, historians, musicians, and people who've lived these stories firsthand, we're digging into the myths, scandals, and power structures that still shape the south and in a lot of ways, the country itself. From re examining the cultural meaning of the Alamo to tracing the family history of Alex Murdoch, to investigating the federal indictment of New Orleans former mayor, each episode stands alone. But together they paint a picture of what this region really is and how it came to be. With 40 new episodes released weekly, Gone south is a show for people who want to understand how history lingers and why it still matters. Now follow and listen to gone South Season 5 An Odyssey podcast, available now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your shows.
Katie Ring
Think about some of the cases that defined true crime in America. Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, the kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart, the Karen retrial Some crime cases are so shocking they don't just make headlines, they forever change a country. I'm Katie Ring, host of America's Most Infamous Crimes. Each week I take on one of the most notorious criminal cases, whether it's unfortunate holding now or etched into American history, revealing not just what happened, but how it forever changed our society. Serial killers who terrorized cities, unsolved mysteries that kept detectives up at night, and investigations that changed the way we think about justice. Each case unfolds across multiple episodes released every Tuesday through Thursday, from the first sign that something was wrong to the moment the truth came out or didn't. These are the stories behind the headlines. Listen to and follow America's Most Infamous Crimes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
Jacinda Davis
It was finally the day of Scott's resentencing. We were excited and hopeful and looking forward to seeing Scott in the courtroom. It would be the first time we'd ever seen him in person, although he had sent an email out earlier that morning to let everyone know he wasn't going to be as handsome as usual. His eye had some kind of reaction and was so large and puffy it was sealed shut.
Susan Simpson
Did you see his email this morning about his eye?
Claire Ward
Yeah, he's been sick for weeks with
Susan Simpson
one thing after another, so I think
Claire Ward
it just kind of goes to how his body is falling apart.
Jacinda Davis
That's Scott's attorney, Claire Ward, who handled the resentencing. We spoke to her just hours before the hearing. We were all hopeful that the resentencing would go well for Scott.
Susan Simpson
What's your expectation? Hope for what happens today? I'm hopeful that we end today with
Claire Ward
Scott being resentenced to a term of years that he will be impressed immediately parole eligible off of.
Susan Simpson
So we're hoping today is quick and boring.
Claire Ward
Fingers crossed
Jacinda Davis
the minimum possible sentence Scott could receive was 25 years. If he got that, he could be paroled home almost immediately. But if the judge re sentenced him to anything more than 25 years, he'd likely die before he ever made it out. We didn't know yet what sentence the prosecutor was going to ask the court to impose, and we didn't know if the judge would even Be willing to give Scott the lowest possible sentence. Because usually such leniency is reserved for defendants who can show remorse and accept accountability for their crimes. We'd had conversations with Scott about this before.
Scott Baldwin
And if I have to go in front of Judge Light and I'll tell her I did it with a toothpick, I did it. How do you want me to tell you? What do you want me to tell you? Let me go home.
Jacinda Davis
Usually resentencing hearings are fairly quiet proceedings. Usually there aren't too many people in attendance. This courtroom was packed. Scott's family was there and many of his former attorneys, as well as his current attorney with Michigan Innocence, plus three exonerees who'd previously been wrongfully convicted in Michigan. They didn't know Scott, but they'd come all the way to Kalamazoo to show their support for him anyway. So you may be seated. Court clause with People of the State of Michigan versus Scott Baldwin. Counsel, we. Please state your appearances for the record.
Scott Baldwin
On May I place the. Gordon Richard Cunningham, Assistant Attorney General, on
Susan Simpson
behalf of the people.
Claire Ward
Claire Ward, State Appellate Defender Office, on behalf of Mr. Baldwin.
Jacinda Davis
Okay. And you are Scott Allen Baldwin?
Scott Baldwin
Yes, sir.
Claire Ward
Okay. And I won't ask you to stand, sir. I know you've got health concerns and you're in wheelchair, so that's fine too. And I think you have a statement though, Mr. Cunningham, to make with regards to the sentencing. So I'll turn it over to you, sir.
Scott Baldwin
This was a horrible crime. An elderly man budget down to some drug money. There is no question we are absolutely certain to defend it. The jury just got it right.
Jacinda Davis
The prosecutor was certain of Scott's guilt, he said, but he himself clearly didn't know the facts of the case. I don't know where he got the idea that Scott had committed this crime for drug money. Literally. All the witnesses who knew Scott had agreed that Scott didn't use hard drugs. Even Stacy had said this had nothing to do with drugs. But I guess as a narrative, the idea of Scott as an addict committing a drug fueled crime of desperation might have made more sense. Maybe that's why the prosecution went with it, even though it's factually untrue. Whatever the case, it wasn't a promising start. We waited to see what scene sentence the prosecutor would recommend for Scott.
Scott Baldwin
We really have no recommendation. We would leave it to the discretion of the court as to what would be appropriate here from the Senate. So our position is simply we will not go forward. We will not be asking for legal up at all. And we're satisfied the court, within their discretion, makes the call. Thank you.
Claire Ward
Thank you, Mr. Cunningham.
Jacinda Davis
Go ahead, counsel.
Claire Ward
Thank you, judge. And as we outlined in our sentencing memo, there is extensive evidence which has never been litigated in court regarding Mr. Baldwin's innocence. However, we are not here today to litigate his innocence, but for his cancer. He might litigate that himself. But as I discussed with his innocence counsel, I think that the cancer is going to move faster than it could. He is dying, and he has shown admirable rehabilitation in prison. Whether or not he is guilty, when he goes home, he will be essentially in hospice care for whatever amount of time he has left. We ask your honor to impose a new sentence of 25 to 60 in this. Judge, would you like to hear from Mr. Baldwin as to his allocation? I can hear from him at this time.
Jacinda Davis
Normally, a defendant would stand before addressing the court, but Scott couldn't do that. So he read from his wheelchair the statement that he and his attorneys had prepared.
Scott Baldwin
For the last 25 years, I've had ample time to rip right down the direction at chief to my life and where my life was heading. The young man who only cared about himself led a destructive life to himself. And it was together I had to change. I was a mere person that not only my friends and family was specific that my children can be proud of, not shaped of anymore. I pray that people can see I'm a better person now and I could earn forgiveness.
Claire Ward
I think everyone understands that Mr. Paul Twin has terminal cancer and has a life expectancy of six months or less.
Karen Raymond
Really?
Claire Ward
Honestly, that's the major factor that I'm looking at too. I will follow the recommendation of the department of corrections and sentencing him to 25 years to 60 years. He has credit for 8,948 days.
Karen Raymond
Sir.
Claire Ward
Okay, thank you.
Jacinda Davis
Court's in recess. After the hearing, I sat down with Scott's wife. Okay, so I'm sitting here with Jane Ellen. I can see your big smile. I am so happy. Just over the moon happy I finally get to have my husband home. Going into the hearing, how are you feeling? Not trusting because we've had so many promises broken. So what was the new sentencing? 25 to 60. But he should be coming home, like probably in the next 30 days or so. While I was talking to Jane Ellen, Susan talked with Olivia Vigiletti, Scott's innocence attorney, about how the hearing had gone and the statements Scott had ended up deciding to make.
L
At these hearings, it is commonplace to advise clients take responsibility for everything you possibly can take Responsibility for even if you're maintaining innocence. And so somebody might read Scott's statement as taking responsibility, which it absolutely is. Not if you look at it, but I could see that being jarring.
Jacinda Davis
Scott hadn't been able to take responsibility for Earl's murder, so instead, he had taken responsibility for the life he'd been leading when he was 19, when he was committing thefts and stealing out of cars.
L
Can I tell you my favorite moment in the hearing that people maybe may not have clocked? So I brought three exonerees with me today because, you know, they understand that this might be Scott's only day in court, and they thought they were showing support for someone they didn't know they'd only heard of. But when he was pushed into court, immediately, Lavon Hill said, I know him. I walked the yard with him for years. Oh, my gosh. And they made eye contact, and they
Jacinda Davis
did a little hello.
L
And Scott had kind of a emotional moment on his face. And so Lavon was like, oh, man, I remember. You know, we would pass case law back and forth, but I never knew why. And so both of them were supporting each other without realizing that's what was happening.
Jacinda Davis
We were all still gathered in the hotel lobby when Scott's wife, Jane Ellen, got a phone call. It was Scott.
Susan Simpson
Hey, baby. So I'm. We're having a little party, so just so you know. Who else is here is. We got Olivia and all of her guests and Susan and Jacinda and Kevin.
Jacinda Davis
Hey, Scott. Congratulations. This is Jacinda.
Scott Baldwin
Hi, Jacinda.
Jacinda Davis
Congratulations. How you feel?
Scott Baldwin
I'm tired. I'm completely emotionally and physically drained right now.
Susan Simpson
Yeah?
Jacinda Davis
Yeah.
Scott Baldwin
Emotionally, I'm. I was quite overwhelmed when somebody said, everybody's here for you.
Claire Ward
Yvonne's standing right here with me.
Scott Baldwin
Honey, how you doing? Good. I'm like, I'm going, man. I know that, dude.
Susan Simpson
Hey, man.
Detective Harold West
Listen, it was so good to see you. I. I honestly didn't know that it was you I was coming to support,
Susan Simpson
but I'm so happy that it was you.
Scott Baldwin
Nobody deserved it like, you deserve it.
Susan Simpson
So congratulations.
Scott Baldwin
Thank you, bro.
Susan Simpson
Yeah.
Scott Baldwin
I mean, you guys really. You do know, I can. I can't say you don't know what it means, but you do. For sure. Okay, guys, thank you all again. We're going to see you soon.
Jacinda Davis
Hopefully we'll see you soon on the outside.
Scott Baldwin
All right, all right, stop. All right.
Susan Simpson
24 days later, we were back in Michigan again for Scott's release. We picked him up at the prison and got him back to his wife's home. And for two days, we did what we could to make him comfortable.
Jacinda Davis
Do you want a pillow for behind your head?
Scott Baldwin
I want a little blanket. Pull over here.
Sally Brinkman
Okay.
Scott Baldwin
Good
Jacinda Davis
evening.
Susan Simpson
Do you want her up by your feet?
Jacinda Davis
Yeah, I do.
Susan Simpson
Hurry up. We'd realized quickly that it was a miracle Scott had survived long enough to be released from prison at all. He had held on just long enough to be free again. And now that he was, he couldn't hold on any longer. It was devastating to watch. There's no happy endings here.
Richard Vindeville
No, this is a. This is like a death watch. And this is, like. Keep him as comfortable and feeling safe for as long as possible.
Jacinda Davis
You know, some people, they live their life, and when the time comes, like, they're ready to go. Scott's not ready.
Richard Vindeville
He's had, literally, almost mathematically half of the his life taken from him.
Susan Simpson
I mean, more than that, because he should have lived a lot longer than this.
Richard Vindeville
So not an ideal. Not an ideal situation.
Susan Simpson
The next day, Scott Baldwin was taken to the hospital. He had survived 8,948 days of incarceration to be a free man again for about 63 hours in total. But he was able to spend some time with his wife, to see his mom again, and for his kids to be there with him as he lay at the hospital dying. After Scott's death, we spoke to his oldest son, Cody, whom Scott had been estranged from for the last 12 years of his life.
Richard Vindeville
How did you feel when you found out that he was actually getting out this time?
M
I didn't believe it. I didn't believe a word of it. I've been told that every year for so long.
Susan Simpson
Cody had been shocked when he learned that his father had actually been released this time, given their complicated history. He hadn't yet seen Scott in person when he got the call that told him, your father is dying. If you want to see him, come now.
Richard Vindeville
So you got to see him at the hospital?
M
Yeah.
Jacinda Davis
Do you mind if I ask you what you said to him?
M
I told him, dad, it's Cody. And he sat up and he opened his eyes, and he looked at me. And I just remember his eyes were yellow and his skin was yellow. I was lucky to get a moment of alone time with him. He was not talking. And I told him, you know, I'm really sorry, dad. I told him, I'm sorry I haven't talked to you. I'm sorry I haven't dealt with anything. But it doesn't matter. I'm right here, and I just want you to know I'm right here. I know that I've been estranged with him, and I know that I haven't talked to him, and that was my choice. And I don't want to be the son who comes forward and goes, my daddy died. Oh my God. And. And cry like I wrote him every week, because I didn't. But it was still very shocking to see him in his condition and to realize, you know, this is definitely the end from what I saw. So I just told him that I love him and that I'm just sorry that everything went the way it did.
Susan Simpson
And.
M
And this is going to sound really stupid, but I told him, dad, am I a good dad? And he said, uh huh. And so I said, thank you. I told him I'm trying really hard. I told him about our daughter. I told him what her favorite color was. And I said, I'm really sorry you'll never be able to meet her, but I'll tell her about you. I stared at him for a while through the doorway. I couldn't leave. I just kept staring at him. And I had to be pulled away for a minute because I just lost track of everything because it was 25 years of, you know, all of this stuff kind of compounding on me. And then 12 years of not seeing him. The first time seeing him in 12 years in person was this. So I just told him in his ear before I left so nobody else could hear me, dad, I love you. I'll see you again soon. And then I just told him, I'm sorry. And then I got up and I turned around and I stared at him for a minute and I turned around, then I left.
Susan Simpson
Scott Baldwin died just after midnight on October 9, 2025. After investigating Scott's case, we are certain he was wrongfully convicted of a murder he did not commit. The case against him was built on constantly changing witness statements and was contradicted both by eyewitnesses and physical evidence. When he was 31 years old, he was plucked out of the life he'd built with his wife and kids and spent 25 years in prison proclaiming his innocence before dying at age 57 of a cancer that is rarely fatal with proper medical treatment. When Scott died, so too did any realistic chance of having his innocence be acknowledged by the legal system. There has never been a posthumous exoneration in Michigan, so we thought that when he died, the criminal justice system in Kalamazoo and the state of Michigan would likely never have to grapple with the consequences of what was done to him. But before he died, he asked us to keep going, to keep investigating. How many more are there? He said. And now, because of Scott, Kalamazoo's justice system will have to grapple with a pattern of misconduct that goes far beyond what happened to just him. If Scott had lived long enough to see what we'd found, he'd probably make some wise ass cross track and then say, see, I told you it was bigger than me. Because it was. And I don't think he'd be surprised to learn that a lot of it goes back to Richard Vendeville, the Cold Case Team informant who knew too much about too many cold cases. For many years, Vent dropped cryptic hints to Scott Baldwin, to Jeff Titus, to anyone who would listen, claiming to know a dark secret about the Kalamazoo legal system, though he never explained what exactly that secret was. He kept that to himself. He wasn't going to share it for free. But like Vindeville told Jacinda and Kevin when he met with them, just knowing his secret wouldn't change anything. It doesn't matter if you know that something happened. What matters is if you have the piece of paper that proves it happened. Without that, you have nothing. Because no court is ever going to take Vindeville for his word on anything. Sometimes, though, answers can be found in unexpected places. There's all kinds of letters and stuff that he wrote where he did say,
Karen Raymond
I told Workama about this and I
Susan Simpson
told work them all about that, and he didn't listen to me. It might be in them letters. That's Virginia Bice. She's the waitress who gave that CD with the song Butterfly on it to detectives. That's why we'd gone to speak with her. She'd agreed to tell us what she remembered about Scott's case, which wasn't much, really, but we were all sitting out on her back porch talking when she'd mentioned her brother, Richard Vendeville, and his involvement with the cold case team. We'd asked what all she knew about it. Not much, she said, but during the 20 years that Richard was in prison, he'd sometimes written to her about the things that had gone on with the Kalamazoo Cold Case team. He mentioned Cold Case detective Mike Werkema a lot in those letters. Virginia said, you might find some of the answers you're looking for there. I'll look and see if I got more because I had a stack of them. I burned some of them. Virginia stepped inside for a moment and brought back a stack of paperwork. She dropped it on the patio table where we were sitting. I don't have any need for these, she said. You can keep them if you like. I remember sitting there at that patio table and quickly flipping through the stack of documents. And I remember the rush of adrenaline. I felt like ice water in my veins as I realized what I was looking at. In that pile of papers, there were letters Ventiville had written home from prison. Those were interesting. And one he'd written sis.
Richard Vindeville
I never knew that them people killed the Poldermans. The cold case team was up to some sneaky shit.
Susan Simpson
Richard Vindeville had told detectives he was an eyewitness who saw the five Polderman defendants go to the house together to commit the murders. But here, in black and white, he was saying he didn't actually know anything. There were more than just Vindeville's letters in there, too. A lot more. There was a signed letter from cold case prosecutor Scott Brower that described a secret agreement with Richard Bendeville done in 2007, just before the Polderman defendants went on trial.
Richard Vindeville
I believe the concessions in this letter are consistent with the discussions you've had with Captain James Mallory.
Susan Simpson
Could this explain why Ventoville never appeared at any of the Polderman trials? Why, bizarrely, the state's eyewitness wasn't called to testify? And there were some letters in there, too, signed by Jeffrey Getding. I knew that name. Today he's the prosecuting attorney for Kalamazoo county. But in 2007, he was a defense attorney, and the chief of police had somehow retained him to represent Richard Vintonville as part of a secret deal they'd made. Gong had written to his new client.
Richard Vindeville
I understand your reluctance to trust me, to act in your best interest. I can only offer you my promise that I will do the best I can on your behalf.
Susan Simpson
The documents that Richard Vindeville had left with his sister and that she'd given to us suggested a conspiracy that went to the very top of Kalamazoo's legal system. A conspiracy to hide evidence to cover up police and prosecutorial misconduct to ensure the conviction of the five Polderman defendants. Vindeville had been at the heart of it. And he'd kept the receipts. Vindeville was right. We didn't need him to tell us what happened. We needed to find the papers that showed it. And we just had.
Jacinda Davis
Next week, on proof,
Susan Simpson
hired Jeff Keddian on his behalf. They did. How could he do that? You can read this letter, I believe.
Scott Baldwin
Yeah. I understand your reluctance to trust me in this act.
Susan Simpson
Have you ever heard of something like that happening. Does it seem right to you? No, absolutely not.
Jacinda Davis
So I just finished sending all the requests for comments to everyone involved in this thing.
Susan Simpson
Well, now we'll see if they respond.
Jacinda Davis
Wait and see. We'll be back next week with the final main episode of this season of Proof Murder at the bike shop episode 12. You've been listening to Proof, a podcast by Red Marble Media in association with Glassbox Media. Send us your questions and comments@proofcrimepodmail.com we'll respond during our bonus episodes. Proof sidebar on Thursdays. Kevin Fitzpatrick is our Executive Producer. Our theme music is by Ramiro Marquez. Audio production for this episode is by Michael Ulatowski, Michael Alfano, Karen Incarnation, and Jesus Arbaez. Our Social Media Manager is Leanne Cook. And thank you to our sponsors who make this podcast possible. Follow us everywhere with the handle proofcrimepod and on our website proofcrimepod.com that's all for this week. Thanks so much for listening.
Lori Scott
This episode is brought to you by Athletic Brewing Co. No matter how you do game day on the couch, in the crowd or manning the snack table, Athletic Brewing fits right in with a full lineup of non alcoholic beer styles. You can enjoy bold flavors all game long. No hangovers, no buzz, no subbing out for water in the second half. Stock the fridge for tip off with a variety of non alcoholic craft styles available at your local grocery store or off online@athleticalbrewing.com near beer fit for all times how many discounts does USAA Auto Insurance offer? Too many to say here. Multi vehicle discount Safe driver Discount New vehicle discount Storage discount How many discounts
Susan Simpson
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Jacinda Davis
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PROOF: A TRUE CRIME PODCAST
Episode: Murder at the Bike Shop | Ep. 11 – 8,948 Days
Release Date: April 6, 2026
Hosted by: Susan Simpson & Jacinda Davis
This emotionally charged episode unpacks 8,948 days—over 24 years—of Scott Baldwin’s wrongful incarceration for the murder of Earl O. Byrne at the bike shop in Kalamazoo, Michigan. As Scott is finally resentenced and briefly released home before dying of cancer, Susan and Jacinda share new revelations, explore missed investigative leads, and document the devastating real-world consequences of systemic failings in the criminal justice system. The episode brings together evidence from newly discovered eyewitness tips, addresses the shifting narrative around the crime, and closes with Scott’s final days.
[01:50 – 05:54]
"Sometimes we as police officers grab onto a bone and we won't let go... when in fact, there are other avenues and other clues leading to the actual killer." (01:50, Harold West)
"The Cold Case team had no explanation for this piece of the puzzle. It did not fit the case they were building, so they ignored it." (04:02, Susan Simpson)
[06:30 – 14:01]
"Did anyone ever follow up with you when you called in the tip?"
"No... You were the first." (13:19, Susan & Sally)
[19:24 – 22:22]
"We don't know who the blonde man at the bike shop at 6:30 in the morning was, but we do know it wasn't Scott Baldwin. One, he's not blonde." (20:50, Jacinda Davis)
[21:53 – 24:15]
"So there's evidence that Earl's body was moved several hours after he died. And there's evidence of a blonde man at the bike shop in the early morning hours when no one should have been there?" (24:20, Susan Simpson)
[25:27 – 29:39]
[34:15 – 45:59]
"For the last 25 years, I've had ample time to rip right down the direction at chief to my life and where my life was heading..." (39:55, Scott Baldwin's statement)
"I told him, dad, it's Cody. And he sat up and he opened his eyes, and he looked at me... and I just told him that I love him and that I'm just sorry that everything went the way it did." (48:28, Cody)
[49:45 – 56:01]
"I never knew that them people killed the Poldermans. The cold case team was up to some sneaky shit." (53:49, quoted from Vindeville's letter)
True to the investigative and compassionate tone of Proof, the hosts balance methodical legal reasoning with emotional honesty. The episode is rich with firsthand voices (Detective West, Sally Brinkman, Scott, his family), real-time reactions, and ultimately, a sense of outrage and sadness over a life wasted by systemic indifference.
This episode starkly illustrates how tunnel vision in criminal investigations, missed evidence, and systemic misconduct can destroy lives. The hosts’ insistence on digging for the truth—despite the courts’ indifference—is a moving tribute both to Scott Baldwin and those still left behind. The closing revelations about hidden informant arrangements and prosecutorial misconduct suggest the story isn't just about one wrongful conviction, but a deeply rooted issue in Kalamazoo’s justice system, setting up for the season’s climactic conclusion.