Proof: A True Crime Podcast

Season 3, Episode 6 — "The Boogeyman" (Feb 23, 2026)

Hosts: Susan Simpson & Jacinda Davis
Case: The 1988 murder of Earl O’Byrne (“Bicycle Pete”) at his bike shop in Kalamazoo, MI; Scott Baldwin convicted in 2001, maintains innocence.

Episode Overview

This episode delves deep into the reopening of the Earl O’Byrne murder case and centers on mounting suspicions around alternate suspect Allen Nutter. Susan and Jacinda unravel a tangled mess of missed evidence, unreliable witness statements, hidden police files, and the enigmatic role of an informant named Richard Vendeville. The episode highlights decades of frustration for Scott Baldwin — convicted on slim evidence and fighting for exoneration as new witnesses, DNA, and failures in the justice system come to light.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Case Reopens: Doubts About Scott Baldwin’s Guilt

• 2009: Kalamazoo police reopen the bike shop murder case (after two prior investigations), prompted by new witnesses suggesting a wrongful conviction.
  • "99 times out of 100, that would be the end of any police investigation. Case closed. That was not the end here." — Jacinda Davis (02:12)
• Multiple witnesses express confusion about why Scott Baldwin (convicted in 2001) is in prison, as many believe Allen Nutter was the true perpetrator.

Allen Nutter as Alternate Suspect

• The name Allen Nutter comes up repeatedly in silent observer tips and witness interviews — many say he confessed to the murder.
  • "Caller stated he heard from four separate people that Allen Nutter committed the murder." — Reading from Silent Observer tip (12:17)
• Polygraph & Alibi Fails: Nutter was dismissed as a suspect because he passed a polygraph, even though his alibi (being at a motel) didn’t check out.
  • "He passed a polygraph. They said no, it doesn't matter. That's bullshit." — Scott Baldwin (18:08)
• Nutter had a criminal pattern: breaking into nearby businesses, sometimes with a girlfriend as getaway driver, matching witness accounts of the murder night.
• Years after Scott's conviction, previously hidden "silent observer" tips (eventually released via FOIA) reveal at least 14 separate tips pointing to Nutter.

Withheld Evidence & Brady Violations

• The prosecution and police withheld critical evidence about Nutter from Baldwin’s defense, violating Brady disclosure requirements (the duty to turn over exculpatory evidence).
  • "What may be a Brady violation?" — Detective Rich Madison (13:50)
  • "Brady permits a prosecutor to keep evidence like Allen Nutter away from a defendant, then Brady's meaningless." — Susan Simpson (14:08)
• Courts repeatedly dismissed Baldwin’s requests for a new trial; appeals denied on the grounds that he was "fishing" without proof, even though the proof (the tips about Nutter) was exactly what was hidden from him.

The Role of Witness Statements (Including Nutter’s Daughter)

• Brooke Nutter, Allen’s daughter, tells investigators her father confessed to the murder. But Brooke admits her memories are confused — mixed between different crimes, influenced by things she was told and by investigators’ suggestions.
  • "I kind of felt like she was luring me in a certain direction, if that makes sense." — Brooke Nutter (48:52)
  • "I'm really nervous that I'm... that I filled in the blanks on my own." — Brooke Nutter (52:37)
• Investigators and podcast hosts discuss how police and defense interview techniques might unintentionally (or deliberately) shape witness testimony.

The Enigmatic Richard Vendeville (a.k.a. The Boogeyman)

• Vendeville has deep, strange ties to multiple cold cases in Kalamazoo, including Baldwin’s and Jeff Titus’ (recently exonerated), as well as the notorious Polderman murders.
• At times, Vendeville acted as an informant for police, receiving immunity in exchange for testimony, sometimes implicating others in murders for which he had been suspected himself.
• Family connections: key trial witnesses against Baldwin — including the woman who testified to a quasi-confession and the waitress who turned in evidence — are all relatives of Vendeville.
  • "As far as Vendeville goes, Susan, he threw up red flags immediately... He just seemed to know too much about stuff." — Scott Baldwin (36:38)
  • "Puke. Puke. Total puke. Manipulative." — Det. Rich Madison, on Vendeville (39:31)

DNA Testing and the Frustration of New Evidence

• Newly ordered DNA tests (2024) detect male DNA under the victim's fingernails that does NOT match Scott Baldwin (or Allen Nutter).
• Baldwin and his family experience a surge of hope, only for the prosecution to double down: they suggest unknown DNA “proves” only that Scott may have acted with someone else; his conviction stands.
  • "Just because the DNA didn't belong to Scott didn't mean Scott wasn't somehow still involved in the murder. Or at least that's what the prosecution believed." — Jacinda Davis (33:45)

The Wrench, Trudy Fields, and Overlooked Connections

• Before trial, a landlord near the bike shop finds a bloody antique wrench under a tenant’s porch; his property manager corroborates. The wrench is never tested or preserved.
• The tenant’s mother, Trudy Fields, was Nutter’s girlfriend, providing yet another tie between Nutter and the scene.
  • "Helen Nutter was dating this kid's mom who lived in the house where the bloody wrench was found." — Det. Rich Madison (58:22)
• This link, if known to the defense, would have radically changed the case, reinforcing Nutter as an alternative suspect.

Endless Appeals, Dead Ends, and Prison Life

• Baldwin has now spent over two decades incarcerated, facing and surviving cancer, and clinging to hope of exoneration through innocence projects, DNA evidence, and new investigations.
• His participation with Paws with a Cause (service dog training in prison) and his marriage provide rare sources of joy, even as legal setbacks and illness threaten any chance at freedom.
  • "I'm going to be released to go home and die." — Scott Baldwin (31:50)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On police re-investigation:
  • "This time around, a new set of detectives were looking into allegations that the man who'd been convicted, Scott Baldwin, was actually innocent." — Susan Simpson (05:54)
• On prosecutorial misconduct:
  • "For years, the courts have been denying Scott Baldwin's attempts to challenge his conviction, in part because he had no proof that any of the Silent observer tips were about Allen Nutter. Meanwhile, the prosecution had known the entire time that so many of those tips were in fact about Nutter. They just hadn't felt any obligation to let Scott or the courts know that." — Susan Simpson (12:02)
• On confessions:
  • "Nutter probably did confess a time or two or ten... but a confession by itself doesn't really mean anything, not if there's nothing in the confession that you can prove to be true." — Susan Simpson (54:55)
• On the crushing impact of lost hope:
  • "It was that sure the way he told me. And then it went silent for like three or four months. And when they did come see me, it was 180 turn. No, that's not strong enough to get you out. They took the wind out of the sails completely. And it's going, what the hell happened?" — Scott Baldwin (33:11)
• On the influence of police and legal system failures:
  • "A lot of teams have been banging their head against the wall trying to show that Nutter did it. And Scott should be out." — Susan Simpson (60:00)

Important Timestamps

• [02:12] Jacinda Davis introduces the reopening of the case and doubts about Baldwin's conviction.
• [04:23–05:11] The Nutter name repeatedly surfaces among witness accounts and investigators.
• [11:49–12:17] Discovery of the Silent Observer tips about Allen Nutter.
• [13:50] Detective Madison labels potential Brady violation.
• [18:08–18:46] Polygraph and Nutter’s alibi discussed.
• [21:49–24:51] Brooke Nutter recounts her father's “confession,” but admits her memories are fragmented and possibly influenced.
• [33:45] DNA evidence is found not to match Baldwin (or Nutter), but prosecutors resist overturning conviction.
• [36:38–39:31] Introduction to “boogeyman” informant Richard Vendeville; Madison and hosts discuss his peculiar influence.
• [54:30–55:48] Nutter vaguely admits to potentially having bragged/confessed but denies real involvement; DNA doesn’t match him or Baldwin.
• [57:16–58:55] The missing wrench, and the overlooked tie between Nutter, the Fields family, and the murder scene.
• [60:09] Ongoing legal frustration: teams keep trying to implicate Nutter, but nothing breaks Baldwin free.

Tone, Language, and Style

The tone is relentless, skeptical, and at times bitterly ironic, with Susan and Jacinda balancing meticulous detail, legal analysis, and palpable frustration at prosecutorial and investigative inertia. There is empathy for the wrongly convicted and those whose memories have been twisted by years of rumor and suggestion. The hosts maintain an investigative and analytical approach, with direct, plainspoken language.

Summary Takeaways

• The prosecution fought to suppress dozens of tips implicating Allen Nutter, leaving Baldwin’s defense in the dark — a violation of Brady and a crucial factor in Baldwin’s conviction.
• Witness memories, especially those as distant and confused as Brooke Nutter’s, prove faulty and dangerously mutable when shaped by investigators’ questioning.
• Informant and suspect Richard Vendeville sits at the murky center of many cold cases, but his manipulations and immunity deals raise as many questions as they answer.
• DNA evidence and the relentless work of innocence advocates offer glimmers of hope, but systemic inertia and prosecutorial resistance continue to keep Baldwin incarcerated.
• The podcast emphasizes the devastating toll that wrongful convictions and legal failures have — not just on individuals, but on families, witnesses, and the community’s faith in justice.

Next Episode Preview
Susan and Jacinda tease the hunt for Allen Nutter and broader questions about who truly killed Earl O’Byrne, promising new directions in their probe as the official record runs into dead ends.

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