Murder at the Bike Shop | Ep. 6 – The Boogeyman

Summary

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.

---

For more case materials and updates, visit proofcrimepod.com or follow @proofcrimepod.

Transcript

[Jacinda Davis]

Everybody needs somebody to talk to, whether it's because you deal in true crime 247 or just because things are a little bit tough.

[Susan Simpson]

The problem is, taking care of yourself can be complicated, but it shouldn't be. And that's why discovering Rula can be a game changer in self care. Rula takes your goals, your background and your preferences and creates a curated list of therapists who actually fit the work that you want to do. Rula makes it easy to find the therapist and care that you need. Rula partners with more than 100 insurance plans, bringing the average cost down to only $15 per session. It makes therapy feel realistic and sustainable.

[Jacinda Davis]

At $15 per session, there's no excuse. Time to get over the hump and find a therapist that can help you work out the things you need to talk about.

[Susan Simpson]

And rula makes it easy to do so. Rula assists with finding providers, scheduling appointments, and tracking care throughout the process.

[Jacinda Davis]

Providers are screened and vetted, and rula monitors care quality and progress over time.

[Susan Simpson]

So with rula, you can get started today without worrying about the hows or whys. They got it covered for you this year.

[Jacinda Davis]

Make one change you can actually stick with. Visit rula.com proofpod to get started.

[Susan Simpson]

That's r ula.com proofpod Mental health care that's actually built to last.

[Various Advertisers/Commercial Voices]

Reggie, I just sold my car online.

[Susan Simpson]

Let's go, grandpa.

[Detective Rich Madison]

Wait, you did?

[Various Advertisers/Commercial Voices]

Yep, on Carvana. Just put in the license plate, answered a few questions, got an offer in minutes. Easier than setting up that new digital picture frame.

[Susan Simpson]

You don't say.

[Various Advertisers/Commercial Voices]

Yeah, they're even picking it up tomorrow. Talk about fast.

[Scott Baldwin]

Wow.

[Detective Rich Madison]

Way to go.

[Various Advertisers/Commercial Voices]

So about that picture frame. Ah, forget about it. Until Carvana makes one, I'm not interested.

[Jacinda Davis]

Car selling made easy on Carvana.

[Various Advertisers/Commercial Voices]

Pick up.

[Susan Simpson]

These may apply.

[Detective Heck]

This is detective Hecht. The date is 128 of 09. And this is in reference to the cold case homicide investigation involving the Death of Earl O'. Byrne.

[Jacinda Davis]

Scott Baldwin was convicted of Earl O' Byrne's murder in 2001. And most of the time, 99 times out of 100, that would be the end of any police investigation. Case closed. That was not the end here. Because in 2009, the Kalamazoo Police reopened the murder at the bike shop.

[Detective Heck]

Should we come in and talk to you about a case that we're looking into?

[Scott Baldwin]

Thought this trip was over.

[Detective Heck]

Well, it's not. It's kind of just getting started back up. We inherited this second round of the cold case, I guess you could call it. Basically the case got reopened again because the judge and the prosecutor's office feel that there might be enough there to reopen the case.

[Jacinda Davis]

After Scott's conviction, new witnesses started coming forward because they thought the cold case team had made a mistake.

[Brooke Nutter]

I heard that Scott Baldwin or whoever got convicted.

[Detective Heck]

So when you heard about that, what were you thinking?

[Brooke Nutter]

That it was the wrong guy. With everything I knew about that, why

[Detective Heck]

did you lock this other guy, huh? I wasn't a part of that. When it got reopened back in 2000, neither was my partner here. Okay. He was basically convicted because a girlfriend of his that he was dating back in 1988 had come forth and made a lot of statements that apparently he had said to her. And really, shockingly, he was convicted almost solely on her testimony, and there was nothing else to really show that he was involved.

[Jacinda Davis]

These new witnesses were confused by this Scott Baldwin guy. Whoever he was, was in prison because they thought someone else had done the murder.

[Detective Rich Madison]

This is about hell and Nutter.

[Brooke Nutter]

I know what it's about.

[Jacinda Davis]

The same name kept coming up again and again.

[Detective Heck]

I'm just here to ask you some questions about whether or not you knew Alan Nutter. Yeah, I know he did it. Everybody knows he did it. White Scott got pinned with it.

[Detective Rich Madison]

I don't know.

[Brooke Nutter]

She said Allen hit some old man

[Susan Simpson]

over the head,

[Brooke Nutter]

and I asked if he heard him or not, and she said she didn't know.

[Detective Heck]

So you heard a rumor that Alan did it?

[Susan Simpson]

No, I heard a rumor that they thought Allen did it.

[Detective Heck]

Well, same thing. The whole reason this has been reopened is because everything is playing towards your father as being the guy that possibly actually did this. So right now they're looking at your father as being the person who did this.

[Brooke Nutter]

Yeah, I really do. I think that my dad committed the murder.

[Detective Heck]

I really do.

[Susan Simpson]

I'm Susan Simpson.

[Jacinda Davis]

And I'm Jacinda Davis.

[Susan Simpson]

I'm an attorney and investigator, and I'm

[Jacinda Davis]

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 six, the Boogeyman. For the third time, the Kalamazoo police opened up an investigation into the murder of Earl o'. Byrne. But this time around, a new set of detectives were looking into allegations that the man who'd been convicted, Scott Baldwin, was actually innocent. And they Started interviewing witnesses about whether a man named Alan Nutter may have committed the crime.

[Detective Heck]

All this new information suddenly surfaced because suddenly people are now talking where before they weren't. And maybe it's because people know that this guy in jail, maybe they. If they know that he didn't do it, maybe now their conscience is getting to them. And now.

[Brooke Nutter]

So he never admitted to the murder?

[Scott Baldwin]

No,

[Detective Heck]

no. I went to trial.

[Brooke Nutter]

How long did he get?

[Detective Heck]

He got life in prison. It's a murder. So, yeah, I mean, that's why this is so important now that we find the truth.

[Brooke Nutter]

I mean, how did it go from one. I just don't understand how none of this evidence was brought to court. You know what I mean? Even if it was just. Could have potentially been somebody else, you know what I mean? How come none of that was brought?

[Detective Heck]

Well, a lot of. A lot of this stuff that we're following up on came about after the trial, after this guy was convicted.

[Susan Simpson]

This is not exactly accurate. The information detectives were now following up on was new to Scott Baldwin and his defense team, but it was not new to the prosecution. They'd known about it all along. They just hadn't told Scott. But after Scott was convicted, he met several inmates who told him they believed they knew who'd really killed the old man at the bike shop.

[Scott Baldwin]

I had them come down and go, you're Scotty Baldwin. And I'm like, yeah, holy shit, dude, I know Alan Nutter. I gave a tip in your case. That's how that came up.

[Susan Simpson]

One of those inmates who approached Scott and told him about Allen Nutter was a guy named Donald Russell. He and Nutter had actually been friends, and he told investigators that back in 1995. So seven years after the murder at the bike shop, Nutter had confessed to him. But Russell hadn't come forward, not until years later when he found out another man had been convicted of the crime. The police report on Russell's statement says, knowing that Allen Nutter had confessed to this crime, Russell does not wish that Scott Baldwin stay in jail the rest of his life for a crime he did not do. According to Russell, Nutter had told him that he'd killed the old man in the bike shop, then gone to a nearby house to clean up, and then he'd gone to get high with his girlfriend. My girlfriend is the only one who knows what I did. Russell says Nutter told him.

[Jacinda Davis]

Has anyone talked to Alan?

[Scott Baldwin]

Yeah, we've had a new. We had a motion for new trial. He brought up, said, I never met this guy. I didn't do it. I was. It wasn't me. He's lying. I never said this.

[Susan Simpson]

Based on Allen Nutter's alleged confession, Scott Baldwin moved for a new trial. A hearing was held in 2002 and Allen Nutter was called as a witness. He denied everything, and the court denied Scott's motion. Scott's attorneys appealed and argued that if Scott's trial attorneys had known about Allen Nutter before trial, there's reason to doubt the jury would have convicted him. As part of this claim, Scott's attorneys argued that his defense was damaged by the court's decision to deny him access to most of the silent observer tips in the case. Those tips might have helped him get new information about Allen Nutter, they told the court. Because what if one of those silent observer tips that Scott hadn't seen had been about Allen Nutter? That could have made Scott's defense at trial a lot stronger. But the Kalamazoo prosecutor's office argued that Scott hadn't proved the tips were likely to contain material information about Nutter. He was just guessing they might. The appellate court agreed with the prosecution. Here's Kevin reading from the opinion.

[Kevin Fitzpatrick]

Defendant made no showing that the disclosure of the contents of the anonymous silent observer tips was either relevant and helpful to his defense or essential to a fair determination of the case. Rather, the only reason proffered by defendant for his request was that, quote, there might be other information in the hands of law enforcement agencies and or the prosecutor that had not been produced, end quote, more than a mere assertion that the police might have some additional information in their files on some unspecified topic that might be useful to the defendant is necessary to overcome the informant's privilege.

[Susan Simpson]

In a letter to Scott after the ruling, his attorneys explained to him why he lost.

[Kevin Fitzpatrick]

We are stuck in a catch 22. To prove to a court that the silent observer tips would have been helpful, we would need to see the content of the tips. Since we do not have the tips, we cannot prove they would have been helpful and therefore cannot establish that the state violated your rights by withholding them.

[Susan Simpson]

Unless Scott could prove the tips were about Alan Nutter, he wasn't allowed to see them. And without seeing the tips, Scott had no way of proving if they were about Allen Nutter. And so Scott Baldwin's efforts to get the silent observer tips was dismissed as a fishing expedition. Just another defendant grasping at straws. Because if there really was a silent observer tip about Allen Nutter, surely the prosecution would have told Scott about that, right? For the next several years, Scott Baldwin's attorneys fought for the release of the Silent observer tips. Finally, in 2008, the Kalamazoo Police Department relented. Seven years after Scott was convicted, they handed over the Silent observer tips and

[Scott Baldwin]

they found out that Nutter was a suspect. And the Silent observer tip reports that they didn't turn over to us.

[Jacinda Davis]

For your case.

[Scott Baldwin]

For my case. Allen Nutter. He was all over the Silent observer tip sheets.

[Susan Simpson]

What was in those Silent observer tips was shocking. There wasn't just one tip about Allen nutter. There were 14. It is kind of astounding how many times Alan Nutter has supposedly confessed to this thing.

[Scott Baldwin]

Did you see all the tips?

[Susan Simpson]

Oh, good. Quite a lot. I'm very confused. When people called Silent Observer, a tips sheet was filled out with the information they provided. The tips about Allen Nutter said things like, caller stated he heard from four separate people that Allen Nutter committed the murder. Allen Nutter has been bragging about killing the old guy. On the night of the murder, Nutter told his wife that he was going out to make some money. This was late at night. And then he returned early in the a.m. with some money. Nutter had worked at the bike shop. So 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. It was one of the things we wanted to talk to Cold Case detective Rich Madison about. Anyway, judge ruled that defense doesn't get them, which means the defense did not know about Allen Nutter before trial because all those, like, 14 tips then about Allen Nutter and the Finns didn't see them. So they had no idea that Allen Nutter had been serially confessing all around town before trial.

[Detective Rich Madison]

Why couldn't the fence bring that fact up?

[Susan Simpson]

Cause they didn't know. They didn't have the tips. They were never told.

[Detective Rich Madison]

Defense didn't even see the tips?

[Susan Simpson]

No, they didn't find out till after the conviction. So they didn't even know Allen Nutter was like a thing until it was too late.

[Detective Rich Madison]

What may be a Brady violation?

[Susan Simpson]

I think so. I mean, I. Yeah, that's what I would have thought. A Brady violation is when the prosecution withholds evidence that is favorable to a defendant. The Constitution requires prosecutors to hand over evidence that might suggest innocence, for example, evidence that another suspect has Confessed to the murder a dozen times over. So, yeah, I think Detective Madison is 100% right here. I think this was clearly a Brady violation. The judges who have looked at this case over the years have thought otherwise. They thought it was okay for the prosecution to withhold this evidence from Scott's defense. But I disagree with them here, because if Brady permits a prosecutor to keep evidence like Allen Nutter away from a defendant, then Brady's meaningless. Because it's not just that there were an absurd number of people who reported Allen Nutter confessed to them. Allen Nutter also looked exactly like the man that a police officer had seen outside the bike shop with Earl on the night that he was killed.

[Detective Rich Madison]

Hild west thought it was Allen Nutter, who I was real familiar with, because he was always kind of a pain in the butt, but, you know, he was more smoking dope and being drunk.

[Jacinda Davis]

Detective Madison's memory now in 2025 is that officer Harold west thought the man he saw outside of the bike shop was, in fact, Allen Nutter. Now, we're not certain that's what actually happened. When we spoke to Officer west, he did not explicitly say the man he saw was Nutter. But it's possible that sometime earlier, Detective Madison was told that Officer west had seen someone who sounds exactly like Allen Nutter. And that's why Detective Madison remembers Officer Wes actually identifying Allen Nutter as the man at the bike shop that night.

[Detective Rich Madison]

And he saw a guy he thought was Alan Nutter. Could have been, you know, thought he could have been Alan Nutter. And he said later, he said, pretty sure it was Alan Nutter. I saw Alan Nutter walking right there. And because of the boots, pants tucked into his cowboy boots, he couldn't say 100%.

[Susan Simpson]

But did he know Allen Nutter?

[Detective Rich Madison]

He must have been, because he named him, but told us later, too. Couldn't say 100%. But those pants tucked into his boots, he said. I'd seen Alan do that before.

[Susan Simpson]

And Alan's arrest record does show he had similar clothes to the clothes that Harold west saw. Like, I mean, white pants, brown shirt, not that big a deal. But he was jacket.

[Jacinda Davis]

Yeah, but Allen is blonde.

[Susan Simpson]

Yeah. Alan Nutter had blonde hair.

[Detective Rich Madison]

Yeah.

[Jacinda Davis]

Nutter also had a history of breaking into places late at night. In fact, just a couple nights before Earl o' Byrne was killed, Alan Nutter broke into a different business on East Michigan Avenue and robbed it. His girlfriend Renee had driven him there.

[Scott Baldwin]

Do you know?

[Susan Simpson]

Okay, so here's what I found. A news article saying that on June 1 or May 31, he did a B and E on an East Michigan Avenue business.

[Scott Baldwin]

Yeah, that was the business just up the road from the bike shop.

[Jacinda Davis]

So Allen Nutter looks like the man seen outside of the bike shop. He was breaking and entering into businesses in the middle of the night. A ton of silent observer tips claimed Allen Nutter had confessed to the murder, while a few more tips claimed he'd asked for help faking an alibi. And then two more of the tips mentioned that Allen Nutter drove a car that matched the description of the one officer Harold west saw outside of the bike shop on the night Earl was killed. So why wasn't Alan Nutter ever really investigated as a suspect in this case?

[Scott Baldwin]

He passed a polygraph. They said no, it doesn't matter. That's bullshit.

[Susan Simpson]

Anyway, the Kalamazoo Police department brought Allen Nutter in for an interview a couple weeks after the murder. He gave them an alibi and took a polygraph. Nutter's alibi didn't check out. He said he'd been at a motel out of town, but the motel record showed that it was the week after the murder. But he did pass the polygraph. So from what we can tell, he was cleared as a suspect. I'm just confused by Nutter, cuz like, if Nutter did do this, he should have been caught. Like, how could you have that much evidence against you?

[Scott Baldwin]

His daughter saying he confessed to her that he did it. And his girlfriend Renee was the getaway driver. So good.

[Jacinda Davis]

So good, so good.

[Ashley Flowers and Britt]

New spring arrivals are at Nordstrom Rack stores. Now get ready to save big with up to 60% off rag and bone. Marc Jacobs, free people and more.

[Brooke Nutter]

How did I not know Rack has Adidas?

[Detective Heck]

Cause there's always something new.

[Ashley Flowers and Britt]

Join the Norty club to unlock exclusive discounts. Shop new arrivals first and more. Plus, buy online and pick up at your favorite Rack store for free. Great brand brands, great prices. That's why you Rack Eczema is unpredictable. But you can flare less with Ebglis, a once monthly treatment for moderate to severe eczema. After an initial four month or longer dosing phase, about 4 in 10 people taking EBGLIS achieved itch relief and clear or almost clear skin at 16 weeks. And most of those people maintain skin that's still more clear at one year with monthly dosing.

[Various Advertisers/Commercial Voices]

MGLIS Lebricizumab LBKZ, a 250 milligram per 2 milliliter injection is a prescription medicine used to treat adults and children 12 years of age and older. Weigh at least 88 pounds or 40 kilograms with moderate to severe eczema, also called atopic dermatitis that is not well controlled with prescription therapies used on the skin or topicals or who cannot use topical therapies. Eglis can be used with or without topical corticosteroids. Don't use if you are allergic to ebglis. Allergic reactions can occur that can be severe. Eye problems can occur. Tell your doctor if you have new or worsening eye problems. You should not receive a live vaccine when treated with Eglis. Before starting Ebglis. Tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection.

[Ashley Flowers and Britt]

Ask your doctor about fgliss and visit fgliss.lilly.com or call 1-800-lilyrx or 1-800-545-5979.

[Susan Simpson]

Rated T for Teen hey everyone, it's

[Various Advertisers/Commercial Voices]

the best in the world. CM Punk back to shake up WWE 2K26. This year, the show never stops. You're running the greatest spectacle on earth with the biggest roster we've ever had, over 400 superstars and legends from every era. Stack the tables, break the rules, burn it all down. And yeah, my very own showcase telling my story the way it should have been told. Because when the show never stops, anything is possible. Available March 13th pre order now.

[Interviewer with Wisconsin Innocence Project]

Hey Brooke. Yeah, hi. You know, I have with me two of the ladies from this Wisconsin Innocence Project.

[Susan Simpson]

Hi.

[Interviewer with Wisconsin Innocence Project]

And we were hoping that you could talk to us for a few minutes.

[Susan Simpson]

That's Brooke. She was the daughter of Allen Nutter. She passed away a few years ago now, but in 2008, Scott's attorneys at the time were investigating Allen Nutter and were told by witnesses they should try talking to his daughter. So they did. And Brooke told them that in 2005, during a brief period when her dad was out of prison, she'd given him a ride somewhere. And during that ride, her dad had started talking. I've done some bad things in my life, he told her. And then Brooks said he confessed to the murder at the bike shop.

[Interviewer with Wisconsin Innocence Project]

Did he say, did he say why they went into the bike shop in the first place? All I remember him telling me was that, like it was supposed to be a lick, like a money lick, like they were supposed to take the money and then that was supposed to be it. And it was like he didn't mean to do it. It was an accident. Like when he was alive, when they left him type. What did he end up with out of the robbery? I didn't ask him that. All I remember him Telling me was that it was a box full of money that was hidden. All I remember him saying is that he had to take his shirt off because it had blood on it and didn't want to hurt anybody, didn't mean to hurt anybody.

[Jacinda Davis]

Not long after Scott's attorneys got a statement from Brooke, the Kalamazoo Police Department reopened the investigation, and they went to talk to Brooke for themselves.

[Detective Heck]

Here's the bottom line, is what we're trying to do here is, number one, get a guy out of prison. If he doesn't deserve to be there, and if he didn't do it, then we need to find out who did. Any little detail, let me know that now. Any little thing, any reference to that bike shop incident or about Alan or anything that you can recall.

[Jacinda Davis]

Brooke agreed to talk to them and tell them everything she knew.

[Detective Heck]

So this Earl o'. Brien. O', Brien, he. You know him. Known him as Bicycle Pete. Is that what he was commonly known

[Brooke Nutter]

as, what Bicycle Pete was?

[Detective Heck]

Yeah.

[Brooke Nutter]

I'm telling you these things, and I don't want. And I don't want to give you the wrong information.

[Jacinda Davis]

Brooks stressed to the investigators that she only knew bits and pieces of the story, really. She'd grown up hearing about the bike shop murder and all the talk about her dad's supposed connection to it. Most of what she knew came from others, from friends and family who'd said things over the years. Brooke told the detectives there was only really one time where she talked about the murder with her dad. He was the one who brought it up. She said

[Brooke Nutter]

when he. We were driving, he started asking for forgiveness. He started telling me there's a lot of things that I don't know, a lot of things that he wishes he could tell me. And I asked him about the murder,

[Detective Heck]

the bike shop murder.

[Brooke Nutter]

That's what I was referencing, too. And he said that he was alive when they left him.

[Detective Heck]

What did you hear Hat

[Brooke Nutter]

I heard that there. That Renee was driving, that there was another male, possibly one of my dad's

[Detective Heck]

friends,

[Brooke Nutter]

somebody that knew more about where Bicycle Pete kept his money.

[Detective Heck]

So this other guy may have known more about where he kept the money in the.

[Susan Simpson]

Yeah.

[Brooke Nutter]

Business. And I think that it was my. My dad's intentions just to. To ride along and. And get a piece of whatever and that. That Renee was forced to. To drive because she was afraid of my dad.

[Jacinda Davis]

Renee was Alan Nutter's girlfriend. Back in 1988, a couple of the silent observer tips had mentioned that Allen Nutter's girlfriend had been with him around the Time of the murder, one even mentioned Renee by name. He'd asked her to fake an alibi for him. The tip said the detectives went to talk to Renee, too.

[Detective Heck]

Hi, Renee.

[Susan Simpson]

How are you?

[Detective Heck]

I'm Detective Hecked. You know why we're here?

[Jacinda Davis]

Yeah.

[Susan Simpson]

About me being a getaway driver, which I'm not and I didn't.

[Jacinda Davis]

And I keep telling everybody that Renee denied knowing anything about the bike shop murder.

[Susan Simpson]

If I knew something, I would have said something. When he went to jail, that would have been my opportunity because I wasn't worried.

[Jacinda Davis]

I don't care for anybody. I would say something.

[Susan Simpson]

That's not something I would keep to myself. That's something really bad.

[Detective Heck]

You do realize that being a getaway

[Brooke Nutter]

driver, I wasn't with him.

[Detective Heck]

Even though you may not have known there was no plan for him to murder, even if you weren't a willing participant in the homicide, you now become involved.

[Susan Simpson]

I'm telling you now, okay? I know nothing.

[Jacinda Davis]

I never have.

[Susan Simpson]

And I wasn't with you.

[Detective Heck]

You're jumping the gun here.

[Susan Simpson]

No, because you're dead.

[Detective Heck]

You're jumping the gun here. I don't care why other people said that. Let me finish. What I'm getting at is here. I've talked to several people who have made statements that you told them certain aspects related to this bike shot murder.

[Scott Baldwin]

No.

[Susan Simpson]

He lied to me like he did to everybody else. But there was one woman I don't think he lied to.

[Detective Heck]

Who was that?

[Susan Simpson]

I don't know her name. She was that married woman. You're seeing a married woman downtown.

[Jacinda Davis]

Many of the Silent observer tips had talked about Allen Nutter's girlfriend, and investigators had assumed it was Renee who he was dating at the time. But Renee told them she wasn't Allen Nutter's only girlfriend in 1988. He had several others, actually. Could one of those girlfriends have been the woman that the Silent observer tips mentioned? Maybe the married woman who lived downtown? For years, Scott's attorneys tried to identify who this married woman was, but they never could figure it out.

[Susan Simpson]

The Silent observer tips that were finally handed over to Scott Baldwin contained a lot of new information about Allen Nutter. Scott's attorneys used what was in those tips to investigate further and find out even more new information about Nutter. You might think all these new witnesses and all this new information would have made a difference in Scott Baldwin's case. You'd be wrong about that. Scott's initial motion for a new trial had been rejected in part because he couldn't prove any of the withheld Silent observer tips were actually about Allen Nutter, so he couldn't prove they would have helped his defense at trial. So once Scott finally did get the tips, he went back to court again in 2009. Hey, look, the tips were about Allen Nutter all along. He said if we'd had this information before trial, it would have made a huge difference for the defense. In 2013, the court finally issued its ruling. Here's Kevin reading from that decision.

[Kevin Fitzpatrick]

There were hundreds of silent observer tips which were eventually released to defendant through a FOIA request. Some of the records do show Nutter was a potential suspect. However, this is not new information. Nutter was a known witness and has testified in this case. The documents pointing to Nutter as potential suspect do not add any new information. Furthermore, even assuming Nutter confessed and made the statements alleged, such evidence would not rule out Mr. Baldwin's involvement in the murder.

[Susan Simpson]

After four years of waiting, the court denied Scott's motion.

[Scott Baldwin]

She took that long to rule on it. Her conclusion was she felt that this other person, Ellen Nutter, that everybody was saying did it, whatever, that we possibly did it together. And I was just jealous because I got caught. He didn't like. What the hell?

[Jacinda Davis]

None of Scott's appeals or petitions worked. He was represented by several innocence groups, each of who eventually ran out of ways to investigate Allen Nutter further. Then he got cancer, but it went into remission and eventually he ended up at Lakeland Prison. There he joined a group called Paws with a Cause and helped train service dogs. Scott was desperate to find a way to overturn his life sentence, but he also knew he needed to focus on something else to get him through the day to day grind of prison life. His work with Paws with a Cause gave him something else to focus on, something Scott told us where he felt like his efforts actually made a difference.

[Scott Baldwin]

I picked up my new dog and I don't know if Jane Ellen sent you pictures of her, but she's a beautiful little healer with golden eyes.

[Jacinda Davis]

Jane Ellen was Scott's wife. They got married in 2022 while Scott was in prison. Jane Ellen and Scott had actually known each other when they were teenagers. But then during COVID they reconnected and began writing each other. In 2023, not long after Scott and Jane Ellen got married, the prosecution consented to new DNA testing. In Scott's case, the hope was that advances in technology could find DNA where previous attempts to do so had failed. Scott was newly married and full of hope for the DNA when he realized he was feeling a little off.

[Scott Baldwin]

I Go. Well, I have been having shortness of breath when I walk to chow or I walk a dog. I said, the past two months, I've noticed I get kind of lightheaded and I get winded sooner than I should, but I go. I also realize we haven't had dogs for about two or three months. And I sat on my butt and took advantage of watching TV and falling asleep in the afternoon, taking a nap and just not being active. I thought maybe it was just being fat and lazy.

[Jacinda Davis]

Eventually, Scott was able to get to a doctor who determined Scott's symptoms were not due to watching too much tv.

[Scott Baldwin]

So prognosis is prostate cancer. Stage four metastatic prostate cancer. I am so close to the door right now, so close, and it scares me. I'm going, I'm going to be released to go home and die.

[Jacinda Davis]

In January of 2024, the DNA results came back. An unknown male's DNA was found under Earl o' Byrne's fingernails. The same unknown male's DNA on both his left and right hands. Scott's attorneys called him with the news. They'd been so enthusiastic, that's where it

[Scott Baldwin]

was at, was going, he's coming home. This is the smoking gun we needed. He's the one that reiterated the only way that could get under his fingernails is he had to attack his attacker. This isn't touch DNA. This is. This is scary in. And this is meat and blood. So he attacked his attacker. This is it, Scott.

[Jacinda Davis]

Scott says that based on what his attorneys told him, he believed he'd soon be released.

[Scott Baldwin]

I mean, you remember the big hub up, everybody. Scott's coming home. It's coming, it's happening. It's finally happening.

[Jacinda Davis]

I remember Jane Ellen called and was like, I'm buying clothes for Scott.

[Scott Baldwin]

Yeah. Everybody went out, heard the fan, families went out and bought clothes. I gave away all my stuff in here. I don't need this prison shit. What am I going to do with a typewriter? Here, man, have this. It was that sure the way he told me. And then it went silent for like three or four months of no contact with anybody. 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?

[Jacinda Davis]

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.

[Scott Baldwin]

And they're saying because we can't match it to somebody then, well, maybe you have an accomplice that you're not talking about. I'm in prison dying of cancer. You don't think by now I'd say, hey, Steve Stephens did this with me. Let me go.

[Jacinda Davis]

And so Scott's efforts to overturn his conviction stalled out again. But the cancer was moving faster than ever. I'd been talking to Scott for several years before he got his terminal cancer diagnosis. Because back in 2022, we'd considered covering his case on proof, but his attorneys at the time had said no. They thought media could hurt Scott's case. They warned him to stay away from the Quote podcast people. He was so close to being released. They told him, now's not the time to rock the boat. But as the years dragged on, Scott's release seemed no closer than it was before, and his health was getting worse. Have you thought about. I'm not saying now's the time, or maybe there won't. It won't even be necessary, but at some point, you might want to go public.

[Scott Baldwin]

I brought that up, and I was told, we don't want to piss the AG off. I said, why can't we just go public? In the meantime, I sit here, and I slowly feel myself going more and more each day. I have a woman I've reconnected with who has so many expectations of things I want to do with her and be with her, and I'm scared to death. Seat came all this way just to watch me die.

[Susan Simpson]

There were a few times in prison when Scott Baldwin ran in two other guys from Kalamazoo. And when they found out what he was in for, they'd tell him, hey, I think I know the guy that did the crime you're in prison for. His name is Alan Nutter. But one time, Scott ran into a guy from Kalamazoo named Richard Vendeville who told him something a little different. Hey, I know the detective who convicted you, Richard Vendeville said, how did you first meet Vendeville?

[Scott Baldwin]

Oh, the first time I met Vendeville, we were in the level two prison together. He was on the hallway with me, and he's like Baldwin. He goes, you from. You from Kalamazoo. And I go, yeah. He goes, you're Scotty. And I go, yep. He goes, man, they screwed you, didn't they? That's how it all started with you. Just, you know, I was Scotty Baltimore from Kalamazoo.

[Susan Simpson]

Richard Vendeville is a name you're going to want to remember. He is, depending on your point of view. Either the Forrest Gump or the Rasputin of the Kalamazoo cold cases.

[Scott Baldwin]

As far as Vendeville goes, Susan, he threw up red flags immediately. I've been in three different prisons with him, and every time he would try to talk to me, hey, Scotty. Hey, Scotty. Hey, Scotty. He would tell me stuff. He's like, I'm gonna be honest with you, man. And he'd tell me, and I'd like to, what the hell? He just seemed to know too much about stuff.

[Susan Simpson]

Richard Vandeville was a man who knew too much about too many of Kalamazoo's cold cases. And one of the cases he seemed to know a lot about was Jeff Titus. That's the cold case defendant who was exonerated in 2023. He was convicted of killing two hunters in the Fulton state game area.

[Jacinda Davis]

Did he ever talk about Jeff's case to you?

[Scott Baldwin]

Yeah, he always was talking about Jeff's case, so. But Jeff talked about his case a lot, too.

[Jacinda Davis]

Yeah.

[Susan Simpson]

Vandeville claimed that when Jeff Titus was arrested back in 2001, cold case detective Mike Werkema had arranged to put Veniville in a jail cell with him. Werkema, he said, was hoping that Vendeville would get Jeff Titus to confess to him.

[Scott Baldwin]

Jeff would talk to him all the time, and I'd tell Jeff, jeff, you need to stay away from that guy. He's dangerous, man. He's bad news. And he's like, I know, I know, I know. And then 10 minutes later, he'd be walking and talking and showing paperwork to him, and I'm like, dude, come on, man.

[Susan Simpson]

Vintoville has a close connection with Scott Baldwin's case as well.

[Jacinda Davis]

Do you recall anything he may have ever said about his sisters?

[Scott Baldwin]

Yeah, Virginia Bice, she testified at my trial.

[Susan Simpson]

Virginia Bice was the waitress who had given Cold Case detectives the CD that Scott had given to her with the song Butterfly on it. She is Richard Bendeville's sister, and the family connections don't end there. Did you know his cousin testified you confessed to her?

[Scott Baldwin]

Later, after trial, found out they were cousins.

[Susan Simpson]

Laura Walkley is the woman who testified that Scott had confessed to her son, sort of, in 1988 when they were working at the same nursing home. She is Vendeville's cousin. Scott didn't know what kind of game Bentonville was playing, but he was pretty sure it was one he wanted no part of.

[Scott Baldwin]

He knows about Workama and all these other cases and all this other shit. I said, something's weird about this. And then when he'd ask, he'd give kind of a slick grin and squint his eyes and grin and like I told you, I'd do workama, man.

[Susan Simpson]

Vindeville made a lot of outlandish claims. Scott wasn't really sure if he could believe any of it, especially Vindeville's claim that he had worked with Detective Mike Werkema on several of the cold cases. But that was completely true. Ventoville did do that. That's something Detective Rich Madison confirmed to us. Tell me about Richard Bendeville.

[Detective Rich Madison]

Puke. Puke. Total puke. Manipulative.

[Susan Simpson]

How did he start giving info for the cold case team?

[Detective Rich Madison]

It was the Polarman homosex. Oh, three old people.

[Susan Simpson]

He started giving info on that one.

[Detective Rich Madison]

Mike Workama started there.

[Susan Simpson]

We knew of several other cases where Richard Bentonville had provided info or alleged info to Detective Mike Werkema. But Detective Madison told us that Vinoville's role as an informant, as far as he knew, actually began with the cold case. That ended up being the last to go to trial. The Polderman murders. A triple homicide of an elderly couple and their daughter in Pavilion Township. But in the Polderman case, Ventiville wasn't just an informant. For many years, he was also the lead suspect. Investigators felt certain he had killed the three members of the Polderman family. Ventiville was never charged with that crime. Instead, In February of 2007, he was given use immunity in exchange for telling the police what he knew. Nothing he said in that interview could be used against him. Nor could anything detectives later learn from investigating what he said. He used that opportunity to tell detectives that a group of friends who lived at a house on Steger street had committed the crime. He'd gone over there one day and found them all acting weird. One had even been covered in blood. Four of the people at the house had confessed to him that they had committed the murders. Vindeville alleged. Joe Williams, Ben Platt, Andrew Miller, and Angela McConnell. All four were charged. A fifth defendant was charged as well. Brandi Miller, a teenager who'd been pregnant with Vindeville's child when the Poldermans were killed. Brandi pled guilty to second degree murder and was sentenced to 13 to 22 and a half years in prison. The other four all went to trial and were sentenced to.

[Jacinda Davis]

So did you ever meet any of the other people who were inside for. For Polderman?

[Scott Baldwin]

Just Joe Williams.

[Jacinda Davis]

That's it. And Joe said he didn't do it.

[Scott Baldwin]

Joe swears up down he didn't do It.

[Jacinda Davis]

And Joe thinks Vendorville did it?

[Scott Baldwin]

Yes, he thinks he had a part of it. He had something to do with it. Okay, you're intriguing me with all this questioning.

[Susan Simpson]

Joe Williams told Scott he had nothing to do with the Polderman murders, but he thought Richard Ventiville was involved somehow, which is understandable. The cold case team thought the same thing, at least at first. Vindeville had been an informant for Detective Mike Werkema. But then in 2002, Werkema came to believe that Richie, that's the name Werkema knew him by, had actually killed the Poldermans. Here's Detective Workerma explaining what happened from a witness interview in January of 2007. I purposely stopped talking with Richie back then because up until then I had no clue. Till the day Richie called me out to talk to me. He told me with his own lips. I purposely cut off communication. That's why Richie hates me so bad,

[Various Advertisers/Commercial Voices]

because I didn't want to muddy the waters or get in the way of the county investigation. Well, now it's the cold case investigation.

[Susan Simpson]

That's our investigation. We've been doing this for a long time. We've been extremely successful. In fact, we haven't lost yet. Don't mean to be arrogant, but we're batting a thousand. The cold case team had turned their sights to what would turn out to be their final case. They believe Vendeville killed the Poldermans and now they were coming for him. I don't know if you understand this, but this is the most heinous crime in this county's history. This is. This is the worst. We know the monsters.

[Scott Baldwin]

And Richie is a monster.

[Detective Heck]

He's a nightmare.

[Susan Simpson]

He's a bootyman. He's everyone's nightmare to use the bootyman. Just one month after this, prosecutor Scott Brower gave Richard Vendeville use immunity to accuse four other people of being the real killers. They got charged and convicted. Ventiville was cleared. What happened here? How did Vintonville go from being the boogeyman to a man who was the victim of a false accusation? And how could one man have information about so many different cold cases? How many people in all had he helped the cold case team convict? And how many of them had actually done it? We knew that once we got to Kalamazoo and began investigating, we would have to try and unravel Vindevil's strange story.

[Detective Heck]

Taxact can think of a million things

[Various Advertisers/Commercial Voices]

more fun than filing taxes.

[Detective Heck]

TaxAct is going to name some now. Sitting in traffic folding a fitted bedsheet listening to your co worker talk about his fantasy team digging a hole. Digging an even larger hole next to that original hole. Unfortunately, TaxAct's filing software can't make taxes fun, but TaxAct can help you get them done. TaxAct let's get them over with With Venmo.

[Susan Simpson]

Stash a tag on one hand and ordering a ride in the other means you're stacking cash back with VenMostache. Get up to 5% cash back when you pick a bundle of your favorite brands. Earn more cash when you do. Movie stash Venmo Termsterms exclusion supply match $100 cash back per month. See terms @Venmo Me Termsterms. Hey, it's sterling K. Brown from the Hulu original series Paradise. The next chapter begins as Xavier's search for his wife takes him above ground. And what he finds will change everything. It was never just about the bunker. Tune in and discover the truth lies outside Paradise. The official podcast is now streaming and stream paradise on Hulu and Hulu on Disney.

[Jacinda Davis]

Scott Baldwin knew what it was like to be in prison serving time for a crime someone else committed. He had spent the last two decades of his life thinking he was in prison for a crime Allen Nutter had probably committed. Scott never met Nutter, never talked to him, but the Kalamazoo detectives did after his case got reopened.

[Detective Heck]

Hi, I'm Detective Heck. This is Detective Piddle Cow from. From Kalamazoo. Basically, I'm just here to kind of talk to you about some stuff going on back home. Like I said, a lot of it's about Brooke. One of the things that she brought up, and I know that, you know, this has been brought up to you before, but the bicycle shot murder right back on Harrison Street. Now, do you know why, why your name would have come up? Because if there was a lot of. I mean, there was a lot of people back in the day that had that same. I was literally impressed. This fella.

[Scott Baldwin]

What's his name? Baldwin.

[Detective Heck]

But if it's still open, you know, let's get on with it.

[Jacinda Davis]

The detectives told Allen Nutter that they'd recently spoken to his daughter, Brooke.

[Detective Heck]

She had said that you had made some statements to her about possibly having some involvement. And what happened there?

[Scott Baldwin]

Oh, my God.

[Detective Heck]

My dad's daughter. She said there was an incident where you were driving in a car with her and that you had brought up something to the effect of, you know, Brooke, there's things that I wish I could tell you. I need, you know, that I need forgiveness for. I've Done a lot of bad things. Yes, I remember saying that to her. Okay. She said that you were kind of emotional, that you weren't crying, but you're obviously kind of a heart to heart conversation with her. And she said that you made statements about the bike shop to the effect that it was just supposed to been a lick. No.

[Scott Baldwin]

Oh, that's all bunch of crap.

[Detective Heck]

I don't know where that's coming from, but that's a bunch of crap. And bully. I've heard I a say nothing pertaining to that.

[Detective Rich Madison]

So. Okay,

[Detective Heck]

flat out, did you ever tell Brooke that you were involved in that homicide and killing that guy? No. You? Never. On any occasion that brings me big. But, you know, to be honest with

[Scott Baldwin]

you, I want to get this resolved, okay?

[Detective Heck]

Because I'm tired of this, you know,

[Scott Baldwin]

being my name being brought up. Because I have nothing to do with

[Detective Heck]

nothing like this, you know, I just want it to be gone, you know, disappear. You can tell clearly by talking to her that it's something that's bothering her. I noticed in conversation how things can

[Scott Baldwin]

get fabricated really easy and something that ain't even there.

[Susan Simpson]

Alan Nutter is right about this. Things can get fabricated really easy into something that ain't even there. And that did happen with his daughter Brooke, and what she said about him.

[Detective Heck]

Do you remember when you talked to the private investigators?

[Brooke Nutter]

I remember talking to one, yeah. And it kind of. I don't know, I kind of felt like she was luring me in a certain direction, if that makes sense.

[Detective Rich Madison]

Okay.

[Brooke Nutter]

Like giving me information. But then I don't know. I don't know if my mind. If I was like, creating, like if I was finishing, if I'm filling in the pieces on my own. Am I making any sense when I

[Susan Simpson]

say that Brooke was making a lot of sense? I think that may have been what happened here because she had told investigators details about the bike shop murder that made it seem like she had real information about the case. But then other things Brooks said about the bike shop made absolutely no sense whatsoever. Like her claim that after beating Earl o', Byrne, her dad and his accomplices had taken him out of the bike shop and put him in their car.

[Detective Heck]

Did you hear what they. What they did when they were driving around?

[Brooke Nutter]

They just drove around, I think, contemplating what they were gonna do next.

[Interviewer with Wisconsin Innocence Project]

So then after they drive around the block with him, what did they do? I have no idea. Like, I. And I don't know if I heard this from somebody else, like if he. If they dropped him off or they just like, dumped him somewhere.

[Susan Simpson]

This part of Brooke's story just doesn't make any sense. Given what we know of the crime scene, it does not appear that Erla Byrne was ever taken out of the bike shop.

[Brooke Nutter]

And I asked him, I asked him if he did it and he said that he was alive when they left him. That's just what I'm saying. I don't know if he was. If he was referencing the Manny Cole murder and I was talking about Bicycle Pete.

[Susan Simpson]

Turns out there were two murders in Kalamazoo that Alan Nutter had some kind of connection to. There was the bike shop murder in 1988. And then in 1994, a man named Manny Cole was murdered across the street from the bike shop. And also, just to make things more convoluted, Manning Cole was also Allen Nutter's alibi for the bike shop murder. And the night that Manny Cole was killed, he'd been driving around with Alan Nutter and two other people. There's no evidence that Nutter killed Mani Cole. Another man was convicted in that case, but Nutter was present in the lead up to his death and he knew a lot about it. And in Brooks statements about what her dad told her, she's clearly talking about both murders, both Manicole and the bike shop, weaving together bits and pieces of both into a single garbled tale, which Brooke herself seems to have recognized.

[Brooke Nutter]

And that's why I kept getting the two. Congratulations. Confused. I was. I would hear things about one murder and then find. Come to find out my dad was there too, you know, and the stuff that I was hearing, was it, you know, for that murder or was it for this murder?

[Susan Simpson]

So how then did Brooke come to make a statement that at least superficially seemed to describe her dad confessing to the bike shop murder?

[Brooke Nutter]

To be honest with you, I think that the investigator kind of, when I say she guided me, it was like she kind of, like, put. Put things in perspective that made us make sense to me.

[Susan Simpson]

The investigator she's talking about was working for Scott's attorneys. And from reviewing her interviews with Brooke, there's no indication she was intentionally trying to coerce or alter Brooke's statements in any way. But I do think Brooke was right. She was guided into the statements she made based on her conversations with the investigator. Brooke's fragments of memories were rearranged in a way that now made sense to her in light of the questions she'd been asked and the new facts she was given.

[Brooke Nutter]

I'm really nervous that I'm. That I filled in the Blanks on my own. How would I know all of this? How else would I know all the things that I know?

[Susan Simpson]

I think what happened with the investigators and Allen Nutter's daughter is actually the same thing that happened with the Kalamazoo cold case team and so many of their witnesses. It's one of the reasons why the cold case witnesses change their stories so often. They thought they were using the information that the cold case team gave them to connect the dots, when really they were just rewriting the story. I talked to Cold case detective Rich Madison about Nutter's role in this case and what I thought of Brooks statements. So Nutter's daughter said he confessed to her. I don't think she's lying. I think she was talking about a different crime. But nutter, they're like 14 people who said Nutter confessed to them. So I'm pretty confident Nutter did confess. I don't think he was necessarily telling the truth.

[Detective Rich Madison]

That would. That would be hell, yeah.

[Susan Simpson]

He caused a wreckage in the record because he, like, literally 14 people are like, nutter told me he did it. What more do you want? But I don't. I don't necessarily believe him, but I do think he was confessing a lot. I don't believe Alan Nutter confessed to his daughter, or at least I believe that most of what Brooke remembers was Nutter talking about Manny Cole and not the bike shop. I do, however, believe that Allen Nutter has confessed to other people that he murdered Earl o'. Byrne. I mean, there are like a dozen different people out there who claim they heard him confess. Confess. It is improbable. They are all making it up. And when detectives spoke to nutter in 2010, he basically admitted that, yeah, maybe he kind of sort of confessed to it.

[Detective Heck]

So do you. I mean, what do you. Why do you think these people are always bringing your name up? I don't know, other than. Conversations I may have had in my lifetime. I may have bragged about something at some given point in time. I don't know.

[Susan Simpson]

So, yeah, Nutter probably did confess a time or two or ten to killing Earl o', Byrne, 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. And none of Nutter's reported confessions indicate that he had any special knowledge of the crime. They're all pretty vague. Besides, even though Allen Nutter matches the description of the man that Officer west saw outside of the bike shop that night, it still doesn't make Any sense that Earl would have opened the door for him? And remember that DNA under Earl's fingernails that doesn't match Scott Baldwin? Well, they tested Allen Nutter's DNA, too, and it's not him either. So for a variety of reasons, I was skeptical that Nutter was a viable suspect in this case. And then I heard his 2010 interview, and he said something that made me re examine all my assumptions about him.

[Detective Heck]

Do you Recall back in 1988 ish ever breaking into a John Deere store? I sure do.

[Scott Baldwin]

Okay.

[Detective Heck]

Was anybody with you?

[Scott Baldwin]

No.

[Detective Heck]

Okay. Do you remember how you got there?

[Scott Baldwin]

Yeah, I do.

[Detective Heck]

Girlfriend stage from Megan.

[Scott Baldwin]

Chevy celebrity.

[Detective Heck]

Who was the girlfriend?

[Scott Baldwin]

Trudy Fields.

[Detective Heck]

Trudy Fields.

[Susan Simpson]

When I heard this portion of Allen Nutter's interview, I was shocked. I couldn't believe what he was saying, though. To explain why, we need to back up a bit. Before Scott Baldwin's trial, a man named Donald Ryan called Scott's defense attorneys and said, hey, there's something I think you should know. I own a house near the bike shop, and I was renting it to this family. They had a teenage son who was mad at Earlo Byrne. Six months after the murder, when they moved out of the house, I found an antique wrench with hair and blood on it under their porch. I think the kid that lived there committed the murder. Donald Ryan said. Donald Ryan testified for the defense at Scott's trial. His property manager testified as well. She'd been with him when he found the wrench, and she confirmed that she'd seen it, too. Scott's defense attorneys were hoping the jury would conclude that whoever left the wrench at the house might be the real killer. But as we explained to Cold Case Detective Rich Madison, there was a big problem with this defense strategy. The wrench went missing, never found.

[Detective Rich Madison]

None of that rings a bell whatsoever. And the wrench being gone from evidence, you wouldn't throw something like that away. You could always. Could be tied into something.

[Susan Simpson]

We've tried to do FOIAs, like, we were told that maybe it was put under, like, found property or something.

[Detective Rich Madison]

That was bulletin hair on it. I would hope not.

[Susan Simpson]

So I don't know. According to Werkema, in 1996, he went back in the evidence locker and concluded there's no bloody wrench here. It's not there, it's gone, there's no wrench, and that's the end of it.

[Jacinda Davis]

Donald Ryan, the man who found the wrench, thought the bloody wrench might have been left by Duane Fields, the teenage boy who lived at the house where it was found. Duane had worked for Earlo Byrne and had been upset with him for shorting him on a paycheck

[Susan Simpson]

in a trial. The defense was trying to say, look, this bloody wrench, this kid who didn't like Earl, but it didn't work. And the thing about Nutter I kind of keep going back to is that his main girlfriend, the one he was obsessive about, was Dwayne's mother, and she lived at that house.

[Detective Rich Madison]

Helen Nutter was dating this kid's mom who lived in the house where the

[Susan Simpson]

bloody wrench was found.

[Jacinda Davis]

Duane's mother was Trudy Fields, the married woman that Allen Nutter was having an affair with. And Allen Nutter had frequently visited Trudy at that house where the wrench was found found.

[Detective Rich Madison]

And this came up during our investigation?

[Susan Simpson]

I don't know. I. I found it when I was looking through stuff, but I don't know if anyone el. Ever realized that Trudy was Alan's girlfriend.

[Jacinda Davis]

We don't know if anyone has made this connection before. Surely someone would have by now, right? Over the years, Scott's appeals, a lot of people have focused on Allen a lot.

[Susan Simpson]

Yeah. So part of the problem is that before trial, he wasn't really disclosed. The defense didn't know what an amazing alternate suspect he would be. Right. If the defense had known everything we know now, that would absolutely be the defense. And I think it would work. I'm pretty sure it would work. Even though it's really hard to do an altern suspect defense.

[Jacinda Davis]

Like it'd be reasonable doubt.

[Susan Simpson]

It would. I mean, Scott's not the guy seen outside the shop. Scott's not the one in the car outside the. The shop. Nutter could be both those things.

[Jacinda Davis]

Right. Scott doesn't have access to a car that's tan with square headlights.

[Susan Simpson]

Nutter is staying at the house with a bloody wrench with human looking hair was found.

[Jacinda Davis]

It'd be a lot more helpful if someone actually found that wrench, but, you know, so over the years, yeah, appeals have been based on Allen Nutter. Nothing's worked for. For Scott in that regard.

[Susan Simpson]

A lot of teams have been banging their head against the wall trying to like, show that Nutter did it. And Scott should be out.

[Jacinda Davis]

For two decades, Scott Baldwin's defense teams were in and out of court arguing that Allen Nutter was the real killer. And you can understand why, even without knowing about his connection to the bloody wrench. He sounds like a good sign suspect, but it never worked. Every investigation into Nutter ended with an unsatisfying maybe. When Susan and I began working on the case, we knew we needed to find Alan Nutter and talk to him ourselves. But we also knew our investigation could not stop there. We needed to look beyond Nutter and look in places where no one has looked before. Next week on Proof.

[Susan Simpson]

There's a lot of people in the case file, but I was just thinking about it. I was like, I am way over complicating this. There's only one person that could meet the facts that we had. And, you know, how was he, like, beaten so bad he bled to death. But he had enough energy to lock six locks but not call 911. Yes, someone else locked them all right. The hunt for Allan Nutter continues.

[Brooke Nutter]

Day five.

[Jacinda Davis]

Day three. How many days have we been looking for this man? I'm happy just to walk over and be like, are you Alan?

[Detective Rich Madison]

Yeah.

[Kevin Fitzpatrick]

I'll go with you.

[Jacinda Davis]

Okay, let's do that.

[Scott Baldwin]

Foreign

[Jacinda Davis]

you've been listening to Proof, a podcast by Red Marble Media in association with Glassbox Media. We'll be back next Monday with episode 7. Send us your questions and [e-mail] 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 and Jesus Orbaez. 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. Listening.

[Various Advertisers/Commercial Voices]

In a world where business owners everywhere are burning out.

[Susan Simpson]

I just can't do it anymore.

[Various Advertisers/Commercial Voices]

And are losing their identities to AI.

[Susan Simpson]

Who even am I?

[Various Advertisers/Commercial Voices]

Only one website builder can save humanity from generic websites.

[Susan Simpson]

It's here.

[Brooke Nutter]

It's really here.

[Various Advertisers/Commercial Voices]

WIX Harmony, where AI meets hands on control. So you can build the website you want exactly the way you want. Try it for [e-mail] Harmony

[Jacinda Davis]

hi, I'm Ashley Flowers.

[Ashley Flowers and Britt]

And I'm Britt. And if you're on the edge of your seat listening to this show, Crime Junkie needs to be your next listen.

[Susan Simpson]

Every Monday, I dive into a new

[Jacinda Davis]

true crime case that our reporting team

[Susan Simpson]

has been on the ground late looking into.

[Jacinda Davis]

From lesser known disappearances to the most

[Susan Simpson]

chilling cases hitting the headlines. And I'm going to walk you through it the way I tell my best

[Jacinda Davis]

friend because, well, that's what I'm doing.

[Ashley Flowers and Britt]

Yeah, that's me. And I'm right there with you as we listen together, react to every wild detail. And of course, I ask all the questions, and I'm going to have the

[Jacinda Davis]

answers because we have case files, we're talking to detectives and family members, and we're going to stay focused on the facts.

[Ashley Flowers and Britt]

So if you're not already listening to Crime Junkie, what are you waiting for? There are over 300 episodes available right

[Jacinda Davis]

now, and you can listen to new episodes of Crime Junkie every Monday, wherever you get your podcasts.