A (4:53)

Today's date is July 14, 1999. Wednesday, it's 1309 hours. My name is Detective Bud Sampson. We're in the Ravenna Police Department interview room. Along with me is Detective William Mucklow and Detective John Leach of the Alliance Police Department. Also in the room is Joseph Eisenholk. Okay, we're investigating into the homicide of Yvonne Lane. Can you tell us your part in this?

B (5:16)

The tape you're listening to is Joe Wilkes, a 19 year old boy, confessing to murder.

A (5:22)

She was like, hey, what are you doing here? She goes, I haven't seen you in a long time. I was like, oh, David just wanted me to stop by and see how things work.

B (5:31)

And.

A (5:33)

Then we're sitting there talking for about three to five minutes and then I.

B (5:39)

I did it.

A (5:40)

Okay, I know this is gonna be hard, but we gotta go through and you tell me what happened here. Where were you sitting? Were you sitting upstairs or downstairs? We we're on the second floor, not the third one. Okay. And we're still gonna couch talking and I'm. Okay. Did she get up and try to run out the door? Which door did she try to run up?

B (6:33)

Joe just said david told me to. David? As in david thorne? On April 1, 1999, 26 year old Yvonne Lane was found with her throat slashed dead in her home in Alliance, Ohio.

A (6:55)

26 year old Yvonne Lane, a beautiful vivacious woman found in a pool of her own blood, her throat slashed while her children slept.

B (7:04)

She was discovered by her mother who had arrived to take her six year old grandchild to kindergarten. Yvonne was a mother to five kids. David Thorne was the father of one of the children, although he and Yvonne were not together anymore.

A (7:19)

The murder of a mother of five in her own home stunt the small town of Alliance, Ohio.

B (7:25)

David had recently been ordered to pay child support. $351 a month. And Joe said in his confession that he was hired by David Thorne to kill Yvonne so he didn't have to pay and so he could have his son to himself.

A (7:42)

The father of one of the children. The motive? Child support. Thorne was ordered to pay.

B (7:48)

To the untrained listener at one point, myself too, this seems like a pretty clear cut case. Someone confessing and someone with a motive. But when you start digging, going through documents and talking to people, the more complicated things get. And it seems like just about everyone around Yvonne also had a motive to kill her.

A (8:16)

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B (9:22)

The holidays usually wreck my skin, but I started using KPS Essentials Kindness Powered Skincare and it's been doing work. The Renew serum, the texture, the scent, the way it melts right in it, it just feels different. And about 30 minutes later, my skin actually changed. Smoother, firmer, brighter. And if you're gifting, spend $200 and they'll throw in a travel size Renew Eternal youth. It's a $90 bonus. Browse the products@kpsessentials.com. This is Death and an Alliance. A real time investigation into whether David Thorne killed Yvonne Lane. Maggie I'm Maggie Freeling. The murder of Yvonne Lane and David Thorne's claims of innocence were never the feature of a Netflix film or made for TV series. But it wasn't a blip on the radar either. Journalists were drawn to it for years.

A (10:28)

The attack grabbed headlines as police hunted.

B (10:31)

For a killer like investigative journalist Duane Pullman, who you also heard in the previous clips. Duane looked into David's claims for three years. However, that was over a decade ago and since then, former prosecutors, private investigators, sleuths and the like have all looked into David's claim of innocence. Yet the question still remains.

A (10:56)

Did the system convict the wrong men?

B (10:59)

So here we are. Since Yvonne's murder, David has continually said he had no involvement. He says he never paid Joe Wilkes or anyone to murder his ex girlfriend and the mother of his child. When you make it to David's official website, wcodt.org, you discover that this was an incredibly brutal murder. Yvonne Lane's throat was slit to the spine, almost decapitating her. Blood was all over the house.

A (11:31)

She begins to spurt blood, pumping blood violently out of her neck.

B (11:38)

The living room where her body was found looks like someone took buckets of blood and threw it around the room. It just didn't look like a hit or a random murder to me. This looked perfect. Personal police had to process this absolute mess of a room, which I'm sure was not easy, especially because they also had to get four of her kids out of the house because all but one of her children were home when she was killed. But they were too young to be helpful to the police. That is, except for one of them, a four year old who'd play a part in the investigation. The police say they tried to get the kids through the crime scene without seeing their mother's body. So some flubs may be understandable if they're focusing on the boys, but not to the extent that happened here. Part of the problem may just be inexperience. Murders in alliance are rare. A bad year might see two homicides, but most the city saw just one, if any. I feel confident saying at minimum, they were not ready to deal with this particular homicide. Police say they covered Yvonne's body with a blanket from one of the bedrooms, potentially contaminating any evidence on her. As every watcher of CSI knows, this probably wasn't best practice. No one wore shoe coverings or gloves to preserve evidence, and investigators went back and forth, stepping over Yvonne's body when crossing the room. A bloody footprint between her legs apparently came from a detective, not the killer. And the chief even brought a woman, a civilian, into the crime scene. It was an absolute disaster. Evidence was collected from the scene and never tested. And the evidence that was didn't match David or Joe. Yet the case still made it to trial. And that's thanks to Jo's confession, the one you heard part of at the top of the episode. Did you know Tide has been upgraded to provide an even better clean in cold water. Tide is specifically designed to fight any stain you throw at it. Even in cold butter. Yup. Chocolate ice cream. Sure thing. Barbecue sauce. Tide's got you covered. You don't need to use warm water. Additionally, Tide pods let you confidently fight tough stains with new coldzyme technology. Just remember, if it's gotta be clean, it's gotta be Tide.

A (14:19)

Every story begins somewhere for your child. It could begin with a Guardian bike, built right here in the usa. Engineered for safety and designed for confidence. Kids of all ages are learning to ride in just one day. No tears, no frustration. It's why Guardian is America's favorite kids bike. And the New York Times and Wirecutter's top pick three years in a row. This holiday season, give the gift that's safer, smarter and built to last. Visit guardianbikes.com to save up to 40% on all bikes, plus a free accessory bundle worth over $100.

B (14:50)

The holidays usually wreck my skin, but I started using KPS Essentials Kindness Powered Skin Care and it's been doing work. The Renew Serum, the texture, the scent, the way it melts right in, it just feels different. And about 30 minutes later, my skin actually changed. Smoother, firmer, brighter. And if you're gifting, spend $200 and they'll throw in a travel size Renew Eternal youth. It's a $90 bonus. Browse the products@kpsessentials.com the prosecutor said that David hired Joe to kill Yvonne. And as you heard, that's the story that Joe told. He said David gave him $300 to kill Yvonne. After his confession, Joe took the police to the alleged murder weapon. A 3 inch pocket knife that he said he tossed in a storm drain. He also showed them where he disposed of the pants he allegedly wore when he killed Yvonne. Another key element of the state's case, A witness who said she saw Joe that night of the murder. Rose Moore said Joe told her and her boyfriend that he was on his way to kill someone. We'll come back to this later, but I just want to point out that in this version, the Prosecution's version, this 19 year old was so excited about an evening out with his knife to kill someone that he wanted even strangers to know about it. If true, Joe's boast is pretty damning. But it's worth noting that there was no physical evidence linking even Joe to the scene. No fingerprints, no shoe prints or DNA. The pants Joe allegedly wore when he killed Yvonne, there was no blood on them, much less anything linking David to the crime. Sure, Joe took cops to a knife, but there's no evidence linking that knife to the murder. In fact, the prosecution will rest on witness testimony alone. But some witnesses were never called. And here's a key one. Keep him in mind. A neighbor who saw a man leaving Yvonne's house in the morning after her murder. He told cops that man was not David or Joe.

A (17:08)

I was not asked to testify in the trial of David Thorne. I was shown a photo of David Thorne in December of 2000. It was not the man I saw leaving the residence in 916 DE. I was shown a photo of Joseph Wilkes, the contest murder in December of 2000. It was not the man I saw leaving the residents of 916.

B (17:30)

The jury never heard this. And after deliberating just three hours, David was convicted of paying Joe Wilkes $300 to murder Yvonne Lane. He was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. Joe took a plea deal of 30 to life for his cooperation. He could be out of prison very soon.

A (17:52)

It didn't take a jury long to convict David Thorne. Wilkes pleaded guilty. Both are now serving life sentences.

B (17:59)

The entire conviction of David Thorne rests on Joe's testimony. But was Joe telling the truth?

A (18:07)

Or.

B (18:07)

And if he was lying, why, he lost almost as much as David did. But I'm skeptical. Hiring a hitman to kill Your ex over $351 a month seems like more risk than it's worth. Sure, back then the amount was more like 600 in today's dollars. And that might feel like a lot of money to fork over monthly if you're working at an hourly job, which David was. But David was making decent money at a high end car shop. And compared to the motives of other folks, to me, David's alleged motive appears weak. Evidence uncovered in later investigations pointed to other potential killers. Like any one of the men who fathered Yvonne's four other kids, or even members of law enforcement Yvonne was reported to be sleeping with. Or the man seen leaving her house after she's presumed dead. Journalist Wayne Pullman was equally as intrigued.

A (19:14)

This case is filled with sex secrets and surprises.

B (19:18)

And things only got more complicated when I talked to David. All right.

A (19:25)

You there? Yep. You hear me?

B (19:29)

I can hear you fine.

A (19:32)

Okay. So how are you doing today? Not too bad.

B (19:40)

When I first spoke to David, he had done 21 years, almost half of his life in prison. And there seemed to be no hope left.

A (19:49)

Pretty much dead in the water. We need new evidence.

B (19:51)

David didn't have a lawyer anymore. He ran out of money in all of his appeals. If David's going to get out of prison by proving his innocence, he needs a lawyer and investigator to find new evidence to show he deserves a new trial.

A (20:08)

That's why we've been pushing so hard, is to find a private investigator that would kind of go ahead and, and kind of almost start the case anew.

B (20:18)

And that's proven difficult to find. Investigators can cost thousands. And finding someone to take a case pro bono that is without pay is not exactly easy. And then there was me. After talking to David and reviewing case files, I had enough questions about his conviction that I couldn't let it go. I kept thinking, there really needs to be an in depth investigation. Other post conviction investigations didn't necessarily take the entirety of the evidence into account. One investigation might focus on forensics, while another would focus on timelines. And I didn't want to piecemeal others investigations together. I wanted to find out for myself if there was any truth to David's claims of innocence. So many people had a motive to kill Yvonne, and that shook me to my core. To myself and others before it seemed the cops had taken the easy way out. David was the obvious suspect and they didn't really focus on anyone else. I wanted to know who did that neighbor see leaving Yvonne's house in the morning? What happened to evidence collected at the scene? There was a kitchen knife, a more likely murder weapon than a pocket knife with a fingerprint that was never linked to anyone. Condoms and wrappers, blood smears everywhere. None of it matched David, and none of it matched Joe, the supposed killer. So who did it match? And here's a point I keep getting stuck on. Joe confessed to killing Yvonne, but the connection to David is pretty slim. Would David. Would anyone really hire a blabby teenager as a hitman over $351 in child support? At trial, the social worker said that David and Yvonne had a good relationship. So does the prosecution theory sound credible to you? I'm not saying it's not possible that child support is a motivator, but is it likely for David? I kept stewing, turning over the facts as I knew them and the questions, which seemed to keep multiplying. And admittedly, I became obsessed. One reason is that I'm a journalist and this seems to be a juicy story. But I'm also an advocate. When I see a wrong, I will fight to make it right by digging and reporting to expose the truth. It makes me angry, and I can't let it go. I found David's case when I was researching for a wrongful conviction podcast. I became interested in wrongful convictions after I reported on Suave Gonzalez, a juvenile who was sentenced to mandatory life in prison for a homicide. After that, I started looking into compelling stories of people who claimed to be innocent and needed help getting a second look. And David was one, one of many. The Innocence Project estimates that anywhere from 2 to 10% of incarcerated people in the US may be factually innocent, which means tens or even hundreds of thousands of individuals are doing time for someone else. And I thought maybe David was. And if he was, the world needs to know and a wrong needs to be made right. But I felt out of my depth doing it alone. And then an opportunity arose. What makes you want to continue doing this work literally immediately upon getting out?

A (24:18)

Well, yeah, you know, I've always been a volunteer.

B (24:20)

I flew down to Austin, Texas, for Wrongful Conviction Day. I was meeting with Jason Baldwin from the West Memphis Three. Jason's case is one of the most notorious wrongful convictions in the country, grabbing the attention of celebrities, activists and lawyers since three little boys were found murdered in Arkansas in 1993.

A (24:41)

They were convicted of murdering three Boy Scouts, Hog tied and left in a ditch.

B (24:46)

A satanic cult.

A (24:47)

Today, the West Memphis Three walked free.

B (24:50)

Jason and I did a Facebook live together for Wrongful Conviction Day to bring attention to the issue of wrongful convictions.

A (24:56)

I can see.

B (24:57)

Oh, then people could see.

A (24:58)

Okay, I didn't really tell.

B (25:00)

Okay. Hello, everyone. We are live.

A (25:05)

I am here.

B (25:06)

Maggie Freeling in Austin, and I am with Jason Baldwin of The West Memphis Three, who was convicted in 1994, released in 2011. He is also the client co founder Jason now has his own organization helping to free the wrongfully convicted. He co founded Proclaim justice with his friend and private investigator John Hardin.

A (25:26)

Should I keep chewing while you're recording?

B (25:32)

They notably helped exonerate Daniel Villegas in 2018. He'd been wrongfully convicted of a double homicide when he was 16.

A (25:40)

Verdict form B. We the jury find the defendant Daniel.

B (25:44)

Viegas not guilty of new at investigating wrongful convictions. I was excited to sit down and meet with them to see the work they're doing, the care and doggedness and the passion they have while doing it. I saw that when we talked about a few cases they were investigating.

A (26:02)

Yeah, that works. Let me go get a laptop.

B (26:04)

I was going to say, do you need documents?

A (26:05)

Yeah, I may need some notes.

B (26:07)

Like while you were very have it all together. We went over Nikki Zinger and Daniel Risher's case.

A (26:12)

In the span of a month, a murderer took her mother away, and then the state took her love away.

B (26:18)

And Andreas Mascaro.

A (26:20)

There's only two possibilities here. Either somebody is feeding him all of those details, or he was there.

B (26:28)

And demarco Wilson.

A (26:29)

Well, we have gunshot residue on the victim's jacket. So how do you get gunshot residue when. When you're shooting from that far? And there are some.

B (26:37)

We went through files and they talked me through the details of each case. And the days in Austin weren't just work. I got to know the guys pretty well.

A (26:50)

My brothers Matt and Terry, like, had me and my mom stand back to back with our so we could see who was taller on my 16th birthday. And they're like, oh, mom, Jason's almost as tall as you now, you know, and, you know, just having that family time and then got arrested, you know, a couple months later.

B (27:09)

One of the things you fundamentally need to know about wrongful convictions, it's easy to put someone in and nearly impossible to get someone out. Convictions are designed and intended to be final. One of the only ways convictions get overturned is when someone finally digs deep and does the investigation that was probably never done in the first place. Every day of that trip, I kept thinking, is there an appropriate time to bring up this case to them? I didn't want to be that person who unsolicitly asks these busy and in demand guys with a wait list of cases for a favor. But this wasn't just a favor. It's someone's life. A man who has spent 22 years in prison and says he didn't do It. And if that's true, I can't look away. And so one evening, John, Jason and I were having after work drinks and I broached the topic. You know, there's this really crazy case I'm looking into. Y' all might be interested. We talked a little and I told them that the most heartbreaking part is it's been almost 22 years and David said his case is dead in the water. They seemed interested, but I didn't want to push it. Maybe they were just being nice to their out of town guest. I left Austin, went back to New York, and we stayed in touch. All right, well, I gotta run. Can you send me the overview of witnesses?

A (28:43)

Yeah, I sure will.

B (28:44)

Awesome. Thank you, John. I'll talk to you soon. All right. All right. I don't know when or how, but at some point I must have said to John, look, I think you guys should look at the files. I wanted to know if he would see what I saw. A total mess of an investigation and a potential wrongdoing. David Thorne's was a good case, at least to me. So I sent over the thousands of pages of case file documents and then I waited. Waited for them to have a moment in their busy days working dozens of other cases to review David's file. And two months later, they called Miss Maggie, Miss America. Hello.

A (29:34)

What's up? Hi.

B (29:35)

John brought on another private investigator from Proclaimed justice to help Danny Waxler. Oh, it's sunny. It's sunny down there.

A (29:43)

It's downright spicy out there.

B (29:45)

Wow.

A (29:46)

Y' all come down.

B (29:47)

Y' all come on like me. On the surface they were into it. But they don't just take a case, they have to investigate it first and make sure it's a true innocence claim. They need to confirm for themselves that David was indeed telling the truth and the case had a leg to stand on in court. And if David was innocent, then who did kill David? Yvonne Lane. That was part of the puzzle, a key part. And getting an answer would prove to be a challenge. Remember, even if there was forensics at the messy crime scene that weren't compromised and could be tested, that wouldn't exonerate David. By all accounts, David was not at the crime scene. It was an alleged murder for hire. So it doesn't matter if his prince aren't there, Getting David back in court would come down to Joe, proving that Joe was either lying when he claimed that David paid him to kill Yvonne or proving that Joe didn't kill Yvonne.

A (30:50)

The more we can dismantle Joseph for Joe Whatever he goes by, the stronger plight we have.

B (30:58)

And if Joe didn't commit the murder, then the prosecution's whole case falls apart. Of course Joe said he did it, but Joe has said a lot of things over the years. Joe has given multiple versions of what happened. In one story, David hires Joe to kill Yvonne. In another, Joe shows up at Yvonne's house and she's already dead. And in 2001, just a year after conviction, Joe even recanted his hitman for hire confession and said he was pressured by police and coached what to say to implicate David.

A (31:37)

Scared and confused, Wilkes says this former detective forced him to confess. Wilkes was a friend of David Thorne's, and they had told me a general story about how to put David in it. Maggie, did you reach out to Joe?

B (31:54)

I did not, because I also. I just didn't want to really tamper with anything. I did not reach out to him. Now, let me clarify that. I did not reach out to Joe because I did not want to engage in any kind of perceived witness tampering because in my mind, the case wasn't dead in the water. It could go back to court, and I didn't want to mess anything up. And I'm glad I didn't, because it seems like Joe really is the key to the entire story.

A (32:29)

You know, I'd like David to tell us, if he was our newest investigator, how would he approach this? It's always good to hear from our clients on what their own thoughts are, how they would proceed with about what we're about to launch ourselves into.

B (32:49)

David was on this planning call, too.

A (32:51)

I mean, the thing that comes to the forefront of mine is Joe's timeline.

B (32:55)

Different accounts and witnesses put Joe at multiple places that night. So which version of the story is true? John and Danny were ready to go to Ohio and find out. And then I had an idea. I suggested that I document their investigation in real time. I wanted to see how it was done step by step, interview by interview, as we try to pull put the pieces together. And they agreed we were all going to hit the ground in Ohio.

A (33:36)

Okay, well, let's. We'll. Like I said, we'll stay in touch as needed, and. And as things come into focus, as far as what we want to get accomplished there and time frame and all that stuff. But we will plan on being there two weeks from today.

B (33:50)

Cool, guys. Okay.

A (33:51)

We'll regroup and be back in touch.

B (33:54)

All right. Bye.

A (33:55)

Bye, guys. Good to see you.

B (33:57)

You too. In two weeks, we'd be in Alliance Ohio starting The investigation into Yvonne's murder from scratch. Exactly what David said he needed to move his case forward. What would we find? There were so many questions. Danny and John pored through case files trying to figure out where to start. They sent me a recording of their discussion and I want you to hear it. I want you to hear how they approached the case. What stood out to them right away?

A (34:30)

You know, in taking this case, I think one of the first things we always have to do is say, what do we believe was the most significant part of what convicted our client? Yeah, yeah. And we know just. Even if it's just preliminary research, we know it was the statement of Joseph Wilkes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because it's not like there's an abundance. There's no biological evidence. You know, right off the bat, a couple of things that raised my eyebrows are the knife in the pants. How did Joe lead them to them? What were the circumstances? And if it was the murder weapon and Joe did lead them there, then that's a big fucking deal. You know, just on its face, that's one that I'm gonna have to have a satisfactory answer to. How did Joe take them to that knife? That's. That's a hell of a thing right there. Joe's got some explaining to. This. Call is originating from an Ohio correctional institution and may be recorded or monitored. What was with the knife though, Joe? I don't know. Why was my clothes gone? Why was I so worried about this? Yeah, I don't know.

B (36:05)

Coming up on Death and deceit in Alliance.

A (36:07)

We're investigating the homicide of Yvonne Lane. She actually cheated on him a couple of times. In terms of the police force, my God. I had eight or nine names of officers who were potential sexual partners. She said she was murdered and I mean, you can. Could have just knocked me over. Any number of people could have been a suspect. He was seen by a neighbor standing at her front door at 5:30 and the time of death is 7. He said that they put him in a room and they chained him to the wall by his arm and bit on him and they told him that they wanted him to confess. The guy I knew that came into the post office that threw up his hand and waved and grinned all the time and just nicest guy ever. I thought, no, this can't be. Brett Turvey, a nationally known criminal forensics expert, picked apart what he calls a botched case. I'm curious, why does she know so many cops? You never asked about that or wondered about it? Yeah, the officers were involved in nefarious activity, criminal activity. The fact that it was never turned over to the defense is shocking. The police controlled the narrative. I cannot get to the truth. Did you know who he identified? I no, I don't. This is a police officer. It's like, no, something's missing here. Why didn't the prosecution turn this over? And what is going on here? So it makes me feel like there's.

B (37:25)

More to the story.

A (37:26)

And although you thought that the evidence proved it, I know in my heart and soul I did not do this.

B (37:40)

Death and Deceit in Alliance is produced and reported by me, Maggie Freeling with editorial consulting from Amber Hunt. Aaron Case is our legal researcher. Our executive producer is Steve Fishman. Our engineer and production coordinator is Austin Smith. Eric Axelrod is our assistant producer.

A (38:06)

Ah, greetings from my bath festive friends. The holidays are overwhelming, but I'm tackling this season with PayPal and making the most of my money. Getting 5% cash back when I pay in 4. No fees, no interest. I used it to get this portable spa with jets. Now the bubbles can cling to my sculpted but pruny body. Make the most of your money this holiday with PayPal. Save the offer in the app ends 1231. See paypal.com promoter points can be redeemed for cash and more. Paying for subject to terms and approval. PayPal Inc. And MLS 910457Amazon Five Star Theater presents real customer reviews performed by Ed Helms. Tonight's review Tactical Jacket I was living a simple life. Didn't get out much. Then I bought this jacket and everything changed. Women came flocking to me from lands domestic and foreign. On the 245 day sailboat voyage home, I was attacked by a shark. I knew it was the jacket he was after giving up the jacket in exchange for my life. 5 stars Amazon Customer 69 Shop the perfect gift this holiday on Amazon. Janice Torres here and I'm Austin Hankwitz. We host the podcast Mind the Business Small Business Success Stories produced by Ruby Studio in partnership with Intuit QuickBooks. We're back for season four to talk.

B (39:30)

To some incredible small business owners.

A (39:32)

The big thing about working at tech is that it's ever evolving, ever changing. Everyone's a rookie. That's how fast the industry is changing. So what I'm really excited about is to be part of that change. So listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.