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Suspect

Wondery | Campside

Suspect is an investigative series about mislaid justice and the kinds of weighty decisions that detectives, lawyers, and jurors make every day - decisions that, once made, are almost impossible to reverse.

Season 3: Five Shots in the Dark follows Leon Benson, who spent 24 years in an Indiana state prison for the 1998 murder of a young man named Kasey Schoen. His conviction hinged on the testimony of two eyewitnesses – but what if their memories turned out to be wrong? And what if the people who knew what really happened had never been allowed to speak? Suspect Season 3: Five Shots in the Dark is the story of two victims: one murdered, one sentenced to life. Follow host Matt Shaer and attorney Lara Bazelon as they investigate how the justice system failed both Leon and Kasey, and who the real killer might be. Join this unprecedented look inside the attempt to overturn a wrongful conviction and find out if justice will finally be served.

Binge all episodes of Suspect exclusively and ad-free by joining Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Start your free trial by visiting www.wondery.com/links/suspect/ now.

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Our Editor's Take

It's 2008 in Redmond, Washington—a comfortable suburb on the eastside of Seattle. Twenty-somethings are having a Halloween party spread over several adjacent apartments, with everyone from the complex invited. It's as boisterous as one would imagine and doesn't fizzle out until the late hours.

What followed would be the death of a 24-year-old software developer, Arpana Jinaga, and a shocking example of what happens when investigators put their hunch first and foremost. Investigators attempt to close the case on this young woman's tragic ending with spurious evidence rather than following the leads. The result is one man, who may have been wrongly convicted, paying with his freedom.

Nothing is ever completely transparent when it comes to the events of that awful night, but this podcast aims to piece together something resembling the truth. Suspect takes a deep dive into the case, featuring interviews from people who knew the victim to the man sitting behind bars. Co-hosts Matthew Shaer and Eric Benson present ten episodes' worth of evidence and background information to help listeners piece together what happened that night.

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