The Austin Yogurt Shop Murders and Why Innocent People Confess: The Reid Interrogation Method and the Wrongful Conviction of Darrel Parker

I have been talking about the Austin Yogurt Shop Murders. Four teenage girls were raped and murdered in closed frozen yogurt shop in Austin, Texas in 1991.  After 8  years of investigation the police focus on 4 young men that were teenagers at the time of the murders. And even though all 4 men are completely innocent 2 of the men confessed to a crime that they didn't commit.

It's hard to understand that innocent people confess to crimes that they didn't commit. In an attempt to understand this phenomena in this episode I cover the Reid technique, a method of interrogation that manipulates a suspects mind.

But from the beginning there were problems with the Reid interrogation method.  One of the first cases were the Reid technique was used was the questioning of Darrel Parker in relation to the death of his wife, Nancy Parker. Darrel confessed to killing his wife and it would not be until decades later that his name would be cleared after a serial killer confessed to Nancy's murder.  

The New Yorker, The Interview, Douglass Starr

Chris Minor, WQAD8 for ABC, Quad City man gets justice 56 years after wrongful murder conviction

HEEDING THE LESSONS OF HISTORY: THE NEED FOR MANDATORY RECORDING OF POLICE INTERROGATIONS TO ACCURATELY ASSESS THE RELIABILTY AND VOLUNTARINESS OF CONFESSIONS Steven A. Drizin* & Marissa J. Reich**