August 17, 1992. Waukegan, Illinois. While babysitting two children, 11-year old Holly Staker is sexually assaulted and brutally murdered inside their apartment. Two months later, a suspect named Juan Rivera is brought in for questioning and confesses to the murder after four straight days of interrogation. He is subsequently convicted and receives a life sentence, but no physical evidence links Rivera to the crime and the veracity of his confession is called into question. After Rivera serves 19 years in prison, DNA evidence eventually links Holly’s death to another murder… but could another innocent person also be serving time in prison for that particular crime? 

Additional Reading:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Rivera_(wrongful_conviction)https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetail.aspx?caseid=3850

https://courts.illinois.gov/opinions/AppellateCourt/2011/2ndDistrict/December/2091060.pdf

http://www.law.northwestern.edu/legalclinic/wrongfulconvictions/exonerations/documents/rivera_brief.pdf

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2014-06-10/news/chi-dna-links-murder-and-rape-of-holly-staker-11-to-second-murder-8-years-later-20140610_1_holly-staker-dna-evidence-dna-match