The Trail Went Cold – Bonus Episode – Kent Heitholt

“The Trail Went Cold” is taking a break this week after a busy summer of live shows and conventions! In place of a brand new episode, please enjoy this Patreon-exclusive bonus episode from last year covering the case of Kent Heitholt. Robin covered this same case at the Ottawa Podcast Festival in August 2019.

November 1, 2001. Columbia, Missouri. Kent Heitholt, a 48-year old sports editor for the Columbia Daily Tribune, is severely beaten and strangled to death in their parking lot. Two-and-a-half years later, investigators are led towards a young suspect named Charles Erickson, who has told people he had vivid dreams of himself and his friend, Ryan Ferguson, murdering Kent after leaving a nearby bar that night. After Charles confesses to the crime, both he and Ryan are charged with Kent’s murder and Charles’ testimony helps convict Ryan and send him to prison for 40 years. However, after Charles and another key witness recant their testimony, Ryan’s conviction is vacated and he is released from prison in 2013. Even though many feel that Charles is also innocent of the crime, he continues to remain incarcerated. If Ryan Ferguson and Charles Erickson did not murder Kent Heitholt, then who did? On this month’s bonus Patreon episode, we explore one of the most infamous wrongful conviction cases in recent memory which has yet to find a definitive resolution.

Additional Reading:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryan_W._Ferguson

https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetail.aspx?caseid=4304

http://www.freecharleserickson.org/index.html

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The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote.

All music is composed by Vince Nitro.