Lincoln, Nebraska. That's where the media spotlight returned this past week. A handful of journalists are covering the plight of the Beatrice 6. It's now been eight years since Beatrice, Nebraska, a city of 12,000, became the new home of the country's worst nightmare involving a miscarriage of justice. A total of 6 people lost 70 years of their lives for somebody else's rape and murder. The threat of Nebraska's dreaded electric chair played a … [Read more...]
Watch Actual Videos of Beatrice 6 Interrogations And False Confessions!
John Ferak's new true crime book, FAILURE OF JUSTICE: A Brutal Murder, An Obsessed Cop, Six Wrongful Convictions, details the largest wrongful conviction case in U.S. history. It is the story of the Beatrice 6 who were wrongfully accused of the brutal, ritualistic rape and murder of an elderly widow in Beatrice, Nebraska, and then railroaded by law enforcement into prison for a crime they did not commit. Watch some of the interrogations and false … [Read more...]
Police Lt. Oliver Reflects on Solving Notorious Murder Case
In 2007 I was promoted to Lieutenant of Investigations at the Beatrice Police Department. I was briefed about the appeal process that was already in motion involving Joseph White. I was thinking “what a waste of the courts time." When the DNA results came back I was surprised to say the least. The Helen Wilson task force was formed, and I was given the opportunity to be in charge of it and handing out assignments. I was thinking “how are we … [Read more...]
Silence of The Lambs? FBI Profiler Featured in John Ferak’s New True Crime Book
At the FBI, Peter Klismet was truly part of an elite force. He became a psychological profiler long before the box office smash movie Silence of Lambs starring Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster that highlighted the FBI's efforts to track down serial killers like the fictitious Hannibal Lechter. In real life, Klismet's highly specialized training as psychological profiler was put to the test in February 1985. He boarded a plane and flew into … [Read more...]
Noir Author Richard Godwin Discusses The Connection Between Crime and Horror
I have said that The Pure And The Hated is a cross between crime fiction and horror fiction. That is because the events in it involve an intersection of styles. While it is more crime than horror, the reason there is an overlap is what I am exploring in these articles. I believe crime fiction, especially Noir fiction lends itself to hybrid genres. In these articles I have explored the themes of horror fiction and how it has evolved. I now … [Read more...]
Nebraska AG Jon Bruning: Some Didn’t Want To Believe The Beatrice 6 Are Innocent
A staunch conservative and prominent Republican, Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning never anticipated he would find the media spotlight for exposing the nation's largest wrongful conviction case right in his backyard. In November 2008, Bruning made a shocking announcement to all Nebraskans- his state agency had uncovered irrefutable proof that a terrible injustice had been committed nearly 20 years earlier in Beatrice, a small community … [Read more...]
Who Was Helen Wilson’s Killer If The Beatrice 6 Are Innocent? Read The Book
It might be Alabama or Alaska, Tennessee or Texas, Michigan or Minnesota. The name of state doesn't really matter. Most wrongful conviction cases have a similar theme - Person A gets arrested for a shockingly heinous killing. He's vilified in the media. The victim's family hates him. The judge throws the book at him. The convicted killer goes off to prison. The media coverage stops. Ten years pass, maybe a lot longer. Then, like a piano … [Read more...]
Author John Ferak’s Work on the “Making A Murderer” Steven Avery Case
Wrongful Convictions At The Crux Of 'Making A Murderer' And FAILURE OF JUSTICE Who would have predicted that a Christmastime 10-part documentary on a true-crime right here in Wisconsin would spark international interest in America's criminal justice system and the plight of wrongful convictions like we've never seen before? My new true crime book, FAILURE OF JUSTICE, describes such a case, as did the Netflix series, 'Making a Murderer,' which … [Read more...]
Prosecutor Proved The Beatrice 6 Innocent And That Their Confessions Were False
John Ferak’s new book "FAILURE OF JUSTICE" about Beatrice, Nebraska brings to mind those strange days when we came face to face with the reality that five people had falsely confessed to participating in a murder. That case confirmed a belief that I have held throughout my career as a prosecutor and as defense counsel. Interrogation is not investigation. The successful solicitation of a confession is no substitute for thorough … [Read more...]
Investigator Tina Vath Unraveled Beatrice’s FAILURE OF JUSTICE Homicide Case
Nebraska Police Investigator Talks About Her Role In The Beatrice 6 Investigation In 2003, I became the Beatrice Police Department’s Criminal Investigator. At the time the department had only one investigator position. I knew the story of the Helen Wilson murder and subsequent investigation that led to the arrest and conviction of six people. I had not reviewed any of the case file and never questioned their guilt or innocence. I just believed … [Read more...]
