Crime Story Editor

In 2016, Daniel Holtzclaw became a poster child for racism, sexism, and abuse of power when he was found guilty of sexually assaulting eight at-risk black women while on duty as an Oklahoma City police officer. Publicly disavowed by the police and protested against by Black Lives Matter, these interest groups which historically butted heads found a common enemy in Holtzclaw, and called for the full crushing force of the government to come down upon him. And it did: Holtzclaw was sentenced to 263 years in prison. But could these groups, each deeply invested in justice, have inadvertently bolstered an...

“Thank Goodness We’re Not Inside Right Now”: An Interview with Heidi Goodwin By Amanda Knox with Christopher Robinson In 2003, a jury convicted 24-year-old Heidi Fero of first-degree assault in connection to a 2002 incident that inflicted permanent brain damage on 15-month-old Brynn Ackley. Physicians diagnosed Ackley with the now discredited shaken-baby syndrome, and Fero was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment, later reduced to 10 on appeal. Fero served her full sentence, but in 2016, her conviction was vacated when pediatric trauma experts debunked the faux science originally used to convict her. Heidi Fero, now Heidi Goodwin, serves on the advisory...

Amanda weighs in on Netfilx's Tiger King and the rush to judgement on Carole Baskin. I’m sure you’ve seen the memes, even if you haven’t yet seen Netflix’s addictive, moving, and insane docuseries Tiger King. Stuck in quarantine, the Twitterverse isn’t even waiting for Halloween to dress up like the flamboyant, gay, private zoo owner and former presidential candidate Joe Exotic, polygamist, ponytailed cult leader Doc Antle, and leather-clad, Las Vegas conman Jeff Lowe.  But while these flawed, felonious figures ultimately come off as tragic or amusing, there’s been a more hateful response to Carole Baskin, the self-righteous owner of Big Cat Rescue,...

Dogs. They are a recurring theme in the trial of Robert Durst for the murder of Susan Berman. Attorneys on both sides identified themselves as dog lovers during voir dire. Deputy District Attorney John Lewin incorporated his own Great Dane, Boomer, into his lesson on reasonable doubt and indirect evidence. Lewin also has indicated that Durst’s relationship with his family’s Alaskan Malamutes, all named Igor, will be presented as evidence at trial. And of course, Berman’s wire-haired terrier, Lulu, prompted witness Kathryn Shaw-Cutter’s phone call to the police after a neighbor found the dog wandering on busy Benedict Canyon Drive. This...

You can find more pieces by Amanda Knox with Christopher Robinson here. In 1990, 37-year-old nurse Ginny LeFever was convicted of murder after her husband committed suicide on the eve of their divorce. She spent 22 years in prison before her conviction was vacated and she was released. Today, she works as a nurse in an extended care facility in Ohio currently in lockdown due to the pandemic. I reached out to Ginny to learn how her experience of wrongful imprisonment has informed her work caring for the vulnerable, and uniquely prepared her for this time of crisis. Amanda Knox Thanks for...

You can find more pieces by Amanda Knox with Christopher Robinson here. On April 15th, Netflix released The Innocence Files, a new docuseries covering eight wrongful convictions overturned by the Innocence Project and other organizations within the Innocence Network. Over the course of nine episodes, the series exposes flaws within our criminal justice system and points viewers towards tried and tested reforms that, if implemented, would make the system more fair and just. I reached out to Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld, cofounders of the Innocence Project, to ask about their experience executive consulting for The Innocence Files.  Amanda Knox How...