The Case Against Michael Politte | Full Episode

foreign [Music] there's nothing in this world that anybody can never do to me that's going to be worse than what I've seen I received a call from the sheriff's department that there had been a homicide it was very devastating there wasn't a lot of murders in Washington County everyone knew everyone they all knew Michael they all went to school with him everyone knew Rita I was really close with my mom she was always at a football game it's my baseball game she's always had became quarter out she was recording me come on [Applause] come on murder was as brutal as they come [Music] the First Responders called this crime scene horrific there's blood all over the room some sort of object was used to hit Rita at least once Mike finds her body burning on the floor of her room I was scared to death I didn't know what to do I didn't know who to call I didn't know I didn't know what to do my name is Michael Poli and when I was 14 years old I was arrested for the murder of my mother would either one of you ever ever think and be honest with me that he might hurt your mother no I never thought he would hurt her mom know she's very close with Michael you know he was her baby tell me about December 4th 1998 you remember that evening vividly [Music] I was home and then I see headlights coming down the driveway and it's my mom and uh she comes into the house and she said I love you good night and I'll see you in the morning is that the last thing your mom ever said what's the last thing she ever said to me next thing I remember I woke up and I see a light Haze in my room I opened my door I could see her feet and she was on fire for the waist up and I could hear it what could you hear crack Into the Fire [Music] how soon did investigators focus on Michael I'm immediately immediately he is a suspect from the moment they arrive at the scene they said this kid didn't act the way they expected he wasn't emotional enough you look like a pretty good suspect you were a person who loved to set fires you had had arguments with your mother you were having trouble in school but none of that suggests anything about murder were there any injuries on Michael on your brother none any blood found on him on his clothing no and no weapon no let me ask you a question what 14 year old kid could commit a crime that violent and that vicious and not leave any any forensic evidence behind whatsoever that's not possible Michael was convicted of murdering the second degree he was sentenced to life thank you Michael did you kill your mom nope and there's only one individual that I know that hates her that much to do that to her [Music] [Music] thank you [Music] this is where the police family home once stood on December 5th 1998 the day Michael polite says he woke up to find his mother's body lying on her bedroom floor on fire what I seen was hatred and evil he was 14 years old the individual that did that to my mother hated her with everything inside of them Rita police was just 40 when she died there's a lot of pictures of us and Mom all these years later Michael's older sisters Crystal and Melanie still have vivid memories that's crystal that's Mom and that's me what's the first thing that comes to mind when you think about Rita her laugh s laughing smiling Michael and his sisters grew up in the tiny rural community of Hopewell Missouri it's about 70 miles Southwest of St Louis we didn't lock our doors we live by all of our family we rode bicycles with motorcycles I was happy Michael went by the nickname Bernie back then his middle name is Bernard it's short for Bernard their parents Edward and Rita got married as teens and Crystal and Melanie say the couple had their struggles he was very mentally abusive he also cheated on her a lot but she loved him love it outweighed any other feelings she ever had eventually though love wasn't enough I witnessed violence between the two of them there were allegations of domestic violence on both sides the year before the murder there was an incident where police were called Michael told an officer that his dad pushed his mom to the floor and choked her the couple ultimately divorced in the summer of 1998 after more than 20 years of marriage the divorce decree cited Edward's infidelity my dad would he would try to pay me to come live with him I wouldn't I want to live with Mom Michael ended up having to split time between both parents on December 4th 1998 he was at his mom's that night she was out working at a local bar and Michael was Home Alone probably seven eight or so I get bored I ride my bicycle down to the General Store Michael says he met up with and 50 year old Josh son [ __ ] we invited to sleep over the two hung out for hours until Michael's mom got home around midnight I asked him I was like Amanda where you want to sleep at you can sleep here in the living room on the fold-out couch or you could sleep and you know in the form of my room he's like I'll just crash on your floor [Music] he and Josh and Josh noticed smoke in the room we ran out of the room in my mom's bedroom door is facing me and I could see the glow an orange glow in that area it says he called out to his mom but there was no answer Michael what are you feeling at this point panic fear Michael says he went and grabbed a hose outside and then ran toward his mom's room and what he saw he'd never forget I seen bird on her legs and she was on fire for the waist up now turn the water hose on I don't know how long I said to her it could have been minutes it could have been seconds I don't know Josh ran to get help it was too late Crystal would soon get a call from her brother with the news I just sat on my bed and I just kept saying I don't want to go I don't want to go want to go you know then you know it's real Crystal picked Melanie up and by the time they got to the scene police cars and fire trucks were lighting the driveway Mike was on the front seat passenger side of the police car and we just ran up to the window asked him what was like what happened and he had to sit on his face and he had tear marks all down his face and he said I don't know mom's dead you could smell the smoke you could smell flesh Tammy Nash worked for the Washington County Sheriff's Office back then and was one of the responding officers clear that this was a murder Rita had suffered blunt forced trauma to the head and blood was visible on her bedroom walls indicating a struggle had occurred a fire marshal quickly concluded that an accelerant was used to set her on fire what was your job at that point what was your assignment together the evidence we was looking for anything that she could have been struck with we never found a weapon while Tammy processed the scene Michael and Josh were taken away to the Sheriff's Office for questioning a police report indicates that on the way Michael Aston officer something that quickly put him under suspicion he asked what's going to happen to my mom's truck isn't that an odd thing to say after you just saw your mother on fire I don't think so when you lose someone you want to hang on to things to me that's all it was you know and our mom loved that truck but it did raise eyebrows and at the Sheriff's Office Michael was given a voice stress test and then they told me that I failed investigators also took Michael's Shoes so that an accelerant sniffing dog could examine them they said the dog alerted to my shoes to an accelerate how would you describe the tone of the questioning after the dogs alerted on your shoes and after you failed this voice stress test they wasn't questioning me no more they were telling me that I did something Michael and Josh both insisted they didn't know what happened to Rita that they had stayed in Michael's room all night but investigators told them they didn't believe them the boys were questioned repeatedly and two days after the murder Josh gave a videotaped statement with an officer on each side and his mother present that statement seemed to poke a hole in Michael's account he said he woke up to a noise in the middle of the night our little Thug and I thought I heard like a [Music] Bernie wake up too or did you see Bernie in the room at that time Bernie wasn't in bed I didn't see him could you have seen him if he was I mean like is that yes or no yes okay so there's no doubt he wasn't in bed okay and was he anywhere else in that bedroom no shortly after Josh gave that statement on December 7 1998 14 year old Michael polite was arrested for his mother's murder I always believed that I was going to be found innocent because I had anything to do with what happened to my mother [Music] oh was I in for a rude awakening he looks like a really happy kid he was always really happy when Melanie and Crystal learned that their 14 year old brother had been arrested for their mother's murder they say they couldn't believe it how are they coming up with that conclusion I just thought they were crazy he didn't do it no one even cleared Chuck and Patsy Skiles are Michael's uncle and Aunt they live next door to where the crime took place they also felt police had made a mistake you know we was the first ones to see him after it happened he had no scratches no nothing on him he's always getting his mom a hug he loved his mom but while Michael's family believed in his innocence the truth is Michael was hardly the model child something that even he admits you failed seventh grade three times yeah I was on my third year because I became true I just wasn't going skipping school is one thing but 10 months before the murder things got so bad that Michael was hospitalized for Behavioral issues after he threatened to kill his mother and himself for whatever reason I told her that I would put her six feet under just like her mom and dad did you name that Michael no I didn't and it's the biggest regret of my life Melanie and Crystal blame Michael's misbehavior on their parents divorce our dad would kind of put him in the middle Michael was clearly an angry troubled teenager yeah I think he was mad at our dad for sure was he mad at your mom as well no I think I mean I know they didn't always get along perfectly um I don't think any parent and child does years passed with Michael in custody awaiting trial and then the prosecution came to him with a deal plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter and he'd spend a maximum of 15 years in prison I rejected it you didn't think about it nope why not because I didn't murder my mother in January 2002 Michael police then 17 years old went on trial his life was on the line the prosecutors and defense attorney who tried the case didn't respond to our calls but Josh hedgecourt the current prosecutor of Washington County where the murder took place was willing to talk about the case what was the most important evidence the scientific evidence and that would start with the shoes that he was wearing at the Sheriff's Office not only had a dog detected an accelerant on Michael's Shoes according to the prosecution later testing also confirmed the presence of gasoline on them and there was testimony that an accelerant had been used to burn Rita's body and so all of these components together I think solidified that he must have set the fire but Michael had told police that gasoline found on his shoes meant nothing and that he and his friends would often set fires for fun we all did that it was it was in the country in fact Michael told police that just hours before the murder he and his friend Josh used gasoline to set a fire on the railroad tracks near his house before Rita got home the show off the Persistence of fire but the prosecution used that admission as another piece of evidence against Michael they argued the burn pattern on the tracks matched the burn pattern on Rita see the outlets showing nothing electrical it could have caused the fire Linda Dickerson Bell and Jonathan Peterson were jurors on the case I'm like it's not looking good for him that's what they were telling us was that Michael had a problem with burning and that he was the only person that could have done this the jurors never heard about Michael's problems at school and that threat to his mother but a witness testified about a disagreement that Michael had with his mother weeks before the murder it was over money and he sat flicking a lighter afterwards it happened but not in the way that the state betrayed it I was flicking the wheel on the lighter that's that you weren't threatening your mother with that no and there was something even more damaging the prosecution claimed that Michael had actually confessed to the crime during a suicide attempt at a juvenile detention center exactly one month after the murder three Witnesses who worked there wrote in reports that Michael said I haven't cared since I killed my mom but Michael says that's not what he said when they asked you why you were trying to kill yourself you say you said what I haven't heard since they killed my mom it's the difference of one word but that one word carried a lot of weight and the jury would never hear from Michael because when it was the defense's turn he didn't take the stand today's date seventh day of December 1998 and leaving the jury with even more unanswered questions was the fact that they were told that Josh the other boy in the house that night had been granted immunity I kept waiting thinking okay well he's been given immunity then he's got to have something to offer but the jury never saw or heard from Josh at all he wasn't called to the stand and they were never shown his videotape statement Michael's sisters also weren't called I never really heard anybody in his defense say Michael didn't do this instead the defense hinged its case on the lack of direct evidence no murder weapon had been found and despite the violence of the attack Michael had no injuries and no blood on his clothing after three days of testimony the case went to the jury to hold someone's life in your hand have you ever done that it's not a pleasant thing to do I wanted to get it right Linda and Jonathan say they were left with so many questions too many questions and they felt pressured by other members of the jury I think everybody finally just got to me and just like you know we're ready to go home and then I was like yeah but you're ready to go home and these kids are ready to go to prison the jury filed into the room with their guilty of second-degree murder I wept why because it was wrong Michael was sentenced to life in prison it was um it was it was unbelievable it was I never thought it would happen Michael would spend years in a Missouri prison before a new team of lawyers would take his case and make it their mission to turn it around the state essentially never really had any case against this kid but the case that they even did have back at trial has been indisputably proven false what do you make of the evidence used to convict Michael chat now on Facebook and Twitter after Michael pulley was convicted and sentenced to life at the age of 18. he was sent to the Missouri State Penitentiary once called the bloodiest 47 acres in America being so young I was a Target we got in a fight my first day there it was trying to rape me Michael says he became desperate for some sense of safety you became a skinhead yeah enjoy your game that's where you got the tattoos it was something that I felt like I needed to do to survive it's not the way that I feel um it's not the way the mom raised me I just didn't fit in Michael says he longed to prove his innocent to get out of prison he needed to hire a lawyer so he says he asked his dad for help did he nope so how did you keep up any hope at all I didn't for a few years I was heroin addict um anytime I left myself I was looking for drugs I was just self-medicating that's the way things were until Michael finally found something that gave him hope five years after his conviction he wrote a letter to the Midwest Innocence Project and they agreed to take his case the organization worked on it for years and eventually attorneys Tricia Bushnell Megan Crane and Mark Emerson became involved Mike was convicted because he was a kid pure and simple they said he wasn't emotional enough trauma doesn't look like what people think it should look like Trisha Megan and Mark picked apart the case against Michael they say it was based on bad science started with the prosecution's claim that an accelerant was used to set the fire that killed Rita when the fire investigator came to the scene they immediately determined it was a fuel-fed fire based on just visual patterns just based on looking at the scene which at the time violated gold standards of fire investigation there has to be lab testing control sample taken there and lab testing was done on carpet samples from the crime scene no accelerant was detected the prosecution explained that away by saying it could have burned up but defense attorney Megan crane says that suggestion isn't reasonable there's no scientific basis for that being possible do you believe that the jury believed that in fact there was an accelerate used to set Rita on fire absolutely the main case against Michael was that it was a gasoline fire in order to attempt to tie my to the crime the only physical evidence was the gasoline that the state alleged was on his shoes but Michael's new lawyers say that Michael's Shoes didn't have gasoline on them either another footprint filmed they say a chemical used in the shoe manufacturing process was wrongly identified as gasoline at trial and even the Missouri State Crime Lab agrees in this 2020 letter officials say it is now known that solvents found in Footwear adhesives have similarities to gasoline but that in the late 1990s this knowledge was not widely known could the dogs have been alerting to the chemicals used in the shoes absolutely the jurors cared about the gas on the shoes they asked to see the shoes it was the nail in the coffin but what about Michael's alleged confession at the Juvenile Detention Center Witnesses wrote that they heard him say I haven't cared since I killed my mom but Michael and [ __ ] said I haven't cared since they killed my mom in the same way we talk about tunnel vision people can hear what they want to hear we're talking about one word in a room where there's lots of activity happening they have a kid in the Detention Center that they believe has probably committed this crime right and so that's their view of him there is one big question that remains what about Josh santasy remember the jury was told he got immunity and there was that videotaped statement where he told police that he woke up in the middle of the night and Michael wasn't there so there's no doubt he wasn't in bed okay and was he anywhere else in that bedroom now many years after the crime Josh is speaking publicly for the first time about what he says really happened that night I've spent the majority of my life just trying to forget about it thank you I've done pretty good just moving on with it but I mean it's still it's always there you know Josh San soucy is now 39 years old he says he's never been quite the same since he woke up from that sleepover at Michael's at the age of 15 and found himself in the middle of a murder investigation he says he was questioned by police repeatedly for hours at a time every time I tell him something they would be like no that's not what happened this is what happened I remember telling my mom I said so they keep saying kind of lying I said I don't even know if I'm telling the truth anymore but the truth Josh says is that nothing out of the ordinary happened on that night in question it was just like a normal night I couldn't sleep very good at night I was kind of waking up I woke up one time but what about that videotape statement where Josh told police that he woke up in the middle of the night and Michael wasn't there so there's no doubt he wasn't in bed and was he anywhere else in that bedroom no I don't remember ever saying that and I feel like if I said that then it was maybe at a weak point or something Michael's attorneys say they've seen this all too often in interrogations what we see in Josh's interrogation is the result of hours and hours of interrogation and every other time he has never ever said that that was what happened in a deposition right before Michael went on trial Josh said that he never sat up from where he was sleeping on the floor and that it's not that I did not see him in his bed it's I couldn't see him in his bed there's no way I could see anything that's on top of the bed so why did Josh take that immunity deal I just wanted it because I knew they was going to try to pin it on me or Bernie I was like well if they'll give me immunity then maybe I don't have anything to worry about you know Michael's lawyers say the prosecution was likely trying to get Josh to flip on Michael and the fact they didn't even put Josh on the stand says it all they didn't call him because it wasn't going to go well for them he had nothing helpful to say for the state why didn't the defense call Josh that's a great question Aaron and there's a lot of great questions about what the defense didn't do and who they didn't call Michael's trial attorney was a public defender back then in a court affidavit he admits that Michael's case was the first homicide case that he had tried on his own and that today he would handle his representation of Michael differently Michael's new legal team was committed to getting him out of prison they filed court documents suggesting an alternative suspect Michael's father Edward polite I believe he is responsible for what happened mother if that's true that means Michael's own father stood by and let his son take the fall for a murder that he was behind Michael's sisters say their father was Furious over the financial terms of the divorce a judge had finalized them just four days before the murder she got half of his retirement maintenance maintenance child support alimony and the one thing that I remember about growing up with our dad is you don't mess with his money you just don't do it he had an outburst in the court that he said you'll never live to see a dime of that money police did interview Edward polite after the murder he had an alibi he was home more than 80 miles away at the time of the murder but Michael's defense team says investigators didn't look hard enough they didn't at all investigate the possibility that perhaps Ed did this with someone else and Michael says he believes his dad did arrange the murder and had help I think he heard Johnny to murder my mother Johnny is Johnny police Edward's cousin Michael's legal team identified Witnesses who placed Johnny near the crime scene on the morning of the murder Justice First Responders were arriving foreign sirens and uh as I'm coming up the road and I'm approaching the railroad tracks Johnny pulley was walking down railroad tracks [Music] Larry Lee is one of those Witnesses he's known Johnny for years as he's walking up to my truck he asked me if I heard about Rita you said somebody killed and I'm like do what about a week later Larry's wife Carolyn says Johnny came to their door and it was like six o'clock in the morning he said I need to know what you know about Rita's death he said me and Edward are doing our own investigation and we heard you were up at the store talking about it and I said Johnny I don't know nothing no we need to know what you know he said and I said you know I think it's time for you to go well he's scared a little bit did the two of you talk to investigators about this no we think back now and we wish we would have and I ain't saying he had anything to do with anything either I don't know but you know another man places Johnny police truck near the same spot that Larry Lee says he ran into Johnny on the morning of the murder in an affidavit file by Michael's team the man says he saw the truck just as emergency vehicles were coming down the road former investigator Tammy Nash says she doesn't remember hearing that Johnny polite had been seen that morning but she does recall something that happened in the days after the murder once the crime scene had been released somebody came in to the sheriff's department and said that they had found a tire iron or tart tool or something in the closet whose closet Michael's closet police records show the person who found that Tire Tool was Johnny polite could you have missed that in your first search no are you absolutely I am positive I did not miss that if it wasn't there when you search what does that mean that somebody placed it there Tammy went and retrieved the Tire Tool from Michael's closet it was later ruled out as the murder weapon do you believe that tire iron was put in your closet to set you up I do Johnny and Edward police didn't respond to our request for an interview neither has been charged in the case it's been years since Michael and his sisters have spoken to their father but they say they did ask him whether he had anything to do with their mother's murder and he denied it it's not our our job and it's not our Focus to say who did commit this crime but what we do know is it was not Michael pulley and while Michael's lawyers were trying to prove that the case would take a turn best day in the world I never thought this day would come it's amazing [Music] take an in-depth look at the case at 48hours.com [Music] it's hard it's real hard here in Missouri to get these convictions overturned it's a battle I don't know why they don't want to have urine Michael's legal team was shut down by appeals court at every turn it is a constant fight with you know Goliath really is what it feels like despite the letdowns Michael and his sisters kept a pope that one day he would be freed and in 2021 There Was An Unexpected development a bill passed in Missouri giving juvenile offenders convicted of serious crimes a second chance he gave me an immediate Pro hearing Michael went before the parole board asking for his release I told him I was innocent and I told him this is why I'm innocent this is why you should believe I'm innocent [Music] on April 22nd 2022 Melanie and Crystal brought friends and family and a change of clothes to the Jefferson City Correctional Center it was a really great day it was a dream come true really on that day Michael police walked out of prison foreign [Applause] [Laughter] [Music] [Applause] all the night sitting myself wondering what it would be like to be out here and have this moment and have it finally come through it's awesome yeah it's finally here I'm free how you doing can I have a hug Michael says he felt his mom's presence when a bird flew by overhead hey Mom she's always in my thoughts she's always in my mind and everything I do and everything that I process through today is Guided by her Michael left prison that day doing one of the things he enjoyed most before he went in we're gonna take a bike ride from the parking lot to the railroad tracks so I'm leaving here the same way that I came in here riding a bicycle Justice foreign [Music] this felt good best bike ride in the world welcome home welcome home following his release Michael moved in with his sister Melanie you ready drum roll hey he started getting those reminders of prison his tattoos covered up with this new art he also found job as a carpenter and got his driver's license you're now out is that enough not enough because as you sit right now you are a convicted felon on parole you have a criminal record that says you killed your mother yep Michael wants to clear his name and it just might happen because Josh hedgecourt the current prosecutor in the county where the murder took place has filed a motion asking for Michael's conviction to be overturned to me it all always comes back to the science hedgecorth agrees with Michael's attorneys that the scientific evidence used to convict Michael is problematic so I don't believe that Michael received a fair trial I can't say that the prosecutor at the time knew what he was putting on was false it just shouldn't have been presented could you retry Michael polite for the murder of his mother based on the evidence you have today on the evidence I have today I don't believe I would file this case but while the local prosecutor believes Michael's conviction should be thrown out another public official Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmidt is fighting it and every exoneration Missouri the Attorney General fights it because they say we have to respect honor and protect the verdict of these jurors well that goes out the window when the jurors themselves want this verdict overturned in sworn affidavits five jurors have questioned whether Michael got a fair trial including Jonathan Peterson and Linda Dickerson Bell I do not believe that Michael pulley killed his mother but I don't know how to fix it the Attorney General's office didn't reply to our request for comment but in a court filing they say that Michael cannot meet the standard for actual innocence and the AG has argued that the evidence against Johnny and Edward polite would have been inadmissible at trial there you go Michael hopes that a judge will hear the case and decide to overturn his conviction but in the meantime prosecutor Josh hedgecourt has revealed to us that the local sheriff's department has reopened the investigation into Rita's murder we want to do the right thing if someone else did this we want to know that even if it's new evidence that it was Michael neither hedgecorth nor the local sheriff would comment on the specifics of the investigation including whether Johnny Pauline or Edward polite are Persons of Interest [Music] I feel bad for Bernie and his family I mean everything he had to go through and Bernie lost his whole childhood Josh santasy hasn't seen Michael polite since they were kids but they hope to one day reunite the night of that sleepover and its aftermath has haunted Josh all these years what would you say to him I'm sorry and that you know he didn't do anything wrong in Potosi Missouri not far from where the murder took place Rita's truck has sat all these years let's go and need new tires so much smaller than I remember her family says they held on to it because it's one of the only things they have left of her that's her truck you know that's a part of her that belongs to her they hope to fix it up and get it running again thank you we're gonna get Justice for her I believe that one day we're gonna we're gonna get Justice for reading [Music] the doorbell rings two men at the door she goes to close the door on them they force themselves in with guns they take her by force they hooded me as soon as I went into the van a deputy chases them down I opened the rear door of the van and scared me so I jumped back and I shut the door 48 hours Saturday on CBS sent streaming on Paramount Plus thank you

Channel: 48 Hours

Views: 1,509,966

Keywords: 48 hours, cbs news, michael politte, rita politte, wrongful conviction cases, 48 hours mystery full episodes 2023, murder, hopewell missouri

Id: wZvt-NSA0bo

Length: 42min 6sec (2526 seconds)

Published: Fri Jul 14 2023