he blurts out, just don't ask me about the murder. and of course, they ask him about the murders. >> darrell harrington told police on the night of the murders, he had been out drinking with two locals named randy steidel and herb whitlock. on the way home, harry passed

out and was awakened by the sound of screams. harrington, speaking through an artificial larynx, described what happened next. >> harrington said he was startled and entered the home to find steidel coming down the stairs. >> what happened after you got in the house? >> did you notice anything different about randy at this point? >> he had blood on him. >> did he have anything on him? >> he had a knife. >> despite harrington's shocking story, police had a problem. >> darrell harrington came

forward and told his story, there wasn't enough probable cause for an arrest, because they didn't feel confident that they could convict based on a guy like darrell harrington. >> but two months later, another witness came forward, deborah rhinebolt could confess she helped stab the newlywed couple. >> tell me what you saw happen. >> blood everywhere. >> where's herb, where's randy? >> one was on the right side of the bed, one was by the door. >> when you walked into the bedroom, what was karen rhodes doing? >> she was yelling, oh, my god, oh, my god. >> she also gave police the murder weapon, a five-inch knife, and agreed to testify in

exchange for leniency. >> i think the brutal nature of the slayings, the fact that it was a homicide, the other aggravating factors, that office will likely seek the death penalty. >> both herb whitlock and randy steidel had histories of petty crime. news of their arrest reached steidel's brother, rory, an illinois state trooper. >> randy, he drank and if he got angry or someone started something, there was a crowd and consequently there would be problems. my master sergeant called me and said your brother has been arrested for double murder. in my mind, the illinois state police were involved in the investigation, number one, he's got to be guilty. number two, he's going to face the death penalty. and number three, a jury in east central jury is going to give him the death penalty.

>> that night, rory steidel met with investigators. >> they said if you will get him to confess, we'll spare him the death penalty. otherwise, he's getting the death penalty. i marched right up to the jail, asked to talk to randy. >> i'm pacing back and forth and he came up to me and said i've talked to the prosecutor and jack ekkerly -- >> i said if they come up with hair, fiber, any type of trace evidence, they're going to get you and you're going to get the death penalty. so if you did it, you need to let me know now. >> he slammed that stool down and screamed at me, they don't arrest people that aren't guilty. you know, these my little brother telling me that. why don't you confess and cooperate and they won't seek the death penalty? >> i was thinking, my god, we're talking about your life.

i don't want you to die. i went up there to try to save my brother's life. >> randy steidl went on the murders for dike and karen rhodes in 1987. >> the prosecution's case was that randy and herby were dealing drugs to dike rhodes, and that he owed herby money for a drug debt he hadn't paid. >> prosecutors focus special attention on darrell harrington. >> he knew things that the town drunk would know. >> and debbie rhinebolt who described seeing the stabbing. she also described a broken latch she saw in the rhodes' bedroom. >> the prosecutor, in his closing argument, made repeated references to the lamp to

bolster the credibility of deborah. >> debbie rhinebolt's testimony was a little bit of a revelation. she was vivid, she was convincing, and you've got to remember in champagne county, i'm coming from having prostitutes, drug addicts testify as witnesses on behalf of the state. those are the people that are present when home side homicide. >> after a one week trial, the jury was out for just an hour. >> i know it's not going to be good. your stomach and your heart is in your threat because i'm listening for two words -- not guilty. and i only hear one word. it doesn't sink in until i hear my mother waling behind me.

i never will forget that. i realize just then they convicted me of a double murder i had nothing to do with. i'm telling you, it is like something reached over and turned the light switch off on your life. >> though herb whitlock was convicted of only one of the murders and sentenced to life in prison, randy was killing of both and sentenced to death.

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in 1987, randy steidl was sent to death row for the murdering of dyke and karen rhoads. the investigator hired bill clutter to help with the case. >> the first time i met him, he was shackled. i mean, the reality of that hits you. >> i was pretty distraught, angry at the system. my hopes were dashed. >> attorney mike metnick handled the appeals. >> randy was assigned an execution date, but it's an incredibly long process to get from point a to point b.

>> they come to see me, laid out the case and told me, it's going to be an uphill battle. but they believe in me. >> in the year 2000, the illinois state police who investigated the rhoads' murders promoted veteran officer michael callahan to commander of investigations. it was his dream job. >> police officers, their integrity, what they did was never questioned. whatever they said, you believed it as the truth. >> i think that mike, as a person, his set of morals and standards are so high, his sense of right and wrong has never faltered. >> callahan's first assignment was to review the rhoads' murder case. >> i got a call from the patrol lieutenant and he advised me that i was going to be getting a case to review. there was going to be 48 hours

on that case and the command was a little concerned. >> reviewing a closed case was unusual, but his bosses at the illinois state police worried that newly focused media attention might cause problems. >> my initial thought was, of course we got the right guy. we don't put innocent men into prison. i'll never forget the day i walked in and looked at the file and i had not even turned the first page when i got a phone call from the case agent in the rhoads' homicide. he blurted out, please don't ruin my reputation. i'm not a dirty cop. so it was a definite red flag to me. >> callahan began by going through the prosecution's timeline of events. starting with darrell harrington's drinking with steidl and whitlock. >> later on that evening, what happened?

>> randy and herby, in randy's vehicle, drove to dyke and karen rhoads' house the night of the murder and brought darrell harrington with them and asked him to wait in the car. >> steidl and whitlock went to the front door to confront dyke rhoads. >> darrell harrington said he heard them arguing about money. >> harrington later heard screams. inside, he discovered the crime scene. >> what happened when you went in the bedroom? >> darrell encountered randy and herbie, bloody, and was told, you didn't see this or the same thing will happen to you. >> but police reports showed

debbie rhinebolt claimed to have been with steidl and whitlock that night. >> she comes forward with a story that says i was with herb and randy that night, and they invited me to come along with them to the rhoads' house. >> what position was karen rhoads in? was she trying to leave and you caught her? >> no, i didn't "caught" her. >> she was just lying there watching steidl and whitlock stab her husband, is that what happened? >> yes. >> okay. >> the stories from the key witnesses left callahan with a glaring question. >> they've made this case based on the two eyewitnesss, but the eyewitnesss contradicted each other. >> darrell harrington was supposed to have been at the same scene, and her story doesn't include him and his story doesn't include her. >> they never saw each other. that was a problem for me as a police officer. >> but this discrepancy didn't seem to bother the lead

prosecutor or the assistance state's attorney. >> rhinebolt presentation was consistent with the physical evidence that i had. for example, she talked about a broken lamp, one of the firefighters found the same thing. from my view, that was what we call corroboration. >> but callahan was about to discover evidence that would call into question the lamp and the murder weapon debbie rhinebolt had given police. and stay awake during the day. this is called non-24. learn more by calling 844-824-2424. or visit your24info.com.

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♪ concerns were mounting for lieutenant michael callahan as he reinvestigated the rhoads' murders. >> when you have witnesses that have questionable histories, it's doubly important to corroborate everything that they say. >> deborah reinbolt, in her story, talks about seeing a broken lamp and seeing one of the men holding up a piece of this broken lamp during the murders. >> the crime scene photos of the lamp raised questions for defense investigator bill clutter. >> you can actually see on the carpet where the fireman had removed the lamp, that there was a silhouette of a lamp.

we were able to prove that lamp had to be broken by firefighters, not during the murders. >> that meant debbie reinbolt's testimony about the lamp had been false. even more troubling were facts callahan learned about the purported murder weapon. >> the knife that deborah reinbolt presented was a folding knife, it's called a recozzo, where the knife bends over. that knife had a blade of five and something inches long. >> one of the things apologists did was measure the depth of the wounds. on both bodies, the wounds were more than six inches deep. we then took it to a forensic pathologist and he provided us an affidavit analysis.

>> i think he was able to refute the knife very easily. it was a five-inch blade. the deepest wounds were 6 3/8 inches. there was a hilt on the knife. i felt like, wow, i had this evidence that this two men are innocent. they're going to finely be freed. we're going to be able to conduct an investigation and try to find out who the killers are. >> randy's incarceration had torn his family apart. randy's brother, state troop errory steidl, believed randy was guilty. randy's mother wanted to see for herself, so she visited him behind bars. >> she sits down and says, look at me right now, did you have

anything to do with this at all? i looked her in the eyes and said mom, i've done some bad things in my life, but i've never done anything like this. you know i'm not capable of doing anything like this. as soon as i got that out of my mouth, she was up and out of there, slammed the door. >> when we left, she said he didn't do that, rory. i said, how do you? she said, by the way he answered my question. i looked him in the eye. i know when he's lying to me. >> despite their mother's belief in randy's innocence, only hard evidence could shake rory's faith in the system. that evidence was about to come from an unlikely source. >> my epiphany came when i got the call from the attorney that said, i just received a letter from debbie reinbolt that says your brother wasn't there. and that he had nothing to do with it, and that she's willing to speak to me.

>> do you swear that the testimony you're about to give is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help you god? >> i do. >> proceed. >> thank you. ms. reinbolt, my name is michael metnick, and i am the attorney for randy steidl. do you understand that? >> yes, i do. >> why is it that you're here today? >> because there were some things that didn't -- weren't truthful in the testimony. >> were you there? at the rhoads' house the night they were killed? >> nope. >> that's when i was done with the state's case. she was either there or she wasn't. who is she lying to? either way, she's not credible. >> i think you mentioned randy steidl. why did you? >> because that's who everybody was saying did it. >> okay. >> around the time of reinbolt's

recantation, bill clutter obtained a previously unknown box of records from the paris police department. >> we were able to go through and view all of the police reports that included polygraph reports that had never been disclosed to us. a polygraph where darrell herrington had failed. >> but if reinbolt and herrington were lying, why had both fingered steidl and whitlock for the crime? >> two weeks before they were murdered, we had went to the fbi about the prosecutor. >> randy and herb believed the state's attorney was unfairly targeting them for drug deals they had nothing to do with. >> they provided information about the state's attorney and the allegation they made to the fbi is that he was protecting drug dealers and gambling in paris, illinois. >> it was common knowledge to

see the prosecutor out in bars every night, loaded. up the next morning, he's prosecuting somebody for the same offense. that's what alerted me to the fact that he would do anything he could, you know, to frame me for the rhoads' murder. >> for callahan, this upped the stakes. >> my question was, would a state's attorney try to railroad and frame two men that were willing to do to the fbi and maybe have him arrested for his only illegal doings? >> callahan also learned disturbing information about one of the lead detectives in the case, jim parish, who had secured debbie reinbolt's testimony. >> there was instances where both herrington and reinbolt will talk about how police induced them with alcohol. never in my life as an illinois state police officer have i ever seen such blatant disregard for policy and procedure. you would be destroying your case. >> they did, in fact, take darrell to jimmy's cabin south

of paris and did question him and did buy alcohol for him. what kind of mental and physical condition are they in if they don't have alcohol and you have them at a secluded location? where are they going to tell you to get that drink? >> i wanted to open an investigation centering on them, looking at them for official misconduct and impeding a federal investigation. >> and mike callahan was about to discover the consequences of turning the spotlight on his own department.

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michael callahan now knew the case against randy steidl was deeply flawed and needed to be reinvestigated. in the year 2000, he took his findings to his superiors. >> we went into lieutenant colonel harper's office. she's in uniform. she sits down behind his desk. >> callahan walked her through the flawed evidence, the competing testimonies and the recantations. he even highlighted reports that detectives parish and ekkerly had supplied alcohol to shape their testimony. >> she looked at us and said you can't reopen this case. it's too political sensitive. i looked back at the days when i

risked my life, always believing you would do the right thing, then you're told -- and there was misconduct by our own. you're ignoring this? >> callahan refused to comply with carper's orders and continued working on the case. >> those two guys were innocent. i had to keep going. >> he soon discovered a number of leads in the case that were never followed. >> there were any number of suspects. >> when i reviewed the case, there was several other suspects that, for whatever reasons, the original investigators didn't follow those leads. one of the suspects in the case, bill stark, he was a banker by day. there was rumors that he was the peeping tom that was seen in the

rhoads' neighborhood at that time. that was never really investigated by the police. he would tell both his wife and family members that he remembered seeing a knife going up and down and he was the one that killed dyke and karen rhoads. >> six months before randy's trial, phil stark was found dead of an alleged suicide. >> of course, none of those reports made it into the discovery before randy's trial. and the interesting thing about fill sta phil stark's suicide, he was shot once in the head and once in the heart. i suppose it's possible to make those shots simultaneous, but to me that raises red flags. >> while the prosecutor cited drugs as a possible motive for the murders, callahan found files pointing to karen rhoads

as the main target. >> there was one initial report that talked about how karen rhoads had seen her boss loading machine guns and large amounts of cash in his corvette and heading to chicago. >> bob morgan was one of the most powerful men in paris, and karen didn't want to cross him. according to her mother, she was considering quitting her job. but just a few weeks later, she was murdered. >> i started looking at that case and saying wow, this was definitely a motive. they did talk to bob morgan, and he gave them a statement that he felt that probably some bikers got drunk and went back to rape karen rhoads and things got out of hand and she was killed. >> bob morgan denied any involvement in the murders and passed a polygraph test. but callahan wondered if investigators turned their gaze away from the influential businessman for fear of political payback.

>> one of the very first suspects that police also looked at was a drifter put up at the hotel france, downtown four blocks from the crime scene, according to the radio dispatch logs he was the very first suspect after they discovered the bodies. around 9:00 a.m. in the morning, jack ekkerly of the illinois state police goes to the hotel france, and by that time he had already checked out and was long gone. >> clutter believed that drifter was none other than tommy lynn sells, one of the most notorious serial killers in the country. >> i like to use a knife. a gun is too violence, too -- too noisy. i like to watch the eyes fade, the pupils fade. it's just like setting their soul free. >> i get this letter from tommy lynn sells after i interview him. in the letter, he makes this

crypted remark about the eiffel tower, it's nice this time of year. of course, it's a reference to paris, illinois. i'm convinced that he committed the murder. >> tommy lynn sells was executed in texas in april of 2014. >> you had all these different characters who you could weave a possible narrative, and i don't see any way that any of these stories hung together. >> we don't know who killed these guys. >> by now, randy steidl had spent nearly 12 years on death row and lost all of his appeals, and he was about to come face-to-face with his final chance at freedom.

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attorney, a car accident attorney on tuesday, and on friday, a criminal defense attorney. he was unqualified. he ignored the case. >> as close to zero as there is. that was the amount of work that went into the fact investigation for randy steidl's case. >> i would challenge him, when the witnesses were taking a stand against me, that you need to talk to so and so to impeach them. that's a lie. and he patted me on the back and said, don't you know what my job is? i said yeah, prove my innocence. no, no. my job is to create a reasonable doubt. once he said that, before i was convicted, i realized i'm done. >> they ruled against us, i didn't think they would and that's that.

>> in 1999, after years of appeals in the illinois courts, metnick finally had a breakthrough in randy's case. while the judge did not give randy a new trial, he agreed that randy's attorneys had been ineffective during sentencing, and changed randy's sentence from death to life in prison. >> luckily, i got life without parole. many attorneys have told me it's far easier to get a new trial when you're doing life than it is on death row and have lost all of your appeals. ♪ >> michael callahan had looked into randy's case and found serious misconduct within the illinois state police. but before defying his boss by releasing the results of his investigation, callahan needed to tell his wife, lily. >> when he got this case, he started coming home and doing unusual things, waking up in the middle of the night.

he would bring flowcharts, put them down our hallway and connect the dots for me. i told mike, i think if you're quiet and if you're not fighting back and not trying to speak out, then you're a part of the problem. >> callahan decided to defy colonel carper. he sent his findings to jim ryan. but jim ryan declined to review the report, because he had been accepting money from a suspect in the case. mike callahan was soon transferred back to patrol, a humiliation for someone who had been a commander of investigations. >> he said diane carper removed me from this case. it was a hard time. that was one of those fight or flight thing where is we just had to fight.

♪ >> by 2001, the illinois courts had repeatedly declined to give randy a new trial. randy's last chance at freedom would now come at the federal level. >> it is the court of last resort. after 15 years of state court findings, most federal judges assume that those state court findings are correct. >> judge mike mccusky would oversee the case. he had never granted a petition for a new trial. >> you would think year after year, is somebody going to come with a case that you can look at and say, this case was decided wrongly? you always wonder if 100% of all your cases are going one way, are you looking at them correctly? >> fortunately, randy got the fresh eyes of a federal judge that was not connected to the prosecution in paris, illinois,

was not beholden to the cops in paris. >> you've got witnesses that supposedly came off the vote and are up watching a horrible murder and they don't see each other. that is just unheard of. >> you have a federal judge that's saying that there was evidence favorable to randy steidl's case that was never disclosed by the prosecution. these are the same things i had been telling the state police for three years now. >> on june 17th, 2003, i entered the following order. petitioner's conviction is here by vacated. the state shall have 120 days from the date of this order to release or retry randy steidl. >> when the judge granted me a new trial, i was still holding my breath, because i watched guys on death row get a new

trial and have the attorney general appeal it to have it taken away and within 60 days they're strapped to a gurney being executed. >> one thing i could state to people with confidence, in this business, there is no certainty. no certainty at all. >> randy's fate would rest in the hands of illinois' new attorney general, lisa madigan, who would decide to release randy or try him again. michael callahan knew he would have to get his findings to madigan now or forever live with the knowledge he failed to help set an innocent man free. and stay awake during the day. this is called non-24. learn more by calling 844-824-2424. or visit your24info.com. ♪ color is a beautiful thing, i know, oh yes i know... ♪

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♪ >> the state of illinois was facing an ultimatum in the randy steidl case -- retry randy for the rhoads' murders or set him free. michael callahan now had a small window to deliver what he discovered about the case. one day, he got a call from the deputy attorney general. >> i went over everything in the case and my concerns of misconduct, the fact that the two eyewitnesss had no credibility. how detectives had actually distorted and lied in reports, witnesses that were ignored. >> but the prosecutor felt the jury got it right the first time. >> ever since the attorney general lisa madigan came in

charge of the appeal, the case has been mismanaged through indifference or incompetence. they were clearly capable of committing murder, and that was proven. >> the prosecutors, to the bitter end, always maintained that the person is guilty, because otherwise, it's to admit that they and the police that worked with them fabricated evidence. >> in the end, based on callahan's report and a lack of faith in the evidence, attorney general lisa madigan decided the judge's ruling was the correct one. >> it's within 17 years, three months, two weeks and one day. i'm ready for it to end. >> we were willing to believe that randy was going to be freed until he walked through the doors. >> it was a perfect day. the sun was out, not a cloud in the sky.

they usher us all in, we have an opportunity to get randy, you know, psychologically prepared for the moment when he's going to step out. >> here we go. [ applause ] >> walking behind this, you know, parade of heroes who made this happen. you know, i'm thinking, damn, this is really happening. >> are you ready? >> let's go! >> it's a flood of emotions. and my mom was -- mom held up real good. everybody did. >> you know, that day was very, very special. >> in 2005, randy filed a civil

suit against the state of illinois for wrongful imprisonment. while he was in the courthouse, he and mike metnick paid a visit to the courtroom of judge mccusky. >> he saw us in the gallery. >> i look at him, i mouthed these words, is that randy steidl? and he nods his head yes. i recessed the court. as i'm say thing right now, i'm getting goose bumps. >> the judge signaled us to come back in chambers. >> there was a split second where you just hug. i didn't cry. i came close. >> i'm starting to get emotional. >> i knew how difficult it was to get to that point, to have a judge overturn 15 years of state court findings. it's almost unheard of. i was trying to think of something to say to the man.

the only thing i could think of, i just shook his hand and i said, thank you forgiving me my life back. >> we make decisions every day, but we don't save lives. police do, firemen do. heroes. but that day i knew i had saved his life. ♪ >> mike callahan's fight to bring out the truth about corruption and misconduct in randy's case had ruined his career. in 2003, he sued the state of illinois for violating his right to free speech. >> i was angry. i felt betrayed by my department. the only thing i'm guilty of is wanting to solve a homicide, look for the truth. >> callahan won his lawsuit, but before he could collect, the supreme court declared that government employees didn't have free speech protection if they were talking about something that involved their work. it was a huge setback for whistleblowers. >> the ruling tells police

officers, why risk being fired? why risk all the turmoil? just turn your back to it, as long as you're not the one doing it. >> in 2008, mike callahan's $700,000 award was officially overturned. ♪ >> knowing that i'm free to walk out that door, anywhere i want to go, that gave me a lot of peace. >> i think it's supposed to be 80 today. >> randy puts a lot of value on our family, and on family relationships. and i'm glad that he's able to enjoy his life now, and that i'm a part of it. >> the reason i'm here today because of the people that would stand up and risk everything.

everything they worked for. because of what's right. i'm extremely lucky. ♪ justice is what the rhoads' family should have. they're the ones that deserves some justice. >> today, in this room, by a constitutional majority of the members elected to the illinois general assembly and by my actions as governor, he was abolished the death penalty in illinois, the land of lincoln.

this is the most difficult decision i've made as governor. it was made after many days and nights of reflection and review. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com back in 1981, i had the american dream, the beautiful wife, the house in the suburbs, and a beautiful 6-year-old son. and one day i went to work, kissed my son good-bye and never saw him again. in two weeks, i became the parent of a murdered child, and i'll always be the parent of a murdered child. i still have the heartache. i still have the rage. i waited years for justice. i know what it's like to be there waiting for some answers. and over those years, i learned how to do one thing really well,