as our returning champion. tasha, thank you so much for being today's super fan, (audience cheers) and you too can become a "person, place or thing" superfan by going to the website below, personplaceorthingontv.com/superfan. constance, take us out tonight. - and this person wants you to come back and watch me win tomorrow. - yeah, she does. woo. (audience applauds) (exciting music) (gentle music) i'm anna garcia. right now on true crime news . he spent three decades in prison , convicted of a brutal attack that left a mom dead and her kids fighting for life. there is no way it could be anybody but rodney. but he's always sworn he was innocent. he never in my life could i

or would i harm a child. >> no way. >> after an investigation of the case the main witness makes a life changing realization. >> rodney did not kill my mom. he did not try to kill rene and i. rodney was never in my house that night. >> the person who helped send rodney lincoln to prison now fights for his freedom. i'm so sorry. yeah . >> can you forgive me? >> oh , absolutely. there's nothing to forgive. >> the extraordinary turn of events that changed everything . why? she recanted her story and who she now thinks killed her mother. your daily source for true crime starts right now. welcome to true crime news and happy thanksgiving. on a day like today, many are sharing stories of gratitude for rodney

lincoln and his daughter, kate. today must be especially meaningful. kate was just a child when her father was sent to prison, convicted of a brutal murder he didn't commit. it would take 36 years and some help from our own producers before rodney would finally walk free. and we are grateful he did . >> and i was just like, this is so unfair. my mom, she didn't deserve this. what did we do? you know. >> no one deserved to die like melissa. deborah's mother, joanne tate , stabbed sexually assaulted with a broom handle and stomped to death by a stranger. her two girls seven year old melissa and four year old renee, watched nearby. then they see the monster approach their beds , holding the same knife used to murder their mother, attacking them in ways too brutal to describe on television

. >> i remember his whiskers up against my face because he kept trying to kiss me, even though you knew he was enjoying hurting me. his expression was so blank. i see him stomping on the back of my mom's head. i opened my eyes and i could see him. he was sitting at the end of my mom and watching tv, and he was just. he was just so calm. he was waiting for us to die. all of us. >> miraculously, both children survived an obvious psychopathic predator. when melissa recovered enough to serve as witness. homicide detectives show the seven year old two suspects a family member and one of her mother's boyfriends, a local bartender named rodney lincoln . >> there is no way it could be anybody

but rodney. no way. none. i know he knows . god knows rodney. >> lincoln was soon behind bars . the case hinged on two pieces of evidence. melissa's testimony and a lone pubic hair found at the crime scene in an era before dna testing. rodney lincoln is sentenced to two life terms plus 15 years. but rodney's daughter kate never believed her father was capable of such a heinous attack. >> my dad absolutely did not kill joanne tate. he did not attack those children. he's innocent. >> relentless. kaye worked for almost 35 years to clear her father's name, pushing for dna tests and floating the theory that a saint louis area convicted serial killer named tommy lynn cells may have been responsible for joanne tate's murder. cells was exactly the same kind of psychopath melissa

described here. >> and then she, like, jumped back. and then i . >> and rodney lincoln always denied the charges against him. >> never in my life could i or would i harm a child. no way . >> then in 2010, dna tests of the hair found at the crime scene did not match rodney. the only piece of evidence keeping him behind bars was melissa's testimony. and when melissa saw a mugshot of serial killer tommy lynn sells in a broadcast about rodney's case, something extraordinary happened . >> as soon as i saw it i thought i was going to vomit. i felt like i had to hide that i was in danger at that moment. like he was going to hurt me

. his hair. it was. it was . it just took me to this very dark place. i just knew that i had to look back. really look at my memory of what happened in that moment. >> melissa has an epiphany. >> rodney did not kill my mom. he did not try to kill rene. and rodney was never in my house. that night . never. originally, i had the right information, and i think that over time i started to mix up the details of tommy and rodney. suddenly, i was aware that the bad man was rodneyhe was already in that system and it was easy. they were trying to get someone behind bars. >> grief, guilt and remorse pushed melissa to take a leap of faith. she reached out to rodney's daughter, kate, and offered her support to

help clear rodney's name. >> i was crying so hard i couldn't talk. she's like, melissa, don't be scared. and she cried and she was so thankful. this is my recanting of my prior testimony. this is me saying what was done to this man was wrong. no matter what it cost me, i'm dedicated to getting him out of there. rodney does not deserve to be there. >> and melissa's change of heart was something she felt her murdered mother would approve of. >> i, for the first time in 34 years, have stillness and peace. i feel my mom with me. she's saying finally. this is right. everything is right, i was wrong, and now i can help him walk free. >> that's when melissa flew back to saint louis. nervous. but hopeful about freeing the man she once helped put behind bars. >> i got on a plane today with the intention to make things right here in saint louis, and part of it was

getting to talk to the daughter of the man that i wrongfully imprisoned. >> would that be enough to set rodney free ? when we come back melissa sneaks behind bars. what happens next? it is a surprise moment that you shouldn't miss. >> no one is ever prepared to care for an aging parent. when my mom needed help, i couldn't have done it without care . will. becoming a caregiver was an additional expense. i wasn't prepared for, and i struggled to find everything she needed at the store. then i found corelle.com with amazing prices and fast free shipping. carol makes it easy to find everything we need at carewell. i can find adult diapers, pads , even my mom's nutrition shakes all at a great price. plus it's delivered right to my door. between taking care of mom, work and kids, i have a lot on my plate. with carol's auto ship, i can get everything delivered right on our schedule. it's one less thing to think about. plus, with auto ship, i

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>> we're back with the story of rodney lincoln. for over 30 years, he proclaimed his innocence while he sat behind bars, convicted of a horrific murder. but two incredible women, his daughter and the witness who helped send him to prison worked together to prove that he wasn't the killer . >> we can't get back what we've lost, but we can certainly make something new and beautiful together. >> melissa deboer is returning to saint louis for the first time in years to recant the testimony that had put rodney lincoln behind bars. >> knock knock. oh my god. >> hey ! >> oh my goodness. >> melissa and rodney's daughter kate agreed to work together to clear rodney's name. k's says her father bears melissa no ill will. >> he put his head in his hands and he cried for a minute. and then the next thing he wanted to know was, she knows it's not her

fault. please make sure she knows this is not her fault. >> i think you and i and your dad served our own kinds of hell. and i think that it's time for this to end. >> only seven at the time, melissa's testimony was the only piece of evidence the saint louis attorney's office had at trial connecting rodney to the murder of her mother after seeing an episode of crime watch daily about serial killer tommy lynn sells. melissa realized she framed the wrong man as a child. melissa heads back to the attorney's office to take back what she said in court and say it was all a mistake. >> colón a little scared right now. if i'm doing the right thing . hi beautiful. >> with kaye there as support melissa delivers new testimony and the saint louis circuit attorney's office releases this statement. in the last several days, the evidence upholding mr. lincoln's conviction has weakened. while these changed

circumstances do not exonerate mr. lincoln , they do necessitate our review of whether his continued incarceration is appropriate. meanwhile, rodney waits behind bars. >> 33 years, six months, two weeks and one day. but who's counting ? >> it's been a long, long time. >> it hasn't been easy either. >> the hardest part was the first ten years, because of the case that i had involving children and the code in prison is the lowest scum of the earth. it's a child molester . and for ten years i had to fight that. i thought all along that i know i didn't do this. eventually, maybe someone else and rodney

credits melissa for sharing both her realization and the truth. i'm just so grateful that melissa had the courage to do what she did. all she had to do was keep quiet and she stood up and said, i believe it wasn't him. and for that , she will forever have my gratitude. i want to give her a hug and thank her . she saved my life. >> so rodney got that opportunity really ? kiviranta . >> i don't worry

. i'm so sorry. yeah . can you forgive me? >> oh, absolutely. there's nothing to forgive. >> i'm so sorry. i keep remembering , pointing you out in prison. and gordon, it's like . it's like i just, i just i just wonder what you were thinking, you know? and it was like oh my god, i put this man away . >> while rodney has spent three decades of his life wrongly accused, the experience did not bar him from feeling compassion for the little girl who saw her mother murdered and barely survived a serial killer herself. >> i never felt that she said anything that she didn't fully believe , and i think as a child and that

the horror that she had to go through and then to be manipulated and twisted to make it look like it was you and it wasn't. >> i told them all the right things at the beginning. do you remember that? yes. and i did my job as a child, you know. and i don't know how you got there but you don't belong there. and i told them that all that was left for the last legal hurdles to be removed. >> what they told me was it depends on the prosecutor whether they want to cooperate or not. if they do, it'd be quicker if they don't, it'd be longer for rodney in some way . >> it was freeing to just find closure with melissa. >> i've been trying for years to convince everybody i was innocent

. i realize now that there's only one person that has to be convinced , and she just told me that she was. i think that is a gift that i never never , never expected . >> and soon rodney had something to be truly thankful for . the man who had spent 36 years in a prison cell didn't have to wait for prosecutors to render a decision . within short time, missouri's governor commuted rodney's sentence by executive, reuniting him with his daughters . what a truly incredible story and there's something else to be thankful for when we come back. rodney and his daughter ka joioi oioioioin me right here on true crime news next . >> if you have wet amd you never want to lose sight of the

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covering the story of rodney lincoln. he was wrongly convicted of a shocking murder and spent over 30 years in prison. but now he is a free man and he and his incredible daughter kay join me now. rodney, what have you been doing? and filling your time with as a free man? >> just about anything that i want. i'll bunch of great grandchildren. i spend a lot of time with. i'm doing a little advocacy work when i can. >> tell me about your advocacy work, rodney. you're helping others now? >> yeah, i'm working with midwest innocence project and several other groups and advocating for the wrongfully convicted, trying to help those that are left behind me in the same situation that i was in . >> rodney, how is it possible that you can still have so much light within you and try and

help others when such horrible things were done to you? >> by the grace of god. okay . >> what has it been like to have your dad back? >> oh my gosh . sometimes i still pinch myself to make sure it's real. you know, those first few months are just euphoric. you know? you just can't believe it's happening and you're just got all this lost time to catch up on. and then once you settle into a routine, it's like sometimes you just have to remind yourself how blessed you are and how lucky you are that this is actually a thing, that he's here, that you know you can walk in the next room and say, hey dad, what do you want for dinner? instead of waiting for that once every three months? what would you like me to bring you on your food visit? it's a whole different reality than what i was used to, that's for sure. >> rodney was there a time in prison where you just thought you might never get out? >> i think that there were times when i had a little doubt in the back of my mind. i knew

that someday i would be a free man. and sometimes that was all i had to motivate me is knowing that my time was coming. >> i want to talk about your podcast. this is spectacular. the two of you have a podcast called the real killer. what's that process been like? >> it was fun to be a part of but it was also there were some things that were really emotional. you know, it really brought up some of the darkest, deepest days and also, of course some of the most elation that i have felt in my life. >> and what about for you rodney? >> for me, it was trying to figure out what really happened. and when it's all said and done, when i captured all completed at the same place we

was when we started, because we don't know who killed her. it's still a mystery. >> one last question. so now that you are reunited, what are holidays like? >> absolutely outrageously wonderful . >> and rodney, i just have to say thank you so much for dressing up today. you look fabulous. >> well, thank you very much. >> i can onl imagine how much the holidays mean to them. we'll be right back . >> what is circle ? circle is the fuel you need to take flight . circle is the energy that gets you to the next level. circle is what you hope for when life tosses lemons your way. circle available at walmart and circle. >> com audi below the belt. nobody likes that. it's time you discovered looney . whole body deodorant for pits, privates and beyond. lumi was developed by an ob gyn who you know, knows our

body chemistry. it works like magic. you got to go to their website and try it for yourself. >> they are some of the hottest videos on social media. those videos claiming to instantly get rid of bags under your eyes. annette figueroa is here to tell us why she says this one is for real. >> this one is for real. and what it does is it tightens and lifts the appearance of bags underneath your eyes. and not only does it work on the bags, it works on the appearance of crow's feet, fine lines and wrinkles. >> try this thanksgiving for only

>> on the next true crime news the newly married couple vowed till death do us part. but nobody knew it would be just days later. >> i was just shocked. i didn't know what happened. >> the groom goes missing on a hike. the tragic news now turning her dream wedding into a nightmare. >> she says, look, i got this

email, and cody's dead. >> what really happened to her beloved husband? >> she had a story to tell. her story wasn't adding up. >> on the next true crime news. for the latest breaking crime news go to true crime news dot com. watch more exclusive content on our youtube channel listen to our podcast and follow us at my true crime news. that's it for today's true crime news i'm anna garcia. have a happy thanksgiving , everyone and - [narrator] the following "christina across america" program is a paid presentation brought to you by jacuzzi bath remodel, making water feel great for more than 65 years. (transition whooshing) does your bathroom look like this? chipped, dated tiles, ugly stains colors that went out of style years ago. now you can have a fresh new bath or shower