surfers are a tight crew. when one dies, they gather for what's called a paddle-out ceremony. and this was chris's crew. friends from high school, work, family gathered at the beach on the central coast where chris and paul grew up. there were flowers and memories, laughter, tears. chris smith may be buried somewhere in the great, big desert, but this is where his spirit lives on, in the crashing surf he loved. red flags ever pop up that maybe there was some evidence that was being hidden? certainly, certainly. you smelled a rat. yes. andrea canning: secrets, lies, corruption. the biggest part of this problem is the abuse of power.

they've destroyed lives. it shocks the conscience. andrea canning: inside the scandal that shook the city of philadelphia, a stunning pattern of misconduct exposed in a 30-year-old case. the little girl's body was found in this tv box. the killer is still at large tonight. this is a little girl taken off her neighborhood block. andrea canning: the haunting mystery of barbara jean horn. there was no justice. we need to find out who did this. lester holt: did you feel like you were lifting the lid on something much bigger? yeah. it was even worse than i thought it was, what they were hiding and what they knew. hello, and welcome to "dateline." four-year-old barbara jean horn was abducted while playing near her philadelphia home. her body was discovered within hours. police immediately launched a hunt for her killer.

but years passed before a suspect confessed. even then, the case was far from over. decades later, an investigation would reveal abuses of power deep inside philadelphia's legal system from the homicide unit to the prosecutor's office. here's lester holt with "the investigation." lester holt: when sharon fahy was 21 years old, she lived in northeast philadelphia, and worked at a department store. but her greatest dream was to have a daughter. sharon fahy: i only had a girl's name picked out. that's all i ever wanted, was children. lester holt: shortly before sharon gave birth, john fahy entered her life, and he became barbara jean horn's stepfather. did you consider her your daughter? well, yes. she was my daughter. i raised her as my own.

the sweetest little girl that ever walked the face of the earth. she was, she was a sweetheart. he was happy to be her stepfather. he would take care of her. lester holt: in fact, john was the one who mostly stayed home with barbara jean, while sharon worked. july 12, 1988 was one of those days. i know this isn't easy, but can you tell me how that day began? what was typical in your life then? i got up in the morning, got ready for work, kissed barbara jean goodbye. sharon was at work. i was up with barbara jean in the morning. i fed her her breakfast, we played around in the house a little bit. lester holt: john says he relives the details of that summer day in a never-ending loop, even now. john fahy: i was in the house cleaning the refrigerator, and barbra jean had come in and asked if she could help. and i said, that's ok, sweetie,

you know, you can go outside and just go outside and play. and you know, she hadn't come in for a little while, so i went out to check on her. and i saw her toys on the sidewalk. i went, something's wrong. lester holt: john says he thought barbara jean had simply wandered off. he called for her. no answer. he began knocking on neighbors' doors. no one knew where the little girl was. john fahy: i called sharon, i said, you need to come home, i can't find barbara jean. at what point did you call police? i didn't call the police. i thought she would be right here. she's here somewhere. lester holt: tragically, she was. just a couple of hours later, a neighbor made the grim discovery. reporter: the baby's lifeless body was found inside this cardboard television box. lester holt: a detective broke the news to the fahys. john fahy: they said that they found barbara jean and that she was dead, and then he

accused me of murdering her. just like that, accused you. john fahy: just like that. it was horrible. lester holt: but not a surprise. he'd been home alone with barbara jean all morning, and hadn't called 911 to report her missing. while police accused john, they did not arrest him, and continued to investigate. they quickly found five eyewitnesses who'd seen a man lugging the cardboard box. he walked across st. vincent street, set the box down, as if to catch his breath, because it seemed like it was heavy. lester holt: a sketch of the suspect was made. a white male, 5' 6" to 5' 8" 160 to 180 pounds, about 30 years old. this is a composite sketch of the guy that's wanted for yesterday's murder of that little girl. the neighborhood has been saturated with police all day and all night, passing out the composite drawing of the suspect. lester holt: dozens of detectives search for leads, as barbara jean's murder gripped the city for days.

then weeks. it even got national attention. hundreds of tips poured in. tom lowenstein: they got so many calls about one guy, they followed him for six months. lester holt: when journalist tom lowenstein began investigating barbara jean's murder, he had no idea he would still be at it 20 years later. tom lowenstein: there was another suspect who had been accused of a murder of another little girl about a mile away. they showed his picture to one of the eyewitnesses. one of the eyewitnesses picked him out. lester holt: but there wasn't enough evidence to make any arrests, and the case went cold. was it frustration for you and sharon that all this time had gone by and they still couldn't find the perpetrator? john fahy: yes. we were calling all the time. lester holt: four years later, detective marty devlin and his partner took over the case. devlin, who was known as "detective perfect"

for his uncanny ability to crack the toughest cases, quickly arrived at an old suspicion, this time about both parents. sharon fahy: they said that i knew that john did it, and that i was protecting him. and i said, i know he didn't do it. i would have already murdered him if i thought he did. i said, you guys are no closer to solving this. you were angry. i was pissed. i was pissed. you would think that after four years, there was some kind of progress. and there didn't seem to be any. lester holt: but two months later, that suddenly changed, when the detectives zeroed in on a new suspect, one whose name had never come up before. when you heard walter ogrod, what were you thinking? who the hell's walter ogrod?

andrea canning: coming up-- are you innocent? andrea canning: --an arrest. heartbreaking. i hated him. the only thing i could think of, was getting my hands around his throat. andrea canning: who was barbara jean's killer? tom lowenstein: they felt that barbara jean must have been killed on the block very near to where she lived. andrea canning: the search for an answer would uncover some long-buried secrets. lester holt: you're looking at the actions of the prosecutor or the police? both. the biggest part of this problem is not just innocent mistakes. the biggest part of this problem is the abuse of power. andrea canning: when "dateline" continues. - bye, bye cough. - later chest congestion. hello 12 hours of relief. 12 hours!! not coughing? hashtag still not coughing?! mucinex dm gives you 12 hours of relief from chest congestion and any type of cough, day or night. mucinex dm. it's comeback season. why just give a gift, when you can give a gift with meaning? shutterfly, make something that means

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john fahy: to think that somebody would just purposely kill your child, don't make sense. (tearfully) just don't make sense. the killing of four-year-old barbara jean-- lester holt: when detectives marty devlin and his partner took over the barbara jean horn case in 1992, they decided to go back to square one. tom lowenstein: they felt that barbara jean must have been killed on the block very near to where she lived. reporter: police arrived. tom lowenstein: and they decided to recanvass it. lester holt: none of the neighbors had any new information, but the detectives learned that the man who lived across the street had moved across town the year after the crime. his name was walter ogrod, a single, 27-year-old philadelphia native, who worked as an overnight bakery

truck driver. they called him up and they asked him to come in as a witness. they said, we're just talking to people in the neighborhood. and he said, all right. and he went in. told me he was going to go see the philadelphia police about the murder. lester holt: ogrod's friend, steve mulvey, vividly remembers speaking with him that day. i said, you shouldn't go down there without a lawyer. i expressed that numerous times, maybe three or four times. ogrod said he had nothing to hide, and drove himself to police headquarters, where he told the detectives he had no idea what happened to the little girl. but he also explained that he knew who barbara jean was, because of his housemates, the greens. tom lowenstein: he had asked these people to move into his house to help pay the rent. and the greens had two children, one of whom, charliebird, was barbara jean's best friend. lester holt: ogrod told detective devlin the same thing he told an officer

hours after the murder. barbara jean had come to his front door looking for charliebird a few hours before she went missing. it was a detail that devlin didn't believe was a coincidence. he accused ogrod of lying. that's when devlin said ogrod began to sob, and a confession came pouring out. tom lowenstein: walter's confession was that the little girl showed up at his house in the afternoon looking for her friend. he grabbed her, took her in the basement. lester holt: according to the confession, transcribed by detective devlin, ogrod lured barbara jean into his basement to play doctor. and when the little girl screamed, he hit her over the head with a weight machine pull down bar. then he found a box outside and disposed of her body. about six hours after the interrogation began, ogrod signed each sheet of a 16-page statement. reporter: --has been ogrod's confession to beating--

lester holt: and he was arrested for first degree murder and sexual assault. heidi guhl: the news came on, and they were saying that they had solved barbara jean horn's murder. i was like, oh, wow, they finally caught the guy. lester holt: heidi guhl has known ogrod since they were teenagers. heidi guhl: next thing i know, they're flashing a picture of walt on the screen. are you innocent? and walt's in handcuffs. did you want to confess? heidi guhl: walt's just not a violent person. he's like a gentle giant. he would never hurt anyone. lester holt: but to john and sharon fahy, ogrod was the face of pure evil. what was it like to read those words, to read that confession that he made? heartbreaking. i hated him. lester holt: it was hardly an open and shut case. ogrod had no criminal record, no physical evidence linked him to the crime. he didn't resemble the sketch. he wasn't identified by a single eyewitness.

and he'd immediately recanted his confession. the prosecution clearly-- lester holt: still, in 1993, ogrod stood trial for murder. prosecutors were seeking the death penalty. he let that poor little baby just lie there and die, and then put her out in the trash. if that's not intent to kill, maybe i haven't seen it yet. lester holt: the prosecution's case rested entirely on the confession. ogrod took the stand in his own defense. he testified the detectives had rung a false confession out of him. he makes the case that that confession was forced out of him, that he was coerced. yes. lester holt: how did you feel to hear him describe that story? angry. i sat in that trial, and the only thing i could think of was getting my hands around his throat. lester holt: the jury got the case, and returned with a verdict. and when it did, john fahy would

be the one led out of the courtroom in handcuffs. a stunning announcement from the jury box leaves both sides in disbelief. coming up-- tom lowenstein: the foreman stood up and said, yes, we've reached a verdict, and literally opened his mouth to start reading it, when one juror stood up and said, i don't know how i feel about this. [indistinct yelling] andrea canning: a crazy confrontation in that courtroom. john fahy: there is no justice in a murder. you're never going to find justice, ever. walter ogrod's life doesn't equal barbara jean's life. andrea canning: when "dateline" continues. home inspectors, general contractors, roofers. all kinds of pros recommend leaffilter. why? it's engineered for performance. because with leaffilter's patented filter technology, there's no gaps, no openings, no place for debris to get in at all. leaffilter is a permanent solution we install on your existing gutters. you'll never have to climb a ladder to clean out your gutters again.

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sharon fahy: i just wanted him to be locked away forever. lester holt: sharon and john fahy had prayed that the jury would find walter ogrod guilty, even though they knew nothing could bring back their little girl. john fahy: there is no justice in the murder. there is no justice. you're never going to find justice, ever. walter ogrod's life doesn't equal barbara jean's life. lester holt: but no one was prepared for what happened after the jury announced it reached a verdict. journalist tom lowenstein wasn't in the courtroom, but says the transcript reads like a hollywood drama. tom lowenstein: the jury came in and they sat down. the question still remains, what was the verdict of-- lester holt: the jury had voted unanimously,

and signed the verdict form, not guilty. walter ogrod was moments away from going home. tom lowenstein: and the foreman stood up and said, yes, we've reached a verdict, and literally opened his mouth to start reading it, when one juror stood up and said, i don't know how i feel about this. and i knew i was right-- lester holt: then that juror made a jaw-dropping announcement. i was not going to let him go. lester holt: he'd changed his mind. one juror suddenly said, he did not agree with that verdict. lester holt: the judge immediately declared a mistrial. walter ogrod, not guilty. the victim's stepfather lunged in ogrod's direction, setting off a wild confrontation. [indistinct yelling] tom lowenstein: john fahy launched himself out of his seat, over the barrier, got his hands very nearly around walter's throat. and the next thing i know, i was being handcuffed. court officers hustled out with john fahy. other officers, their hands on their guns, rushed ogrod from court. lester holt: john was never charged, and ogrod was immediately sent back to jail to await another trial.

it took three years. in 1996, ogrod stood trial for a second time. the first trial ended in a hung jury. lester holt: this time, a different prosecutor, named judy rubino, was in charge. and two weeks before trial, she dropped a bombshell. here comes judy rubino to say that, oh, walter has confessed in jail. there's another confession. lester holt: a jailhouse snitch had come forward to say ogrod had admitted again, that he killed barbara jean. but the story the snitch told went even further, about why ogrod committed the crime. tom lowenstein: the story was, that walter ogrod had fallen in love with barbara jean's mother, sharon, who lived across the street. so walter decided that if he murdered barbara jean, the police would blame john fahy. and when john fahy was taken away, sharon would be so upset and distraught, she would come to walter. then that would be it, they would fall in love. lester holt: prosecutor rubino argued that this delusional fantasy was the true motive.

details, rubino said, that ogrod didn't originally share with detectives. judy rubino: he was not telling the police the entire truth. he was trying to make it as good for himself as he could. and when he was in the prison, he wasn't doing that. and he was sort of bragging. lester holt: ogrod's lawyer said both confessions, which didn't match each other, were suspicious. i think it's frightening when you have two opposing contradictory versions, especially from a jailhouse snitch, who just coincidentally happens to come out of nowhere. tom lowenstein: walter's lawyer's theory was, that since the two stories that the two trials are so diametrically opposed, that's reasonable doubt. a possible death sentence-- lester holt: but it didn't work. a jury found him guilty. lester holt: this jury found ogrod guilty, and sentenced him to death. it took eight years and two juries to convict 31-year-old walter ogrod of murder. judy rubino: if one jury's stupid, doesn't mean then the next one has to be. he's an animal. he's got no remorse for what he's done at all.

i'm just glad that he'll be in jail and he won't get out to hurt another child. lester holt: at last, the fahys' had the verdict they'd hoped for. john fahy: was held responsible. all that mattered was, that he never get the opportunity to do it again. i wanted him dead, i did. lester holt: but tom lowenstein was about to embark on his own investigation into barbara jean horne's murder. and he would soon be faced with a difficult question. what would sharon and john think if it turned out neither jury had heard the real story? doubts surface, as lowenstein dives deeper into the case. was the wrong man behind bars? coming up, that prison snitch who helped secure the verdict. someone was about to snitch on him. tom lowenstein: and i was like, all right, well, do you think he lied about walter ogrod? and she said, yeah, i know he did. and i said, how do you know he did? and she said, because i helped him do it. phyllis hall: didn't bother john at all, putting someone on death row, because

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hi, i'm richard lui with a news update. donald trump tapping loyalist kash patel to service the next fbi director. he still needs to be confirmed by the senate has been a proponent of false claims surrounding the 2020 election. in a statement, quote, it's the honor of a lifetime to be nominated. trump announcing he would impose a 100% tariff on the nation's if the shift away from using the u.s. dollar in trade. the alliance is a coalition of non-western countries have formed in 2009. for now, back to dateline. i'm andrea canning. after two sensational trials, walter ogrod was sentenced to death for the murder of pre-schooler, barbara jean horn.

he denied killing the little girl, insisting police coerced his confession, and the story told by a jailhouse snitch was a lie. now, an unexpected ally was about to help walter prove his innocence. back to lester holt with "the investigation." lester holt: walter ogrod had been on death row for five years, when he heard from another inmate that journalist tom lowenstein was writing a book about the death penalty. so ogrod sent tom a letter, imploring him to investigate his case. at first, tom had no interest in helping the convicted murderer of a four-year-old. tom lowenstein: i was just like, i can't, i can't do this. the idea that me being in touch with someone who did that might offer them any kind of hope or happiness in their life, was repulsive. if you follow that rule, you're very likely-- lester holt: but it wasn't in tom's dna to turn away. no, next tuesday! lester holt: tom's father, allard lowenstein, was a united states congressman, and a leader in the fight for civil rights.

allard lowenstein: we showed in 1968 not that we couldn't change america through elections, but that we could change america through elections. if a man-- lester holt: he was a tireless campaigner all through tom's childhood. but on march 14, 1980, his campaigns came to an abrupt end. former congressman allard lowenstein was shot five times and critically wounded today in his-- lester holt: allard lowenstein was assassinated by a deranged former student. tom lowenstein: i was 10 years old when my father was murdered. lester holt: how did your father's death affect you as you grew up, and as you became an adult? tom lowenstein: it made me really angry, for a long time. lester holt: tom was devastated by his father's death, but inspired by his example of helping others, and wanted to do the same. he became a writer, focusing on the justice system. so when that letter from walter ogrod showed up,

tom began to learn everything he could about the case. tom lowenstein: he had signed every page of a 16-page confession, and you think, oh, wow, geez, that's damning. and then you read that the first jury voted to acquit him. lester holt: tom spoke with about a dozen people who knew ogrod before he was arrested. none believed he'd committed the crime. heidi guhl: there's no evidence connecting him to it. lester holt: many, like heidi guhl, told tom if anyone could be easily manipulated into confessing, it was her friend, walter. heidi guhl: you could tell that he was a little bit different, like socially awkward. lester holt: tom decided he'd heard enough doubt that he needed to meet ogrod himself. what were your initial impressions of him? it was a tiny bit like talking to rain man. you know, he couldn't express feelings to me, but he knew all the facts.

and i thought, he's like the asperger's kids that my friend works with. lester holt: for tom, meeting ogrod in person changed everything. because the man sitting across from him seemed incapable of conveying the words and emotions that detective devlin claimed he did in the confession. that's supposedly verbatim admission-- yeah. --just didn't match up with the guy you had been-- tom lowenstein: yeah. --face to face with. yeah. the story that the detectives tell about walter's confession, is that they never interrupted him. he just poured out his heart to them and started crying and said to them, officers, give me a moment, you don't know how hard this is for me, i never meant to kill that little girl. for me, that was the moment it clicked that not only had they dictated a story to walter, they had dictated a frame of mind, that he's not capable of. lester holt: but remember, prosecutors alleged ogrod hadn't confessed only to detectives, but also to a prison snitch. tom learned the snitch was so prolific, he had a nickname. tom lowenstein: the snitch was a guy named john hall, who

was known as the monsignor, because he'd heard more confessions than a priest. lester holt: john hall was a career criminal, who had been used as a witness by prosecutors in the philadelphia area in at least a dozen murder trials, often receiving leniency in exchange for his testimony. tom lowenstein: he just had this knack for getting put next to defendants in old homicide cases, where the da didn't have enough evidence. and somehow, miraculously, every time that happened, john would produce a confession from that person, and he would give them convictions. lester holt: tom called hall's house, and his wife answered. tom lowenstein: and i thought, she's not going to talk to me, right. lester holt: wrong. not only did she talk, she could not have been more blunt. tom lowenstein: i said, i'm calling about john hall. and she said, yeah, he lied in 20 or 30 cases. and i was like, all right, well, do you think he lied about walter ogrod? and she said, yeah, i know he did. and i said, how do you know he did? and she said, because i helped him do it. lester holt: phyllis hall said her husband, who

has since passed away, had his snitching schemes down to a science. phyllis hall: it didn't bother john at all putting someone on death row, because of what he got out of it. lester holt: shortly before ogrod's second trial, hall was moved to the same cell block. at the time, he was facing a 50-year sentence for assaulting a police officer. days after meeting ogrod, hall asked his wife to find information about barbara jean horn's murder. phyllis hall: i went to the library in philadelphia, and they have all the newspapers, so i would get him copies. lester holt: hall then used those articles to learn about the case, so he could create a confession that sounded plausible. tom lowenstein: i had the notes that he made of the ogrod case. i had it all right in front of me. how he made it up, i found a library print-out of a newspaper article about the barbara jean horne case. lester holt: hall also shared the fabricated story with another snitch.

phyllis hall: he gave the story to another inmate, jay wolchansky, like he got the story from walter, but walter and jay never communicated together. lester holt: both snitches went to prosecutors claiming they each heard the same story from ogrod, but only wolchansky testified. hall wrote to his wife that prosecutors told him they'd been using him too much. now, all these years later, tom was convinced ogrod had been railroaded by both police and prosecutors, which made what he had to do next especially difficult. you took your suspicions to barbara jean's family. tom lowenstein: yeah. from the beginning, that was always looming for me. if i had shown up at my door asking about my dad, i would have slammed the door and told me to get lost. i wouldn't have talked to someone about the guy who killed my dad. lester holt: but sharon and john agreed to hear him out. sharon fahy: john and i met with him, and he told us a lot of the different things that were not right, he felt.

he claims that walter's innocent and he got a bad deal, and the police did it on purpose. it was accidental that they coerced him, whatever. i've never wavered on walter's guilt, never. lester holt: tom hadn't convinced the fahys, but his next stop would be an even tougher audience, the philadelphia district attorney's office. andrea canning: coming up. phyllis hall: frankly, it shocked me, and i think it shocked some other people as to some of the evidence that was in that file that was not turned over. andrea canning: a new legal battle begins. walter ogrod is about to fight for justice. did you kill barbara jean horn? andrea canning: when "dateline" continues. billy: one second, grandma. this guy is going to buy my car. okay? grandma: you need carvana... entering plate number... grandma: no accidents, right? billy: no. grandma: generating offer... carvana can pick it up tomorrow!

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lester holt: after meeting walter ogrod, tom lowenstein was convinced that he was an innocent man. so lowenstein contacted the philadelphia da's office and told them what he'd found. he says, they didn't seem interested. tom lowenstein: i had hard evidence, and it just, it got no substantive response at all. lester holt: ogrod was arrested in 1992 when he was 27 years old. all right, that's good. lester holt: we sat down with him when he was 55. did you kill barbara jean horn? no, i did not. i did not do anything to that child at all. did it shake you up a little bit that a child had been

killed in your neighborhood? it shook everyone up, because in that neighborhood, you could just basically still have your doors open. a long time went by, and then 1992, they wanted to talk to you. yes. they stopped by my home in my apartment. i wasn't there, so they gave a card to my landlord. lester holt: when ogrod came home from working an overnight shift, he'd been awake 30 hours, but still agreed to come to the precinct for an interview. and they said, we believe that you killed her, you blocking it in your mind. and we're going to help you get out of your memories. and we don't care if it takes all night and the next day. what was your reaction? yeah, i tried to get out many times. they locked the door, sometimes they will handcuff me to the chair. did you ask for a lawyer at some point? yes. and they said, we'll get one when we're done. lester holt: ogrod says detective devlin took the lead, and fed him details of the crime. walter ogrod: they just kept on taking pictures of barbara jean's body and putting them right in my face like so,

and said, remember, this is what you did, this is what you did. you killed a child. we're going to do everything we can to help you remember it. and he said, this is what-- you went this way and you went here. now i need you to do exactly what i just showed you, so i can say you did it. and devlin was the one creating everything. and you're going along with this. i'm like, out of it. i'm like, what's going on around here? lester holt: he says he repeated what devlin wanted him to say, and then signed the confession, because he was exhausted and afraid. by the time he was put in a holding cell, he'd already recanted, but it was too late. did you realize what had just happened? when i start getting like a little more conscious and all, i mean, yeah. i started, like, what the hell did i just do. lester holt: but remember, years later, prosecutors claimed ogrod had confessed again to that jailhouse snitch. what was it like to hear in court this story that you had somehow killed barbara jean to get close to her mom? i'm like, where the hell did they come up with this crap?

lester holt: but it was enough to convince the jury that ogrod was guilty and deserved to die. did you look at the jury? yeah. like they, stone-faced, so like, yeah, we want to just get rid of you. lester holt: ogrod was shipped off to death row. five years later, he met tom lowenstein. he just had to dig and dig. he was relentless. lester holt: in 2004, tom wrote a lengthy two-part series for philadelphia's city paper, that included everything he'd learned about ogrod's case. a few months later, a team of attorneys, led by jim rollins, took on that case pro bono. phyllis hall: we had the benefit of a good bit of journalistic work that had been done by tom lowenstein. lester holt: but to build a strong argument for an appeal, rollins and his team would need to do their own investigation. there was no physical evidence tying mr. ogrod to this crime.

and how he has presented himself throughout, was, i am innocent. i did not commit this crime. lester holt: it took them seven years, but by 2011, they'd amassed thousands of pages undermining the prosecutor's case, including affidavits from snitch, john hall, and his wife, phyllis, laying out the scheme against ogrod. how hopeful were you at that moment? we were hopeful, because we believed there were more than sufficient grounds in that petition for some court to grant relief. lester holt: but prosecutors vigorously defended their conviction. years passed, while ogrod remained on death row. as the convicted killer of a four-year-old girl, he says he was often beaten by both inmates and officers. by now, tom had been hard at work on a book about ogrod's case, and it was published in 2017, the same year that the city elected a new district

attorney, larry krasner, a firebrand former civil rights lawyer. on the office of the district attorney of the city of philadelphia. lester holt: krasner immediately poured resources into a conviction integrity unit, to investigate claims of innocence, and hired patricia cummings to run it. ogrod's case was among the first her team reviewed. we started that endeavor by hiring experts that had no affiliation with the case. we just said, here, take a look at what we've got. tell us what barbara jean can tell us about how she died. lester holt: according to the confession ogrod hit the little girl over the head with a weight bar. at trial, prosecutors argued those blows were the cause of barbara jean's death. did the science support that? the science did not support it. lester holt: and she says the original prosecutors should have known it. we learned that the prosecution actually

had evidence from an expert back at the time of trial that suggested that barbara jean did not die of the injuries to her head, which is what the jury heard. instead, one of the experts said that the likely cause of death was asphyxia. lester holt: that was just the beginning. her team determined the jury was given false, unreliable, and incomplete evidence. and even worse, prosecutors failed to disclose evidence favorable to ogrod, including a personality profile from their own experts, concluding ogrod is a person who is easily manipulated. jim rollins: frankly, it shocked me, and i think it shocked some other people as to some of the evidence that was in that file that was not turned over. lester holt: when i spoke with cummings in the spring of 2020, she told me it was time to act. so what are you asking the court to do? we are asking the court to vacate the conviction, because we believe

that the conviction as it stands, is a gross miscarriage of justice. we could say here-- lester holt: it's an extraordinary admission, rarely heard from a prosecutor. in a case where you say, we got it wrong, and not only did we get it wrong, we think this person is innocent, that ought to concern, scare anybody. lester holt: but would it be enough to free walter ogrod? andrea canning: coming up. i found another case where another man is claiming that he is innocent. andrea canning: a detective under fire. tom lowenstein: detective marty devlin was known in the department as the golden marty and detective perfect. we put his story to the test. are you ready, mr. devlin? yes. andrea canning: and behind bars, walter ogrod's life is in danger. i said, you're going to kill him before he gets out. you're visibly angry now. i was visibly angry then, and i'm still angry now. andrea canning: when "dateline" continues.

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welcome back. it was an astonishing request. two decades after walter ogrod was sentenced to death for the murder of barbara jean horn, the philadelphia da's office asked the court to throw out his conviction. according to investigators, the original case against him was riddled with lies. it looked like walter might soon be free.

but would he live to see the day? here's lester holt with the conclusion of "the investigation." lester holt: walter ogrod road to death row began in an interrogation room with detective marty devlin. tom lowenstein: detective marty devlin was known in the department as the golden marty and detective perfect. lester holt: but ogrod is far from the only one to allege that detective perfect didn't always play by the book. the first time i heard about walter ogrod's case was when i was working on another wrongful conviction case involving the philadelphia police department from the exact same time period. lester holt: amelia green is a civil rights attorney. amelia green: i thought, what mr. ogrod is saying happened to him, is exactly what happened to my client. lester holt: the year ogrod's arrest, green's client, tony wright, also signed a confession to murder, and also insisted it was coerced.

and just like ogrod, the person who transcribed that confession was detective marty devlin. amelia green: he said that mr. wright's confession was a straight up transcription of what mr. wright said, just as if it was being tape recorded. lester holt: dna proved wright was innocent. and in 2016, he was exonerated. he filed a civil lawsuit, which compelled devlin to sit for a videotaped deposition. amelia green: and at that deposition, we put his story to the test. are you ready, mr. devlin? yes. lester holt: as another detective read wright's confession, devlin was asked to transcribe it, just like he said happened in the interrogation room. tony wright: i went over to ms. talley's house on 9th street. way too fast. tony wright: her front door. way too fast. amelia green: he could barely keep up. he couldn't keep pace at all. and at a certain point, he just gave up. tony wright: i like, just barged into her house. amelia green: it's, it's way too fast. it's just way too fast.

it just corroborates that the confession was completely fabricated. lester holt: devlin declined our request for an interview. in 2018, tony wright settled with the city, which admitted no wrongdoing, for nearly $10 million. amelia green: i kept looking into devlin, and i found another case from the exact same time period where another man is claiming that he is innocent. lester holt: in fact, devlin worked several other cases, along with other detectives and prosecutors, where false statements sent innocent people to prison, convictions that have been overturned. and on august 13, 2021, marty devlin and two other former homicide detectives were indicted by a philadelphia grand jury, accused of making their own false statements in the tony wright case. martin devlin is charged with two counts of perjury and two counts of false swearing for false testimony. lester holt: in a statement, devlin's attorney said he is innocent, and that devlin has spent 50 years fighting for justice

for victims of crime. you're looking through a keyhole at a much bigger picture. this is a slice of a much bigger problem. lester holt: district attorney larry krasner says the tony wright case is hardly unique. that a culture of corruption has existed for decades. between 2019 and 2022, his conviction integrity unit has helped free 28 people, all victims of official misconduct. his office is investigating dozens of other cases. you're looking at the actions of the prosecutor, or the police? larry krasner: both. the biggest part of this problem is not just innocent mistakes. the biggest part of this problem is the abuse of power. lester holt: in february 2020, krasner's office, together with defense attorneys, did something rarely seen. they filed a joint motion, asking the court to vacate ogrod's conviction. tom lowenstein: it's unbelievable. they came up with 160 stipulations with the defense of things that had gone wrong.

lester holt: for nearly 30 years, sharon fahy hated ogrod. but after meeting with prosecutors from the conviction integrity unit, she became furious with the people who put him away, and heartsick for the man she now believes is innocent. this is a man you wanted to die, and now you're saying you want him free. yes. once i had all the facts, i, in my heart, believe that he is the wrong man and he did not do this. lester holt: sharon and john are now divorced, in large part because of the stress and sadness of barbara jean's murder. what do you make of the fact that the prosecutor, the defense, and sharon, all believe that walter ogrod is innocent? maybe he is. maybe he isn't. i don't know. lester holt: but sharon took it upon herself to write a letter to the judge, asking for ogrod's release. i didn't want him to die behind bars.

lester holt: but suddenly, that was a real possibility. covid-19 was rapidly spreading inside the prison, and ogrod began showing symptoms. jim rollins filed an emergency motion demanding ogrod be taken to an outside hospital. a judge granted it. but the prison defied the order. rollins called the facility, livid. jim rollins: i said, you got to understand, this guy is getting out, and you're going to kill him before he gets out. get him treated. you're visibly angry now. i was visibly angry then, and, and i'm still angry now. lester holt: as the weeks passed, ogrod began to recover, and called me from prison. walter ogrod: my lungs felt like breathing through a wet sponge. lester holt: on june 5, 2020, after 28 years behind bars, walter ogrod finally had his day in court.

after an extraordinary effort by the da's office, his legal team, and tom lowenstein, he heard the words he'd longed for. [cheering] the judge vacated his conviction. his friends and family gathered in a parking lot near the prison. [cheering] i was sitting there like, pinch me, because is this really happening? he's really getting out today? i think i'm like in a state of shock. [cheering] walter ogrod: i'm so hyped up now. i mean, i can feel the pulse and my heart, everything racing right now. and it's been like that since i walked out, so it's going to take a while. what do you hope for him now? i just want him to be happy. lester holt: walter ogrod filed a civil suit against the city of philadelphia and several police officers, including detective devlin. in 2023, the parties settled for a total of $9.1 million, though the city did not admit to any wrongdoing.

meanwhile, police have reopened the investigation into barbara jean's murder. tom lowenstein has investigated the little girl's case longer than anyone. it's a journey he's grateful he took. when walt got out on june 5th, you know, there is that sense of like my dad saying, that notion of being useful and doing something useful in life. and i definitely that day felt useful. that's all for this edition of "dateline." i'm andrea canning. thank you for watching. hello, i'm craig melvin, and this is "dateline." hello, i'm craig melvin, ayou could look at this way and say this is a person who ran away. the mystery had this sort of sinister side to it.