#456 Lauren Bright Pacheco with Frank Benitez
Listen now
Description
On April 28th, 1989, 18-year-old Francisco Benitez was having a normal day. He picked up his paycheck, got a haircut, then went to his friend’s house to watch Beetlejuice on HBO. That same night two teenage boys were shot and killed. An eyewitness said as the shooter ran from the scene, she noticed that he had a fresh haircut. Despite no other similarities between Frank and her description of the shooter, not to mention no physical evidence, Frank was ultimately convicted of the crimes and sentenced to life without parole. The prison environment was violent and dangerous, Frank says he often wondered “is this the day that I’m going to die in prison?” But his mother Betty was steadfast in her love and her belief in Frank’s innocence. She told him over and over to never give up, even after 34 years, to keep believing that a brighter day is coming. To learn more and get involved, visit: Francisco Benitez Go Fund Me: https://www.gofundme.com/f/innocent-man-exonerated-after-34-years University of Chicago Law School Exoneration Project: https://www.law.uchicago.edu/clinics/exoneration Loevy & Loevy Civil Rights Law Firm: https://www.loevy.com/  Wrongful Conviction with Lauren Bright Pacheco is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
More Episodes
Alan Beaman was 21 years old when his life was forever altered. Going into his senior year in college, he suddenly found himself ensnared in the Normal, IL murder investigation of his former girlfriend, Jennifer Lockmiller. Despite a total lack of evidence, Alan was arrested just weeks before his...
Published 06/24/24
Shortly before 1 a.m. on September 1, 1994, a car pulled up in front of an apartment building in Chicago, IL and a passenger fired several gunshots at a group of people, killing two and injuring a third. Notorious police detective Reynaldo Guevara was assigned the case and claimed that surviving...
Published 06/20/24
Published 06/20/24