00:00:00
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
00:00:16
seen I received a call from the sheriff's department that there had been a homicide
00:00:28
it was very devastating there wasn't a lot of murders in Washington County everyone knew everyone they all knew
00:00:36
Michael they all went to school with him everyone knew Rita I was really close with my mom
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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
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[Applause] come on murder was as brutal as they come [Music] the First Responders called this crime
00:01:05
scene horrific there's blood all over the room some sort of object was used to hit Rita
00:01:17
at least once Mike finds her body burning on the floor of her room I was scared to death I didn't know what
00:01:24
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
00:01:33
14 years old I was arrested for the murder of my mother would either one of you ever ever think
00:01:40
and be honest with me that he might hurt your mother no I never thought he would
00:01:44
hurt her mom know she's very close with Michael you know he was her baby tell me about December 4th 1998
00:01:56
you remember that evening vividly [Music] I was home and then I see headlights coming down the driveway and it's my mom
00:02:06
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
00:02:11
thing your mom ever said what's the last thing she ever said to me next thing I remember I woke up and I
00:02:18
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
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and I could hear it what could you hear crack Into the Fire [Music] how soon did investigators focus on
00:02:44
Michael I'm immediately immediately he is a suspect from the moment they arrive at the scene they said this kid didn't
00:02:51
act the way they expected he wasn't emotional enough you look like a pretty good suspect you were a person who loved
00:02:59
to set fires you had had arguments with your mother you were having trouble in school
00:03:07
but none of that suggests anything about murder were there any injuries on Michael on your brother none any blood
00:03:14
found on him on his clothing no and no weapon no let me ask you a question what 14 year old kid could
00:03:24
commit a crime that violent and that vicious and not leave any any forensic evidence
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behind whatsoever that's not possible Michael was convicted of murdering the second degree he was sentenced to life
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thank you Michael did you kill your mom nope and there's only one individual that I know
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that hates her that much to do that to her [Music] [Music] thank you [Music] this is where the police family home
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once stood on December 5th 1998 the day Michael polite says he woke up to find his mother's body lying on her bedroom
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floor on fire what I seen was hatred and evil he was 14 years old the individual that did that to my
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mother hated her with everything inside of them Rita police was just 40 when she died
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there's a lot of pictures of us and Mom all these years later Michael's older sisters Crystal and Melanie still have
00:05:22
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
00:05:29
Rita her laugh s laughing smiling Michael and his sisters grew up in the tiny rural community of Hopewell
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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
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bicycles with motorcycles I was happy Michael went by the nickname Bernie back then his middle name is Bernard it's
00:06:00
short for Bernard their parents Edward and Rita got married as teens and Crystal and Melanie say the couple had
00:06:07
their struggles he was very mentally abusive he also cheated on her a lot but she loved him love
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it outweighed any other feelings she ever had eventually though love wasn't enough I
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witnessed violence between the two of them there were allegations of domestic violence on both sides the year before
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the murder there was an incident where police were called Michael told an officer that his dad pushed his mom to
00:06:43
the floor and choked her the couple ultimately divorced in the summer of 1998 after more than 20 years of
00:06:52
marriage the divorce decree cited Edward's infidelity my dad would he would try to pay me to come live with
00:06:59
him I wouldn't I want to live with Mom Michael ended up having to split time between both parents
00:07:08
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
00:07:17
probably seven eight or so I get bored I ride my bicycle down to the General Store
00:07:25
Michael says he met up with and 50 year old Josh son [ __ ] we invited to sleep over the two hung
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out for hours until Michael's mom got home around midnight I asked him I was like Amanda where you want to sleep at
00:07:40
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
00:07:45
like I'll just crash on your floor [Music] he and Josh and Josh noticed smoke in the room we
00:07:58
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
00:08:08
it says he called out to his mom but there was no answer Michael what are you feeling at this point panic
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fear Michael says he went and grabbed a hose outside and then ran toward his mom's
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room and what he saw he'd never forget I seen bird on her legs and she was on fire for the waist up
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now turn the water hose on I don't know how long I said to her it could have been minutes it could have
00:08:39
been seconds I don't know Josh ran to get help it was too late Crystal would soon get a call from her
00:08:51
brother with the news I just sat on my bed and I just kept saying I don't want to go I
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don't want to go want to go you know then you know it's real Crystal picked Melanie up and by the
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time they got to the scene police cars and fire trucks were lighting the driveway Mike was on the front seat
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passenger side of the police car and we just ran up to the window asked him what was like what happened
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and he had to sit on his face and he had tear marks all down his face and he said I don't know
00:09:33
mom's dead you could smell the smoke you could smell flesh Tammy Nash worked for the Washington
00:09:41
County Sheriff's Office back then and was one of the responding officers clear that this was a murder Rita had
00:09:52
suffered blunt forced trauma to the head and blood was visible on her bedroom walls indicating a struggle had occurred
00:10:00
a fire marshal quickly concluded that an accelerant was used to set her on fire what was your job at that point what was
00:10:09
your assignment together the evidence we was looking for anything that she could have been struck with we never
00:10:17
found a weapon while Tammy processed the scene Michael and Josh were taken away to the
00:10:24
Sheriff's Office for questioning a police report indicates that on the way Michael Aston officer something that
00:10:32
quickly put him under suspicion he asked what's going to happen to my mom's truck
00:10:38
isn't that an odd thing to say after you just saw your mother on fire I don't think so
00:10:46
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
00:10:53
did raise eyebrows and at the Sheriff's Office Michael was given a voice stress test and then they told me that I failed
00:11:02
investigators also took Michael's Shoes so that an accelerant sniffing dog could
00:11:08
examine them they said the dog alerted to my shoes to an accelerate how would you describe the tone of the questioning
00:11:15
after the dogs alerted on your shoes and after you failed this voice stress test
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they wasn't questioning me no more they were telling me that I did something Michael and Josh both insisted they
00:11:31
didn't know what happened to Rita that they had stayed in Michael's room all night but investigators told them they
00:11:38
didn't believe them the boys were questioned repeatedly and two days after the murder Josh gave a videotaped
00:11:46
statement with an officer on each side and his mother present that statement seemed to poke a hole in Michael's
00:11:54
account he said he woke up to a noise in the middle of the night our little Thug
00:12:02
and I thought I heard like a [Music] Bernie wake up too or did you see Bernie in the room at that time
00:12:10
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
00:12:19
so there's no doubt he wasn't in bed okay and was he anywhere else in that bedroom no
00:12:27
shortly after Josh gave that statement on December 7 1998 14 year old Michael polite was arrested for his mother's
00:12:37
murder I always believed that I was going to be found innocent because I had anything to do with what
00:12:44
happened to my mother [Music] oh was I in for a rude awakening he looks like a really happy kid
00:13:10
he was always really happy when Melanie and Crystal learned that their 14 year old brother had been
00:13:16
arrested for their mother's murder they say they couldn't believe it how are they coming up with that conclusion I
00:13:23
just thought they were crazy he didn't do it no one even cleared Chuck and Patsy Skiles are Michael's uncle and
00:13:30
Aunt they live next door to where the crime took place they also felt police had made a mistake you know we was the
00:13:38
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
00:13:46
loved his mom but while Michael's family believed in his innocence the truth is Michael was
00:13:54
hardly the model child something that even he admits you failed seventh grade three times yeah I was on my third year
00:14:03
because I became true I just wasn't going skipping school is one thing but 10 months before the murder things got so
00:14:13
bad that Michael was hospitalized for Behavioral issues after he threatened to kill his mother and himself for whatever
00:14:20
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
00:14:29
and it's the biggest regret of my life Melanie and Crystal blame Michael's misbehavior on their parents divorce
00:14:36
our dad would kind of put him in the middle Michael was clearly an angry troubled teenager yeah I think he was
00:14:44
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
00:14:51
along perfectly um I don't think any parent and child does years passed with Michael in custody
00:14:58
awaiting trial and then the prosecution came to him with a deal plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter and he'd spend a
00:15:08
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
00:15:17
in January 2002 Michael police then 17 years old went on trial his life was on the line the prosecutors and defense
00:15:27
attorney who tried the case didn't respond to our calls but Josh hedgecourt the current prosecutor of Washington
00:15:34
County where the murder took place was willing to talk about the case what was the most important evidence the
00:15:43
scientific evidence and that would start with the shoes that he was wearing at the Sheriff's Office
00:15:50
not only had a dog detected an accelerant on Michael's Shoes according to the prosecution later testing also
00:15:58
confirmed the presence of gasoline on them and there was testimony that an accelerant had been used to burn Rita's
00:16:05
body and so all of these components together I think solidified that he must have set the fire
00:16:12
but Michael had told police that gasoline found on his shoes meant nothing and that he and his friends
00:16:18
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
00:16:26
before the murder he and his friend Josh used gasoline to set a fire on the railroad tracks near his house before
00:16:34
Rita got home the show off the Persistence of fire but the prosecution used that admission as another piece of
00:16:42
evidence against Michael they argued the burn pattern on the tracks matched the burn pattern on Rita
00:16:51
see the outlets showing nothing electrical it could have caused the fire Linda Dickerson Bell and Jonathan
00:16:57
Peterson were jurors on the case I'm like it's not looking good for him that's what they were telling us was
00:17:04
that Michael had a problem with burning and that he was the only person that could have done this the jurors never
00:17:11
heard about Michael's problems at school and that threat to his mother but a witness testified about a disagreement
00:17:18
that Michael had with his mother weeks before the murder it was over money and he sat flicking a lighter afterwards it
00:17:28
happened but not in the way that the state betrayed it I was flicking the wheel on the lighter that's that you
00:17:34
weren't threatening your mother with that no and there was something even more damaging the prosecution claimed that
00:17:42
Michael had actually confessed to the crime during a suicide attempt at a juvenile detention center exactly one
00:17:51
month after the murder three Witnesses who worked there wrote in reports that Michael said I haven't
00:17:58
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
00:18:06
yourself you say you said what I haven't heard since they killed my mom it's the difference of one word but that
00:18:15
one word carried a lot of weight and the jury would never hear from Michael because when it was the defense's turn
00:18:22
he didn't take the stand today's date seventh day of December 1998 and leaving the jury with even more
00:18:31
unanswered questions was the fact that they were told that Josh the other boy in the house that night had been granted
00:18:39
immunity I kept waiting thinking okay well he's been given immunity then he's got to have something to offer but the
00:18:46
jury never saw or heard from Josh at all he wasn't called to the stand and they were never shown his videotape statement
00:18:54
Michael's sisters also weren't called I never really heard anybody in his defense say Michael didn't do this
00:19:02
instead the defense hinged its case on the lack of direct evidence no murder weapon had been found and despite the
00:19:11
violence of the attack Michael had no injuries and no blood on his clothing after three days of testimony the case
00:19:20
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
00:19:30
to get it right Linda and Jonathan say they were left with so many questions too many
00:19:37
questions and they felt pressured by other members of the jury I think everybody finally just got to me and
00:19:44
just like you know we're ready to go home and then I was like yeah but you're ready to go
00:19:50
home and these kids are ready to go to prison the jury filed into the room with their guilty of second-degree murder
00:20:04
I wept why because it was wrong Michael was sentenced to life in prison it was um it was it was unbelievable it
00:20:25
was I never thought it would happen Michael would spend years in a Missouri prison before a new team of lawyers
00:20:33
would take his case and make it their mission to turn it around the state essentially never really had any case
00:20:42
against this kid but the case that they even did have back at trial has been indisputably proven false
00:20:51
what do you make of the evidence used to convict Michael chat now on Facebook and
00:20:56
Twitter after Michael pulley was convicted and sentenced to life at the age of 18. he
00:21:10
was sent to the Missouri State Penitentiary once called the bloodiest 47 acres in America
00:21:18
being so young I was a Target we got in a fight my first day there it was trying to rape me
00:21:23
Michael says he became desperate for some sense of safety you became a skinhead yeah enjoy your game that's
00:21:30
where you got the tattoos it was something that I felt like I needed to do to survive
00:21:36
it's not the way that I feel um it's not the way the mom raised me I just didn't fit in
00:21:44
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
00:21:52
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
00:22:01
um anytime I left myself I was looking for drugs I was just self-medicating that's the way things were until Michael
00:22:09
finally found something that gave him hope five years after his conviction he wrote
00:22:16
a letter to the Midwest Innocence Project and they agreed to take his case the organization worked on it for years
00:22:24
and eventually attorneys Tricia Bushnell Megan Crane and Mark Emerson became involved Mike was convicted because he
00:22:34
was a kid pure and simple they said he wasn't emotional enough trauma doesn't look
00:22:40
like what people think it should look like Trisha Megan and Mark picked apart the case against Michael they say it was
00:22:48
based on bad science started with the prosecution's claim that an accelerant was used to set the
00:22:56
fire that killed Rita when the fire investigator came to the scene they immediately determined it was
00:23:03
a fuel-fed fire based on just visual patterns just based on looking at the scene which at the time violated gold
00:23:11
standards of fire investigation there has to be lab testing control sample taken there and lab testing was done on
00:23:20
carpet samples from the crime scene no accelerant was detected the prosecution explained that away by saying it could
00:23:29
have burned up but defense attorney Megan crane says that suggestion isn't reasonable there's no scientific basis
00:23:38
for that being possible do you believe that the jury believed that in fact there was an accelerate used to set Rita
00:23:45
on fire absolutely the main case against Michael was that it was a gasoline fire
00:23:51
in order to attempt to tie my to the crime the only physical evidence was the gasoline that the state alleged was on
00:23:59
his shoes but Michael's new lawyers say that Michael's Shoes didn't have gasoline on
00:24:04
them either another footprint filmed they say a chemical used in the shoe manufacturing process was wrongly
00:24:12
identified as gasoline at trial and even the Missouri State Crime Lab agrees in this 2020 letter officials say it is now
00:24:22
known that solvents found in Footwear adhesives have similarities to gasoline but that in the late 1990s this
00:24:31
knowledge was not widely known could the dogs have been alerting to the chemicals used in the shoes
00:24:38
absolutely the jurors cared about the gas on the shoes they asked to see the shoes it was the nail in the coffin
00:24:48
but what about Michael's alleged confession at the Juvenile Detention Center Witnesses wrote that they heard
00:24:55
him say I haven't cared since I killed my mom but Michael and [ __ ] said I haven't cared since they killed my mom
00:25:06
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
00:25:13
room where there's lots of activity happening they have a kid in the Detention Center that they believe
00:25:19
has probably committed this crime right and so that's their view of him there is one big question that remains
00:25:29
what about Josh santasy remember the jury was told he got immunity and there was that videotaped statement where he
00:25:39
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
00:25:47
bed okay and was he anywhere else in that bedroom now many years after the crime Josh is
00:25:54
speaking publicly for the first time about what he says really happened that night I've spent the majority of my life
00:26:03
just trying to forget about it thank you I've done pretty good just moving on with it
00:26:25
but I mean it's still it's always there you know Josh San soucy is now 39 years old
00:26:38
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
00:26:46
himself in the middle of a murder investigation he says he was questioned by police
00:26:53
repeatedly for hours at a time every time I tell him something they would be like no that's not what happened this is
00:27:01
what happened I remember telling my mom I said so they keep saying kind of lying
00:27:06
I said I don't even know if I'm telling the truth anymore but the truth Josh says is that nothing
00:27:12
out of the ordinary happened on that night in question it was just like a normal night
00:27:18
I couldn't sleep very good at night I was kind of waking up I woke up one time but
00:27:22
what about that videotape statement where Josh told police that he woke up in the middle of the night and Michael
00:27:28
wasn't there so there's no doubt he wasn't in bed and was he anywhere else in that bedroom
00:27:35
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
00:27:43
Michael's attorneys say they've seen this all too often in interrogations what we see in Josh's interrogation is
00:27:50
the result of hours and hours of interrogation and every other time he has never ever said that that was what
00:27:56
happened in a deposition right before Michael went on trial Josh said that he never sat up from where he was sleeping
00:28:03
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
00:28:11
way I could see anything that's on top of the bed so why did Josh take that immunity deal I just wanted it
00:28:19
because I knew they was going to try to pin it on me or Bernie I was like well if they'll
00:28:26
give me immunity then maybe I don't have anything to worry about you know Michael's lawyers
00:28:32
say the prosecution was likely trying to get Josh to flip on Michael and the fact
00:28:37
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
00:28:44
had nothing helpful to say for the state why didn't the defense call Josh that's
00:28:49
a great question Aaron and there's a lot of great questions about what the defense didn't do and who they didn't
00:28:55
call Michael's trial attorney was a public defender back then in a court affidavit he admits that Michael's case
00:29:02
was the first homicide case that he had tried on his own and that today he would
00:29:08
handle his representation of Michael differently Michael's new legal team was committed
00:29:14
to getting him out of prison they filed court documents suggesting an alternative suspect Michael's father
00:29:22
Edward polite I believe he is responsible for what happened mother if that's true that means Michael's own
00:29:32
father stood by and let his son take the fall for a murder that he was behind Michael's sisters say their father was
00:29:41
Furious over the financial terms of the divorce a judge had finalized them just four days before the murder
00:29:50
she got half of his retirement maintenance maintenance child support alimony and the one thing that I
00:29:58
remember about growing up with our dad is you don't mess with his money you just
00:30:04
don't do it he had an outburst in the court that he said you'll never live to see a
00:30:10
dime of that money police did interview Edward polite after the murder he had an alibi he was home
00:30:20
more than 80 miles away at the time of the murder but Michael's defense team says investigators didn't look hard
00:30:28
enough they didn't at all investigate the possibility that perhaps Ed did this with someone else and Michael says he
00:30:35
believes his dad did arrange the murder and had help I think he heard Johnny to murder my mother Johnny is Johnny
00:30:44
police Edward's cousin Michael's legal team identified Witnesses who placed Johnny near the crime scene on the
00:30:52
morning of the murder Justice First Responders were arriving foreign sirens and uh
00:31:02
as I'm coming up the road and I'm approaching the railroad tracks Johnny pulley was walking down railroad tracks
00:31:09
[Music] Larry Lee is one of those Witnesses he's known Johnny for years as he's walking up to my truck he asked
00:31:22
me if I heard about Rita you said somebody killed and I'm like do what about a week later Larry's wife Carolyn
00:31:34
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
00:31:44
about Rita's death he said me and Edward are doing our own investigation and we heard you were up at the store talking
00:31:52
about it and I said Johnny I don't know nothing no we need to know what you know he said
00:31:58
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
00:32:06
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
00:32:14
anything either I don't know but you know another man places Johnny police truck
00:32:23
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
00:32:31
team the man says he saw the truck just as emergency vehicles were coming down the road former investigator Tammy Nash
00:32:40
says she doesn't remember hearing that Johnny polite had been seen that morning but she does recall something that
00:32:47
happened in the days after the murder once the crime scene had been released somebody came in to the sheriff's
00:32:57
department and said that they had found a tire iron or tart tool or something in
00:33:04
the closet whose closet Michael's closet police records show the person who found
00:33:15
that Tire Tool was Johnny polite could you have missed that in your first search no are you absolutely I am
00:33:24
positive I did not miss that if it wasn't there when you search what does that mean that somebody placed it there
00:33:31
Tammy went and retrieved the Tire Tool from Michael's closet it was later ruled out as the murder weapon do you believe
00:33:40
that tire iron was put in your closet to set you up I do Johnny and Edward police
00:33:47
didn't respond to our request for an interview neither has been charged in the case it's been years since Michael
00:33:55
and his sisters have spoken to their father but they say they did ask him whether he had anything to do with their
00:34:02
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
00:34:09
what we do know is it was not Michael pulley and while Michael's lawyers were trying
00:34:15
to prove that the case would take a turn best day in the world I never thought this day would
00:34:22
come it's amazing [Music] take an in-depth look at the case at 48hours.com [Music]
00:34:38
it's hard it's real hard here in Missouri to get these convictions overturned it's a
00:34:44
battle I don't know why they don't want to have urine Michael's legal team was shut down
00:34:50
by appeals court at every turn it is a constant fight with you know Goliath really is what it feels like
00:35:00
despite the letdowns Michael and his sisters kept a pope that one day he would be freed and in 2021 There Was An
00:35:09
Unexpected development a bill passed in Missouri giving juvenile offenders convicted of serious crimes a second
00:35:18
chance he gave me an immediate Pro hearing Michael went before the parole board asking for his release I told him
00:35:25
I was innocent and I told him this is why I'm innocent this is why you should believe I'm innocent
00:35:30
[Music] on April 22nd 2022 Melanie and Crystal brought friends and family and a change of clothes to the Jefferson
00:35:47
City Correctional Center it was a really great day it was a dream come true really
00:35:54
on that day Michael police walked out of prison foreign [Applause] [Laughter] [Music]
00:36:20
[Applause] all the night sitting myself wondering what it would be like to be out here and
00:36:25
have this moment and have it finally come through it's awesome yeah it's finally here I'm free how you
00:36:34
doing can I have a hug Michael says he felt his mom's presence when a bird flew by overhead
00:36:41
hey Mom she's always in my thoughts she's always in my mind and everything I do and everything that I process through
00:36:47
today is Guided by her Michael left prison that day doing one of the things he enjoyed most before he
00:36:54
went in we're gonna take a bike ride from the parking lot to the railroad tracks
00:36:59
so I'm leaving here the same way that I came in here riding a bicycle Justice foreign
00:37:06
[Music] this felt good best bike ride in the world welcome home welcome home following his release Michael moved in
00:37:20
with his sister Melanie you ready drum roll hey he started getting those reminders of
00:37:28
prison his tattoos covered up with this new art he also found job as a carpenter
00:37:34
and got his driver's license you're now out is that enough not enough because as you
00:37:42
sit right now you are a convicted felon on parole you have a criminal record that says
00:37:48
you killed your mother yep Michael wants to clear his name and it just might happen because Josh
00:37:57
hedgecourt the current prosecutor in the county where the murder took place has filed a motion asking for Michael's
00:38:04
conviction to be overturned to me it all always comes back to the science hedgecorth agrees with Michael's
00:38:11
attorneys that the scientific evidence used to convict Michael is problematic so I don't believe that Michael received
00:38:19
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
00:38:26
have been presented could you retry Michael polite for the murder of his mother based on the evidence you have
00:38:33
today on the evidence I have today I don't believe I would file this case but while the local prosecutor
00:38:40
believes Michael's conviction should be thrown out another public official Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmidt
00:38:48
is fighting it and every exoneration Missouri the Attorney General fights it because they say we have to respect
00:38:54
honor and protect the verdict of these jurors well that goes out the window when the jurors themselves want this
00:39:00
verdict overturned in sworn affidavits five jurors have questioned whether Michael got a fair trial including
00:39:08
Jonathan Peterson and Linda Dickerson Bell I do not believe that Michael pulley killed his mother
00:39:16
but I don't know how to fix it the Attorney General's office didn't reply to our request for comment but in
00:39:23
a court filing they say that Michael cannot meet the standard for actual innocence and the AG has argued that the
00:39:31
evidence against Johnny and Edward polite would have been inadmissible at trial there you go Michael hopes that a judge
00:39:41
will hear the case and decide to overturn his conviction but in the meantime prosecutor Josh hedgecourt has
00:39:49
revealed to us that the local sheriff's department has reopened the investigation into Rita's murder we want
00:39:57
to do the right thing if someone else did this we want to know that even if it's new evidence
00:40:02
that it was Michael neither hedgecorth nor the local sheriff would comment on the specifics of the investigation
00:40:10
including whether Johnny Pauline or Edward polite are Persons of Interest [Music]
00:40:19
I feel bad for Bernie and his family I mean everything he had to go through and Bernie lost his whole childhood Josh
00:40:27
santasy hasn't seen Michael polite since they were kids but they hope to one day
00:40:32
reunite the night of that sleepover and its aftermath has haunted Josh all these
00:40:40
years what would you say to him I'm sorry and that you know he didn't do anything
00:40:49
wrong in Potosi Missouri not far from where the murder took place Rita's truck has
00:40:59
sat all these years let's go and need new tires so much smaller than I remember her
00:41:05
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
00:41:12
that's a part of her that belongs to her they hope to fix it up and get it running again
00:41:18
thank you we're gonna get Justice for her I believe that one day we're gonna we're
00:41:23
gonna get Justice for reading [Music] the doorbell rings two men at the door she goes to close the door on them they
00:41:45
force themselves in with guns they take her by force they hooded me as soon as I
00:41:49
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
00:41:54
shut the door 48 hours Saturday on CBS sent streaming on Paramount Plus thank you