8 - Wrongful Convictions

Josh Mankiewicz and Dan Slepian discuss the issues of wrongful convictions in front of a live audience at the CrimeCon conference in New Orleans. 

It’s been more than 20 years since Richard Rosario was convicted of a murder he says he could not possibly have committed. If he didn’t do it, who did? And what’s next for Rosario and his family? This is the final episode of Dan Slepian’s 3-year investigation.

Suddenly, a change that could breathe new life into Richard Rosario’s bid for freedom. Dan Slepian speaks to the woman who could make all the difference.

After two decades with their father behind bars, Richard Rosario’s family has new hope that he may be set free. After an emotional prison visit, a court is about to decide if it is time for this family to be finally reunited.

Talking to a murder victim’s family is a tough thing to do, but Dan Slepian needs to find out more information about Jorge Collazo in his search for the truth. Collazo’s sister tells Dan she’ll never forget the day her little brother was killed. And, she reveals a surprise about what happened just two weeks before the murder – a lead that could have been critical.

Did anyone fully investigate Richard Rosario’s alibi? Dan Slepian tracks down detectives, lawyers and an eyewitness to the murder – and gets some shocking answers to that question.

The murder case against Richard Rosario was based on two eyewitnesses. But Rosario claims there are more than a dozen people who can prove he was nowhere near the scene of the crime. Dan Slepian packs his bags and heads to Florida to speak with some of those alibi witnesses. Along the way, he also meets Rosario’s wife and two children.

Is Richard Rosario an innocent man? Or is he a murderer? Dan Slepian begins his investigation at a prison in upstate New York, and at the scene of the crime in the Bronx.

How did a man who claims he had 13 alibi witnesses get convicted of murder and serve 20 years in prison? In this original series from Dateline NBC, producer Dan Slepian chronicles the case of Richard Rosario, who was convicted of a 1996 murder in New York City. Rosario has always insisted that he is innocent, and that 13 alibi witnesses will swear he was a thousand miles away in Florida while the crime was happening in New York. Ride along in real time as Slepian spends two years digging deep into Rosario’s case in a quest for the truth.