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The Case of Eduardo Dumbrique and John Klene
📻 Episode #387
🎙️ Hosted by Jason Flom
📅 Sep 07, 2023
About This Episode
On June 28, 1997, 25-year-old member of the Lil Watts gang, Antonio Alarcon, was killed in a drive-by shooting in Hawthorne, California, by a rival gang, Lawndale 13. In exchange for release on unrelated charges, Santo “Payaso” Alvarez deflected attention for the Alarcon shooting toward fellow Lawndale 13 members Eduardo Dumbrique and John Klene, when…
Case status as carried in this site's original 2026 profiles. Independent record verification is rolling out episode by episode — statuses are being re-checked against court and registry sources and date-stamped as verified.
The Case
On June 28, 1997, 25-year-old member of the Lil Watts gang, Antonio Alarcon, was killed in a drive-by shooting in Hawthorne, California, by a rival gang, Lawndale 13. In exchange for release on unrelated charges, Santo “Payaso” Alvarez deflected attention for the Alarcon shooting toward fellow Lawndale 13 members Eduardo Dumbrique and John Klene, when he knew who the actual shooter was. Witness Daniel Curiel testified that after he was not able to make an identification in a photo lineup, Sergeant Doral Riggs pointed to the photos of Eduardo and John, convincing him to make the ID. However, Eduardo and John's alibis were corroborated by many friends and neighbors. Additionally, the actual shooter reached out to Eduardo’s family to confess to the murder. Regardless of the alibis, the confession, and the lack of physical or forensic evidence, Eduardo and John were convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
In this updated episode, Jason Flom checks in with Eduardo and John at the 2023 Innocence Network Conference to hear what they've been up to since their episode aired.
https://www.pjlawcenter.org/page/2364325-home
http://www.innocencematters.org/
https://www.instagram.com/johnklene_free/
We have worked hard to ensure that all facts reported in this show are accurate. The views and opinions expressed by the individuals featured in this show are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of Lava for Good.
In Their Own Words — transcript excerpts
Short excerpts from the episode's official published transcript, with timestamps — listen from these moments, or read the full transcript via the podcast's own platforms.
00:06:38“Speaker 1: of age in the nineties. And I think it's news Speaker 1: to some people that the word gang and gang culture Speaker 1: in general is a bit more nuanced than most of Speaker 1: the country realized back then. You know, many of our Speaker 1: listeners are old enough to remember seeing news reports of”
00:26:23“Speaker 4: him your six pack or whatever. Let's kind of make Speaker 4: it a little more difficult for him to pick you out. So, Speaker 4: you know, grow your hair out, shave your mustache. And Speaker 4: I'm listening to the advice of my attorney. So I say,”
00:43:58“Speaker 1: win and won twelve million, and good for her. So Speaker 1: we're obviously very happy for Susan. That seemed to be Speaker 1: our system operating at the speed that it should, I mean, Speaker 1: notwithstanding the seventeen long years wrongfully incarcerated. But for John Speaker 1: and Ed. There was a court order in November of”
Listen to the Episode
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Also on the podcast: #52 John Huffington · #55 John Moss · #85 Jason Flom, John Grisham and Chip Harding with Jens Soering