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The Case of Fred Clay
📻 Episode #563
🎙️ Hosted by Jason Flom
📅 Feb 26, 2026
About This Episode
In 1979, 28-year-old cab driver Jeffrey S. Boyajian was robbed and murdered when he was shot in the head five times after he picked up three men in a Boston, MA neighborhood. Several eyewitnesses identified Fred Clay as one of the three men who entered Boyajian’s cab. But Clay, who was 16 years old at…
The Case
In 1979, 28-year-old cab driver Jeffrey S. Boyajian was robbed and murdered when he was shot in the head five times after he picked up three men in a Boston, MA neighborhood. Several eyewitnesses identified Fred Clay as one of the three men who entered Boyajian’s cab. But Clay, who was 16 years old at the time, maintained his innocence. He testified that he’d been at his foster home at the time of the crime, which his foster mother confirmed. Despite his alibi, Clay was charged as an adult and convicted of first-degree murder.
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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.
00:06:37“Speaker 2: a taxi driver in Massachusetts? Right? And can you give Speaker 2: us a little background on that? Yeah? Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean, the way I understand it is. Fred Speaker 5: was arrested just a few weeks after turning sixteen, charged Speaker 5: with the murder of a cab driver. The really crazy”
00:25:59“Speaker 1: he put me in touch with prison ministry. I think Speaker 1: it was called Candlelight Ministries. And I had to fill Speaker 1: out some forms and stuff like that, and I filled Speaker 1: out the forms and he sent it in and I'm Speaker 1: not quite sure how long after that then I met”
00:46:15“Speaker 1: what's not important, trying to prioritize things. That's been a Speaker 2: And I can tell just from the way you know Speaker 2: you are and the way that you've dealt with this Speaker 2: situation that I think anybody I know accept the exounre Speaker 2: reason I know actually would have crumbled under the weight”
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← #562 Rafael Madrigal #564 Dr. Marvin Cotton Jr. →
Also on the podcast: #87 Fred Clay · #261 Clay Chabot · #532 Clay Chabot