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The Case of James Kluppleberg
📻 Episode #437
🎙️ Hosted by Jason Flom
📅 Mar 21, 2024
About This Episode
In the early morning hours of March 24,1984, a fire erupted on the first floor of an apartment building in Chicago, IL. The fire destroyed the building and killed six people, including young children. Four years later, James Kluppelberg was taken into police custody after he had reported an unrelated arson case. Police began intensely…
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
In the early morning hours of March 24,1984, a fire erupted on the first floor of an apartment building in Chicago, IL. The fire destroyed the building and killed six people, including young children. Four years later, James Kluppelberg was taken into police custody after he had reported an unrelated arson case. Police began intensely interrogating James about the apartment building fire until he falsely confessed to the crime. Despite the fact that the only evidence against James was the testimony of a single incentivized witness, he was sentenced to life in prison for the fire.
To reach James, email him at:
jrkrepair@gmail.com
https://lavaforgood.com/podcast/392-wrongful-conviction-junk-science-arson-evidence/
https://www.exonerationproject.org/
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.
00:04:26“Speaker 3: obviously I'd moved downstairs. I said, this is your house Speaker 3: if that's what you want. Fine, and so he was Speaker 3: actually staying there in the upstairs where I was originally staying, Speaker 3: and I was gone all day that day the fire occurred.”
00:17:46“Speaker 3: kill the people that jumped out the windows and lived, Speaker 3: but guilty of killing the people that perished. It wasn't Speaker 3: like this was a crime with a gun or a knife. Speaker 3: Fire is indiscriminate. If I had set the fire, I Speaker 3: would have intended harm on everybody. Apartment building, not just”
00:30:42“Speaker 2: that James was innocent enough to come home fought us Speaker 2: on the certificate of innocence. Speaker 1: Finally, you know, some daylight in this now almost thirty Speaker 1: years by the time you were compensated. This long, long, Speaker 1: dark chapter. So that is a happy ending. How's your”
Listen to the Episode
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← #436 Evaristo Salas #438 Catina Curley →
Also on the podcast: #142 Josh Dubin on James Dailey · #148 James Davis · #205 James Davis