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The Case of Jerry Mark
📻 Episode #497
🎙️ Hosted by Jason Flom
📅 Nov 28, 2024
About This Episode
In a 1976 case known as the “Cain and Abel Murders”, Jerry Allen Mark, a former Peace Corps volunteer and “hippie lawyer,” was convicted of murdering his brother Leslie Mark, Leslie’s wife, and their two children in their Iowa farmhouse. The prosecution argued that Jerry killed his family over a property dispute, citing alleged jealousy…
The Case
In a 1976 case known as the “Cain and Abel Murders”, Jerry Allen Mark, a former Peace Corps volunteer and “hippie lawyer,” was convicted of murdering his brother Leslie Mark, Leslie’s wife, and their two children in their Iowa farmhouse. The prosecution argued that Jerry killed his family over a property dispute, citing alleged jealousy after Leslie inherited the family farm after their father passed. Authorities claimed he was nearby on the night of the murders and had purchased bullets similar to those used in the crime shortly before it happened. But no physical evidence was found that pointed to Jerry and witness statements which were withheld by the prosecution during his initial trial suggested he was miles away at the time of the murders. Nevertheless, Jerry was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to four consecutive life sentences without parole.
https://www.drake.edu/law/clinics-centers/clinic/wrongfulconvictionsclinic/
https://www.facebook.com/enicholscook/
https://lavaforgood.com/podcast/396-wrongful-conviction-junk-science-footwear-comparison-evidence/
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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.
00:05:37“Speaker 2: to the Arwood Legislature in modern times. Speaker 1: So through college and law school, Jerry was engaged in Speaker 1: politics and the anti war movement, and in nineteen sixty Speaker 1: eight he and his wife Rebecca were Iowa delegates for Speaker 1: Bobby Kennedy before his assassination, which in turn ushered in”
00:21:42“Speaker 2: The police have actually found those bullets matching the ones Speaker 2: that I had bought for sale at local sports stores Speaker 2: six miles from the murders, paid the owner for them, Speaker 2: and got them off the shelf, And then the prosecution Speaker 2: presented evidence to my jury that that make a model”
00:37:05“Speaker 1: and the FBI issued a letter alerting prosecutors about the issues, Speaker 1: but only prosecutors who were then supposed to tell those Speaker 1: they'd convicted using the FBI crime lab, right, okay, And Speaker 1: in this case that meant the comparative bullet lead analysis Speaker 1: which Jerry had heard about while watching TV in his”
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Also on the podcast: #29 Jerry Miller · #145 Junk Science - Bite Mark Evidence · #163 Junk Science - Tool Mark Analysis