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The Case of Juan Roberto Melendez
📻 Episode #355
🎙️ Hosted by Guest Host Gilbert King
📅 May 04, 2023
About This Episode
On September 13, 1983, Delbert Baker was found dead – shot and with his throat slashed – in Auburndale, FL. Witnesses gave the police a lead on two suspects but they quickly dismissed it since one of the suspects was working as a police informant. A few months later, after a $5,000 reward was offered…
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The Case
On September 13, 1983, Delbert Baker was found dead – shot and with his throat slashed – in Auburndale, FL. Witnesses gave the police a lead on two suspects but they quickly dismissed it since one of the suspects was working as a police informant. A few months later, after a $5,000 reward was offered for information, another individual came forward and said that Juan Roberto Melendez was responsible. This person was known to dislike Juan, and on more than one occasion declared that he would “get” Juan. At trial, this individual’s testimony was the primary evidence against Juan, and despite a solid alibi and the complete lack of inculpatory physical evidence, Juan was convicted and sentenced to death. Over a decade later, a transcribed confession of one of the original suspects was re-discovered, in which he took responsibility for the murder, and declared Juan’s innocence. Gilbert King talks to Juan Roberto Melendez and Linda McDermott, Juan's attorney.
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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.
00:05:28“Speaker 1: motivations into this crime. Speaker 3: The investigation started that next day and it appeared the Speaker 3: motivation may be a robbery because jewelry was missing, money Speaker 3: was missing from his workplace. It was unclear if there Speaker 3: was a motive beyond the robbery, and there were quickly”
00:21:39“Speaker 2: it was against my attorney. He told me, one, if Speaker 2: you take this stand, prior REGOs will come. But I said, alka, Speaker 2: I did not do this. I wondered you just to Speaker 2: know from my mouth that I didn't commit this crime.”
00:36:33“Speaker 3: that was suppressed, but there was also rules that were violated, Speaker 3: discovery rules, cases that were clear black letter law that Speaker 3: mister Pickard was calling in witnesses and to his office, Speaker 3: taking swarm statements from individuals, and then not disclosing his notes,”
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