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The Case of Keith Bush
📻 Episode #265
🎙️ Hosted by Jason Flom
📅 Jun 02, 2022
About This Episode
In the early morning hours of January 11, 1975, 14-year-old Sherese Watson was murdered by strangulation after leaving a house party in Bellport, New York, and her body was found that evening in a field near the party. There were groupings of small stab wounds in her back, and a hair pick was found near…
The Case
In the early morning hours of January 11, 1975, 14-year-old Sherese Watson was murdered by strangulation after leaving a house party in Bellport, New York, and her body was found that evening in a field near the party. There were groupings of small stab wounds in her back, and a hair pick was found near her body. Over 20 alibi witnesses placed 17-year-old Keith Bush in the house party at the time of Sherese's death, but one alleged partygoer, Maxine Bell, gave a statement that she would one day recant: that she saw Sherese and Keith leaving together after 1 AM. Ignoring a more compelling lead, Keith was tortured by detectives into signing a confession that he had not read which contained details that did not match reality. Keith recanted, but with the signed statement, Bell’s testimony, as well as detectives and a medical examiner who gave either false or erroneous testimony, Keith was convicted and sentenced to 20 years to life.
https://www.trafford.com/en/bookstore/bookdetails/358402-POETIC-RAYS-VISIONARY-AND-MAGNETIC
https://www.tiktok.com/@ktbush5?lang=en
https://www.nyls.edu/post-conviction-innocence-clinic/
https://lavaforgood.com/with-jason-flom/
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.
00:05:46“Speaker 1: of fear, you know. But her body was found in Speaker 1: the field nearby where the party had been helped. Brace Speaker 1: yourself for this because it's hard to hear. But she Speaker 1: was faced down, her pants were partially unzipped, and there Speaker 1: were numerous small punctures on her back. That's an important detail,”
00:22:54“Speaker 1: that's not possible. It's not possible because it's not possible. Speaker 1: It's plastic and it's. Speaker 3: Dull these experts are saying today. Is like, you know, Speaker 3: even an expert back then should have drawned that same conclusion. Speaker 3: They said, I confessed it to a crime that was”
00:38:51“Speaker 1: that your DNA was excluded from the fingernail scrapings and Speaker 1: the plastic pick found of the scene that, along with Speaker 1: the nineteen eight nine state report criticized and the tactics Speaker 1: of Detective Rafferty and others, should have been more than Speaker 1: enough to overturn the conviction. But Suffolk County still had”
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← #264 Devonia Inman #266 Faye Jacobs →
Also on the podcast: #6 Keith Harward · #227 Keith Washington · #328 Keith Cooper