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The Case of Ken Wyniemko
📻 Episode #247
🎙️ Hosted by Jason Flom
📅 Mar 02, 2022
About This Episode
When 43 year old bowling alley manager Ken Wyniemko ejected an off duty cop from his establishment for drunk and disorderly conduct, he didn't think it would lead to a wrongful conviction. On April 30th, 1994, a woman was blindfolded and raped by a masked man in her home in Clinton Township, Michigan. The composite…
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The Case
When 43 year old bowling alley manager Ken Wyniemko ejected an off duty cop from his establishment for drunk and disorderly conduct, he didn't think it would lead to a wrongful conviction. On April 30th, 1994, a woman was blindfolded and raped by a masked man in her home in Clinton Township, Michigan. The composite sketch was deemed only 60% accurate, but nonetheless, was made available to the media. When Ken's disgruntled ex girlfriend reported that the sketch resembled him, investigators used this opportunity to exact revenge for the bowling alley manager's slight against their brother in blue. They manipulated the line up to produce an identification from the victim who had never clearly seen her attacker's face. With the help of incentivized jailhouse snitch testimony, the jury ignored the biological evidence that excluded Ken, sending him to serve 40-60 years. DNA evidence eventually led to his exoneration in 2003, and now, Ken devotes his time to lobbying for criminal justice reform legislation - some of which led to finding the actual rapist in his case.
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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.
00:04:38“Speaker 2: I said, that's my right, I'm doing my job. Opened Speaker 2: up the second bag. He hit eleven cans of Miller Speaker 2: Lite in that bag. So I said, John, do yourself Speaker 2: a favor. I said, take your bulling shoes back to Speaker 2: the counter, get your refunder. You're all done bullings for tonight.”
00:17:19“Speaker 1: who hasn't had any time to do any investigation or Speaker 1: preparation of any kind, and now you go to trial. Speaker 1: So how long did the trial take? And did anyone Speaker 1: do anything to help you during this process? Speaker 2: No, mister Barkowski, I think I talked to him twice.”
00:30:08“Speaker 2: thought he was sixty two or sixty three, two hundred Speaker 2: and twenty two hundred and thirty pounds deep left chin At Speaker 2: the time, I was five foot eleven, one hundred and Speaker 2: eighty five pounds. Okay, mister Gonzer. The actual rapist is Speaker 2: six foot six, two hundred and ninety pounds. Wow, So”
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