← All Cases / Episode #511
The Case of Louis Costilla, Jr.
📻 Episode #511
🎙️ Hosted by Jason Flom
📅 Feb 06, 2025
About This Episode
On the morning of August 4, 1992, a man and his wife discovered the body of 31-year-old Vernon Huggins while walking their dog in Toledo, OH. He had been savagely beaten to death. Toledo police investigated the crime but after three months, the case was labeled inactive. In December of that same year, the case…
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The Case
On the morning of August 4, 1992, a man and his wife discovered the body of 31-year-old Vernon Huggins while walking their dog in Toledo, OH. He had been savagely beaten to death. Toledo police investigated the crime but after three months, the case was labeled inactive. In December of that same year, the case was reopened after a call was made to Crime Stoppers. The police interviewed members of a gang called the Bishops and one of those gang members implicated Eric Misch in the killing of Huggins. Misch, while being recorded by police, said that Louis Costilla Jr. took part in the killing along with three other young men. He immediately recanted but it was too late. Louis was charged and convicted of murder and sentenced to 15 years to life in prison.
https://opd.ohio.gov/law-library/innocence/wrongful-conviction-project
https://www.ohiodefensefirm.com/
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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.
00:04:44“Speaker 1: The murder was initially investigated by Detective Berks, and at Speaker 1: least one in the group of four was said to Speaker 1: have been carrying the leg of a wooden chair. Then Speaker 1: Vernon Huggins somehow went from the east side of Toledo Speaker 1: across the Maumie River to the North End before or”
00:18:13“Speaker 2: and Misch was all in the same person. And ninety Speaker 2: five my last appeals was exhausted. So I did what Speaker 2: I had to do to survivor life. Since I'm under Speaker 2: the old law, so I knew I was going to Speaker 2: board and tenure. But I wasn't stupid enough to think”
00:30:55“Speaker 2: get back in, my PO tells me, well, I need Speaker 2: to see you on a tent. Speaker 4: Lou shows up at his parole officers and is telling Speaker 4: her the good news. It's by then been reported on Speaker 4: the television, and she says, no, you're still under supervision.”
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