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The Case of Rickey Jackson
📻 Episode #413
🎙️ Hosted by Jason Flom
📅 Dec 14, 2023
About This Episode
On May 19th, 1975, in front of a store in Cleveland, OH, two assailants robbed a man, splashed acid in his face, shot and killed him, and then fired into the store injuring the co-owner. 12 year-old Eddie Vernon was riding a bus near the scene and later bragged that he had seen Rickey Jackson,…
Case status as carried in this site's original 2026 profiles. Independent record verification is rolling out episode by episode — statuses are being re-checked against court and registry sources and date-stamped as verified.
The Case
On May 19th, 1975, in front of a store in Cleveland, OH, two assailants robbed a man, splashed acid in his face, shot and killed him, and then fired into the store injuring the co-owner. 12 year-old Eddie Vernon was riding a bus near the scene and later bragged that he had seen Rickey Jackson, as well as Ronnie and Wiley Bridgeman commit the crime. However, according to all the other occupants of the bus, they were too far away to even see the crime. But police ignored other more compelling leads and focused on Eddie’s story. When he tried to back away from the fib, they threatened to take his parents to prison if he didn’t stick to the story. Eddie’s false testimony at trial helped send all three young men to death row.
https://lavaforgood.com/false-confessions/
https://otse.org/
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14135822/
https://law.uc.edu/real-world-learning/centers/ohio-innocence-project-at-cincinnati-law.html
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.
00:04:40“Speaker 2: prosecutor's office, the coroner's office. Speaker 3: Whatever they sent up the pipeline. Nobody went against the police. Speaker 1: No, that's right. And so your story, as you were Speaker 1: telling me earlier, is important because if it could happen Speaker 1: to you, it can happen to anyone. And when I”
00:17:44“Speaker 2: him back in the back room and they threatened him. Speaker 2: They told him that they couldn't do nothing to him Speaker 2: because he was a kid, but if he didn't pick Speaker 2: us out in that lineup, Ricky Jackson and Wally Bridgman Speaker 2: and Ronnie Bridgeman, that they would make sure that he”
00:30:11“Speaker 2: could immediately tell that it was something something I've been Speaker 2: waiting for for a long time. I didn't know what Speaker 2: it was, but I knew just by his attitude and Speaker 2: the way he was trying to keep his composure, I Speaker 2: knew it was something big. And when he told me”
Listen to the Episode
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← #412 Douglas DiLosa #414 Elmer Daniels →
Also on the podcast: #42 Noura Jackson · #72 Noura Jackson - RE-RELEASE · #257 Rickey Jackson