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The Trials of Walter Ogrod
- The Shocking Murder, So-Called Confessions, and Notorious Snitch That Sent a Man to Death Row
- Narrated by: Chris Andrew Ciulla
- Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins
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The Trials of Walter Ogrod
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Publisher's Summary
The horrific 1988 murder of four-year-old Barbara Jean Horn shocked the citizens of Philadelphia. Plucked from her own front yard, Barbara Jean was found dead less than two and a half hours later in a cardboard TV box dragged to a nearby street curb. After months of investigation with no strong leads, the case went cold. Four years later it was reopened, and Walter Ogrod, a young man with autism spectrum disorder who had lived across the street from the family at the time of the murder, was brought in as a suspect.
Ogrod bears no resemblance to the composite police sketch based on eyewitness accounts of the man carrying the box, and there is no physical evidence linking him to the crime. His conviction was based solely on a confession he signed after 36 hours without sleep. "They said I could go home if I signed it," Ogrod told his brother from the jailhouse. The case was so weak that the jury voted unanimously to acquit him, but at the last second - in a dramatic courtroom declaration - one juror changed his mind. As he waited for a retrial, Ogrod's fate was sealed when a notorious jailhouse snitch was planted in his cell block and supplied the prosecution with a second supposed confession. As a result, Walter Ogrod sits on death row for the murder today.
Informed by police records, court transcripts, interviews, letters, journals, and more, award-winning journalist Thomas Lowenstein leads listeners through the facts of the infamous Horn murder case in compelling, compassionate, and riveting fashion. He reveals explosive new evidence that points to a condemned man's innocence and exposes a larger underlying pattern of prosecutorial misconduct in Philadelphia.
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What listeners say about The Trials of Walter Ogrod
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- TMo
- 2022-05-11
A failing in the Justice system
This is a very well written book with a great concept,the only problem being that with reading and further research in to this case I lost the idea that I had of the American justice system. From something I trusted fully to something that was bought and bribed unroll it worked.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Langer MD
- 2022-03-17
Admirably Complete
Journalist/Author Thomas Lowenstein sought out criminals on Death Row to examine their stories - Walter Ogrod contacted him.. professing innocence. Lowenstein decided to hear him out - anticipating a guilty man - but was surprised to find that he believed him. According to The Innocence Project - when they examined the case - Ogrod is probably innocent.
Punctilious investigation informs this captivating well-written documentary of how a crime inquiry can go frustratingly wrong. Lowenstein pores over reams of interviews, court documents, and transcripts from two trials to paint a nearly unbelievable picture of miscarried justice. The author comments here & there on the Sociological significance of false confessions, police misconduct, and jailhouse snitches - but largely sticks to the incredible events in this case and leaves it up to readers/listeners to draw their own conclusions.
Fortuitously, outstanding production standards match the outstanding text. Blackstone Audio Inc. provides great technical support (spot-on volume modulation and seamless splicing, for example) for a quintessentially professional reader in Chris Andrew Ciulla. Ciulla's diction, cadence, timbre, and tone fit the material perfectly. The result is an easy-to-consume quality recording.
This presentation of an exhaustively researched True Crime exposé is worthy of 9.5 stars out of 10. Yes, it was made available as part of the 'Plus' catalogue (free with my subscription), but 'The Trials of Walter Ogrod' actually merits a Credit. Don't hesitate to download this audiobook.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anthony the Great
- 2022-06-22
Gripping
Start to finish. A tale of injustice or US justice. Hard to say which is which.
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1 person found this helpful