''Accused'' is a

true crime True crime is a nonfiction literary, podcast, and film genre in which the author examines an actual crime and details the actions of real people associated with and affected by criminal events. The crimes most commonly include murder; about 40 per ...

investigative journalism Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years rese ...

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...

created by ''

Cincinnati Enquirer ''The Cincinnati Enquirer'' is a morning daily newspaper published by Gannett in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. First published in 1841, the ''Enquirer'' is the last remaining daily newspaper in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, altho ...

'' reporter Amber Hunt and photographer Amanda Rossmann. three seasons have been published, each of which analyzes a different suspicious death case. By the conclusion of Season 1, the podcast had been downloaded 430,000 times and reached No. 1 on

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

' podcast chart.

History

Season 1

The first season focused on the murder of Elizabeth Andes, a 23-year-old

Miami University Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public research university in Oxford, Ohio. The university was founded in 1809, making it the second-oldest university in Ohio (behind Ohio University, founded in 1804) and the 10 ...

graduate, who was stabbed to death on December 28, 1978. Andes' boyfriend Bob Young had found her body and was immediately questioned in her death. After 15 hours of interrogation, including being given a lie detector test that he was told he failed, Young confessed to the murder. He immediately recanted, saying that Hamilton County Lt. Richard Carpenter, the polygraph administrator, had "scared the hell out of me." Young faced a murder trial the following spring but was acquitted by the jury. In 1981, Young was tried again for Andes' death in civil court after Andes' family sued him for

wrongful death Wrongful death claim is a claim against a person who can be held liable for a death. The claim is brought in a civil action, usually by close relatives, as enumerated by statute. In wrongful death cases, survivors are compensated for the harm, l ...

. He was found not liable by the jury. ''Accused'' presented three other acquaintances of Andes' who were not seriously investigated at the time by police in

Oxford, Ohio Oxford is a city in Butler County, Ohio, United States. The population was 23,035 at the 2020 census. A college town, Oxford was founded as a home for Miami University and lies in the southwestern portion of the state approximately northwest ...

. Season 1, which was originally published under the title ''Accused: The Unsolved Murder of Elizabeth Andes'', premiered on September 7, 2016. It originally ran for eight episodes, concluding on September 28. A ninth episode titled "The Update" was released on December 26. The transcripts for the first season were released in September 2018 as a book from

Diversion Books Diversion Books, originally founded as a digital publisher in 2010, is an American publishing company based in New York City. It publishes titles in physical, digital, audio, and other formats. The company specializes in non-fiction (history, pop ...

Season 2

Season 2 focused on the 1987 murder of Retha Welch, a 54-year-old grandmother and prison minister. She was found beaten to death in the bathtub of her

Newport, Kentucky Newport is a list of Kentucky cities, home rule-class city at the confluence of the Ohio River, Ohio and Licking River (Kentucky), Licking rivers in Campbell County, Kentucky, Campbell County, Kentucky. The population was 15,273 at the 2010 United ...

apartment. An acquaintance named William Virgil was convicted in her murder, but his conviction was overturned after DNA testing found his semen was not among three samples found inside of the victim at the time of her death. The second season premiered on October 12, 2017 and ran for eight episodes, concluding on November 2.

Season 3

Hunt and Rossmann announced on social media in summer 2018 that they were working on a third season of ''Accused''. Season 3 premiered on December 3, 2019, and ran for eight episodes (plus two bonus episodes), concluding on January 28, 2020. It focused on the 1984 death of Dave Bocks, a pipe fitter who worked at a controversial uranium processing plant in Fernald, Ohio. Police determined that Bocks jump or dove into a vat of molten salt kept at 1,350 degrees Fahrenheit. An experiment conducted by the podcast found it would have been incredibly difficult, if not impossible, for a man his size to enter through the available 9-inch-by-22-inch opening on top of the vat.

Awards

References

External links

*
Official page
on

Wondery Wondery is an American podcast network and publisher of numerous award-winning podcasts, including Dirty John, Dr. Death, and The Shrink Next Door. Wondery was founded in 2016 by entrepreneur and media executive Hernan Lopez. The company was lau ...

podcast network {{Podcast platform links 2016 podcast debuts Crime podcasts Audio podcasts The Cincinnati Enquirer Investigative journalism American podcasts Patreon creators