An all-new season of ‘Dateline: Missing in America’
As a bonus for you, we’re sharing the trailer for season 4 of ‘Dateline: Missing in America.’ The award-winning podcast series is back with a brand-new season and 6 brand-new cases.Correspondent Josh Mankiewicz reports on missing person cases brought to Dateline’s attention by their social media followers. Each episode centers on one individual’s disappearance, told through the voices of those left behind. Listen closely. You could be the key to solving a mystery. Details shared by loved ones and investigators may spark a memory that could help bring answers.Search ‘Dateline: Missing in America’ and follow now to hear the new season.
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Last Stop on the Road to Freedom
In this bonus episode of the award-winning Letters from Sing Sing podcast, veteran producer Dan Slepian reflects on the final chapter in J.J. Velazquez’s hard-fought path to full exoneration after being wrongfully convicted of murder over two decades ago. Dan and J.J. join Kristen Welker on Meet the Press for a “Meet the Moment” conversation to detail their 20+ year path to overturning J.J.’s conviction.
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Dan Slepian reads an excerpt from “The Sing Sing Files”
Hear an exclusive audio excerpt from Dateline producer Dan Slepian’s new book “The Sing Sing Files” which chronicles his two-decade journey navigating the criminal justice system to help free six innocent men. Available now wherever books and audiobooks are sold. For more details and to purchase, follow this link:https://bit.ly/TheSingSingFilesLetters
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The Apology
In August of 2021, Governor Andrew Cuomo grants JJ executive clemency. Three weeks later, JJ steps out of Sing Sing a free man. But he wasn’t exonerated. In the eyes of the law, he was still a convicted felon. Within the first 24 hours of his release, JJ needs to check in with the parole office. He has a curfew. He has to get permission to travel out of state. As he likes to say, he’s freer, but not free.Soon after his release, JJ gets a job at the Frederick Douglass Project. He’s invited to give talks, run workshops. His life is focused on connecting people on the outside with those on the inside. And unbelievably, his work leads to a meeting with the President of the United States.
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20:18
The Call
In 2017, JJ finally gets some good news. After years of denials and setbacks, he would appear before a judge for the first time since his conviction. A new judge would determine whether JJ’s rights were violated when the prosecutor at his trial withheld police reports related to his case – reports that, 10 months earlier, had arrived in Dan’s mailbox.But the judge ultimately denies JJ’s request for a new trial. Dan and JJ are devastated. JJ explores other avenues for getting released. He applies for clemency, but year after year, the governor passes him over. Then, in 2020, the pandemic hits. The world stops. And JJ experiences the pandemic behind bars.
In December of 2002, NBC News producer Dan Slepian got a letter from a New York state prison. It was from a man serving 25 years to life for murder. And it ended with a desperate plea: look into my case.
Jon-Adrian “JJ” Velazquez had been convicted of killing a retired New York City police officer, but he insisted he didn’t do it. Dan was skeptical. Prosecutors said five eyewitnesses had sworn JJ was the killer. Could five people be wrong?
So Dan began to dig. What he discovered went far beyond just JJ’s case. And 20 years later, it’s still unfolding.
Letters from Sing Sing tells the story of a man convicted of murder, a journalist, and the letter that changed both of their lives. New episodes drop every Monday through March 27, 2023.
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