There are several true crime podcasts that tell the stories of serial killers or those convicted of heinous crimes. Journalist Maggie Freleng, on the other hand, will focus on the innocent as part of her new podcast. She will tell the stories of the wrongfully incarcerated and examine unsolved crimes during Unjust and Unsolved.
As the exclusive first-look trailer explains, Freleng previously worked as a journalist and producer-at-large. However, she made a major career change once she realized how many people were serving time in prison for crimes that remained unsolved. She wrote letters to 20 prisoners in order to hear their stories. Some responded with letters or emails while others made contact using contraband cell phones. Ultimately, Freleng traveled the country to meet with the prisoners and documented the process for her podcast.
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As part of her investigative process, Freleng met with several figures, including those closest to the wrongfully incarcerated. She met with the prisoners’ families and their lawyers in order to learn more about each case. During this journey, she discovered that the cases remained unsolved while the interview subjects sat behind prison bars.
“So the crime happened in Harlem, which is in Manhattan,” one man says during the trailer. “I live in the Bronx. I was actually in the Bronx when this occurred in Manhattan.” The man then explained that there is no way he will stand in front of a parole board and admit to committing a crime when he is actually innocent. His children are grown up, and he will continue to remain in prison while maintaining his innocence.
According to the Innocence Project, there are an estimated 20,000 innocent people locked away in prisons across the country. These cases remain unsolved. Now Freleng will tell some of these stories while seeking justice.
“The stories of these unjustly incarcerated individuals are heartbreaking, infuriating, and it’s frankly astonishing to see the rampant disparities and glaring inequities in the justice system,” Freleng said in a statement. “Our goal is to give a platform to these individuals’ stories and incite public action along with a much-needed second look at these cases so the true criminals, along with those responsible for the stolen decades of the lives of these innocent people, can be held accountable and brought to justice.”
Unjust and Unsolved premieres on Thursday, Sept. 10. The series will air on the Obsessed Network, which also hosts True Crime Obsessed. Listeners can subscribe on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
