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Just Say You’re Sorry June 5
When a Conviction is Challenged, What Do We Owe the Victim’s Family?
In the final episode of “Just Say You’re Sorry,” we consider what cases like Larry Driskill’s mean for families like Bobbie Sue Hill’s.
By Maurice Chammah
Just Say You’re Sorry May 29
As a Texas Ranger Gains National Fame, His Interrogations Draw Skepticism
James Holland’s star rises after he coaxes killer Samuel Little to confess to 90 murders. But his work in Larry Driskill’s case comes into question.
By Maurice Chammah
Just Say You’re Sorry May 22
An All-Night, Pizza-Fueled Interrogation. A Dubious Confession. A DNA Surprise.
Hear Texas Ranger James Holland use familiar tactics to convince another man to confess to a murder he vehemently denies. But this time, there’s DNA.
By Maurice Chammah
Just Say You’re Sorry May 15
Listen as a Texas Ranger Uses Lies to Extract a Questionable Murder Confession
Hear how James Holland gradually convinces Larry Driskill to question his own memory — and narrate a murder he still insists he didn’t commit.
By Maurice Chammah
A police sketch of a face on a cream background layered on top of court documents
Just Say You’re Sorry May 8
To Solve a Young Mother’s Death, a Celebrated Texas Ranger Turns to Hypnosis
In Episode 2 of “Just Say You’re Sorry,” we dig into Ranger James Holland’s past and follow the twists and turns that lead him to Larry Driskill.
By Maurice Chammah
A sheriff hat and badge on a cream-colored background that includes a document from the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Just Say You’re Sorry May 1
In a Texas Cold Case, a Potential Murder Witness Slowly Realizes He’s a Suspect
In ‘Just Say You’re Sorry,’ a new Marshall Project podcast, we meet a famed Texas Ranger and a prisoner who says he was railroaded.
By Maurice Chammah
A podcast logo set atop a tan and black background. In the logo, a tan cowboy hat with a Texas Ranger badge floats in front of prison bars. Above, in all caps: "Smoke Screen" and "Just say you're sorry." Below, branding for Sony Music and The Marshall Project.
Podcast April 26
‘Just Say You’re Sorry’: Podcast Dissects Famed Texas Ranger’s Controversial Tactics
Our six-part podcast asks if Texas’ “serial killer whisperer” ensnared an innocent man through tactics like lying and hypnosis.
By Maurice Chammah
Feature January 18, 2022
Anatomy of a Murder Confession
Texas Ranger James Holland became famous for cajoling killers into confessing to their crimes. But did some of his methods — from lying to suspects to having witnesses hypnotized — ensnare innocent people, too?
By Maurice Chammah
A photo of Colleen Khalifa, right, with her son Shawn Khalifa, center, and her daughter Jennifer Ponce, left, and Ponce’s son Jackson Ponce, taken during a visit to the Coalinga State Hospital where Shawn was being treated.
The California Experiment June 27, 2018
Can It Be Murder If You Didn’t Kill Anyone?
A distinctly American legal doctrine holds getaway drivers and lookouts as responsible for a death as the actual killer. California is having second thoughts.
By Abbie VanSickle
Life Inside June 15, 2017
Facing the Pain of Being a Killer
An inmate offers an apology that brings him face to face with his crime.
By Jason Thompson
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