what we’re going to find here, but the fact that we filed a request for the police files over a week ago, and we still haven’t got them … Well, that tells us there’s probably something in those files they don’t want us to see.”
I nodded, able to follow Kat’s logic. But really, all my attention was on the thought of those old police files. Of what was in them, of what they revealed, of what long held secrets they might hide inside.
Back at the B&B I watched as Ray set up the equipment, and Kat looked over her notes. I was starting to regret the beer: my brain felt on the verge of fuzzy, my blood a little too warm, and my heart was beating a little too loud, a little too fast. I swallowed, thinking of all the interview requests my family and I had refused ten years ago. What was I doing, agreeing to this? I licked my lips, so sure they were beginning to crack open, they felt so dry, and Kat silently handed me a large glass of water. I swallowed it down, almost desperately, and when I looked over to thank her, she smiled.
“It’s normal to be nervous, Olivia. Just take a few deep breaths and try to forget about the microphones.”
I looked pointedly at the microphone Ray was at that moment setting up in front of me, and Kat laughed. “Well, I did say try to forget.”
* * *
Extract from transcript of Season 3 Episode 1 of Shadow of a Doubt:
Ethan Hall: If I’d taken the plea, and pled guilty to manslaughter, I’d be getting out right about now. I think about that all the time.
But I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t admit to killing someone when I hadn’t done it, not even accidentally.
It’s weird – how many people do you think have perjured themselves just to take a plea? To be sure of a lighter sentence? Our justice system is … it just doesn’t work. It doesn’t work. And I’m testament to that.
Kat Thomas [voiceover]: And it’s this system that put Ethan Hall behind bars for a crime he claims he didn’t commit that we’re about to investigate.
I’m Kat Thomas, you’re listening to Switchblade Media, and this is the third season of Shadow of a Doubt.
Musical interlude with snippets of dialogue overlaid between Kat Thomas, Ethan Hall, Kevin Lawrence, Morgan Washington and Olivia Hall as well as news caster announcements.
KT [continued]: Ten years ago, on August 24, in the city of Twin Rivers in Oregon, 18-year-old Tyler Washington was found dead in the woods that surround the town. Son of the mayor, captain of the basketball team, and set to start college in Southern California in just a few short weeks, Tyler’s death shocked not just his many friends, and his loving family, but the town itself, and even the entire state. His death didn’t remain a mystery for long however, as less than a week later, Ethan Hall, a classmate of the dead teen was arrested for Tyler’s murder. Prior to arrest, Hall had been interviewed without an attorney present for almost seven hours and during this time confessed to his classmate’s murder, only to recant and plead not-guilty.
If there’s anyone who knows the ins and outs of Ethan Hall’s case, it’s his twin sister Olivia. Olivia now works under a different name at a law firm in Portland, a career she says she felt called to after her twin was – she believes – wrongly imprisoned.
Olivia Hall: I just think the system failed him at every turn. I remember thinking, the whole time during his trial and even before that – the trial didn’t actually take place until almost a year after Tyler was killed – something has to happen. Something has to happen, something new has to come to light, because surely he’s not going to be convicted of this.
KT: But nothing ever did.
OH: No. And it’s not like he didn’t have the resources and support, you know? His defense attorney was a friend of our father, we were there for him the entire time, but it just shows how easy it can be for appearances to dictate beliefs.
KT: What do you mean by that?
OH: Just that Ethan was something of an easy mark. He was different from everyone else in town, he didn’t have many friends.
KT: You weren’t particularly close at the time of his arrest, were you?
OH: No. We spent most of high school not talking to each other.
KT: Do you regret that now?
OH: I don’t know. It’s hard to say … we’re much closer now. Closer in some ways than we’ve ever been, but I like to think that would have happened as we got older anyway. As a teenager you’re stuck in this weird dichotomy where you’re constantly trying to figure out who exactly you are, while simultaneously trying to figure out how to fit in. You want to be different, and special, and to stand out, but you also want to be part of the crowd. Ethan never had any of that, to be fair. I’m talking about me more than anything. Ethan was always just so distinctly … Ethan, and teenagers don’t always respond all that well to people who are actually being themselves, you know? I do think as we got older we would’ve figured out a way to be friends again, though. Even without all this.
KT: But it’s fair to say your brother’s arrest and conviction threw you back together? Made you closer?
OH: Yeah, I guess it’s kind of ironic, right? We’ve become closer even though, physically, we’re separated.
KT: So, Tyler’s death, Ethan’s arrest – it really did change your life, didn’t it?
[pause]
OH: Yeah, there’s no doubt about it. It definitely did.
KT: Do you think you would’ve become a lawyer if it hadn’t been for your brother’s case?
OH [laughs]: Definitely not. It wasn’t even on my radar. I didn’t even have a major picked out at that point, I don’t think, but pre-law definitely wouldn’t have been on the shortlist.
KT: And at the same time that your brother was arrested, you were also dealing with the death of a friend. Because, and this is kind of a weird twist of fate – you were good friends with Tyler weren’t you?
OH: We were friends, yes. I … I don’t know if I’d describe us as ‘good friends’. He was best friends with my boyfriend at the time, and we hung out a lot, but kind of just in that way you do as a big group of friends and acquaintances when you’re a teenager, you know? I never spent any time with him, just him and me. It never would’ve even occurred to me. We weren’t calling each other up to go to the movies together, or anything, let’s say.
KT: And it was your boyfriend Cole, who found Tyler’s body that morning, right?
OH: I actually think it was their friend, Nick. Nick Green. The three of them – Tyler, Cole, and Nick – were all very close, and from what I can remember, Tyler’s parents called both Cole and Nick up that morning to see if he was with either of them – they used to end up spending the night at each other’s houses all the time. But he wasn’t, and they all got a little worried, so they went out to look for him. Nick, and Cole, and Tyler’s dad and uncle. But it was Nick who actually … actually spotted him first, and told the others. I’m pretty sure.
KT: It sounds like you remember that morning pretty well, Olivia.
OH: I do. It’s impossible not to. You’re not likely to ever forget the moment your best friend calls you up to tell you your friend has been found dead, and that he’s probably been murdered.
KT: And was it around this time that your friends started distancing themselves from you?
OH: Yes. Well … no, not immediately, I guess. It was a