The Case Against Michael Politte | Full Episode | Forensic Files

foreign [Music] there's nothing in this world that anybody can never do to me that's going to be worse than what I've
seen I received a call from the sheriff's department that there had been a homicide
it was very devastating there wasn't a lot of murders in Washington County everyone knew everyone they all knew
Michael they all went to school with him everyone knew Rita I was really close with my mom
she was always at a football game it's my baseball game she's always had became quarter out she was recording me come on
[Applause] come on murder was as brutal as they come [Music] the First Responders called this crime
scene horrific there's blood all over the room some sort of object was used to hit Rita
at least once Mike finds her body burning on the floor of her room I was scared to death I didn't know what
to do I didn't know who to call I didn't know I didn't know what to do my name is Michael Poli and when I was
14 years old I was arrested for the murder of my mother would either one of you ever ever think
and be honest with me that he might hurt your mother no I never thought he would
hurt her mom know she's very close with Michael you know he was her baby tell me about December 4th 1998
you remember that evening vividly [Music] I was home and then I see headlights coming down the driveway and it's my mom
and uh she comes into the house and she said I love you good night and I'll see you in the morning is that the last
thing your mom ever said what's the last thing she ever said to me next thing I remember I woke up and I
see a light Haze in my room I opened my door I could see her feet and she was on fire for the waist up
and I could hear it what could you hear crack Into the Fire [Music] how soon did investigators focus on
Michael I'm immediately immediately he is a suspect from the moment they arrive at the scene they said this kid didn't
act the way they expected he wasn't emotional enough you look like a pretty good suspect you were a person who loved
to set fires you had had arguments with your mother you were having trouble in school
but none of that suggests anything about murder were there any injuries on Michael on your brother none any blood
found on him on his clothing no and no weapon no let me ask you a question what 14 year old kid could
commit a crime that violent and that vicious and not leave any any forensic evidence
behind whatsoever that's not possible Michael was convicted of murdering the second degree he was sentenced to life
thank you Michael did you kill your mom nope and there's only one individual that I know
that hates her that much to do that to her [Music] [Music] thank you [Music] this is where the police family home
once stood on December 5th 1998 the day Michael polite says he woke up to find his mother's body lying on her bedroom
floor on fire what I seen was hatred and evil he was 14 years old the individual that did that to my
mother hated her with everything inside of them Rita police was just 40 when she died
there's a lot of pictures of us and Mom all these years later Michael's older sisters Crystal and Melanie still have
vivid memories that's crystal that's Mom and that's me what's the first thing that comes to mind when you think about
Rita her laugh s laughing smiling Michael and his sisters grew up in the tiny rural community of Hopewell
Missouri it's about 70 miles Southwest of St Louis we didn't lock our doors we live by all of our family we rode
bicycles with motorcycles I was happy Michael went by the nickname Bernie back then his middle name is Bernard it's
short for Bernard their parents Edward and Rita got married as teens and Crystal and Melanie say the couple had
their struggles he was very mentally abusive he also cheated on her a lot but she loved him love
it outweighed any other feelings she ever had eventually though love wasn't enough I
witnessed violence between the two of them there were allegations of domestic violence on both sides the year before
the murder there was an incident where police were called Michael told an officer that his dad pushed his mom to
the floor and choked her the couple ultimately divorced in the summer of 1998 after more than 20 years of
marriage the divorce decree cited Edward's infidelity my dad would he would try to pay me to come live with
him I wouldn't I want to live with Mom Michael ended up having to split time between both parents
on December 4th 1998 he was at his mom's that night she was out working at a local bar and Michael was Home Alone
probably seven eight or so I get bored I ride my bicycle down to the General Store
Michael says he met up with and 50 year old Josh son [ __ ] we invited to sleep over the two hung
out for hours until Michael's mom got home around midnight I asked him I was like Amanda where you want to sleep at
you can sleep here in the living room on the fold-out couch or you could sleep and you know in the form of my room he's
like I'll just crash on your floor [Music] he and Josh and Josh noticed smoke in the room we
ran out of the room in my mom's bedroom door is facing me and I could see the glow an orange glow in that area
it says he called out to his mom but there was no answer Michael what are you feeling at this point panic
fear Michael says he went and grabbed a hose outside and then ran toward his mom's
room and what he saw he'd never forget I seen bird on her legs and she was on fire for the waist up
now turn the water hose on I don't know how long I said to her it could have been minutes it could have
been seconds I don't know Josh ran to get help it was too late Crystal would soon get a call from her
brother with the news I just sat on my bed and I just kept saying I don't want to go I
don't want to go want to go you know then you know it's real Crystal picked Melanie up and by the
time they got to the scene police cars and fire trucks were lighting the driveway Mike was on the front seat
passenger side of the police car and we just ran up to the window asked him what was like what happened
and he had to sit on his face and he had tear marks all down his face and he said I don't know
mom's dead you could smell the smoke you could smell flesh Tammy Nash worked for the Washington
County Sheriff's Office back then and was one of the responding officers clear that this was a murder Rita had
suffered blunt forced trauma to the head and blood was visible on her bedroom walls indicating a struggle had occurred
a fire marshal quickly concluded that an accelerant was used to set her on fire what was your job at that point what was
your assignment together the evidence we was looking for anything that she could have been struck with we never
found a weapon while Tammy processed the scene Michael and Josh were taken away to the
Sheriff's Office for questioning a police report indicates that on the way Michael Aston officer something that
quickly put him under suspicion he asked what's going to happen to my mom's truck
isn't that an odd thing to say after you just saw your mother on fire I don't think so
when you lose someone you want to hang on to things to me that's all it was you know and our mom loved that truck but it
did raise eyebrows and at the Sheriff's Office Michael was given a voice stress test and then they told me that I failed
investigators also took Michael's Shoes so that an accelerant sniffing dog could
examine them they said the dog alerted to my shoes to an accelerate how would you describe the tone of the questioning
after the dogs alerted on your shoes and after you failed this voice stress test
they wasn't questioning me no more they were telling me that I did something Michael and Josh both insisted they
didn't know what happened to Rita that they had stayed in Michael's room all night but investigators told them they
didn't believe them the boys were questioned repeatedly and two days after the murder Josh gave a videotaped
statement with an officer on each side and his mother present that statement seemed to poke a hole in Michael's
account he said he woke up to a noise in the middle of the night our little Thug
and I thought I heard like a [Music] Bernie wake up too or did you see Bernie in the room at that time
Bernie wasn't in bed I didn't see him could you have seen him if he was I mean like is that yes or no yes okay
so there's no doubt he wasn't in bed okay and was he anywhere else in that bedroom no
shortly after Josh gave that statement on December 7 1998 14 year old Michael polite was arrested for his mother's
murder I always believed that I was going to be found innocent because I had anything to do with what
happened to my mother [Music] oh was I in for a rude awakening he looks like a really happy kid
he was always really happy when Melanie and Crystal learned that their 14 year old brother had been
arrested for their mother's murder they say they couldn't believe it how are they coming up with that conclusion I
just thought they were crazy he didn't do it no one even cleared Chuck and Patsy Skiles are Michael's uncle and
Aunt they live next door to where the crime took place they also felt police had made a mistake you know we was the
first ones to see him after it happened he had no scratches no nothing on him he's always getting his mom a hug he
loved his mom but while Michael's family believed in his innocence the truth is Michael was
hardly the model child something that even he admits you failed seventh grade three times yeah I was on my third year
because I became true I just wasn't going skipping school is one thing but 10 months before the murder things got so
bad that Michael was hospitalized for Behavioral issues after he threatened to kill his mother and himself for whatever
reason I told her that I would put her six feet under just like her mom and dad did you name that Michael no I didn't
and it's the biggest regret of my life Melanie and Crystal blame Michael's misbehavior on their parents divorce
our dad would kind of put him in the middle Michael was clearly an angry troubled teenager yeah I think he was
mad at our dad for sure was he mad at your mom as well no I think I mean I know they didn't always get
along perfectly um I don't think any parent and child does years passed with Michael in custody
awaiting trial and then the prosecution came to him with a deal plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter and he'd spend a
maximum of 15 years in prison I rejected it you didn't think about it nope why not because I didn't murder my mother
in January 2002 Michael police then 17 years old went on trial his life was on the line the prosecutors and defense
attorney who tried the case didn't respond to our calls but Josh hedgecourt the current prosecutor of Washington
County where the murder took place was willing to talk about the case what was the most important evidence the
scientific evidence and that would start with the shoes that he was wearing at the Sheriff's Office
not only had a dog detected an accelerant on Michael's Shoes according to the prosecution later testing also
confirmed the presence of gasoline on them and there was testimony that an accelerant had been used to burn Rita's
body and so all of these components together I think solidified that he must have set the fire
but Michael had told police that gasoline found on his shoes meant nothing and that he and his friends
would often set fires for fun we all did that it was it was in the country in fact Michael told police that just hours
before the murder he and his friend Josh used gasoline to set a fire on the railroad tracks near his house before
Rita got home the show off the Persistence of fire but the prosecution used that admission as another piece of
evidence against Michael they argued the burn pattern on the tracks matched the burn pattern on Rita
see the outlets showing nothing electrical it could have caused the fire Linda Dickerson Bell and Jonathan
Peterson were jurors on the case I'm like it's not looking good for him that's what they were telling us was
that Michael had a problem with burning and that he was the only person that could have done this the jurors never
heard about Michael's problems at school and that threat to his mother but a witness testified about a disagreement
that Michael had with his mother weeks before the murder it was over money and he sat flicking a lighter afterwards it
happened but not in the way that the state betrayed it I was flicking the wheel on the lighter that's that you
weren't threatening your mother with that no and there was something even more damaging the prosecution claimed that
Michael had actually confessed to the crime during a suicide attempt at a juvenile detention center exactly one
month after the murder three Witnesses who worked there wrote in reports that Michael said I haven't
cared since I killed my mom but Michael says that's not what he said when they asked you why you were trying to kill
yourself you say you said what I haven't heard since they killed my mom it's the difference of one word but that
one word carried a lot of weight and the jury would never hear from Michael because when it was the defense's turn
he didn't take the stand today's date seventh day of December 1998 and leaving the jury with even more
unanswered questions was the fact that they were told that Josh the other boy in the house that night had been granted
immunity I kept waiting thinking okay well he's been given immunity then he's got to have something to offer but the
jury never saw or heard from Josh at all he wasn't called to the stand and they were never shown his videotape statement
Michael's sisters also weren't called I never really heard anybody in his defense say Michael didn't do this
instead the defense hinged its case on the lack of direct evidence no murder weapon had been found and despite the
violence of the attack Michael had no injuries and no blood on his clothing after three days of testimony the case
went to the jury to hold someone's life in your hand have you ever done that it's not a pleasant thing to do I wanted
to get it right Linda and Jonathan say they were left with so many questions too many
questions and they felt pressured by other members of the jury I think everybody finally just got to me and
just like you know we're ready to go home and then I was like yeah but you're ready to go
home and these kids are ready to go to prison the jury filed into the room with their guilty of second-degree murder
I wept why because it was wrong Michael was sentenced to life in prison it was um it was it was unbelievable it
was I never thought it would happen Michael would spend years in a Missouri prison before a new team of lawyers
would take his case and make it their mission to turn it around the state essentially never really had any case
against this kid but the case that they even did have back at trial has been indisputably proven false
what do you make of the evidence used to convict Michael chat now on Facebook and
Twitter after Michael pulley was convicted and sentenced to life at the age of 18. he
was sent to the Missouri State Penitentiary once called the bloodiest 47 acres in America
being so young I was a Target we got in a fight my first day there it was trying to rape me
Michael says he became desperate for some sense of safety you became a skinhead yeah enjoy your game that's
where you got the tattoos it was something that I felt like I needed to do to survive
it's not the way that I feel um it's not the way the mom raised me I just didn't fit in
Michael says he longed to prove his innocent to get out of prison he needed to hire a lawyer so he says he asked his
dad for help did he nope so how did you keep up any hope at all I didn't for a few years I was heroin addict
um anytime I left myself I was looking for drugs I was just self-medicating that's the way things were until Michael
finally found something that gave him hope five years after his conviction he wrote
a letter to the Midwest Innocence Project and they agreed to take his case the organization worked on it for years
and eventually attorneys Tricia Bushnell Megan Crane and Mark Emerson became involved Mike was convicted because he
was a kid pure and simple they said he wasn't emotional enough trauma doesn't look
like what people think it should look like Trisha Megan and Mark picked apart the case against Michael they say it was
based on bad science started with the prosecution's claim that an accelerant was used to set the
fire that killed Rita when the fire investigator came to the scene they immediately determined it was
a fuel-fed fire based on just visual patterns just based on looking at the scene which at the time violated gold
standards of fire investigation there has to be lab testing control sample taken there and lab testing was done on
carpet samples from the crime scene no accelerant was detected the prosecution explained that away by saying it could
have burned up but defense attorney Megan crane says that suggestion isn't reasonable there's no scientific basis
for that being possible do you believe that the jury believed that in fact there was an accelerate used to set Rita
on fire absolutely the main case against Michael was that it was a gasoline fire
in order to attempt to tie my to the crime the only physical evidence was the gasoline that the state alleged was on
his shoes but Michael's new lawyers say that Michael's Shoes didn't have gasoline on
them either another footprint filmed they say a chemical used in the shoe manufacturing process was wrongly
identified as gasoline at trial and even the Missouri State Crime Lab agrees in this 2020 letter officials say it is now
known that solvents found in Footwear adhesives have similarities to gasoline but that in the late 1990s this
knowledge was not widely known could the dogs have been alerting to the chemicals used in the shoes
absolutely the jurors cared about the gas on the shoes they asked to see the shoes it was the nail in the coffin
but what about Michael's alleged confession at the Juvenile Detention Center Witnesses wrote that they heard
him say I haven't cared since I killed my mom but Michael and [ __ ] said I haven't cared since they killed my mom
in the same way we talk about tunnel vision people can hear what they want to hear we're talking about one word in a
room where there's lots of activity happening they have a kid in the Detention Center that they believe
has probably committed this crime right and so that's their view of him there is one big question that remains
what about Josh santasy remember the jury was told he got immunity and there was that videotaped statement where he
told police that he woke up in the middle of the night and Michael wasn't there so there's no doubt he wasn't in
bed okay and was he anywhere else in that bedroom now many years after the crime Josh is
speaking publicly for the first time about what he says really happened that night I've spent the majority of my life
just trying to forget about it thank you I've done pretty good just moving on with it
but I mean it's still it's always there you know Josh San soucy is now 39 years old
he says he's never been quite the same since he woke up from that sleepover at Michael's at the age of 15 and found
himself in the middle of a murder investigation he says he was questioned by police
repeatedly for hours at a time every time I tell him something they would be like no that's not what happened this is
what happened I remember telling my mom I said so they keep saying kind of lying
I said I don't even know if I'm telling the truth anymore but the truth Josh says is that nothing
out of the ordinary happened on that night in question it was just like a normal night
I couldn't sleep very good at night I was kind of waking up I woke up one time but
what about that videotape statement where Josh told police that he woke up in the middle of the night and Michael
wasn't there so there's no doubt he wasn't in bed and was he anywhere else in that bedroom
no I don't remember ever saying that and I feel like if I said that then it was maybe at a weak point or something
Michael's attorneys say they've seen this all too often in interrogations what we see in Josh's interrogation is
the result of hours and hours of interrogation and every other time he has never ever said that that was what
happened in a deposition right before Michael went on trial Josh said that he never sat up from where he was sleeping
on the floor and that it's not that I did not see him in his bed it's I couldn't see him in his bed there's no
way I could see anything that's on top of the bed so why did Josh take that immunity deal I just wanted it
because I knew they was going to try to pin it on me or Bernie I was like well if they'll
give me immunity then maybe I don't have anything to worry about you know Michael's lawyers
say the prosecution was likely trying to get Josh to flip on Michael and the fact
they didn't even put Josh on the stand says it all they didn't call him because it wasn't going to go well for them he
had nothing helpful to say for the state why didn't the defense call Josh that's
a great question Aaron and there's a lot of great questions about what the defense didn't do and who they didn't
call Michael's trial attorney was a public defender back then in a court affidavit he admits that Michael's case
was the first homicide case that he had tried on his own and that today he would
handle his representation of Michael differently Michael's new legal team was committed
to getting him out of prison they filed court documents suggesting an alternative suspect Michael's father
Edward polite I believe he is responsible for what happened mother if that's true that means Michael's own
father stood by and let his son take the fall for a murder that he was behind Michael's sisters say their father was
Furious over the financial terms of the divorce a judge had finalized them just four days before the murder
she got half of his retirement maintenance maintenance child support alimony and the one thing that I
remember about growing up with our dad is you don't mess with his money you just
don't do it he had an outburst in the court that he said you'll never live to see a
dime of that money police did interview Edward polite after the murder he had an alibi he was home
more than 80 miles away at the time of the murder but Michael's defense team says investigators didn't look hard
enough they didn't at all investigate the possibility that perhaps Ed did this with someone else and Michael says he
believes his dad did arrange the murder and had help I think he heard Johnny to murder my mother Johnny is Johnny
police Edward's cousin Michael's legal team identified Witnesses who placed Johnny near the crime scene on the
morning of the murder Justice First Responders were arriving foreign sirens and uh
as I'm coming up the road and I'm approaching the railroad tracks Johnny pulley was walking down railroad tracks
[Music] Larry Lee is one of those Witnesses he's known Johnny for years as he's walking up to my truck he asked
me if I heard about Rita you said somebody killed and I'm like do what about a week later Larry's wife Carolyn
says Johnny came to their door and it was like six o'clock in the morning he said I need to know what you know
about Rita's death he said me and Edward are doing our own investigation and we heard you were up at the store talking
about it and I said Johnny I don't know nothing no we need to know what you know he said
and I said you know I think it's time for you to go well he's scared a little bit did the two of you talk to
investigators about this no we think back now and we wish we would have and I ain't saying he had anything to do with
anything either I don't know but you know another man places Johnny police truck
near the same spot that Larry Lee says he ran into Johnny on the morning of the murder in an affidavit file by Michael's
team the man says he saw the truck just as emergency vehicles were coming down the road former investigator Tammy Nash
says she doesn't remember hearing that Johnny polite had been seen that morning but she does recall something that
happened in the days after the murder once the crime scene had been released somebody came in to the sheriff's
department and said that they had found a tire iron or tart tool or something in
the closet whose closet Michael's closet police records show the person who found
that Tire Tool was Johnny polite could you have missed that in your first search no are you absolutely I am
positive I did not miss that if it wasn't there when you search what does that mean that somebody placed it there
Tammy went and retrieved the Tire Tool from Michael's closet it was later ruled out as the murder weapon do you believe
that tire iron was put in your closet to set you up I do Johnny and Edward police
didn't respond to our request for an interview neither has been charged in the case it's been years since Michael
and his sisters have spoken to their father but they say they did ask him whether he had anything to do with their
mother's murder and he denied it it's not our our job and it's not our Focus to say who did commit this crime but
what we do know is it was not Michael pulley and while Michael's lawyers were trying
to prove that the case would take a turn best day in the world I never thought this day would
come it's amazing [Music] take an in-depth look at the case at 48hours.com [Music]
it's hard it's real hard here in Missouri to get these convictions overturned it's a
battle I don't know why they don't want to have urine Michael's legal team was shut down
by appeals court at every turn it is a constant fight with you know Goliath really is what it feels like
despite the letdowns Michael and his sisters kept a pope that one day he would be freed and in 2021 There Was An
Unexpected development a bill passed in Missouri giving juvenile offenders convicted of serious crimes a second
chance he gave me an immediate Pro hearing Michael went before the parole board asking for his release I told him
I was innocent and I told him this is why I'm innocent this is why you should believe I'm innocent
[Music] on April 22nd 2022 Melanie and Crystal brought friends and family and a change of clothes to the Jefferson
City Correctional Center it was a really great day it was a dream come true really
on that day Michael police walked out of prison foreign [Applause] [Laughter] [Music]
[Applause] all the night sitting myself wondering what it would be like to be out here and
have this moment and have it finally come through it's awesome yeah it's finally here I'm free how you
doing can I have a hug Michael says he felt his mom's presence when a bird flew by overhead
hey Mom she's always in my thoughts she's always in my mind and everything I do and everything that I process through
today is Guided by her Michael left prison that day doing one of the things he enjoyed most before he
went in we're gonna take a bike ride from the parking lot to the railroad tracks
so I'm leaving here the same way that I came in here riding a bicycle Justice foreign
[Music] this felt good best bike ride in the world welcome home welcome home following his release Michael moved in
with his sister Melanie you ready drum roll hey he started getting those reminders of
prison his tattoos covered up with this new art he also found job as a carpenter
and got his driver's license you're now out is that enough not enough because as you
sit right now you are a convicted felon on parole you have a criminal record that says
you killed your mother yep Michael wants to clear his name and it just might happen because Josh
hedgecourt the current prosecutor in the county where the murder took place has filed a motion asking for Michael's
conviction to be overturned to me it all always comes back to the science hedgecorth agrees with Michael's
attorneys that the scientific evidence used to convict Michael is problematic so I don't believe that Michael received
a fair trial I can't say that the prosecutor at the time knew what he was putting on was false it just shouldn't
have been presented could you retry Michael polite for the murder of his mother based on the evidence you have
today on the evidence I have today I don't believe I would file this case but while the local prosecutor
believes Michael's conviction should be thrown out another public official Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmidt
is fighting it and every exoneration Missouri the Attorney General fights it because they say we have to respect
honor and protect the verdict of these jurors well that goes out the window when the jurors themselves want this
verdict overturned in sworn affidavits five jurors have questioned whether Michael got a fair trial including
Jonathan Peterson and Linda Dickerson Bell I do not believe that Michael pulley killed his mother
but I don't know how to fix it the Attorney General's office didn't reply to our request for comment but in
a court filing they say that Michael cannot meet the standard for actual innocence and the AG has argued that the
evidence against Johnny and Edward polite would have been inadmissible at trial there you go Michael hopes that a judge
will hear the case and decide to overturn his conviction but in the meantime prosecutor Josh hedgecourt has
revealed to us that the local sheriff's department has reopened the investigation into Rita's murder we want
to do the right thing if someone else did this we want to know that even if it's new evidence
that it was Michael neither hedgecorth nor the local sheriff would comment on the specifics of the investigation
including whether Johnny Pauline or Edward polite are Persons of Interest [Music]
I feel bad for Bernie and his family I mean everything he had to go through and Bernie lost his whole childhood Josh
santasy hasn't seen Michael polite since they were kids but they hope to one day
reunite the night of that sleepover and its aftermath has haunted Josh all these
years what would you say to him I'm sorry and that you know he didn't do anything
wrong in Potosi Missouri not far from where the murder took place Rita's truck has
sat all these years let's go and need new tires so much smaller than I remember her
family says they held on to it because it's one of the only things they have left of her that's her truck you know
that's a part of her that belongs to her they hope to fix it up and get it running again
thank you we're gonna get Justice for her I believe that one day we're gonna we're
gonna get Justice for reading [Music] the doorbell rings two men at the door she goes to close the door on them they
force themselves in with guns they take her by force they hooded me as soon as I
went into the van a deputy chases them down I opened the rear door of the van and scared me so I jumped back and I
shut the door 48 hours Saturday on CBS sent streaming on Paramount Plus thank you

At 14 he was accused and later convicted of murdering his mother. But he claims he knows who the real killer is and he’s still out there. "48 Hours" correspondent Erin Moriarty reports. Watch more full episodes of "48 Hours" on Pluto TV.

True crime. Real justice. "48 Hours" investigates the most intriguing crime and justice cases that touch on all areas of the human experience including greed and passion. "48 Hours," which premiered in 1988, has developed a rich history of original reporting and impact journalism that has helped exonerate wrongly convicted people, caused cold cases to be reopened and solved, and along the way changed lives.

Brief Summary

Michael Polite was wrongfully convicted of murdering his mother, Rita, after a flawed investigation and trial; new evidence may exonerate him.

Key points

A Mother's Tragic Death. Michael Poli wakes up to find his mother, Rita, dead and on fire.
The Arrest. 14-year-old Michael is arrested for the murder of his mother, a shocking twist for his family.
The Verdict. The jury finds Michael guilty of second-degree murder, leading to a life sentence.
Josh's First Public Statement. Years after the crime, Josh speaks out about the night of the murder.
Michael's Release from Prison. After years of fighting, Michael is finally released from prison in 2022.
New Evidence and Investigation. The local sheriff's department has reopened the investigation into Rita's murder.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I was scared to death I didn't know what to do.

Michael's reaction to finding his mother.

1:22WatchJul 14, 2023

Tension

85/ 100High tension

More from 48 Hours

Solve the Crime

Read a real case one clue at a time, then see how your call held up against the investigators.