Michael Politte, Missouri man convicted as a teen of murdering his mom, says the actual killer remains to be on the market

A Missouri homicide investigation has been reopened after questions have been raised concerning the conviction of Michael Politte. Politte was 14 when he was charged in 1998 with murdering his mom, Rita, who died after being hit within the head and set on fireplace in her Hopewell residence.  Greater than three years after the crime, he was convicted and sentenced to life in jail, although he maintained he was harmless. Politte spent practically 20 years in jail earlier than a brand new regulation handed in Missouri that made him eligible for parole. Now 38 and out on parole, Politte tells “48 Hours” correspondent Erin Moriarty who he believes is answerable for the homicide. 

A MURDER IN HOPEWELL

Michael Politte: There’s nothin’ on this world that anyone can ever do to me that is gonna be worse than what I seen.

On Dec. 5, 1998, Michael Politte says he woke as much as discover his mom’s physique mendacity on her bed room flooring — on fireplace.

He was 14 years previous.

Michael Politte: What I seen was hatred and evil. … The person that did that to my mom hated her with all the things within ’em.

Rita Politte was simply 40 when she died. All these years later, Michael’s older sisters, Chrystal and Melonie, nonetheless have vivid reminiscences.

Erin Moriarty ( photograph album): What’s the very first thing that involves thoughts when you concentrate on Rita?

Melonie Politte: Her giggle. Undoubtedly.

Chrystal Politte: She was all the time laughing, smiling.

Michael and his sisters grew up within the tiny, rural group of Hopewell, Missouri. It is about 70 miles southwest of St. Louis.

Chrystal Politte: We did not lock our doorways. … We lived by all of our household.

Michael Politte: We rode bicycles, bikes … I used to be completely satisfied.

Michael glided by the nickname “Bernie” again then.

Melonie Politte: His center identify is Bernard. It is brief for Bernard.

Their dad and mom, Edward and Rita, obtained married as teenagers, and Chrystal and Melonie say the couple had their struggles.

Melonie Politte: He was very mentally abusive.

Chrystal Politte: He additionally cheated on her —

Melonie Politte: So much.

Chrystal Politte: However she cherished him. Love — It outweighed another feeling she ever had(crying).

Finally, although, love wasn’t sufficient.

Michael Politte: I witnessed violence between the 2 of ’em.

There have been allegations of home violence on either side. The yr earlier than the homicide, there was an incident the place police had been known as. Michael informed an officer that his dad pushed his mother to the ground and choked her. The couple finally divorced in the summertime of 1998 after greater than 20 years of marriage. The divorce decree cited Edward’s infidelity.

Michael Politte: My dad would — he would attempt to pay me to return dwell with him. I would not. I needed to dwell with my mother.

Michael ended up having to separate time between each dad and mom. On Dec. 4, 1998, he was at his mother’s. That night time, she was out working at an area bar, and Michael was residence alone.

Michael Politte: Most likely 7, 8 or so, I get bored. … I experience my bicycle right down to the overall retailer.

It is there that Michael says he met up along with his good friend, 15-year-old Josh SanSoucie, who he invited to sleep over. The 2 frolicked for hours till Michael’s mother obtained residence round midnight.

Michael Politte: I requested him, I used to be like, “Man, the place do you wanna sleep at?” … “You may sleep right here in the lounge on the foldout sofa.” … “Or you may simply sleep, you already know, on the ground in my room.” He is like, “I will simply crash in your flooring.”

Michael says he slept by way of the night time—till simply earlier than 6:30 a.m., when he and Josh awoke and observed smoke within the room.

Michael Politte: We ran outta the room. … My mother’s … bed room door is dealing with me …  And I may see the glow, an orange glow in that space.

He says he known as out to his mother, however there was no reply.

Erin Moriarty: Michael, what are you feeling at this level?

Michael Politte: Panic, concern.

Michael says he went and grabbed a hose exterior after which ran towards his mother’s room — and what he noticed, he’d always remember.

Michael Politte: I seen blood on her legs. And she or he was on fireplace from the waist up. And I flip the water hose on. … I do not understand how lengthy I sat there. It coulda been minutes, it coulda been seconds. I do not know (emotional).

Josh ran to get assist, but it surely was too late.  Chrystal would quickly get a name from her brother with the information.

Chrystal Politte: I simply sat on my mattress, and I simply stored sayin’, “I do not wanna go. I do not wanna go. I do not wanna go.” (Crying) As a result of, you already know, then you already know it is actual.

Chrystal picked Melonie up and by the point they obtained to the scene, police automobiles and fireplace vans had been lining the driveway.

Chrystal Politte: Mike was … within the entrance seat, passenger aspect of the police automotive. And we simply ran as much as the window … requested him what was—like, what occurred. … And he had soot on his face and he had tear marks all down his face. And— he stated, “I do not know. Mother’s lifeless.”

Tammy Nash: You might scent the smoke; you possibly can scent flesh.

Tammy Nash labored for the Washington County Sheriff’s Division again then and was one of many responding officers.

It was clear that this was a homicide. Rita had suffered blunt pressure trauma to the pinnacle and blood was seen on her bed room partitions, indicating a battle had occurred. A hearth marshal shortly concluded that an accelerant was used to set her on fireplace.

Erin Moriarty: What was your job at that time? What was your task?

Tammy Nash: To assemble the proof … We was on the lookout for something that … she coulda been struck with. … We by no means discovered a weapon.

Whereas Nash processed the scene, Michael and Josh had been taken away to the sheriff’s division for questioning. A police report signifies that on the way in which, Michael requested an officer one thing that shortly put him underneath suspicion. He requested, “What is going on to occur to my mother’s truck?”

Erin Moriarty: Is not that an odd factor to say after you simply noticed your mom on fireplace?

Michael Politte: I do not suppose so.

Chrystal Politte: Whenever you lose somebody, you wanna hold onto issues. To me that is all it was, you already know. And our mother cherished that truck.

But it surely did increase eyebrows. And on the sheriff’s division, Michael was given a voice stress check.

Michael Politte: After which they informed me that I failed.

Investigators additionally took Michael’s footwear in order that an accelerant sniffing canine may study them.

Michael Politte: They stated that the canine alerted to my footwear to — an accelerant.

Erin Moriarty: How would you describe the tone of the questioning after the canine alerted in your footwear, and after you failed this voice stress check?

Michael Politte: They wasn’t questioning me no extra. … They had been telling me that I did one thing.

Michael and Josh each insisted they did not know what occurred to Rita, that they’d stayed in Michael’s room all night time. However investigators informed them they did not imagine them. The boys had been questioned repeatedly. And, two days after the homicide, Josh gave a videotaped assertion, with an officer on either side and his mom current. That assertion appeared to poke a gap in Michael’s account. He stated he woke as much as a noise in the midst of the night time.

JOSH SANSOUCIE: I heard slightly thud, and I assumed I heard, like a — a girl’s voice …

OFFICER 1: Did Bernie get up too, or did you —

JOSH SANSOUCIE: No.

OFFICER 2: — see Bernie within the room at the moment?

JOSH SANSOUCIE: No.

OFFICER 2: Bernie wasn’t in mattress?

JOSH SANSOUCIE: I did not see him …

OFFICER 2: Might you’ve seen him if he was?

OFFICER 1: You appeared on the—

OFFICER 2: Is that sure or no?

JOSH SANSOUCIE: Sure.

OFFICER 2: OK …

OFFICER 2: So, there is not any doubt that he wasn’t within the mattress? OK. And was he wherever else in that bed room?

JOSH SANSOUCIE: No.

Shortly after Josh gave that assertion, on Dec. 7, 1998, 14-year-old Michael Politte was arrested for his mom’s homicide.

Michael Politte: I all the time believed that I used to be gonna be discovered harmless as a result of I did not have something to do with what occurred to my mom. Boy, was I in for a impolite awakening.

“I DIDN’T MURDER MY MOTHER”

Erin Moriarty ( photograph album): He seems to be like a extremely completely satisfied child.

Melonie Politte: He was all the time actually completely satisfied.

When Melonie and Chrystal discovered that their 14-year-old brother had been arrested for his or her mom’s homicide, they are saying they could not imagine it.

Melonie Politte: How had been they arising with that conclusion? … I simply thought they had been loopy.

Chuck and Patsy Skiles are Michael’s uncle and aunt. They dwell subsequent door to the place the crime occurred. In addition they felt police had made a mistake.

Chuck Skiles: He did not do it and I need him cleared.

Patsy Skiles: You understand, we was the primary ones to see him … after it occurred. He had no scratches, no nothin’ on him.

Chuck Skiles: He was all the time givin’ his mother a hug.

Patsy Skiles: He cherished his mother.

However whereas Michael’s household believed in his innocence, the reality is, Michael was hardly the mannequin youngster — one thing that even he admits.

Erin Moriarty: You failed seventh grade 3 times.

Michael Politte: Yeah, I used to be on my third yr — as a result of I turned truant. I simply wasn’t goin’.

Skipping faculty was one factor, however 10 months earlier than the homicide, issues obtained so unhealthy that Michael was hospitalized for behavioral points after he threatened to kill his mom and himself.

Michael Politte: For no matter cause, I informed her that I might put her six toes underneath identical to her mother and pop.

Erin Moriarty: Did you imply that, Michael?

Michael Politte: No, I did not. And it is the most important remorse of my life.

Melonie and Chrystal blame Michael’s misbehavior on their dad and mom’ divorce.

Melonie Politte: Our dad would type of put him within the center.

Erin Moriarty: Michael was clearly an offended, troubled teenager.

Melonie Politte: Yeah, I feel he was mad at our dad, for certain.

Erin Moriarty: Was he mad at your mother, as effectively?

Melonie Politte: No, I feel — I imply, I do know they did not all the time get alongside completely. I do not suppose any dad or mum and youngster does.

Three years handed with Michael in custody, awaiting trial. After which the prosecution got here to him with a deal: plead responsible to voluntary manslaughter and he’d spend a most of 15 years in jail.

Michael Politte: I rejected it.

Erin Moriarty: You did not give it some thought?

Michael Politte: No.

Erin Moriarty: Why not?

Michael Politte: ‘Trigger I did not homicide my mom.

In January 2002, Michael Politte, then 17 years previous, went on trial. His life was on the road. The prosecutors and protection legal professional who tried the case did not reply to “48 Hours”‘ calls, however Josh Hedgecorth — the present prosecutor of Washington County, the place the homicide occurred — was prepared to speak concerning the case.

Erin Moriarty: What was an important proof?

Josh Hedgecorth: The scientific proof … And that might begin with the footwear that he was carrying on the sheriff’s workplace.

Not solely had a canine detected an accelerant on Michael’s footwear, in response to the prosecution, later testing additionally confirmed the presence of gasoline on them. And there was testimony that an accelerant had been used to burn Rita’s physique.

Josh Hedgecorth: And so, all of those elements collectively I feel solidified that he will need to have set the hearth.

However Michael had informed police that gasoline discovered on his footwear meant nothing, and that he and his buddies would typically set fires for enjoyable.

Michael Politte: All of us did that. … It was in — it was within the nation.

In reality, Michael informed police that simply hours earlier than the homicide, he and his good friend Josh used gasoline to set a hearth on the railroad tracks close to his home — earlier than Rita obtained residence.

However the prosecution used that admission as one other piece of proof in opposition to Michael. They argued the burn sample on the tracks matched the burn sample on Rita.

Linda Dickerson-Bell and Jonathan Peterson had been jurors on the case.

Jonathan Peterson: I am like, “It isn’t trying good for him.”

Linda Dickerson-Bell: What they had been telling us was that Michael had an issue with burning and that … he was the one individual that might have finished this.

The jurors by no means heard about Michael’s issues in school and that risk to his mom, however a witness testified a few disagreement that Michael had along with his mom weeks earlier than the homicide. It was over cash, and he sat flicking a lighter afterwards.

Michael Politte: It occurred. However not in the way in which that the State portrayed it. … I used to be flickin’ the wheel on the lighter. That is that.

Erin Moriarty: You were not threatening your mom with that?

Michael Politte: No.

And there was one thing much more damaging: the prosecution claimed that Michael had truly confessed to the crime throughout a suicide try at a juvenile detention heart precisely one month after the homicide. Three witnesses who labored there wrote in experiences that Michael stated, “I have not cared since … I killed my mother.” However Michael says that is not what he stated.

Erin Moriarty: Once they requested you why you had been attempting to kill your self, you say you stated what?

Michael Politte: I have not cared since they killed my mother.

It is the distinction of 1 phrase. However that one phrase carried lots of weight. And the jury would by no means hear from Michael, as a result of when it was the protection’s flip, he did not take the stand.

And leaving the jury with much more unanswered questions was the truth that they had been informed that Josh, the opposite boy in the home that night time, had been granted immunity.

Linda Dickerson-Bell: I stored ready, pondering, “OK, effectively if he is been given immunity then he is obtained to have one thing to supply.” 

However the jury by no means noticed or heard from Josh in any respect. He wasn’t known as to the stand, they usually had been by no means proven his videotaped assertion. Michael’s sisters additionally weren’t known as.

Linda Dickerson-Bell: I by no means actually heard anyone in his protection say, “Michael did not do that.”

As a substitute, the protection hinged its case on the shortage of direct proof: no homicide weapon had been discovered and, regardless of the violence of the assault, Michael had no accidents and no blood on his clothes. After three days of testimony, the case went to the jury.

Linda Dickerson-Bell: To carry somebody’s life in your hand, have you ever ever finished that? It isn’t a pleasing factor to do. … I needed to get it proper.

However Dickerson-Bell and Peterson say they had been left with so many questions — too many questions — they usually felt pressured by different members of the jury.

Jonathan Peterson: I feel everyone lastly simply obtained to me and simply, like — you already know, “We’re able to go residence.” After which I used to be like, “Hell, however, you are able to go residence and this child’s able to go to jail?”

After greater than 4 hours, the jury filed into the courtroom with their verdict: responsible of second-degree homicide.

Linda Dickerson-Bell: I wept.

Erin Moriarty: Why?

Linda Dickerson-Bell (crying): As a result of it was improper.

Michael was sentenced to life in jail.

Michael Politte: It was unbelievable. … I by no means thought it could occur.

Michael would spend years in a Missouri jail earlier than a brand new workforce of legal professionals would take his case and make it their mission to show it round.

Megan Crane: The State basically by no means actually had any case in opposition to this child. However the case that they even did have again at trial has been indisputably confirmed false.

“PROBLEMATIC” EVIDENCE?

After Michael Politte was convicted and sentenced to life on the age of 18, he was despatched to the Missouri State Penitentiary — as soon as known as “the bloodiest 47 acres in America.”

Michael Politte: Bein’ so younger, I used to be a goal. … I obtained in a battle my first day there … Dudes had been attempting to rape me.

Michael says he turned determined for some sense of security.

Erin Moriarty: You turned a skinhead? 

Michael Politte: Yeah. Joined a gang.

Erin Moriarty: That is the place you bought the tattoos?

Michael Politte: Yup. … It was somethin’ that … I felt like I wanted to do to outlive. … It isn’t the way in which that I really feel. It isn’t the way in which that mother raised me. I simply did not slot in.

Michael says he longed to show his innocence and get out of jail. He wanted to rent a lawyer, so he says he requested his dad for assist.

Erin Moriarty: Did he?

Michael Politte: Nope.

Erin Moriarty: So how did you retain up any hope in any respect?

Michael Politte: I did not for a number of years. I used to be a heroin addict — anytime I left my cell I used to be lookin’ for medicine. I used to be simply self-medicatin’.

That is the way in which issues had been — till Michael lastly discovered one thing that gave him hope. 5 years after his conviction, he wrote a letter to the Midwest Innocence Venture, they usually agreed to take his case. The group labored on it for years and ultimately, attorneys Tricia Bushnell, Megan Crane and Mark Emison turned concerned.

Megan Crane: Mike was convicted as a result of he was a child, pure and easy. … They stated … he wasn’t emotional sufficient. … Trauma would not appear like what folks suppose it ought to appear like.

Bushnell, Crane and Emison picked aside the case in opposition to Michael. They are saying it was primarily based on unhealthy science, beginning with the prosecution’s declare that an accelerant was used to set the hearth that killed Rita.

Mark Emison: When the hearth investigator got here to the scene — they instantly decided it was a fuel-fed … fireplace — primarily based on simply visible patterns — simply primarily based on trying on the scene — which, on the time, violated gold requirements of fireside investigation. … There needs to be lab testin’.

And lab testing was finished on carpet samples from the crime scene. No accelerant was detected. The prosecution defined that away by saying it may have burned up, however protection legal professional Megan Crane says that suggestion is not cheap.

Megan Crane: There isn’t any scientific foundation for that being doable.

Erin Moriarty: Do you imagine that the jury believed that in actual fact there was an accelerant used to set Rita on fireplace?

Mark Emison: Completely. … The principle case in opposition to Michael was that it was a gasoline fireplace … and … so as to try to tie Mike to the crime, the one bodily proof was the gasoline that the State alleged … was on his footwear.

However Michael’s new legal professionals say that Michael’s footwear did not have gasoline on them, both. They are saying a chemical used within the shoe manufacturing course of was wrongly recognized as gasoline at trial. And even the Missouri State crime lab agrees. In a 2020 letter, officers say, “… it’s now identified that solvents present in footwear adhesives have similarities to gasoline.” However that “Within the late Nineties, this data was not broadly identified.”

Erin Moriarty: Might the canine have been alerting to the chemical compounds used within the footwear?

Mark Emison: Completely.

Megan Crane: The jurors cared concerning the fuel on the footwear. … They requested to see the footwear. … It was the nail within the coffin.

However what about Michael’s alleged confession on the juvenile detention heart? Witnesses wrote that they heard him say, “I have not cared since … I killed my mother.” However Michael insists he stated, “I have not cared since … they killed my mother.”

Tricia Bushnell: In the identical approach we speak about tunnel imaginative and prescient, folks can hear what they need to hear. We’re speaking about one phrase in a room the place there’s plenty of exercise occurring. … They’ve a child within the detention heart that they imagine has most likely dedicated this crime, proper? … And so, that is their view of him.  

There may be one massive query that continues to be. What about Josh SanSoucie? Bear in mind, the jury was informed he obtained immunity, and there was that videotaped assertion the place he informed police that he awoke in the midst of the night time and Michael wasn’t there.

OFFICER 2: So, there is not any doubt that he wasn’t within the mattress? OK. And was he wherever else in that bed room?

JOSH SANSOUCIE: No.

Now, a few years after the crime, Josh is talking publicly for the primary time about what he says actually occurred that night time.

Josh SanSoucie: I’ve spent nearly all of my life simply tryin’ to overlook about it.

KEY WITNESS SPEAKS OUT

Josh SanSoucie: I’ve finished fairly good simply movin’ on with it. However, I imply, it is nonetheless — it is all the time there, you already know?

Josh SanSoucie is now 39 years previous. He says he is by no means been fairly the identical since he awoke from that sleepover at Michael’s on the age of 15 and located himself in the midst of a homicide investigation. He says he was questioned by police repeatedly for hours at a time.

Josh SanSoucie: Each time I would inform ’em one thing, they’d be like, “No, that is not what occurred. That is what occurred.” … I keep in mind tellin’ my mother. I stated, “They hold saying that I am mendacity.” I stated, “I do not even know if I am telling the reality anymore.”

However the fact, Josh says, is that nothing out of the extraordinary occurred on that night time in query.

Josh SanSoucie: It was identical to a traditional night time.

JOSH SANSOUCIE (videotaped assertion): And I could not sleep excellent that night time. I used to be simply type of waking up. I awoke one time …

However what about that videotaped assertion the place Josh informed police that he awoke in the midst of the night time and Michael wasn’t there?

OFFICER 2: So, there is not any doubt that he wasn’t within the mattress? OK. And was he wherever else in that bed room?

JOSH SANSOUCIE: No.

Josh SanSoucie: I do not keep in mind ever saying that. … And I really feel like if I stated that, then it was possibly at a weak level or somethin’.

Michael’s attorneys say they’ve seen this all too typically in interrogations.

Tricia Bushnell: What we see in Josh’s interrogation is the results of hours and hours of interrogation … And each different time, he has by no means, ever stated that that was what occurred.

In a deposition proper earlier than Michael went on trial, Josh stated that he by no means sat up from the place he was sleeping on the ground and that, “It isn’t that I didn’t see him in his mattress. It is I could not see him in his mattress.”

Josh SanSoucie: There isn’t any approach I may see something that is on high of the mattress.

So, why did Josh take that immunity deal?

Josh SanSoucie: I simply needed it as a result of I knew they was gonna attempt to pin it on me or Bernie. … And I used to be, like, “Nicely, in the event that they’re giving immunity, then possibly I haven’t got something to fret about, you already know?

Michael’s legal professionals say the prosecution was probably attempting to get Josh to flip on Michael and the actual fact they did not even put Josh on the stand, says all of it.

Megan Crane: They did not name him as a result of it wasn’t gonna go effectively for them. … He had nothing useful to say for the State.

Erin Moriarty: Why did not the protection name Josh?

Megan Crane: That is a terrific query, Erin. And there is a lotta nice questions on what the protection did not do and who they did not name.

Michael’s trial legal professional was a public defender again then. In a court docket affidavit, he admits that Michael’s case was the primary murder case that he had tried on his personal. And that in the present day, he would deal with his illustration of Michael in a different way.

Michael’s new authorized workforce was dedicated to getting him out of jail. They filed court docket paperwork suggesting an alternate suspect: Michael’s father, Edward Politte.

Michael Politte: I imagine he’s answerable for what occurred to my mom.

If that is true, meaning Michael’s personal father stood by and let his son take the autumn for a homicide that he was behind. Michael’s sisters say their father was livid over the monetary phrases of the divorce. A decide had finalized them simply 4 days earlier than the homicide.

Melonie Politte: She obtained half of his retirement.

Chrystal Politte: Upkeep —

Melonie Politte: Upkeep —

Chrystal Politte: — youngster assist.

Melonie Politte: Youngster assist. Alimony. … And the one factor that I keep in mind about rising up with our dad is you do not mess along with his cash. You simply do not do it.

Chrystal Politte: He had an outburst — within the court docket. … He stated, “You may by no means dwell to see a dime of that cash.”

Police did interview Edward Politte after the homicide. He had an alibi. He was residence, greater than 80 miles away, on the time of the homicide. However Michael’s protection workforce says investigators did not look laborious sufficient.

Megan Crane: They did not in any respect examine the likelihood that maybe Ed did this with another person. 

And Michael says he believes his dad did organize the homicide and had assist.

Michael Politte: I feel he employed Johnny to homicide my mom.

“Johnny” is Johnny Politte, Edward’s cousin. Michael’s authorized workforce recognized witnesses who place Johnny close to the crime scene on the morning of the homicide, simply as first responders had been arriving.

Larry Lee: Nicely, I had heard sirens … and as I am comin’ up the highway and I am approaching … the railroad tracks, Johnny Politte was walkin’ down the railroad tracks.

Larry Lee is a type of witnesses. He has identified Johnny for years.

Larry Lee: As he is walkin’ as much as my truck, he requested me if I heard about Rita. … He stated, “Someone killed her.” And I am like, “Dude, what?”

A couple of week later, Larry’s spouse Carolyn says Johnny got here to their door.

Carolyn Lee: And it was like 6 o’clock within the morning. He stated – “I have to know what you already know about Rita’s loss of life.” … He stated, “Me and Edward are doin’ our personal investigation. And we heard you had been up on the retailer talkin’ about it.” … And I stated, “Johnny I do not know nothin’.” … “No, we have to know what you already know,” he stated. And I stated, “You understand, I feel it is time so that you can go.”

Erin Moriarty: Had been you scared?

Carolyn Lee: A bit of bit.

Erin Moriarty: Did the 2 of you speak to investigators about this?

Carolyn Lee: No. … We predict again now, and we want we’d’ve.

Larry Lee: And I ain’t sayin’ he had something to do with something, both. I do not know. However, you already know.

One other man locations Johnny Politte’s truck close to the identical spot that Larry Lee says he bumped into Johnny on the morning of the homicide. In an affidavit filed by Michael’s workforce, the person says he noticed the truck simply as emergency autos had been coming down the highway.

Former investigator Tammy Nash says she would not keep in mind listening to that Johnny Politte had been seen that morning, however she does recall one thing that occurred within the days after the homicide — as soon as the crime scene had been launched.

Tammy Nash: Someone got here into the sheriff’s division … and stated that they’d discovered a tire iron, or tire instrument or one thing … within the closet.

Erin Moriarty: Whose closet?

Tammy Nash: Michael’s closet.

Police data present the one that discovered that tire instrument was Johnny Politte.

Erin Moriarty: Might you’ve missed that in your first search?

Tammy Nash: No. No.

Erin Moriarty: Are you completely certain —

Tammy Nash: I’m constructive I didn’t miss that.

Erin Moriarty: If wasn’t there if you searched, what does that imply?

Tammy Nash: That someone positioned it there.

Tammy went and retrieved the tire instrument from Michael’s closet. It was later dominated out because the homicide weapon.

Erin Moriarty: Do you imagine that tire iron was put in your closet to set you up?

Michael Politte: I do.

Johnny and Edward Politte did not reply to “48 Hours”‘ request for an interview. Neither has been charged within the case. It has been years since Michael and his sisters have spoken to their father, however they are saying they did ask him whether or not he had something to do with their mom’s homicide and he denied it. 

Tricia Bushnell: It isn’t our job and it is not our focus to say who did commit this crime. However what we do know is it was not Michael Politte.

And whereas Michael’s legal professionals had been attempting to show that, the case would take a flip.

MICHAEL POLITTE (exterior jail): I by no means thought today would come.

Michael Politte: Greatest day on the earth. It was superb.

A SECOND CHANCE 

Tricia Bushnell: It is laborious — it is actual laborious right here in Missouri — to get these convictions overturned, it is a battle.

Michael Politte’s authorized workforce was shut down by appeals courts at each flip.

Melonie Politte (crying): It’s a fixed battle with, you already know, Goliath actually is what it appears like.

Regardless of the letdowns, Michael and his sisters stored up hope that sooner or later he could be freed. And in 2021, there was an sudden improvement: a invoice handed in Missouri giving juvenile offenders convicted of significant crimes a second likelihood.

Michael Politte: It gave me a right away parole listening to.

Michael went earlier than the parole board asking for his launch.

Michael Politte: I informed ’em I used to be harmless, and I informed ’em because of this I am harmless, and because of this you need to imagine I am harmless.

It labored. On April 22, 2022, Melonie and Chrystal introduced family and friends and a change of garments to the Jefferson Metropolis Correctional Middle.

Melonie Politte: It was a extremely nice day.

Chrystal Politte: It was a dream come true, actually.

On that day, Michael Politte walked out of jail. Incarcerated at simply 14-years-old, he was now 38.

Michael Politte (exterior jail): The place’s my legal professionals? 

Michael Politte (exterior of jail): It is overwhelming to see all of the love. All of the nights sitting in my cell, questioning what it could be prefer to be out right here and have this second, and have it lastly come true — it is superior. … Yup. It is lastly right here. …  I am free.

Michael says he felt his mother’s presence when a hen flew by overhead.

Michael Politte (exterior jail, trying up on the sky): Hello mother.

Michael Politte (exterior jail): She’s all the time in my ideas. She’s all the time in my thoughts. And all the things I do and all the things that I am processing in the present day is guided by her.

Michael left jail that day doing one of many issues he loved most earlier than he went in — driving a motorcycle.

Michael Politte (exterior jail): We’re gonna take a motorcycle experience from the car parking zone to the railroad tracks. … I am leaving right here the identical approach that I got here in right here, driving a bicycle. … Justice for Rita. Let’s go. Let’s go, man (crowd cheers).

Michael Politte: (Laughs) It felt good. It was the perfect bike experience on the earth.

Following his launch, Michael moved in along with his sister, Melonie. He began getting these reminders of jail, his tattoos, lined up with new artwork. He additionally discovered a job as a carpenter and obtained his driver’s license.

Erin Moriarty: You are now out. Is that sufficient?

Michael Politte: No, it ain’t sufficient.

Erin Moriarty: As a result of as you sit proper now, you’re a convicted felon on parole.

Michael Politte: Yep.

Erin Moriarty: You may have a legal report that claims you killed your mom.

Michael Politte: Yep.

Michael needs to clear his identify. And it simply would possibly occur as a result of Josh Hedgecorth, the present prosecutor within the county the place the homicide occurred, has filed a movement asking for Michael’s conviction to be overturned.

Josh Hedgecorth: To me, all of it — all the time comes again to the science.

Hedgecorth agrees with Michael’s attorneys that the scientific proof used to convict Michael is problematic.

Josh Hedgecorth: So, I do not imagine that Michael obtained a good trial. … I can not say that the prosecutor on the time knew what he was placing on was false … It simply should not have been offered.

Erin Moriarty: Might you retry Michael Politte for the homicide of his mom primarily based on the proof you’ve in the present day?

Josh Hedgecorth: On the proof I’ve in the present day … I do not imagine I might file this case.

However whereas the native prosecutor believes Michael’s conviction ought to be thrown out, one other public official, Missouri Lawyer Normal Eric Schmitt, is combating it.

Megan Crane: In each exoneration in Missouri, the legal professional common fights it as a result of, they are saying, “We’ve to respect, honor, and defend the decision of those jurors” … Nicely, that goes out the window when the jurors themselves need this verdict overturned.

In sworn affidavits, 5 jurors have questioned whether or not Michael obtained a good trial — together with Jonathan Peterson and Linda Dickerson-Bell.

Linda Dickerson-Bell: I don’t imagine that Michael Politte killed his mom. … However I do not know methods to repair it.

The legal professional common’s workplace did not reply to “48 Hours”‘ request for remark, however in a court docket submitting, they are saying Michael “can’t meet the usual for precise innocence.” And the legal professional common has argued that the proof in opposition to Johnny and Edward Politte would have been inadmissible at trial.

Michael hopes {that a} decide will hear the case and determine to overturn his conviction, however within the meantime, prosecutor Josh Hedgecorth has revealed to “48 Hours” that the native sheriff’s division has reopened the investigation into Rita’s homicide.

Josh Hedgecorth: We wanna do the proper factor. If another person did this, we wanna know that. … even when it is new proof that it was Michael.

Neither Hedgecorth, nor the native sheriff, would touch upon the specifics of the investigation, together with whether or not Johnny Politte or Edward Politte are individuals of curiosity.

Josh Hedgecorth: I really feel unhealthy for Bernie and his household. I imply, all the things they needed to undergo. Bernie misplaced his complete childhood.

Josh SanSoucie hasn’t seen Michael Politte since they had been children, however they hope to sooner or later reunite. The night time of that sleepover and its aftermath has haunted Josh all these years.

Erin Moriarty: What would you say to him?

Michael Politte: I am sorry. And that, you already know, he did not do something improper.

In Potosi, Missouri, not removed from the place the homicide occurred, Rita’s truck has sat all these years.

Her household says they held onto it as a result of it is one of many solely issues they’ve left of her.

Michael Politte: That is her truck. You understand, it is part of her. That belongs to her.

They hope to repair it up and get it working once more.

Michael Politte: We’re gonna get justice for her. I imagine that sooner or later. We’re gonna get justice for Rita.

Earlier this month, Washington County Prosecutor Josh Hedgecorth misplaced his bid for reelection.   

Individually, the Missouri Supreme Courtroom has briefly halted Hedgecorth’s effort to overturn Politte’s conviction. 

Produced by Stephanie Slifer and Emily Wichick. Sara Ely Hulse is the event producer. Doreen Schechter, Joan Adelman and Gary Winter are the editors. Lourdes Aguiar is the senior producer. Nancy Kramer is the chief story editor. Judy Tygard is the chief producer.