and i pray to god. i say, you know, i don t wan to live. it was a crime that engulfe the city, a young touris murdered he was stabbed trying to protect his mother we had to get everyone. seven teams convicted one says he s innocent you don t have to believe me look at the facts in this case now we are doing just tha tracking down witnesses. he was shaking. he started crying revisiting evidence - the most emotional thing wa reading the letter is he telling the truth or lying to win his freedom? we are about to find out this is a perry mason moment right, she s a surprise t everyone hello, and welcome to dateline in the late 19 80s, robberies, muggings, and even murders wer a sad reality of life in new york city. then, in 1990, a tourist was stabbed while trying to protec his family the public demanded action and then got it. police made arrests and pu suspects behind bars but one of the man convicted said he wasn t there was an innocent man in jail
if i have a witness, i have to say that, yeah, i knew somebod had a knife, and this is what had to say to go home, the yeah, i m going to do that and that s what he did. hincapie sat in front of a video camera, and told us stor that he now says were scripted for him to an assistan district attorney. so, it was a plan you mad to get some yeah. and we are part of that plan? yes, i was. i said, okay. it s over with, it s done with i m out of here. hincapie didn t know, but h had just written his arres warrant. his confession was all polic needed - a confession he gave to them three hours after he was picke up it s not like you were in the interrogation room for hours and hours and hours. right? to me, it was a long time i was scared under the law, hincapie and the six others were equall responsible, even though onl one actually stabbed bryan
me right down to the floor. what is he saying to you and what are you saying back? you tell me you didn t do this crime, so i m assuming that you were very forceful in your denial. i m telling him, listen, i m innocent. hincapie says that s when the detective offered him a way out. he just said, listen, if you really, really want to go home, all you have to do is just memorize a story that i want you to say. i ll have you driven home immediately. and you believed him? yes, i did. hincapie says the detective led him to believe he was a witness not a suspect. so in my mind i m thinking that if i m a witness and i have to say that, yeah, i knew somebody had a knife and this is what i have to say to go home, then i m going to do that. and that s what he did. hincapie sat in front of a video camera and told a story that he now says was scripted for him to an assistant district attorney. so it was a plan that all of
and you rolled your eyes? yeah, i did. but something about johnny stuck with me. so dennison decided to reach out to hughes, and all of a sudden hincapie had a former parole commissioner and a reporter teaming up to reinvestigate his case. we refer to ourselves as the right irish gum shoe squad. after nearly a year of searching, they found a witness, a man who said he knew the truth about johnny hincapie. we sat down in his kitchen. he was shaking. he was visibly nervous. sat at his table, and he started crying. and he took out a napkin, and he drew a map of the subway station. he remembered it as clear as if it was a recent event. they knew what this witness told them, if true, was a bombshell. but neither dennison nor hughes is a lawyer, so they got in touch with one. new york city s well-known civil rights attorney ron kuby.