Steve Fishman, Narrator

But there's one moment in the video that's strikingly different in tone. It's like Jack is speaking in code.

But there's one moment in the video that's strikingly different in tone. It's like Jack is speaking in code.

What is this project? Jack has something specific in mind. Nearly as soon as he'd arrived in prison, Jack started filing appeals. He insisted on his innocence, casting himself as the victim of a vast conspiracy. I will continue to fight to be free of this illegal conviction, he wrote. And you know what would really help in that fight?

What is this project? Jack has something specific in mind. Nearly as soon as he'd arrived in prison, Jack started filing appeals. He insisted on his innocence, casting himself as the victim of a vast conspiracy. I will continue to fight to be free of this illegal conviction, he wrote. And you know what would really help in that fight?

if Collier, the person who knows him best, the prosecution's star witness, would change his story. If he would say he'd lied on the stand. In one of his many letters to Collier, Jack makes this request. The letters between Jack and Collier are much more powerful if you can hear them. So we got some AI software to recreate the voices of Collier and Jack. Here they are reading their actual letters.

if Collier, the person who knows him best, the prosecution's star witness, would change his story. If he would say he'd lied on the stand. In one of his many letters to Collier, Jack makes this request. The letters between Jack and Collier are much more powerful if you can hear them. So we got some AI software to recreate the voices of Collier and Jack. Here they are reading their actual letters.

I am innocent. So Jack has an angle. He wants Collier to help him go free. And while Collier's correspondence may have started simple, just a desire to connect, his own intentions seem to shift. Collier writes to Jack much less often. And even when he does, there's a lot of teenage boy stuff. Sports, grades, girls.

I am innocent. So Jack has an angle. He wants Collier to help him go free. And while Collier's correspondence may have started simple, just a desire to connect, his own intentions seem to shift. Collier writes to Jack much less often. And even when he does, there's a lot of teenage boy stuff. Sports, grades, girls.

In March 1991, nine months after his father's conviction, Collier pens a one-page letter in the labored script of a fledgling cursive writer. He's 13. There's some preamble.

In March 1991, nine months after his father's conviction, Collier pens a one-page letter in the labored script of a fledgling cursive writer. He's 13. There's some preamble.

Then Collier's tone changes. He's direct. You can hear his emotion, his confusion.

Then Collier's tone changes. He's direct. You can hear his emotion, his confusion.

Now that is an incredibly generous letter. You can feel that Collier is torn up inside. He knows his father's a killer. but he offers his father love, says he's proud to be a Boyle. A convicted murderer might consider himself lucky to receive such grace. But Jack, in his subsequent letters, guess who he blames for his conviction? Guess who he accuses of being the real liar?

Now that is an incredibly generous letter. You can feel that Collier is torn up inside. He knows his father's a killer. but he offers his father love, says he's proud to be a Boyle. A convicted murderer might consider himself lucky to receive such grace. But Jack, in his subsequent letters, guess who he blames for his conviction? Guess who he accuses of being the real liar?

Jack keeps proclaiming his innocence, keeps demanding Collier recant his testimony. Later, when Collier makes it clear that he will not do that, Jack seems to become an entirely different person. In November 1992, he writes Collier an eight-page, single-spaced, typewritten letter. Frankly, it's difficult to read this letter. It's menacing, vicious, and personal.

Jack keeps proclaiming his innocence, keeps demanding Collier recant his testimony. Later, when Collier makes it clear that he will not do that, Jack seems to become an entirely different person. In November 1992, he writes Collier an eight-page, single-spaced, typewritten letter. Frankly, it's difficult to read this letter. It's menacing, vicious, and personal.

Keep in mind, this is a father writing to his 14-year-old son, a kid who, despite everything, has just offered Jack a loving relationship.

Keep in mind, this is a father writing to his 14-year-old son, a kid who, despite everything, has just offered Jack a loving relationship.

This is a furious letter. It's also a weird letter. Jack's prose is so different, so supercilious. Who is this person?

This is a furious letter. It's also a weird letter. Jack's prose is so different, so supercilious. Who is this person?