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Chapter 1: What led to Evaristo Salas Jr.'s conviction for murder?
And again, we even polygraphed that guy. We polygraphed, it was the officer's snitch. And we actually polygraphed him. And I mean, this guy passes polygraph.
My mother kind of just comes out of the back room. Even though I look for her, I can see her. She comes back out of the back room and she just tells me, You're a bad kid, and I don't want you anymore. What do you guys think of gangs?
They're awesome, man. They're awesome.
We think that. And so he was literally, he got taken in when he was 14 and got charged when he was 15.
The staff there was like, look, what is he doing here? He said, he's a juvenile. Why are you bringing him over here? Oh, he'll be here. He's going to get transferred over here as an adult, charged as an adult.
Hello and welcome back to One Minute Remaining. My name is Jack Lawrence, the host and creator of this show. Today is part four of my chat with Evaristo Salas Jr. Arrested for murder at just 15, Jr. has grown up inside a US penitentiary. Now 42, he has less than three years left on his 30-year sentence. A sentence for a crime he says he didn't commit.
So in our previous episode, we heard how an extreme coincidence would lead Junior to become suspect number one in a murder case the police had not had a single lead on in over six months. The man in charge of this investigation, Sergeant Jim Rivard, takes a couple of Polaroids of Junior, who was in the station being questioned with others on something completely unrelated.
He then heads back to his office, chucks the photos on his desk, and an informant of his, who is collecting money for other information he's provided, sees them and tells Rivard that Junior was the one he overheard bragging about the killing.
Victim's partner, Ophelia Gonzalez, who has been unable to pick anyone out from a lineup so far, is then subsequently shown another lineup and is this time able to pick Junior from the photos as the person she says she sees the night of the shooting. Junior is then arrested and charged with murder. Did you get given a public defender?
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Chapter 2: How did the police informant's testimony impact the case?
But here we are thrust into this situation. None of it's a making of our own. And here we are front and center having to kind of understand. So we put all our trust in this lawyer. And the lawyer pretty much took advantage of my family.
And he just did kind of part of mediocre, you know, and just pretty much, you know, made the argument that seemed all right to us, but wasn't really strong when I read back on it now. Or anybody that reads, you know, goes through the files and everything says, man, this is this is not really that good work, you know. And maybe that was his best. I don't know.
You know, I couldn't tell at the time, you know, but. That made it hard, but it also gave us a sense of security because we're like, okay, at least we have somebody. It's not a public defender, so at least we're paying for it. That means we're going to get some kind of help, but it didn't help much. My dad just pretty much lost the money, and this person did.
Maybe it was the best he could do, but it was pretty mediocre.
As we know, during his interrogations, Junior is asked to explain where he was at the time of this shooting. After a process of working his way back through important details, he remembers being in his local store, a place he would go almost daily with friends to grab a burrito and hang out.
He says that while there, the lady working behind the counter, who he and his friends were friendly with, mentions the shooting to them. She just got a call from her mother, who lives nearby.
I remember we went to 7-Eleven, me and like two or three of my friends, and then the store clerk there was talking about, hey, somebody had just got killed somewhere on this side of town by this store or whatever, and I didn't pay much attention to it. She was just like, oh, my mom just called me, or I just talked to my mom right now, and she just started sharing all this stuff.
I didn't know her personally, but I was in the store so much that she'd see me all the time, and she was nice to me and everything. His junior sister, on his alibi witness,
Cause we lived really close to the seven 11. And, um, so it was like literally like five minutes walking. And, um, this girl that was working there, her name was Sylvia. She's an older lady and she knew my mom too, you know?
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Chapter 3: What challenges did Junior face with his legal representation?
I tested it today and I ran two and a half kilometres, kind of like as quickly as I could, just to see what sort of shape I would be in. Because obviously she said you weren't sweating, you weren't out of breath. So I did that today and there was just no way anyone would describe me as someone who didn't look like they'd just been run. And I'm a guy who runs all the time.
I run four or five times a week. It's not a scientific test because I'm not a 15-year-old boy, but still I'm going, there's just no way you can look normal. And if you had committed that crime, you just shot someone, you wouldn't just be jogging, you'd be sprinting, like you'd be going as fast as you could.
And also, too, the second thing is, too, that it's not like a straight line from the 7-Eleven. No, no, there's, yeah, there's turning and crossing roads. You've got to cut this way and, you know. Okay, so detectives say that obviously Junior was...
at this shooting on Sol Road. His alibi witness puts him at the 7-11, which is just over a mile and a half away, which is two and a half kilometres. So I'm going to test that right now. Now, obviously, this isn't a highly scientific test because I haven't just shot someone, so there's no adrenaline. Now, of course, he was a 15-year-old boy and I'm a 36-year-old man.
But in saying that, running is my thing. It's my only thing. So... It's not like I've never run before. Two and a half K, I'm going to see how quickly I can run it, see what state I'm in once I finish that run, and just suss out whether or not someone could potentially be not out of breath. And she says she gets the call and you're already there.
She says you're eating a burrito and drinking a pop. So you're already in there.
Yeah, I'm already at the store.
You're already at the store.
Yeah.
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Chapter 4: What was Junior's alibi during the time of the shooting?
You know, I'll teach him. I'm going to teach him. Because it's my belief he really didn't think he was going to go to jail. I really believe he was going to set Evaristo up to teach him a lesson, get him through the process. But I don't think he ever thought he would make it past the preliminary exam.
Just frightened him, basically.
Yes. And I think that's what happened on all of that. But that boy shouldn't be in jail. It's too much. I mean, it's too many things to doubt on that case. It's too much.
You have one minute remaining.
And that's where we'll wrap it up for today. Now, to all this information that you've heard in this episode, you'd be forgiven for wondering how on earth Evaristo Salas Jr. is still in prison after all these years. Well, let's not forget, even though we know the snitch says his testimony was falsified, there's still the prosecution's other key witness.
The wife of the man who was killed that night, Ophelia Gonzalez, she would eventually pick Junior out of a photo line-up and was adamant in court that this young man pulled the trigger. Although certain information that was later discovered after Junior was found guilty has raised more than just a few eyebrows.
The image of her just being this, you know, the victim and everything and just, you know, seeing things, that would have changed because now you have her doing these things that don't make sense for a person to do.
Next time on One Minute Remaining.
One Minute Remaining is a Mashed Pumpkin production. Produced, hosted and created by Jack Lawrence. Editing and sound design by Jack Lawrence and Dom Evans. This show is part of the ACAST Creator Network.
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