In April 1979, the lives of two teenagers from two very different parts of the country were inextricably linked by murder. In Brewer, Maine, 17-year old Amy Banks awoke one night to learn that her father, Dr. Ronald Banks, had been murdered in New Orleans, Louisiana.
One month later, authorities in New Orleans arrested 16-year old Isaac Knapper and charged him with the killing of Amy’s father. But Isaac didn’t commit the murder.
This is the story of a wrongful conviction, a young Black man railroaded by the justice system, and evidence withheld at trial that would’ve saved him from a life sentence behind bars in the nation’s bloodiest prison.
This is the case of Dr. Ronald Banks, told by his daughter Amy Banks, and Isaac Knapper, the man once charged and convicted of his murder.
View source material and photos for this episode at darkdowneast.com/wrongfulconviction
Dark Downeast is an audiochuck and Kylie Media production hosted by Kylie Low.
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The Murders of George and Catherine Peacock (Vermont)
The Suspicious Death of Christine Cole (Rhode Island)
The Murder of Rita St. Peter (Maine)
The Suspicious Death of Ashley Turniak (Massachusetts)
The Murder of Rhonda & Cor’an Johnson (Connecticut)
The Disappearance of Ralph Robbins (Massachusetts)
The Murder of Amon Jamiel (Rhode Island)
The Disappearance of Regina Brown (Connecticut)
The Murder of Patricia Scoville (Vermont)
The Murder of Roberta "Bobbie" Miller (New Hampshire)
The Disappearance of John Lango (Pennsylvania)
The Disappearance of Audrey Groat (Vermont)
The Victims of the Hitch-Hike Murderer (Massachusetts)
The Murder of Gwendolyn Taylor (Massachusetts)
The Suspicious Death of Barbara Ann Ripley (Maine)
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