Accused

Cincinnati Enquirer | Wondery

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Season 4: When Rhoda Nathan's lifeless body was discovered in her hotel room, it was assumed she'd had a heart attack. The autopsy proved otherwise: Nathan, 67, had been viciously beaten to death, punched so hard by her assailant that two of her teeth had been knocked out. Days later, a hotel employee went to the hospital to be treated for an infection in his hand, which was teeming with a bacteria most often found in human mouths. That, plus a pendant an officer said was discovered in the trunk of his car, sealed the fate of Elwood Jones, who awaits execution on Ohio's death row. For nearly 30 years, Jones has maintained his innocence -- and accused police of straight-up framing him. The journalists of Accused are reexamining the case to learn if Jones truly belongs on death row, or if a botched investigation let someone else get away with murder.

Season 3: In 1984, a father of three disappeared while working at a mysterious Cincinnati plant. It turned out he’d met a gruesome fate: Pieces of bone, his eyeglasses and walkie-talkie were uncovered inside a vat that reached 1350 degrees Fahrenheit. Two months later, the Fernald Feed Materials Production Center was revealed to have been processing uranium – and polluting the region. The dead man’s children believe their father was murdered because he intended to expose how the plant had been releasing millions of pounds of uranium dust into the atmosphere. We’re hoping to figure out: Did 39-year-old David Bocks kill himself, as Fernald officials alleged, or was he more likely killed?


Season 2: A soft-hearted prison minister was found killed in her Kentucky apartment, and Newport police zeroed in on an ex-convict she’d counseled. Thirty years later, the conviction is overturned and the case is once again unsolved. The Cincinnati Enquirer investigates: Was William Virgil wrongly convicted for murder?


Season 1: When Elizabeth Andes was found murdered in her Ohio apartment in 1978, police and prosecutors decided within hours it was an open-and-shut case. Two juries disagreed. The Cincinnati Enquirer investigates: Was the right guy charged, or did a killer walk free?

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Our Editor's Take

In a nation where "innocent until proven guilty" is uncertain, there is the Accused podcast.Accused digs deeper into suspicious criminal cases: Was the right person charged? Was the wrong person convicted? Was the investigation botched from the start?

Reporter Amber Hunt and photographer Amanda Rossmann investigate and co-host this true-crime podcast. They dive into each suspicious story with care and dedication to bring the truth to light.

Each season takes on a new case, with many episodes dedicated to one story. Hunt and Rossmann go into detail and view each case from many angles. They address jury issues, talk to witnesses and lawyers, and review evidence. These hosts dive deep into the facts, gathering all the information they can. Their research and exclusive interviews help determine if law enforcement got it right. The duo is here to prove there is no such thing as an open and shut case.

True crime fans will love the investigative style of this fact-chasing podcast. Listeners can start with the first episode or hit play on the case they are most interested in. Listeners love Accused, which earned it a Webby Award nomination for Best Writing in 2017. Its success continued as a Webby Honoree in 2018 for Documentaries and in 2020 for Best Series.

Can't get enough 'whodunnit' stories, criminal pasts, and unsolved murders? Accused from Wondery is the perfect next listen.

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Play Trailer
Introducing Accused
Aug 19 2016
Introducing Accused
Coming Sept. 8: When Elizabeth Andes was found murdered in her Ohio apartment in 1978, police and prosecutors decided within hours it was an open-and-shut case. Two juries disagreed. The Cincinnati Enquirer investigates: Was the right guy charged, or did a killer walk free?Listen ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad free listening. Available in the Wondery App. https://wondery.app.link/accusedSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Season 4

Introducing Accused Season 4: The Impending Execution of Elwood Jones
Jan 25 2022
Introducing Accused Season 4: The Impending Execution of Elwood Jones
When Rhoda Nathan's lifeless body was discovered in her hotel room, it was assumed she'd had a heart attack. The autopsy proved otherwise: Nathan, 67, had been viciously beaten to death, punched so hard by her assailant that two of her teeth had been knocked out. Days later, a hotel employee went to the hospital to be treated for an infection in his hand, which was teeming with a bacteria most often found in human mouths. That, plus a pendant an officer said was discovered in the trunk of his car, sealed the fate of Elwood Jones, who awaits execution on Ohio's death row. For nearly 30 years, Jones has maintained his innocence -- and accused police of straight-up framing him. The journalists of Accused are reexamining the case to learn if Jones truly belongs on death row, or if a botched investigation let someone else get away with murder.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Chapter 1: The Crime
Feb 8 2022
Chapter 1: The Crime
When Elaine Shub opened the door to the hotel room she was sharing with her best friend of 48 years, she saw such a gruesome sight that she collapsed in the suburban hotel hallway. Rhoda Nathan, a kind-hearted New Jersey grandmother who had just stepped out of the shower, lay on the floor, unrecognizable from the vicious beating she’d endured. Who could have done this? What could have been the motive? Who had access? Who had motive? And why did Rhoda have to die?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Chapter 2: The A-Hole
Feb 8 2022
Chapter 2: The A-Hole
The prosecutor handling the case against Elwood Jones had some choice words to describe the suspect on national television. In this episode, we explore: Who is Elwood Jones? Was he really an a-hole? Is being one now, steadfast as he is in refusing to cop to the 27-year-old crime? And does being an a-hole also mean he was a killer? See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Chapter 3: The Investigation
Feb 15 2022
Chapter 3: The Investigation
Investigating any crime scene requires finesse, but in the case of Rhoda Nathan’s 1994 beating death, at least some of the detectives arriving at the Embassy Suites hotel, many who had never investigated a murder before, thought they were dealing with a heart-attack victim. As such, they say they didn’t immediately secure the scene, allowing outsiders to tromp through a room that was already teeming with all kinds of hotel-user DNA.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Chapter 4: If Not Elwood, Who?
Feb 22 2022
Chapter 4: If Not Elwood, Who?
While investigators testified at trial that Elwood Jones was always their best and only real suspect in the 1994 slaying of Rhoda Nathan, the police files say otherwise. Three people – two with violent criminal pasts on their records – seem equally as suspicious, so much so they were given lie-detector tests in the days after the murder. Do their alibis hold? And if Elwood as such a good suspect with such good evidence to indicate his guilt, what took the police and prosecutors a year to indict him?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Chapter 5: The (Supposed) Confession
Mar 1 2022
Chapter 5: The (Supposed) Confession
More than a decade after Elwood Jones was convicted of killing Rhoda Nathan, he learned that a woman had stepped forward saying she knew who the real killer was. Tracking down this mysterious figure became something of an obsession for Elwood’s current defense team. And for us.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Chapter 6: Deserving of Death?
Mar 8 2022
Chapter 6: Deserving of Death?
Hamilton County, Ohio, is known nationwide as having one of the highest capital punishment rates per capita – and a recent 25-year study shows that race plays a huge role in determining who’s sent to die. Elwood Jones is Black. His victim was white. If the pandemic had not intervened and last-minute attempts for a new trial put on hold, Jones would already have been dead. If he is innocent, that’s a tragedy. If he is not, did the punishment fit the crime? He is again scheduled to be executed in 2023. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Chapter 7: What Now?
Mar 15 2022
Chapter 7: What Now?
As adamant as police and prosecutors are that they properly handled the case against murder suspect Elwood Jones, a judge is expected to weigh whether Jones can get a new trial in the 1994 slaying of Rhoda Nathan. Elwood’s lawyers accuse prosecutors of withholding key information that could have changed jurors’ minds 25 years ago. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Chapter 8: A new trial
Mar 13 2023
Chapter 8: A new trial
After spending nearly three decades on Ohio's death row, Elwood Jones finally got a new day in court -- which resulted in his conviction being overturned. Here we explore why prosecutors maintain that Jones is a "murderous bastard" who will kill again, and what will happen next in this politically sensitive murder case. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Season 3

Introducing Accused Season 3
Nov 19 2019
Introducing Accused Season 3
Accused Season 3 returns on December 3rd.Listen ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad free listening. Available in the Wondery App. https://wondery.app.link/accusedSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Chapter 1: Disappearing dad
Dec 3 2019
Chapter 1: Disappearing dad
A 39-year-old father of three goes to work and disappears. That’s strange enough. Adding in where he works makes this case more than strange. It’s the stuff conspiracies are made of. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Chapter 2: Testing the suicide theory
Dec 3 2019
Chapter 2: Testing the suicide theory
Police dismissed the 1984 disappearance of David Bocks as a suicide, but the physics of the death make that theory seem unlikely. (Link updated Jan. 21, 2020, with water-content percentage of apples and humans corrected.)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Chapter 3: The Cold War creeps
Dec 10 2019
Chapter 3: The Cold War creeps
As the world was embroiled in a race to stockpile nuclear weapons, little towns throughout the U.S. became hubs for cancer-linked plants.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Chapter 4: The truth about Fernald
Dec 17 2019
Chapter 4: The truth about Fernald
While managers and government officials outwardly assured Fernald workers that everything was safe at the plant, internal documents show many knew that wasn’t the case.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
BONUS EPISODE: Artistic Aftershocks
Dec 24 2019
BONUS EPISODE: Artistic Aftershocks
A look at how the atomic bombs that ended World War II left an imprint on pop culture that lasts to this day. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Chapter 5: The king of conspiracies
Jan 7 2020
Chapter 5: The king of conspiracies
In the 1990s, an indie reporter tried to expose Fernald and link managers to David Bocks’ death. His theories sounded outrageous, but some of them proved true.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Chapter 6: Last day laid bare
Jan 14 2020
Chapter 6: Last day laid bare
David Bocks’ final shift is pieced together through police statements and time cards.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Chapter 7: A variance in views
Jan 21 2020
Chapter 7: A variance in views
Two coworkers tell police that David Bocks seemed depressed on his last day of work. Or is it just one? See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Chapter 8: The nuclear wrap-up
Jan 28 2020
Chapter 8: The nuclear wrap-up
Long after David Bocks’ children and grandchildren are dead, the legacy of his employer will remain, encased in concrete and buried deep beneath the earth. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
BONUS EPISODE: Lessons Learned
Apr 22 2020
BONUS EPISODE: Lessons Learned
Though officials with the Fernald uranium plant lied and covered up the danger their workers faced, Fernald is actually held up as a role model for other American communities polluted by the arms race.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.