When Josh SanSoucie went for a sleepover at a pal's home again in 1998 on the age of 15, he had no concept he would land in the course of a homicide investigation. Greater than 20 years later, Josh, now 39 years outdated, is giving his first TV interview to "48 Hours" about that evening in Hopewell, Missouri that modified his life ceaselessly and landed his pal in jail.
"48 Hours'" correspondent Erin Moriarty experiences on the case in "The Case Towards Michael Politte," airing Saturday, Nov. 26 at 10/9c on CBS and streaming on Paramount +.
The story begins on Dec. 4, 1998, when Josh SanSoucie and his schoolmate, then-14-year-old Michael Politte, met up at a common retailer within the small city of Hopewell, Missouri, the place they lived. Michael invited Josh to sleep over and the pair headed to Michael's home to play chess and video video games. Once they acquired bored round midnight, they are saying they headed all the way down to the railroad tracks close to Michael's home and Michael set a fireplace, one thing Michael says the youngsters in his rural neighborhood usually did for enjoyable. It wasn't lengthy earlier than the boys say they returned to Michael's home. Quickly after, Michael's mother, 40-year-old Rita Politte, returned dwelling from working at an area bar and everybody turned in for mattress. Michael and Josh say that simply earlier than 6:30 a.m., they awoke to a smoke-filled home. The pair say they crawled in direction of the entrance door, whereas Michael yelled for his mother. He did not get a reply.
"Michael, what are you feeling at this level?" requested Moriarty.
"Panic, worry," Michael replied.
When Michael approached his mom's room, he says he was met with a grisly sight: "I seen her laying. … I seen blood on her legs, and she or he was on fireplace from the waist up. … I did not know what to do."
Rita Politte had been brutally murdered — bludgeoned and set on fireplace — all whereas the 2 teenagers stated they had been sleeping a few rooms away. Each Josh and Michael had been questioned by authorities repeatedly within the hours and days following the homicide. They each denied any involvement, however two days after the crime, Michael was arrested for his mom's homicide. Investigators stated Michael Politte confirmed a scarcity of emotion within the wake of the crime. Additionally they stated an accelerant sniffing canine alerted to Michael's sneakers on the morning of the homicide, and that he failed a voice stress take a look at. Voice stress exams are controversial, and the outcomes are sometimes inadmissible in court docket.
Additionally, previous to Michael Politte's arrest, Josh SanSoucie gave a videotaped interview to police that appeared to poke a gap in Michael's account of the night. Josh had slept on the ground subsequent to the place Michael had been sleeping in his mattress. In that videotaped interview, Josh indicated that he woke as much as a noise in the course of the evening, and Michael wasn't within the room.
"I do not keep in mind ever saying that," Josh SanSoucie advised "48 Hours" in his first tv interview since then. "And I really feel like if I stated that, then it was possibly at a weak level or one thing."
Josh now says that though he did get up briefly within the evening, he by no means noticed Michael lacking from the room. He advised "48 Hours" that the police questioning was so relentless that he remembers telling his mother on the time, "They hold saying that I am mendacity. I do not even know if I am telling the reality anymore."
In a deposition earlier than Michael went on trial, Josh did make clear his assertion. Josh stated that he by no means sat up from the place he was sleeping on the ground and that, "It is not that I didn't see him in his mattress. It is I could not see him in his mattress."
In January 2002, three years after the crime, Michael Politte's trial started. The prosecution introduced proof that an accelerant had been used to set Rita Politte on fireplace and the jury was advised how an accelerant had been detected on Michael's sneakers. The jury additionally heard about that fireside Michael had set on the railroad tracks previous to the homicide.
However maybe probably the most damaging proof towards Michael at trial was the prosecution's declare that Michael had confessed to the crime throughout a suicide try whereas incarcerated. Three witnesses who labored on the juvenile detention heart wrote in experiences that Michael stated, "I have never cared since … I killed my mother." However Michael maintains he stated, "I have never cared since they killed my mother," alluding to whoever the true killer(s) is likely to be. The jury didn't hear from Michael, nevertheless, as a result of when it was the protection's flip to current their case, he did not take the stand. As a substitute, the protection argued there was no direct proof tying Michael to the crime: no homicide weapon had been discovered and, regardless of the violence of the assault, Michael had no accidents and no blood on his clothes.
Josh SanSoucie didn't testify, and the jury by no means heard or noticed his videotaped interview with police.
After a three-day trial, the case went to the jury. Deliberations lasted over 4 hours after which the jury discovered Michael Politte responsible of second-degree homicide. He was later sentenced to life in jail.
Though the trial was over, Michael Politte's battle to clear his title wasn't. 5 years after his conviction, Michael wrote to the Midwest Innocence Undertaking, they usually agreed to tackle his case. The group labored on it for years and, finally, attorneys Tricia Bushnell, Megan Crane and Mark Emison grew to become concerned.
Michael Politte's new workforce of protection attorneys picked aside the case towards him.
"Mike was convicted as a result of he was a child, pure and easy," Megan Crane advised "48 Hours." "They stated … he wasn't emotional sufficient. … Trauma would not appear like what folks suppose it ought to appear like."
Michael's new attorneys additionally recognized what they are saying are issues with the scientific proof used to convict Michael, beginning with the prosecution's declare that an accelerant was used to set Rita on fireplace. They are saying there is no such thing as a proof an accelerant was used within the fee of the crime.
The attorneys additionally say that there is no such thing as a proof of an accelerant being current on Michael's sneakers. As a substitute, lawyer Mark Emison says a chemical used within the shoe manufacturing course of was wrongly recognized as gasoline and even the Missouri state crime lab agrees. In a 2020 letter, the crime lab says, "… it's now recognized that solvents present in footwear adhesives have similarities to gasoline. … However that within the late Nineties, this information was not broadly recognized."
Michael Politte claims he is aware of who is absolutely chargeable for his mom's homicide. His attorneys consider police did not correctly examine the crime, they usually have filed court docket paperwork that title different suspects.
For years, Michael's workforce of attorneys fought unsuccessfully to get his conviction overturned however then in 2021, there got here an sudden improvement. A invoice handed in Missouri giving juvenile offenders convicted of great crimes a second likelihood. Because of this, Michael was granted parole. In April 2022, he walked out of a Missouri state jail. Incarcerated at simply 14-years-old, he was now 38. However Michael tells Moriarty on this week's "48 Hours" that his freedom is just not sufficient as a result of he nonetheless has a felony conviction for his mom's homicide on his report. He stays dedicated to clearing his title and is hopeful.
Josh Hedgecorth, the present prosecutor of Washington County, Missouri, the place the homicide occurred, filed a movement on Might 16, 2022, asking for Michael's conviction to be overturned. Hedgecorth agrees with Michael's protection workforce that the scientific proof used to convict Michael is problematic.
"To me, all of it — at all times comes again to the science," says Hedgecorth.
Hedgecorth has revealed to "48 Hours" that the Washington County Sheriff's Division has reopened the investigation into Rita's homicide.
"We wanna do the best factor. If another person did this, we wanna know that," Hedgecorth tells Moriarty. "Even when it is new proof that it was Michael."
Regardless of Michael's optimism that his title will finally be cleared, his case simply acquired extra sophisticated. Earlier this month, Hedgecorth misplaced his bid for reelection. And simply this week, the Missouri Supreme Court docket quickly halted Hedgecorth's effort to overturn Politte's conviction.
Josh SanSoucie says he feels badly for Michael and his household. Ideas of "what if" have haunted Josh for all of those years. The evening of the sleepover, Michael had requested Josh if he would somewhat sleep on the sofa in the lounge, or in Michael's bed room on the ground.
"Is there something you'd have performed in another way once you look again?" Moriarty asks.
"I want I … slept on the sofa," Josh replies.
If an intruder got here in by way of the entrance door, they might have needed to go by the sofa to enter Rita's room. If that's what occurred, Josh believes that particular person could have seen him and left. "You suppose if you happen to had slept on that sofa, Rita would nonetheless be alive?" Moriarty asks. Josh replies that he does.
Michael advised "48 Hours" that he needs Josh to know that he feels that Josh did not do something unsuitable. The pair have not seen one another since they had been youngsters, however they hope to reunite in the future. "He did not do it," Josh advised Moriarty. "I do not know who did, however I do know it wasn't him."