The Big Story
New Facts About a 26 Year Frameup
Ralph Goll, Detroit Free Press
par Ralph Goll
In this episode of The Big Story, reporter Ralph Goll revisits the 1917 killing of 13-year-old Hope Irene Alexander and the conviction of Allen Livingstone, who was sentenced to life in prison in 1918. The account follows the questions surrounding the identification that led to Livingstone’s conviction, including a witness’s later admission that she had only glimpsed the killer and might have been mistaken.
The case is presented as a true-crime newspaper investigation, tracing the pressure to solve the girl’s murder, the circumstances of Livingstone’s arrest, and the troubling details of the police lineup. The story also recounts the later developments that brought renewed attention to the conviction: Goll’s reporting, the granting of a new trial, and Livingstone’s release in March 1944.
Goll’s reporting gives the episode the feel of a carefully assembled case file, with a long-ago crime examined through testimony, investigative choices, and the consequences of a wrongful conviction. The result is a sober, suspenseful account of how a single identification shaped a man’s life for decades.
This recording is part of the Old Time Radio collection.