Breakdown

For decades, the Georgia Guidestones were nothing more than kitschy roadside Americana…a curiosity people visited for fun, intrigue…and the occasional pagan ritual. But something changed in 2022. The Guidestones became a flashpoint. How did a kitschy southern oddity become the site of an act of domestic terrorism? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Looking back on seasons past with Bill Rankin and what's next for Albert and Ashley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ashley and Albert's attorneys have fought all the way to the Georgia Supreme Court. The stakes couldn't be higher. Ultimately, the justices find fault with what happened at the couple's trial and vacate their sentences. But they aren't free hanging over their heads is the chance the district attorney will try them again. But an unexpected turn once again changes the couple's lives forever. And they each must adapt to a new life, one haunted by loss. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wisconsin Innocence Project attorney Carrie Sperling has a specialty: freeing people wrongly convicted of child abuse. When she receives a letter from Ashley Debelbot and reads the case file, she decides to take the case. A team of skilled Georgia attorneys and medical experts join her to find out what really happened to baby McKenzy. What they discover lands them in court, arguing their clients' innocence. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A jailhouse snitch says Albert told him a shocking story. Ashley and Albert take the stand in their own defense but they're no match for a hard-charging prosecutor. They're convicted and sentenced to life in prison. But the couple makes a vow: they will fight. They will prove their innocence. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Charged with murder, Ashley and Albert find themselves with few resources. Ashley's lower-middle class family hires a local attorney while Albert gets a public defender. The couple maintains their innocence, but they're up against tough odds: their attorneys are at loggerheads and the judge in the case has a concerning past. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a matter of a few days, Ashley and Albert have gone from excited new parents to a couple utterly devastated. Their infant has died. And as the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and local police close in on them, the couple makes a critical decision to remain united. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In their 20s and in love, Georgia military couple Ashley and Albert Debelbot are overjoyed to welcome their baby girl, McKenzy. After a 15-hour labor, she arrives. The couple take her home and settle in for the night only to be awakened by a disturbing sound. Ashley and Albert then make a startling discovery…kicking off a series of events that will turn into a living nightmare. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jury selection isn’t fast, but it is fascinating. Prospective jurors in the Harris case speak of magical powers, preconceived notions and their favorite TV shows. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Neither the prosecution nor the defense is ready. The prosecution asks for a continuance, saying it would be unfair to proceed because the defense is unprepared. The defense calls the move "transparently disingenuous," saying it's really the prosecution that wants more time. Meanwhile, prosecutors get slammed for continuing to search for a motive long after they indicted Tex McIver for murder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After a long winter’s delay, the murder trial of The State v. Claud “Tex” McIver is to begin on March 5. Tex says his wife Diane’s death was a tragic accident; the district attorney says he intentionally shot her in the back. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Bill Rankin returns to bring you Season 5 of the newspaper’s Breakdown podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The state opens the Claud "Tex" McIver murder trial by detonating some new bombshells. McIver, the prosecution says, provided six different versions of what happened to his wife on the night she was shot. Or did he? Among the first prosecution witnesses was Emory University Hospital ER physician Suzanne Hardy, who treated Diane McIver the night she died. Yes, Hardy testified, Diane told her the shooting was an accident. And no, Hardy testified, Diane did not want to see her husband before she was intubated and rendered unable to speak. Diane McIver died shortly afterward. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Anthony Hill was a loving son, talented musician and an Afghanistan War veteran. In 2015, Hill was shot and killed by DeKalb County Police officer Chip Olsen, who was responding to a 911 call of a naked man wandering an apartment complex. Hill was unarmed and off of his medications. Olsen claims he acted in self-defense. In our new season of Breakdown, hosts Bill Rankin and Christian Boone tell the story of Hill's life and death, and will follow the trial of Officer Olsen, who is charged with murder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Reginald "Reggie" Coicou was 24. Quincy "Fat" Wytche was 22. Both were killed in a sudden outburst of gunfire in the parking lot of an Atlanta Burger King in the spring of 2016. Kevin Riley, editor-in-chief of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, gives you an extraordinary inside view of this horrific double homicide, the investigation by the Atlanta police and the prosecution of the man accused of pulling the trigger. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Coming soon: Season 5 of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Breakdown podcast. This season, the AJC's Bill Rankin and Craig Schneider take you deep inside the case against Atlanta lawyer Tex McIver. He says his wife's death was a tragic accident; the district attorney says it was murder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On July 17, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution will launch Murder Below the Gnat Line, season four of our award-winning Breakdown podcast. Bill Rankin returns to explore a murder case with many unresolved questions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

During a hearing, the attorneys for the men accused in the death of Ahmaud Arbery formally asked a judge to allow evidence about the slain man's past before a jury. But that's not the only major update in the case. We have a federal hate crimes indictment, a change to Georgia's Citizen's Arrest Law, and a trial date. Join host Bill Rankin as he recounts the latest on the case. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join host Bill Rankin on the one-year anniversary of Ahmaud Arbery's death as he explores who the man was in life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A grand jury has indicted a former Glynn County district attorney, saying she violated her oath of office while responding to Ahmaud Arbery's death. Join host Bill Rankin as he takes a closer look at the indictment and explores the events of a pre-trial hearing in the case. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The trial for the three men charged in the death of Ahmaud Arbery will begin Oct. 18, almost 20 months to the day after he was shot and killed. Join host Bill Rankin ahead of what is expected to be one of the most closely followed trials in Georgia history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Prosecutors building a case against the three men accused in the death of Ahmaud Arbery have passed several motions regarding what evidence can be submitted in court. Meanwhile, the contention that gunman Travis McMichael uttered a racial epithet while standing over Arbery's body remains the most explosive element of the case. However, jurors may never hear about it. Join host Bill Rankin as he explores how issues raised now could shape the outcome of a trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Since Ahmaud Arbery's death, father and son Gregory and Travis McMichael have been condemned by many as racist vigilantes who targeted a Black man running down their street. Attorneys for the men claim that is far from true. Join host Bill Rankin as he explores the McMichaels' history prior to their fateful meeting with Ahmaud Arbery. Nothing could be further from the truth, lawyers for both Travis and Greg McMichael recently told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jury selection for the murder trial of the three men charged in Ahmaud Arbery's death is underway in Brunswick and many prospective jurors have expressed very strong opinions. Join host Bill Rankin as he unpacks the first week of jury selection and what it could mean for the upcoming trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The second week of jury selection ended with the end in sight. It is expected that 64 Glynn County residents will be qualified into a pool from which 12 jurors and four alternates will soon be chosen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Breakdown podcast drops a special episode on Friday for Season 5: “The Tex McIver Case.” McIver, an Atlanta lawyer, was convicted of murder during a trial in Fulton County for killing his wife on Sept. 25, 2016. The killing happened when Tex and Diane McIver returned home to Atlanta from their 84-acre ranch in Putnam County. Diane McIver’s best friend, Dani Jo Carter, was driving the Ford Expedition. Diane McIver was sitting in the front passenger seat, her husband sitting behind her in the back seat. After they exited the downtown connector on Edgewood Avenue, Tex McIver asks for his .38-caliber handgun that’s in the center console. He later says he thought they had come upon a Black Lives Matter protest. They leave the area without incident and drive along Piedmont Avenue toward Buckhead, with McIver still holding the revolver in his lap. When they get to an intersection, McIver fires a bullet through the backseat. It hits his wife in the back and she later dies during surgery at Emory University Hospital. McIver tells police that it was a tragic accident, that the gun went off after he had fallen asleep and was suddenly awakened. But he is eventually indicted for murder and convicted of it during a 2018 trial. Returning to Breakdown’s fifth season, Episode 12 follows the McIver case through its appeal to the Georgia Supreme Court which issued its opinion on June 30. Just eight days before, the state high court had reversed another high-profile murder case against Justin Ross Harris who had left his 22-month-old son Cooper in his hot car to die. This time, the court overturns McIver’s conviction in another momentous decision. You can download the Breakdown podcast from Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or your favorite podcasting platform. You can also stream it on your computer from ajc.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is the murder case against Justin Ross Harris, who left his 22-month-old son Cooper to die in a hot car on June 18, 2014. Harris, a Home Depot web developer, took Cooper that morning to Little Apron Academy, the in-house daycare center at work. They stopped at a Chick-fil-A for breakfast. But when they leave, Harris doesn’t make the turn to the daycare. Instead, he drives to work, parks his car and walks in to the office. Within hours, Cooper is dead of hypothermia. The intense publicity of the case went worldwide when it was disclosed at a preliminary hearing that Harris was sending sexually explicit texts to other women shortly before and after he left Cooper in the parking lot. It would be disclosed he was having extramarital affairs, sleeping with prostitutes and exchanging graphic texts with underage girls. Harris would be indicted for Cooper’s murder and other crimes. Because of intense pretrial publicity, the trial was moved from Cobb County to Glynn County in coastal Georgia. The jury in Brunswick would convict Harris of Cooper’s murder and he would be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Before and during the trial, Harris’ defense lawyers said what Harris did was a tragic mistake because he loved his son. They also tried to keep evidence of Harris’ deviant sexual behavior from being presented to the jury, arguing it was unfairly prejudicial. Prosecutors contended it showed Harris’ motive — to life a child-free life so he pursue sexual relations. Superior Court Judge Mary Staley Clark sided with prosecutors and let it all in. The jury heard days of testimony about the affairs, the graphic texts and the prostitutes. This became a major thrust of Harris’ appeal to the Georgia Supreme Court in his bid for a new trial. The case was argued this past January and the court released its decision on June 22. Breakdown’s Episode 18 of “Death in a Hot Car; Mistake or Murder?” covers the court’s momentous ruling and the aftermath. You can download the Breakdown podcast from Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or your favorite podcasting platform. You can also stream it on your computer from ajc.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Justin Chapman awaits the all-important decision from the state's prosecutors: will they put him back on trial for murder and arson or end the long-running legal drama that put him in state prison for eight years? This concluding episode has all the answers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A state prosecutor is now deciding whether to put Justin Chapman back on trial for murder. His first trial ended in a guilty verdict after the jury deliberated about 40 minutes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Justin Chapman tells his side of the story. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The case goes back to the Georgia Supreme Court – and this time there would be a much different outcome. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bill Rankin goes to Bremen in the dark of night, and with the help of an Army veteran, tests what you can see from "Stroupe's stoop." Could Gary Allen Stroupe have seen Justin Chapman from his front porch? Plus, Chapman experiences the appeal from hell. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Meet Jan Hankins, the public defender who lost Justin Chapman’s case and embarked on a personal crusade to free him. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Justin Chapman murder case attracts a new defense team full of heavy hitters and colorful characters. In this episode, we take a detour from the case in order to introduce you to some of the players who came to Chapman's aid, and learn why they took on the case for free. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Justin Chapman’s new defense team sifts through the evidence and uncovers critical breakdowns in the prosecution of Chapman, including several pieces of evidence that Chapman's public defender Jan Hankins says she never received, and the testimony of witnesses that Hankins never had time to visit. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Follow the twists and turns of a case in rural Georgia that some say landed an innocent man in prison. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Justin Ross Harris returns to Cobb County and is sentenced for the murder of his 22-month-old son Cooper. We delve into the contradictions in the jury's verdict. We also hear from some Breakdown listeners who seem to know as much about the case as anyone -- and have completely divergent views on the outcome. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After four days of deliberations, the jury in Brunswick returns with a verdict in The State of Georgia v. Justin Ross Harris. Cobb County's district attorney says this is no time for a celebration. Harris's lawyers, in an emotional interview, say they are stunned by the outcome. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The prosecution and the defense give impassioned, powerful closing arguments, wrapping up the trial. Prosecutor Chuck Boring insists Ross Harris lived a double life and intentionally killed his little boy. Defense attorney Maddox Kilgore contends Cooper’s death was a horrible accident and that police rushed to judgment without looking at evidence contrary to their theory. The six-man, six-woman jury then gets the case and, over the next three days, sends a number of questions to Judge Mary Staley Clark. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ross Harris’ ex-wife, Leanna Taylor, took the witness stand on Monday and repeated her long-held belief that Harris never meant to leave their 22-month-old son Cooper to die in his overheated SUV. Taylor spent an emotional two days on the stand, ending her testimony with a dramatic flourish. Some of Harris’ relatives and closest friends then followed her and testified Harris loved his little boy. But in the end, Harris chose not to testify in his own defense, and both the defense and the state rest their cases. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’re just a few steps from the starting gate. In a matter of days, the 12 jurors will be seated, the lawyers will make their opening statements, and the murder trial of Justin Ross Harris will begin. Will he testify? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The judge, lawyers and jurors return to Brunswick after Hurricane Matthew. The trial starts back up with the initial focus on little Cooper Harris. Prosecutors introduce testimony about the “smell of death,” and the jury hears from a hooker who said she had sex with Harris weeks before Cooper’s death. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lead Detective Phil Stoddard ended his testimony after four days on the witness stand. Under cross-examination, Stoddard took some punches, but also delivered some blows. On Friday, the state rested its case after calling 51 witnesses to the stand over the course of 16 days of testimony. They presented no eyewitnesses, no DNA on a murder weapon, no irrefutable video. Instead, prosecutors put into evidence a mountain of circumstantial evidence and a pile of filth – being Harris’ deviant sex life. The defense then started presenting its case, trying to show the jury that Ross Harris was thinking of a life with his son Cooper long after the day he was left in his father’s SUV to die. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices