Chapter 3
“Live in five, four . . .”
Tori Mitchell nodded at her friend and producer, Amy Bradsher, then took a deep breath. When the count ended, she leaned closer to her mic.
“Twenty years ago, the state of Tennessee incarcerated Huey Prescott for the murder of businessman Walter Livingston. Yesterday afternoon Prescott walked out of prison a free man almost a year to the day after Dark Deeds Unraveled highlighted irregularities in the case. It had taken that long for the courts to order a new trial, where he was found not guilty.”
Early on in her podcast career, Tori had patterned hers after a top true-crime podcast that was broadcast live, mainly because she liked giving her listeners the transparency being live brought. But now she mostly prerecorded them due to the ease of taping.
But tonight was different. She was doing the podcast live to celebrate Prescott’s release and was taking calls at the end.
The calls had been Amy’s idea, not Tori’s.
The idea of taking calls on-air made sweat break out on her palms, and she swiped them on her pants.
“After we pay the bills, I’ll give a brief overview of the case.
For an in-depth account, check out the previous episodes of Dark Deeds Unraveled detailing how we uncovered evidence not presented at Prescott’s trial. Now for a word from our sponsor . . .”
Tori killed her mic and rocked back in her chair to rest her eyes while the sponsor’s ad ran. Four hours of sleep didn’t cut it anymore. She was still dragging from the six-hour drive from Knoxville to Memphis and then another six hours back.
Prescott had agreed to a brief interview for the Knoxville TV station where Tori freelanced as a reporter only because she’d been instrumental in getting the DA to reopen his case—he’d turned all other interviews down.
But he’d insisted the interview be at his sister’s house in Memphis and in person.
Amy doubled as her videographer, and they’d made the trip, arriving late yesterday afternoon. When the interview was over, Prescott wanted to take them to dinner, so it’d been close to two this morning when they rolled back into Knoxville.
She hadn’t worked late nights in a while, not since she’d opted to only work special assignments at the TV station after the Dark Deeds Unraveled podcast took off, and normally would have slept in since her time was her own.
But her old producer had called at 7:00 a.m. requesting that she appear on Good Morning Knoxville during the 9:30 segment of the program.
It’d been too good of an opportunity to pass up, but now she was paying for it.
“You look like you could use coffee.”
“Definitely.” Tori opened her eyes and smiled at her best friend since first grade. They made a good team, and there was no way the podcast would have taken off like it had without Amy as the producer—if a problem popped up, she had a work-around.
“You didn’t get a nap this afternoon?” Amy handed Tori a mug.
“Thanks, and no.” She cradled the warm cup in her hands and took a sip. “That’s good, but I might need a Red Bull too.”
“That bad, huh?” Amy asked with raised brows.
“Yep.” Tori eyed her friend. “How do you look so fresh? You made the same trip I did.”
“I made time for a nap,” Amy said with a laugh and checked her watch. “Thirty seconds until you’re live.”
Tori gulped another swallow of coffee. “I’m still not sure we should take calls. I wish I hadn’t agreed—”
“Stop worrying! The call-ins are a good idea—it’s a reward for all those listeners who’ve followed the case. Gives them a chance to chime in with their two cents. You’ll see.”
“I hope you’re right.” Tori adjusted her earpiece.
“I’m always right . . . and I think you need to make the podcast a vodcast—let people see you.”
“No way—I can only do one change at a time!” She wasn’t about to do a video podcast. Period.
“We’ll see,” Amy said as she walked back to her microphone.
There was nothing to see. Tori liked the anonymity the podcast gave her.
Answering questions and comments on her social media or the website was infinitely better than call-ins—gave her more control.
And if there was one thing she liked, it was being in control.
The die might be cast for live questions from her listeners tonight, but nothing else.
“Ten seconds.” Amy’s voice came through the earpiece. “And you already have two callers lined up to ask questions.”
Two? That shouldn’t be too bad or take too long. With a fortifying breath, Tori sat straighter. She’d found that her voice followed her posture. Straight spine with her shoulders back pumped energy into her words.
“Five, four, three, two, one.” Amy pointed at Tori. “Go,” she mouthed.
Tori leaned toward her mic. “Welcome back to this episode of Dark Deeds Unraveled where we’re discussing the release of Huey Prescott for his wrongful conviction in the murder of Walter Livingston. But first a brief recap of the circumstances around Prescott’s arrest.”
Tori knew the case by heart and had no need for notes.
“Twenty-two years ago, on January 6th at 5:00 p.m., Walter Livingston, philanthropist and co-owner of the Livingston Oil Corporation, was in his Memphis, Tennessee, condo when his doorbell rang.
When he opened the door, an unknown assailant fired four rounds and fled.
Unfortunately, when the police arrived, they found the businessman dead.
“The condo was one Mr. Livingston used when he worked late at the recently opened Memphis branch of the Livingston Corporation. Their primary base of operation was and still is in Logan Point, Mississippi, half an hour’s drive across the state line and where Livingston primarily resided.”
Logan Point was also Tori’s hometown. She paused to sip her coffee before continuing.
“There were no witnesses to the shooting, but in August of that year, an informant steered authorities to Huey Prescott, a part-time bouncer at The Bluer Rose strip club and a low-level drug dealer with a rap sheet of twenty-five felony charges and ten convictions. Prescott was arrested a short time after the murder for drugs and weapons charges after an informant called in a tip. Jailhouse informants who claimed he confessed to them that he’d killed the businessman came forward, and Prescott was indicted for Livingston’s murder in February of the next year, thirteen months after the slaying.
“At the trial, Prescott couldn’t pinpoint where he was the night of the murder other than he thought he’d had dinner with friends.
However, no one corroborated his statement.
The prosecutor presented the four informants who swore under oath that Huey confessed to them he’d killed Livingston,” Tori said.
“All four testimonies were identical, and it wasn’t a simple, ‘Yeah, I did it,’ but a detailed description of how he did it.
And that bothered me—four people telling the same story almost word for word? ”
She glanced at Amy to see how much time until another break. Two minutes. Tori turned back to the mic. “The jury deliberated less than two hours before returning with a guilty verdict even though no one put Prescott at the scene of the crime and the gun used was never found.
“What the DA didn’t present was a pawn ticket found in Huey’s wallet, showing he pawned a set of tools ten minutes before Livingston was gunned down.
I’m not saying the DA deliberately withheld the information.
Maybe he and the public defender both overlooked it, which isn’t out of the realm of possibility since Huey didn’t remember the pawn ticket—he was too wasted.
An hour after pawning the tools, he was arrested for DUI with a blood alcohol content of 0.
32. Folks, that’s almost four times the limit for driving under the influence.
None of that was ever brought out at the trial.
“He spent the next twenty years sitting in a prison cell for a crime he did not commit. That means whoever killed Walter Livingston is still out there.”
She paused for dramatic effect. “So, if the killer is listening to this podcast . . . know this: the Memphis Police Department is reopening the case, and I will use every resource I have to help them find you.”