Letters from Sing Sing
In December of 2002, NBC News producer Dan Slepian got a letter from a New York state prison. It was from a man serving 25 years to life for murder. And it ended with a desperate plea: look into my case. Jon-Adrian “JJ” Velazquez had been convicted of killing a retired New York City police officer, but he insisted he didn’t do it. Dan was skeptical. Prosecutors said five eyewitnesses had sworn JJ was the killer. Could five people be wrong? So Dan began to dig. What he discovered went far beyond just JJ’s case. And 20 years later, it’s still unfo...
Bonus · Fri, November 22, 2024
Special Preview: "The Sing Sing Chronicles" Documentary Series
"Letters from Sing Sing" Host and "Dateline" Producer Dan Slepian gives a special preview of "The Sing Sing Chronicles," a special two-night event presented by MSNBC Films. Building on decades of Dan's investigative reporting, the four-part documentary series from NBC News Studios and Director Dawn Porter exposes the injustices of different wrongful convictions at the notorious Sing Sing prison. The first two episodes of "The Sing Sing Chronicles" premiere Saturday, November 23rd at 9pm ET, and the final two episodes air Sunday, November 24th at 9pm ET on MSNBC.
Bonus · Wed, October 02, 2024
Last Stop on the Road to Freedom
In this bonus episode of the award-winning Letters from Sing Sing podcast, veteran producer Dan Slepian reflects on the final chapter in J.J. Velazquez’s hard-fought path to full exoneration after being wrongfully convicted of murder over two decades ago. Dan and J.J. join Kristen Welker on Meet the Press for a “Meet the Moment” conversation to detail their 20+ year path to overturning J.J.’s conviction.
Bonus · Tue, September 10, 2024
Dan Slepian reads an excerpt from “The Sing Sing Files”
Hear an exclusive audio excerpt from Dateline producer Dan Slepian’s new book “The Sing Sing Files” which chronicles his two-decade journey navigating the criminal justice system to help free six innocent men. Available now wherever books and audiobooks are sold. For more details and to purchase, follow this link: https://bit.ly/TheSingSingFilesLetters
Bonus · Tue, July 16, 2024
An all-new season of ‘Dateline: Missing in America’
As a bonus for you, we’re sharing the trailer for Season 3 of Dateline: Missing in America. The chart-topping podcast series is back with a brand-new season and brand-new cases. Are you the key to solving a mystery? Correspondent Josh Mankiewicz reports on perplexing missing person cases brought to Dateline’s attention by our social media followers. Each episode focuses on one person’s story, as told by those left behind. Listen carefully to the details, descriptions and clues offered by family, friends and investigators. Something you hear might jog a memory that could help authorities crack a case. You can listen to the first episode of Dateline: Missing in America season 3 here: https://link.chtbl.com/dmiast_lw
Bonus · Mon, June 10, 2024
BONUS: Season 2 of “Rachel Maddow Presents: Ultra”
As a bonus for listeners, we’re sharing a special preview of the second season of the award-winning original series, “Rachel Maddow Presents: Ultra.” In the chart-topping second season, Rachel Maddow returns to uncover the shocking history of the ultra-right’s reach into American politics. Listen to the entire first episode now, and follow the show to get the whole series: https://link.chtbl.com/rmpust_fdlw . You can also subscribe to MSNBC Premium on Apple Podcasts for early access to every episode the Friday before it drops, and ad-free listening to all episodes of Ultra seasons one and two.
Bonus · Thu, May 16, 2024
Introducing Dateline: True Crime Weekly
As a bonus for you, we’re sharing the trailer for Dateline: True Crime Weekly, an all-new weekly podcast series. Every Thursday Dateline correspondent Andrea Canning and her guests dive into the biggest crime stories of the week, bringing you the latest on trials and investigations around the country. Listen now wherever you get your podcasts: https://link.chtbl.com/dtcw_fdlw
Bonus · Tue, March 26, 2024
Dateline presents: Murder in the Hollywood Hills
As a bonus for you, we’re sharing the trailer for Murder in the Hollywood Hills, an all-new original podcast series from Dateline. In this story Keith Morrison takes us to the city of dreams, where a smooth-talking predator lured young women into a nightmare with promises of fame and fortune. He evaded justice for years, but when a group of women banded together, they fought to lock him up for life. If you like what you hear, you can listen to Murder in the Hollywood Hills for free each week. Or, subscribe to Dateline Premium on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or DatelinePremium.com to unlock new episodes one week early: https://link.chtbl.com/mithh_fdlw
Bonus · Thu, February 15, 2024
Special preview of Into America presents: Uncounted Millions
On Into America presents: Uncounted Millions: The Power of Reparations, award-winning MSNBC correspondent Trymaine Lee dives into one of today’s most pressing debates: reparations. Months ago, Trymaine discovered the little-known story of Gabriel Coakley and it blew his mind. In the midst of the Civil War, Coakley was among a handful of Black people who found a way to get compensated for slavery by the US government. On Uncounted Millions, Trymaine talks to Coakley’s descendants about how reparations forever changed their family’s trajectory. And as more cities and states consider the issue at a policy level, he imagines how reparations might shape the whole of Black America. Listen to this special preview now. And follow the show: https://link.chtbl.com/iapum_fdlw
Bonus · Tue, December 05, 2023
Dateline presents: Mortal Sin
As a bonus for you, we’re sharing the trailer for Mortal Sin, an all-new original podcast series from Dateline. Dawn and Nick Hacheney are the perfect couple: spiritual, loving, and devoted to the church where Nick is a pastor. When Dawn is killed in a house fire the day after Christmas, the pastor and his flock are devastated. What few knew at the time was the dark prophecy that foretold it. In Dateline’s latest original podcast series, Josh Mankiewicz tells a twisted tale about sex, lies, religion…and murder. Listen to the first 2 episodes now for free or subscribe to Dateline Premium on Apple Podcasts to get access to new episodes 1 week early. Subscribers can also listen to all Dateline podcasts ad-free: https://link.chtbl.com/mtlsin_fdlw
Bonus · Mon, June 12, 2023
BONUS: Rachel Maddow Presents: Déjà News
As a bonus for listeners, we’re sharing a special preview of “Rachel Maddow Presents: Déjà News,” a new original podcast series from MSNBC. In each episode, Rachel Maddow and co-host Isaac-Davy Aronson seek a deeper understanding of a story in today's headlines by asking: Has anything like this ever happened before? Would knowing that help us grapple with what’s happening now… and what might happen next? Listen to the first episode now and follow the series: https://link.chtbl.com/rmpdn_fdlw
Bonus · Tue, May 30, 2023
An all-new season of ‘Dateline Missing in America’
As a bonus for you, we’re sharing the trailer for Season 2 of Dateline: Missing in America . The chart-topping podcast series is back with a brand-new season and brand-new cases. Are you the key to solving a mystery? Correspondents Josh Mankiewicz, Andrea Canning and Keith Morrison report on perplexing missing person cases brought to Dateline’s attention by our social media followers. Each episode focuses on one person’s story, as told by those left behind. Listen carefully to the details, descriptions and clues offered by family, friends and investigators. Something you hear might jog a memory that could help authorities crack a case. You can listen to the first two episodes of Dateline: Missing in America season 2 here: https://link.chtbl.com/mias2_fdlw
Bonus · Mon, April 10, 2023
Special Preview: New episode of Tiffany Dover Is Dead* Podcast
As a preview for Letters from Sing Sing listeners, here’s a sneak peek from a special new episode of Truthers: Tiffany Dover Is Dead* , an NBC News podcast about misinformation and conspiracy theories. Nine months after the series ended without landing an on-the-record interview with its subject, Tiffany Dover speaks out for the first time. In this clip, she shares her side of the story and why we haven’t heard from her until now. Follow the podcast to listen to this episode or catch up on the whole story: https://link.chtbl.com/ttdisbe_fd
S1 E8 · Mon, March 27, 2023
The Apology
In August of 2021, Governor Andrew Cuomo grants JJ executive clemency. Three weeks later, JJ steps out of Sing Sing a free man. But he wasn’t exonerated. In the eyes of the law, he was still a convicted felon. Within the first 24 hours of his release, JJ needs to check in with the parole office. He has a curfew. He has to get permission to travel out of state. As he likes to say, he’s freer, but not free. Soon after his release, JJ gets a job at the Frederick Douglass Project. He’s invited to give talks, run workshops. His life is focused on connecting people on the outside with those on the inside. And unbelievably, his work leads to a meeting with the President of the United States.
S1 E7 · Mon, March 27, 2023
The Call
In 2017, JJ finally gets some good news. After years of denials and setbacks, he would appear before a judge for the first time since his conviction. A new judge would determine whether JJ’s rights were violated when the prosecutor at his trial withheld police reports related to his case – reports that, 10 months earlier, had arrived in Dan’s mailbox. But the judge ultimately denies JJ’s request for a new trial. Dan and JJ are devastated. JJ explores other avenues for getting released. He applies for clemency, but year after year, the governor passes him over. Then, in 2020, the pandemic hits. The world stops. And JJ experiences the pandemic behind bars.
S1 E6 · Mon, March 20, 2023
Friendship
By 2015, JJ had been locked up for nearly 18 years. His mom, Maria, drives to Sing Sing to visit him on his 40th birthday and reflects on how much it hurts to watch him age in prison. In the last decade, JJ has built a rich life in prison in order to survive. He talks about his involvement in the prison’s programs, like organizing fundraisers and leading workshops. He was even elected by the prison’s population to speak for them when issues came up. He says this work has given him purpose, but it also helps distract him from the trauma of being incarcerated for a crime he didn’t commit. While all of this is happening, JJ’s older son, Jon, gets into more trouble. He’s arrested on charges of burglary. He hides out in a motel room, and Dan goes to check on him there. Dan also follows up on old and new leads in JJ’s case. And then one day, he gets a yellow envelope in the mail.
S1 E5 · Mon, March 13, 2023
Integrity
It’s been eight months since Dan’s investigation into JJ’s case aired on Dateline. When he visits JJ at Sing Sing, JJ is frustrated—he thought he’d be out by now. But the Manhattan DA is looking into his case. In 2010, Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance created a conviction integrity unit focused on investigating claims of innocence. Bob Gottlieb and Celia Gordon, JJ’s lawyers, are confident that this unit will determine that he was wrongfully convicted. Meanwhile, Bob and Celia hear from a woman who claims she and a friend know Mustafa: the NYPD’s “primary target” for the murder of Al Ward. Dan follows up on this lead and travels to Seattle, where he interviews both women. They tell him their friend Mustafa confessed to killing Al Ward. Dan tracks down this Mustafa, and in a tense interview, tries to determine whether this man is the real killer.
S1 E4 · Mon, March 06, 2023
Peer Pressure
Dan tracks down Juror Number Six: Ramon Aviles. Ramon remembers the moment when the 84-year-old eyewitness, Dorothy Canady, pointed him out as the shooter. He says he was shocked and that people were laughing. The juror breaks down what he remembers from the deliberation room and ultimately admits he might have made a mistake in voting to convict JJ. Dan starts to wonder if other jurors from JJ’s trial would feel the same way. He meets up with a different juror and when she sees Dan, she immediately starts to cry. She says she felt pressured by some of the other jurors to convict JJ because they were sequestered and wanted to go home. More than decade later, she believes she ruined JJ’s life. Dan is stunned. He’s building a compelling case for JJ’s innocence, but there’s still one more person he needs to talk to: JJ’s alleged accomplice, the man with the duct tape, Derry Daniels. Dan visits Daniels, who refuses to talk to him, but Dan is now certain that JJ did not get a fair trial. He sits down with Barry Scheck, co-founder of the Innocence Project, to talk through the case. Barry explains how eyewitness accounts can be unreliable.
S1 E3 · Mon, February 27, 2023
Eyewitnesses
It turns out, back in 1998, just days after the crime, the NYPD had a main suspect for the murder of Al Ward: a man named Mustafa. Dan tries to find out more about Mustafa and understand why this lead was dropped after JJ’s name entered the case. He also learns that JJ’s legal team had a court-assigned private investigator. Dan tracks down that private investigator, and discovers that he hardly looked into JJ’s case. He didn’t know about Mustafa and he never interviewed the eyewitnesses to the murder of Al Ward. So Dan decides to do what the private investigator didn’t do – investigate JJ’s case. In the summer of 2009, Dan finds Augustus Brown, the key witness, the man who first identified JJ. He’s incarcerated at the Elmira Correctional Facility in upstate New York. Dan pays him a visit.
S1 E2 · Mon, February 20, 2023
74 Minutes
JJ Velazquez claimed he had an alibi: a 74-minute phone call on a landline with his mother, Maria Velazquez, that overlapped with the time of the crime. So Dan visits Maria. She lives in a town in New York on the Hudson River directly across from Sing Sing, the maximum security prison where her son is incarcerated. Maria talks to Dan about JJ’s childhood. And she recounts in detail her memory of January 27th, 1998, the day of Al Ward’s murder. Meanwhile, Dan is still familiarizing himself with JJ’s case file. There are thousands of pages of documents that sit in a box by his desk. He starts to work his way through the trial transcript. Immediately, it’s clear to him that the trial was strange. As Dan unpacks what happened in the courtroom, he’s left with more questions than answers. Prosecutors say five people identified JJ as the man who killed Al Ward. Dan decides to find them.
S1 E1 · Mon, February 20, 2023
JJ
In December of 2002, NBC News Producer Dan Slepian got a letter from a New York State maximum security prison. It was detailed and meticulous, almost like it had been written by a lawyer. It was from a man serving 25 years to life for murder. And it ended with a desperate plea: look into my case. In 1998, Jon-Adrian “JJ” Velazquez was arrested for killing a retired New York City police officer. A year later, he was convicted of second degree murder. But he insisted he didn’t do it. Dan was skeptical. Prosecutors said five eyewitnesses had sworn JJ was the killer. Could five people be wrong? So Dan pays JJ a visit. And at the end of it, JJ gives Dan a challenge: prove me guilty.
Trailer · Fri, February 10, 2023
Introducing: Letters from Sing Sing
In December of 2002, NBC News producer Dan Slepian got a letter from a New York state prison. It was detailed and meticulous, almost like it had been written by a lawyer. But it wasn’t. It was from a man serving 25 years to life for murder. And it ended with a desperate plea: look into my case. Jon-Adrian “JJ” Velazquez had been convicted of killing a retired New York City police officer, but he insisted he didn’t do it. Dan was skeptical. Prosecutors said five eyewitnesses had sworn JJ was the killer. Could five people be wrong? But JJ was adamant about his innocence. He had devoted years to fighting his case, spending hours in the law library, poring over every page of his file. He was confident that if Dan looked into it, he’d see the truth. He even challenged Dan to prove him guilty. So Dan began to dig. What he discovered went far beyond just JJ’s case. And 20 years later, it’s still unfolding. Letters from Sing Sing tells the story of a man convicted of murder, a journalist, and the letter that changed both of their lives. New episodes drop every Monday through March 27, 2023.
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