In April 1979, the lives of two teenagers from two very different parts of the country were inextricably linked by murder. In Brewer, Maine, 17-year old Amy Banks awoke one night to learn that her father, Dr. Ronald Banks, had been murdered in New Orleans, Louisiana.
One month later, authorities in New Orleans arrested 16-year old Isaac Knapper and charged him with the killing of Amy’s father. But Isaac didn’t commit the murder.
This is the story of a wrongful conviction, a young Black man railroaded by the justice system, and evidence withheld at trial that would’ve saved him from a life sentence behind bars in the nation’s bloodiest prison.
This is the case of Dr. Ronald Banks, told by his daughter Amy Banks, and Isaac Knapper, the man once charged and convicted of his murder.
View source material and photos for this episode at darkdowneast.com/wrongfulconviction
Dark Downeast is an audiochuck and Kylie Media production hosted by Kylie Low.
The Murders of Joan Gray Rogers and Bernard Ewen (Vermont)
The Murder of David Pickett (New Hampshire)
The Disappearance of William "Billy" Smolinski Jr. (Connecticut)
The Murder of Theresa "Terry" Duran (Maine)
The Murder of Natalie Scheublin (Massachusetts)
The Murders of Cynthia Kane-Clark & Dawn Shippee (Rhode Island)
The Disappearance of Marble Arvidson (Vermont)
The Suspicious Death of Krystal Lee Higgins (Maine) Part 2
The Suspicious Death of Krystal Lee Higgins (Maine) Part 1
The Murder of Carla Terry (Connecticut)
The Murder of Tashauna Jackson (Connecticut)
The Murder of Denise Hart (Vermont)
The Infamous Case of Daniel LaPlante (Massachusetts)
The Murder of John Donaldson (Massachusetts)
The Suspicious Death of Philip Wendel Boyce (Maine)
The Murders of Audrey Lynn Harris, Christine Dumont, & Stacie Goulet (Rhode Island)
The Murder of Shari Lynn Roth (New Hampshire)
The Murder of Sarah Hunter (Vermont)
The Disappearance of April Dawn Pennington (Connecticut)
The Murder of Ada Bean (Massachusetts)
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