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 Disappearance of John Lango (Pennsylvania)
The Disappearance of Audrey Groat (Vermont)
The Victims of the Hitch-Hike Murderer (Massachusetts)
The Murder of Gwendolyn Taylor (Massachusetts)
The Suspicious Death of Barbara Ann Ripley (Maine)
The Disappearance of Nadine Mendonça (Massachusetts)
The Murder of Matthew Margolies (Connecticut)
The Murder of Jon Pownall (Maine)
UPDATE: The Murders of David Nixon & Steven Ray Johnson (Maine)
The Murders of David Nixon & Steven Ray Johnson (Maine)
The Murder of Jimmy Stone (Connecticut)
The Murder of Patricia Moreno (Massachusetts)
The Disappearance of Ralph Jean-Marie (Vermont)
The Victims of the Last Call Killer (New York)
The Murder of Frederic Alan Spencer (Maine)
The Murders of Laura Kempton & Tammy Little (New Hampshire)
The Murder of Raymond "Butch" Weed (Maine)
The Murder of Anita Piteau, The Huntington Beach Jane Doe (California)
The Murder of Anne "Nancy" Payson Holt (Maine)
The Disappearance of Kristopher Bryan Lewis (Massachusetts)
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