6.27 Catch the Devil: The Murder of Shelly Boggio

Fourteen-year-old Shelly Boggio was found stabbed and drowned off a Florida beach in 1985. Two men were convicted of her murder — but the case against one of them depended heavily on the word of Paul Skalnik, a serial con man and prolific jailhouse informant who claimed his fellow prisoners had a remarkable habit of confessing to him. Skalnik would help send dozens of people to prison and four men to death row. Journalist Pamela Colloff, author of the new book Catch the Devil, joins us to examine Shelly’s murder, the case that followed, and what happens when the justice system decides to believe a professional liar.

Crimes of the Centuries is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history. You can get early and ad-free episodes and more over at www.grabbagcollab.com

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