They happened to be in the right place at the right time to spark the process of clearing a man wrongfully convicted of murder.
In June 2021, the young married couple, Harlee and Michael Gerke, often made the seven-hour drive back and forth from the College Station area in East Texas to their hometown, Odessa, in the western part of the state, to visit their families. To make the long drive more enjoyable, they tuned into the popular true crime podcast "Crime Junkie."
While listening, they were drawn into a deep dive on the gruesome 1981 murder of Father Patrick Ryan at a motel in Odessa, which had been featured on the podcast.
Harlee, aged 25, admitted, "We had never heard about the case before."
During the podcast, they learned that James Reyos from the Jicarilla Apache Nation in New Mexico had been convicted of the murder based on very weak evidence. Despite being in the company of Father Ryan on the night of the murder, Reyos was able to provide evidence that he was actually in Roswell, New Mexico, that night, supported by gas receipts and a speeding ticket he received.
A year later, Reyos, overwhelmed by guilt for asking the priest for a ride, confessed to the murder in a drunken state, believing his request set the tragic events in motion. He later recanted his confession, but it was too late. Two years after the confession, he was convicted of the murder and sentenced to 38 years in prison.
After hearing about the case on the podcast, Harlee and Michael were about an hour away from Michael's parents' house in Odessa, where they planned to stay. Realizing the potential injustice, they felt compelled to discuss the case with Michael's father, Chief Michael Gerke, who also serves as the Chief of Police in Odessa.
Chief Michael Gerke, aged 52, reviewed the original case file and came to the same conclusion as his son and daughter-in-law: the evidence was insufficient to support a conviction. He believed that social biases may have played a role, stating, "I think in the 1980s in small-town West Texas, you take a Native American who happens to be gay and he was probably considered a throwaway person."
Chief Gerke initiated a more thorough investigation into the case. Most of the evidence had been lost over the years, but Sergeant Scotty Smith managed to unearth copies of fingerprint cards. Crime scene technician Stacy Cannady located the original fingerprint cards and, thanks to technological advances, ran the fingerprints through a national system, revealing a close match to three deceased men. Importantly, Reyos' prints were absent from the crime scene.
Although Reyos had been released from prison in 1995, he was reincarcerated for a DUI and an alleged incident in which he was accused of exposing himself to a woman, an accusation he denied. (The victim later recanted her statement, according to Texas Monthly.)
Despite being out of prison, Reyos still had a murder conviction on his record. However, thanks to the efforts of Harlee, Michael, and Chief Gerke, this would soon change.
Armed with the new fingerprint evidence, Chief Gerke alerted the district attorney, who brought the case to the attention of Allison Clayton from the non-profit Innocence Project of Texas. This led to an evidentiary hearing in March, during which Chief Gerke and others provided testimony. The court decided that Reyos deserved the opportunity to prove his innocence.
On October 4, with a unanimous 9-0 vote, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals declared Reyos innocent of the murder charge and recommended his exoneration, as reported by Texas Monthly. Consequently, Reyos is entitled to receive $80,000 in restitution for the 24 years he wrongfully spent behind bars.
"This is the best day of my life," exclaimed Reyos, now 67, after the decision.
Among those celebrating this momentous decision were Harlee and Michael.
"I never could have imagined they would uncover new fingerprints — new evidence leading to this man's exoneration," said Harlee.
"It was a perfect storm," added Michael.
Harlee reflected, "It's been such an incredible journey. We're overjoyed that James Reyos is finally exonerated."
However, Michael humbly downplayed their role in assisting with Reyos' exoneration, saying, "I feel like we had the smallest part in this. All we did was know the right people to tell about it."
He concluded, "It's just amazing that he gets to be a free man now."
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