Confessions of Youth

On the morning of January 21, 1998, 12-year-old Stephanie Ann Crowe was found dead on her bedroom floor. She had been brutally stabbed to death as her family slept soundly in their bedrooms down the hall.

Stephanie’s parents desperately called 911 for help. After police officers arrived at the scene, a cursory search of the Crowe home found no signs of forced entry. There was an unlocked sliding glass door in the parents’ room, but it was covered by aluminum vertical blinds. They would have made too much noise for someone to enter undetected, officers decided.

Join us at the quiet end for Confessions of Youth, the story of the murder of Stephanie Crowe and the false confessions that followed. On the morning when Stephanie’s body was found, detectives came to an early conclusion that her murder was an inside job. From that day forward, they worked to make the evidence fit their theory instead of letting the evidence develop their theory. This method of investigation, wrong for many good reasons, sent the Crowe family and two other families into a prolonged state of victimhood.

Support the show for ad-free, early, bonus episodes and more!

Record a voicemail for a future show

Contact Us

Shop TCB Merch

Join our True Crime Brewery Fan Discussion Group

Sources

Crowe v. County of San Diego, Order RE: Summary Judgment Motions, San Diego California, 2/17/2004

Haunting Questions: The Stephanie crowe Murder Case, San Diego Union Tribune, John Wilkens & Mark Sauer, 5/12/1999). 

The Interrogation of Michael Crowe, 2002 movie

Juvenile Interrogations Reform Bill Signed by Governor Newsom, Makes California the Fourth State to Adopt Anti-Deceptive-Interrogation Reforms, California Innocence Coalition, 9/15/2022

The People of the State of California v. Michael Steven Crowe, Joshua David Treadway, & Aaron Paul Houser, Superior Court of the State of California for the County of San Diego, 5/22/1998

The Reid Technique Controversies, Criticisms, and Evolving Interrogation Practices, Francesco Galvano, 6/2023

The Right to Remain a Child, New York University Law Review, Ariel Spierer, 11/2017

She’s So Cold: A Defense Attorney’s Inside Story by Donald E. McInnis