STOLEN LIFE:

TRAILER

STORY

“For 25 years, I thought Debra Milke was a child murdering bitch – and I was joined by 100% of Arizona” – Jana Bommersbach

A day after seeing Santa Claus at a mall on December 1st, 1989, young Christopher Milke asked his mom if he could go back. Debra Milke’s roommate James took the boy – but instead of a trip back to the mall, he and a friend took young Christopher out to the desert & shot him 3 times in the back of the head. After being taken in for questioning, Milke allegedly confessed her role in the murder to Phoenix PD Detective Armando Saldate. She was convicted based on Detective Saldate’s word alone. Case closed. 

Everyone thought Debra Milke ended up exactly where she belonged – the only woman in Arizona on death row. She remained there for 24 years – half her life – until March 14th, 2013, when the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals shocked almost everyone in the state by throwing out her conviction & death sentence. There were only 2 conclusions to be drawn from this unbelievable turn of events – either those federal judges were ignorant, knuckle headed idiots…or Debra Milke had been wrongly convicted.

 For an investigative journalist, this situation was like waving a red flag in front of a bull.

 Jana Bommersbach is a legendary Phoenix journalist and author – she’s even been honored with 2 lifetime achievement awards as an “inspiration to the state’s media community.” Her investigation into the Milke case led to the book A Stolen Life: The Debra Milke Story. As the narrator of our podcast, she takes listeners inside one of the country’s most fascinating & infuriating criminal cases – inside the evidence, inside the breakdown of justice, inside the prison walls & finally, inside the mind of Debra Milke.