Six people were convicted of a murder they didn t even remember. Now a county owes them $28 million
If they had raped and killed an elderly woman, wouldn t they recall the details? A police psychologist told them it was possible. Some believed him.
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For years, a group of outcasts in Beatrice, Nebraska, were convinced they had raped and suffocated an elderly woman named Helen Wilson one night in February 1985, even though they couldn t remember any of it.
That was only what they had been told by the detectives and the police psychologist at the Gage County Sheriff s Office. At first, it was befuddling: Why couldn t they recall any details about the killing? None of the six suspects could even remember being in the woman s apartment that night. But that was okay, the police assured the group: They had simply repressed the traumatizing memories.