Wrong Man season 2 finale recap: Wire Tapped

The season 2 finale of Starz’ Wrong Man asked who killed Linda Rodgers.

In the Wrong Man Season 2 finale, the series’ investigators continue examining the case of Kenneth Clair, who was accused of killing Linda Faye Rodgers in Santa Ana, California, in 1984. There was no physical evidence linking him to the crime.

Instead, the prosecution relied on a “confession” recorded by Pauline Flores, Kenneth’s girlfriend at the time. While Clair says a few iffy things, there’s one problem with the recording: On that same tape, Kenneth Clair ultimately says he didn’t commit the crime, which means it’s no smoking gun. Still, that was the evidence ultimately used to convict him.

A little more background: Victim Linda Faye Rodgers worked as a live-in nanny for Kai Henriksen (a tow truck driver) and Margaret Hessling. Ken stole $400 from them shortly before the murder, as Kenneth was living in an abandoned home not far away.

While that also made Clair a suspect, one of the children who witnessed the murder, named Jarrod, told police that the perpetrator was a white man. “Wrong Man” regularly emphasizes that they are not trying to prove Kenneth Clair was innocent just due to skin color. In fact, they consider if authorities locked up the right man after all.

Wrong Man: Interviewing Margaret

Investigators Joe Kennedy and Ira Todd interview Margaret Hessling in Santa Ana, California. She recalls the ominous night in question; Every light was on in the house, the sliding glass door was open, things were in disarray, and there was blood.

She thinks Ken did it, and not just because he’s the guy they put him in jail. She thinks it was revenge because Margaret and Kai had Kenneth arrested for stealing from their home. However, interestingly, Margaret says Jarrod never told her it was a white man.

Also a bit odd: She dismisses what he said, claiming that Jarrod “has a big imagination.” Still, why would anyone — even a child — claim a different racial identity to someone murdering a woman who he knows? For obvious reasons, child witnesses aren’t always credible, but this is a potential headscratcher. So, basically, the strongest point against Clair is that he had a robbery record (though “Wrong Man” itself stresses the iffy confession tape).

The questionable confession tape

Before the murder, Kenneth Clair had quit his job after becoming homeless, and he got in trouble for robbery at age 17. Wrong Man wonders why he was sent to a regular prison rather than a juvenile detention center, suggesting it was probably racial bias in sentencing.

Ira Todd adds that nobody looked at white suspects in the case, suggesting they gave up investigating after the Pauline Flores tape. Ken says he was being sarcastic in parts of his confession.

On that note, Wrong Man consults Dr. John Baugh, a Forensic Linguist, who concludes the language on tape is ambiguous enough for reasonable doubt. After all, Kenneth denies the crime on tape. It’s also questioned why Pauline Flores mentions Clair limping and having blood on him, yet that was never verified as physical evidence during the trial.

DNA? Other suspects?

Ira Todd suggests DNA evidence should be re-examined, and they discuss the case briefly with Suzzana Ryan, a Forensic DNA expert. They discuss bias in the original forensic notes, which mentions things like “no negroid-like hair” being found, and that they were “asked to examine afghan for hairs of black origin.”

The DNA actually has been tested by now, and none of it belongs to Kenneth Clair.  Oddly enough, the DA argued that it doesn’t matter.   Obviously, back in 1984, the killer wouldn’t have been mindful of hiding DNA. Plus, given the sexual nature of the crime, it’s certain that there would have been DNA evidence at the scene.  Indeed there was.

It’s also odd that police didn’t look at Linda’s boyfriend. Wrong Man‘s legal analyst Sue-Ann Robinson accuses investigators of having tunnel vision. Margaret Hessling mentioned Linda Faye Rodgers having a boyfriend named John, who apparently had been arrested for sexual assault before. When Wrong Man speaks to him via telephone, he denies ever knowing Rodgers, Kai, or Margaret. He says he experienced identity theft and wasn’t even in California since 1968.

Talking to John

Although the team tracked him down, Hessling doesn’t remember John’s last name. She does, however, link him to Oregon and Iowa motorcycle clubs. She identifies him in a photo. She does, however, maintain that John wasn’t in the area during the murder (though doesn’t elaborate on how she knows for sure). Also, she wonders aloud what Linda could have done to make John so mad as to kill her. Everyone else wonders why the police never even interviewed him.

Well, Wrong Man strives to change all that. Finding him “somewhere in the midwest,” Ira Todd and Joe Kennedy speak to John in person. He again denies knowing Linda, Margaret, and Kai. When seeing a photo of Linda he says, ” She’s a pretty girl but I never met her.”

He does, however, agree that the picture Margeret identified is truly of him. He also clarifies that the rape accusation against him was extortion, and we even see documents indicating that he wasn’t found guilty. John shakes Ira Todd’s hand, saying to e-mail him if they find anything out.

No definitive answers

It’s an inconclusive meeting. Viewers might still find him suspicious, but there’s no solid evidence that this “John” was actually around Linda Faye Rodgers. In fact, Margaret may have misidentified him. In the previous episode, we learned that Pauline Flores’ testimony was flawed, and she had recanted it herself years later. She had also suffered a severe brain injury.

Also, when Flores listed stolen items from the scene, her list exactly matched the list presented by prosecutors — neither excluding anything that was found nor including anything that wasn’t. In any case, there is obviously overlooked DNA evidence, and there should be a deeper dive into the suspect pool.

What are your thoughts on Wrong Man?  Let us know in the comments!