180. Looks Like Chaos In Putnam County - Who Actually Murdered Josette Wright And Robin Murphy? - a podcast by Melissa Morgan

This week’s episode involves a twisted web of convictions (perhaps wrongful), acquittals (also possibly wrongful), the murder of a young woman and the disappearance and probable murder of a second young woman – all wrapped around two potentially really bad guys and one no-doubt-about-it nasty scumbag.  The story unfolds in tony Putnam County, an affluent New York City suburb north of Manhattan in southern upstate New York, where in October 1994 12 year-old Josette Wright disappeared.  Just over 13 months later, Josette’s remains were discovered.  Two young men – Anthony DiPippo and Andrew Krivak – were charged and, in 1997, convicted of Josette’s murder – in separate trials.  DiPippo has always maintained his innocence. Krivak confessed.  Seems simple.  Except…well, a couple of things.  It turns out that Krivak has claimed, almost from the moment he accepted his sentence, that his confession was coerced, and there’s evidence to indicate the investigator who questioned Krivak used tactics that may have led to a false confession.  And Anthony DiPippo?  Well.  He has been granted three separate trials – convicted the first two times and finally acquitted in the third.  So how can two men convicted of the same crime have been dealt such different outcomes?  It all revolves around our certified scumbag in this matter – one Howard Gombert, who is currently serving a 30-year sentence for the sexual assault of an 8-year-old girl in Connecticut in 2000 – and who is also the prime suspect in the disappearance of 17 year-old Robin Murphy in April of 1995.  Women’s underwear with Robin’s DNA on it was found in a trunk of what can only be described as “trophies” in the home of Gombert’s girlfriend – but with Robin’s body having never turned up, prosecutors have been unable to arrest Gombert for her murder.  And then there’s this:  there are ties between Robin Murphy, Josette Wright and Howard Gombert that make Gombert a more than reasonable suspect in both cases.  Add to all of this the fact that Anthony DiPippo’s original trial attorney had also represented…wait for it…Howard Gombert!  Join Melissa as she unravels the tangled facts and seeks to get to the bottom of who killed whom – and if you know anything about either case, please call the Putnam County New York Sheriff’s Office at (845) 225-4300.

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