Presenting: “Murder in the Orange Grove: The Troubled Case Against Crosley Green”
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Only on Netflix, October 18, rated R.

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Hey guys, today we're mixing things up a bit and giving you a preview of a new podcast from 48 Hours called Murder in the Orange Grove, The Troubled Case Against Crosley Green. As a true crime enthusiast, I've always enjoyed shows like 48 Hours for their in-depth look at crime and justice cases. That's why I'm excited about this new series, and I think you'll find it just as compelling.

In the early 90s, Crosley Green, a black man from Florida, was sentenced to death by an all-white jury for the murder of Chip Flynn, a crime that Green insists he did not commit. The podcast is hosted by 48 Hours correspondent Aaron Moriarty, who has spent the last 25 years following the controversial case, looking into the inconsistencies, like coerced confessions and allegations of a racial hoax, that challenge the integrity of the verdict.

Erin has covered many cases, but she says this one has troubled her the most. With new, never-before-heard interviews from experts involved and Crosley himself, Murder in the Orange Grove brings fresh insight into the case that still holds Crosley's freedom in its grip. Now, I'm about to play a clip from the podcast where Chip Flynn's then-girlfriend recounts the night of his death and the traumatic event that changed three lives forever.

On the morning of April 4th, 1989, police were interviewing 19-year-old Kim Halleck about a trauma that began unfolding the night before, one that would forever change the lives of Kim, her ex-boyfriend, Charles Chip Flynn, and Crosley Green.

At the time of this recording, Kim had already been with investigators at the sheriff's office for four hours. But this was the first time they were recording her sworn statement. Let's start by...

What was the first time that you saw the victim, who is Charles Flynn? We call him, you call him Chip? Yes. Okay. Kim Halleck and Charles Flynn, he went by the name Chip, both lived in the city of Titusville. Kim was white with dark eyes and hair cut above her shoulders. Those who knew her described her as a fairly smart, nice-looking girl.

22-year-old Chip was also white, with shaggy, sandy brown hair and a smile always on his face. They dated a little over a year and a half, but had broken up about two months earlier.

Chip had moved on. He had a new girlfriend and didn't talk about Kim anymore to his family or friends. But he hadn't fully cut ties with Kim either. When was the first time that you saw Chip yesterday, which would have been 4-3 of 89? About 10 o'clock at night, he came over to my house. Kim said that she and Chip watched a movie together, Pretty in Pink. It was around 11 p.m. when he asked her if she wanted to go for a ride in his pickup truck.

Chip had a manual transmission truck, a stick shift. There was only one row of seats, so Kim sat on the passenger side while Chip drove to Holder Park in the nearby town of Mims. They parked the truck on the dunes by the baseball field under some trees.

After about 15 minutes, a patrol deputy drove by, but he didn't see the couple. Another few minutes passed, and Kim said she saw someone else walking towards them from the baseball fields. It's after that a black guy walked up in front of the truck and

Kim told the police that she and Chip were instantly unsettled by this unknown man, who she called, quote-unquote, the black guy. You'll hear Kim say this over and over again when speaking with police. I was looking out, and when I looked down, I saw the black guy come up, and I told Chip there's a black guy on your side, and he rolled up the window real quick.

Kim said she was unnerved by the encounter and told Chip she wanted to leave the park. But Chip said it was all right because the man had left. Kim said that about 20 minutes later, Chip got out of the truck to go to the bathroom. And that's when she heard him say, Wait a minute, hold on, wait a minute, man. And I just looked and I saw a black guy. According to Kim's timeline, the time would be between 1130 and midnight.

Kim said that she remembered that Chip had a pistol in the glove box, so she pulled it out and hid it under a pair of jeans on the seat beside her. And that's when the man, she said, told Chip to get on the ground. Did you see that the black male was armed at that time? Yes, I did. Because he was in front of the door. Okay. She said he asked how much money they had and started calling them names.

Even calling him crack, crack head, cracker head. And it means what? Chips just said, just let her go. You have me. Their assailant said he would let them go. But first, Kim said he threw one of Chip's sneakers at her and then told her to take the shoelace out. She said that while the assailant was tying up Chip's arms with that shoelace, his gum went off.

Nobody was hurt. And Kim told police that she didn't think the gunshot was intentional. But on the moonless night, it would have been terrifying. Kim said that at this point, Chip was on his knees, no shoes on, his arms tied behind his back with a shoelace. The assailant pulled Chip's wallet out of his pants pocket. And he...

The assailant allowed her to get out of the truck, Kim said, and then come around to where he and Chip were standing before instructing her to start the truck. He's holding the gun on Chip? Yeah.

Then, according to Kim, all three of them got back in the pickup truck on that one row of seats. Chip is now in the passenger side with his hands tied, Kim in the middle, and they're now kidnappers steering and shifting gears.

They begged him to let them go, with Chip once again offering himself up to save Kim. Take me, do whatever you want, just let her go. He said he was going to, but I knew he wasn't. This might have been the best chance Kim Hallett got to really look at the assailant, although it was still pitch black, and according to Kim, the truck's interior light might not have been working.

The police officer questioning Kim was eager to try to pin down a physical description of the assailant. From his height... How tall was he? Between 5'8 and about 6'4. And his weight... About 108 pounds. Kind of a big bill.

To his clothing. Had a big heavy jacket on, a dark heavy jacket. Possibly green, a real dull green. Blue jeans and big heavy boots, like working boots. To his hairstyle. Just afro and there, nothing fancy, nothing weird. Was that thick, long, short? Just thick, kind of long, not long. Ooh.

But Kim was unable to provide a detailed description. In her terror, Kim said she did not get a good look at the assailant.

Another police officer pressed her about the man's footwear again later in the interview. Describing his footwear, are you certain of what type of footwear he was wearing yesterday? Not real certain. So the answer is no. Right. Could he have been wearing tennis shoes?

Kim told police that the man made her and Chip duck down as they drove out of Holder Park. And when Chip lifted his head, Kim said, the assailant yelled at him to put it down or he'd blow his head off.

If you couldn't quite hear, Kim said that their kidnapper was holding the gun, pointing it at her, while shifting gears and driving.

At this point, Chip found his own gun, the one that Kim said she hid under a pair of jeans on the seat. Chip motioned to Kim to scoot up so he could get a clear shot at their assailant. But Kim said she couldn't move without the driver noticing. Ten minutes later, the assailant stopped the truck at a familiar landmark, the Orange Factory. Nevin's Orange Factory? Yeah, that's it. Mm-hmm.

Kim and Chip were in an orange grove in the city of Titusville, Florida. Their assailant, she said, shut the car off. It was completely dark. Then he yanked Kim out of the driver's seat by her arm.

Kim said she pulled free and then ran around to the passenger side of the truck, opening Chip's door. And just as she put one foot inside, the assailant yanked her out again, and she fell to the ground by the back rear tire. The assailant got one arm around her and held his gun on her. Okay.

Kim said that when she started to cry, the assailant shouted that he was going to, quote, blow her brain out if she didn't shut up. And that's when, according to Kim, Chip leaned out of the passenger seat, his pistol still clutched in his shoelace-bound hands. His hands were behind his back. He leaned out of the truck and somehow shot at the guy, and the guy stepped back.

Chipped him out of the truck. I jumped in the truck, shut the passenger door, and then I reached over and locked it, and I heard about five or six gunshots. So if you're following, Kim said that Chip shot at the assailant and then jumped out of the passenger side of the pickup truck, all with his hands still tied behind his back.

The police officer asked Kim exactly how Chip got out of the truck. And then asked Kim about those other gunshots. Do you recall how many shots Chip fired? I'm not real sure.

But then like four or five came from the black guy. Kim said Chip yelled at her to go, and in her haste to leave the orange grove, Kim said she might have accidentally run over Chip's leg. Kim drove for about four miles, going past a gas station and even a local hospital, stopping at a trailer park where Chip's best friend David Stroop lived. It was just about a minute away from her family home.

David was asleep and didn't hear Kim when she banged on his trailer door. I went back to where his bedroom is and I beat on the door and I told him I think Chip got shot. If you like what you heard, you can get the rest of this episode on Murder in the Orange Grove, the troubled case against Crosley Green.