Our Mission
A multi-media company, we tell the stories of the wrongfully convicted and highlight the work of private investigators.
Investigating Innocence Media was started by private investigator Bill Clutter.
In 2011, the Chicago Tribune credited Clutter’s work, along with a handful of other dedicated investigators and attorneys, when Illinois abolished the death penalty.
More than a quarter century ago, Clutter founded what is now the Illinois Innocence Project. After moving to Louisville, Kentucky, to continue his work on court-appointed capital cases, he organized a new wrongful conviction advocacy group called Investigating Innocence.
Profits from Investigating Innocence Media support Investigating Innocence, a national not-for-profit organization of private investigators devoted to freeing the innocent.
Photojournalist Ginny Lee captured this image of Bill Clutter with his client Randy Steidl for a story published in the Illinois Times on September 9, 1993, called Wrong Man on Death Row? Later, other journalists, like Doug Longhini produced a series of stories for CBS 48 Hours and Chicago Tribune columnist Eric Zorn wrote a series of articles that shined a bright spotlight on Randy’s struggle to save his life and gain his freedom. While local courts consistently ruled against him, the work of the media played a significant role in gaining Randy’s release from prison. After his release, Randy embarked on a public speaking tour of college campuses and became the voice of the abolition movement that ended the death penalty in Illinois.
Investigating Innocence Media is a corporate sponsor of Louisville’s SoBro Neighborhood Association. Follow this link to get a SoBro t-shirt.
Mothers in two small American towns wanted answers.
What caused their children to become victims of cancer?
Taylorville, Illinois and Morgan City, Louisiana each had a mystery to solve—an epidemic of a rare childhood cancer called neuroblastoma.
A David versus Goliath battle for justice.
Told by a private investigator, this is the story of his investigation.
The link between the two communities soon became clear—exposure to a by-product of coal gasification called coal tar.
A story about corporate greed, political corruption, and environmental justice.
The case became an important Illinois Supreme Court precedent.
Investigating Innocence Media is the publisher of Bill Clutter’s debut book.
Proceeds from the sale of Coal Tar support the work of Investigating Innocence.
Get the Donor Edition of Coal Tar
Author reads from Chapter 33 Returning to Springfield. Reconnecting with trial lawyer Tom Londrigan.
Investigating Innocence Media collaborated with iHeart Radio to tell the story of Christopher Vaughn, who was facing the death penalty in Joliet, Illinois when he was indicted for the murders of his wife and three children in 2007.
A crime scene investigator working for the Illinois State Police who processed the grisly scene found physical evidence, including bullet trajectory evidence, that indicated that Vaughn, who had been shot twice but survived his injuries, was the victim of a murder-suicide committed by his wife.
Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow, nevertheless, gave the order to arrest Vaughn at the funeral of his family.
After Illinois abolished the death penalty, Vaughn’s defense team, which included PI Bill Clutter, were dismissed and his case proceeded to trial.
He was convicted and remains in prison today. To read more about his case go to www.InvestigatingInnocence.org
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Investigatinginnocencemedia@gmail.com