A new investigative podcast from Oregon Public Broadcasting is shining a light on the case of Jesse Lee Johnson, a Salem man formerly convicted of murder and placed on death row for 17 years, only to walk free in 2023 after prosecutors dropped charges when he was granted a new trial.
Johnson, who is Black, maintained his innocence for more than 20 years and made multiple attempts to prove it.
He was arrested on charges of murdering Harriet Lavern “Sunny” Thompson, 28, in her apartment on 12th Street SE in Salem in 1998.
In the first season of OPB’s “Hush” podcast, reporters Leah Sottile and Ryan Haas examine several key aspects of the case, including allegations of racism in the Salem Police Department, inconsistencies in witness statements and DNA evidence, and failures during Johnson’s trial. OPB paid thousands of dollars to obtain records from the Salem Police Department.
The 1998 murder of Harriet Thompson
Thompson’s landlord discovered her lifeless body on March 20, 1998, in her apartment on 12th Street SE, just south of Morningside Elementary School.