in march the young man agreed to dismiss the case and the court held the other defendants could not be found liable. as for that man, he graduated to adulthood with a sober reality. >> he has to live with the fact that the person he loved will be in prison for eight years. >> abigail served eight years and then was released on parole. love is blind sometimes, this kind of love is not just a crime, it is a tragedy. >> that is all for this edition of dateline. thank you for watching. watchin hello. i am andrea cannon, and this is dateline. >> i literally got down on my knees and prayed to god. i don't want to live.

>> it was a crime that engulfed a city. a young tourist murdered, stabbed trying to protect his mother. 7 teens convicted. one says he is innocent. >> you don't have to believe me. look at the fact in this case. >> now, we are doing just that. revisiting evidence. >> the most emotional day was reading the letter. >> is he telling the truth, or lying to win his freedom? we are about to find out. >> she's a surprise to everyone. >> hello, and welcome to dateline. in the late 1980s, robberies,

muggings, and even murders were a sad reality of life in new york's eddie. then in 1990, a tourist was stabbed while trying to protect his family. the public demanded action, and they got it. but one of the men convicted said he wasn't there. was an innocent man in jail, or was justice served? here's lester holt with tipping point. >> in this city and in this story that transformed it -- where does the truth live? does it live in what was said in this police station? or what was seen on the subway platform? does it live in what was argued in this courtroom? or is the truth locked up in this prison? you will hear a judge decide

where the truth will prevail. times square, bustling with tourists. vibrant and safe. except it wasn't always like this. new york was in turmoil, crime was out of control, and then came the moment new yorkers say enough was enough. the murder of a young tourist on a new york subway platform just a few blocks from where i was standing. it would have consequences for the city and one man for the next quarter century. it was labor day weekend, 1990. a sunday. the u.s. open tennis tournament wasn't all swing. thousands of tourists had come to new york to see it. among them, brian watkins, a tennis player from utah, was there with his family. journalism professor and writer bill hughes has followed the story for years.

>> the tennis games were delayed that day, so they were out a bit later than expected. >> as the watkins family headed out to dinner around 9:30 p.m., they made a fateful decision. >> they could've taken the cab, but they went on the subway. that's where everything went south. >> as brian and his family headed into the subway station, a train pulled in unloading dozens of teenagers all headed to a nearby dance club. >> they exit the subway station, a small group of six to eight congregates near to the top of the subway station. one of the guys says, were going to grab a wallet. >> the group of teenagers went downstairs where brian and his family were waiting on the form for their train. >> they spot the family standing right about here, and they come out screaming and hollering. mr. watkins is grabbed,/with a box cutter, and he's while it

is taken. misses watkins is kicked in the face. >> as a group took off, brian watkins ran after them. one of the attackers, gary moralez, had a knife. >> if you are brian, i am her allies, he goes like this and then runs up the stairs. >> brian was stabbed, and soon collapsed. within minutes, the 911 call started coming in. brian's mother ran to a pay phone, frantically pleading for help. brian watkins died on the way to the hospital. he was just 22 years old. >> how would you describe the media reaction to this murder ? >> almost inducing a wave of

panic. >> it is the terror of life in new york city. no one is safe from random violence. >> new york in 1990 was a city under siege. the worst year of crime in the city's history. and most terrifying was underground. >> often, subway stations -- >> at the time, the man responsible for policing the transit system was built brockton. >> there was no denying crime was out of control. >> is widely recognized as one of the nation's top cops. he's run the police departments of america's two largest cities, including two tours as new york city's police commissioner. >> compare that to other years. >> there is no comparison. 1990, 2000, last year, 333.

>> but it was a 1385th homicide of that year, brian watkins murder, that the police commissioner says caused everyone to pay attention. beginning with then mayor david dinkins. >> the headline around that time, dave, do something. meaning, dave, do something about the perfect crime rate. the brian watkins stabbing was and accelerate that was added to that fear. >> this is going to be a big one. a lot of eyes and a lot of press on this one. >> also, the nature of the attack. >> the wolfpack. it was a name the media had recently given to another group of five teenagers who just a year ago were arrested for attacking a jogger in central park. law enforcement had a strategy in dealing with the so-called wolf packs. >> you to get everyone of them. to send out the message of the

importance of not just arresting one or two, but to get all of them. >> that's exactly what police were doing in the watkins case. within 24 hours, they had a group of teenagers in custody. but bratton says the impact of walk-ins murder on new york didn't end with those arrests. >> it was a seminal case for me. it allowed us to have a tipping point impact. >> the day after the murder, bratton received a call from the governor's office offering $40 million to help fight crime. money that would be used to hire thousands of new cops. and soon, the city's crime rate began to drop. as for the suspects arrested in the watkins case, all would be convicted of murder and sentenced to 25 years to life. but that's not even close to the end of the story. of the seven men convicted of this crime, one says he alone

is unjustly paying the price for the murder that commissioner bratton says change new york city. >> i had no involvement in this crime, so it's very, very important to me that my name is cleared. >> coming up. this man and why he now says he's not a villain in the story, but a big dumb. >> he slapped me in my face and kicked me right down to the floor. >> went dateline continues. co rsv can severely affect the lungs and lower airways. but i'm protected with arexvy. arexvy is a vaccine used to prevent lower respiratory disease from rsv in people 60 years and older. rsv can be serious for those over 60, including those with asthma, diabetes, copd,

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>> it's been more than a quarter-century since the murder brian watkins, and since this man was locked up. one of seven men convicted of the crime. but he insists he is innocent. >> i had no involvement in this crime. i'm the only one that is claiming innocence. >> so what is johnny's story? in 2015, i went to speak with him at new york's fish chill correctional facility. and cap ea took me back to the night of the crime. he had recently turned 18 one is on his way to a cadmus event, a party at the roseland ballroom in manhattan. >> there was a very popular dj who was throwing a birthday party for him self, and everybody just wanted to be

there. >> he explained that he and as many as 15 other teenagers took a subway, all headed to the same club. and how when the train arrived, he went upstairs to the street where he lost sight of a friend who was holding his money. he said he couldn't carry cash because of the tight designer jeans he was wearing. >> they had numerous pockets, but you couldn't really put your hands in them. >> he says he went down to the station to look first friend. >> i start hearing some screaming. when i get to the bottom, i see a crowd of people running toward me. >> did you have any idea what was happening on the platform? >> no. >> that's when he turned around and ran back upstairs to the street where he saw his friend. >> he asked me what was going on, and i said i have no idea, but let's just go to rosemont. >> he says he danced until the wee hours, got a ride home, and left in. the next day, the rest of new

york city awoke to a huge story. >> police lineups are still being conducted inside the station as they have been throughout the day. >> that was the first time i found out that something had happened. >> he claims he didn't think much of it until later that night, 24 hours after the murder, when detectives knocked on his door. >> they said, we got to see her son because we like to ask him a question. >>'s mother, maria, asked the detectives if her son needed a lawyer. >> they said, how old is he? and i told him he had just turned 18. the police told me he didn't need a lawyer. >>'s father, carlos, said he was shocked. he said johnny was a great kid. literally, an altar boy. >> was he ever in trouble with the law? >> never. >> that was about to change.

police brought their son to the district. detectives have spent the last 24 hours working the case and already had six suspects in custody who had confessed. 17-year-old gary moralez, nicknamed rockstar, admitted that he was the one who fatally stabbed brian in the chest. police were pressing each suspect, wanting to know who else was involved. one gave them his name, and the others agreed. but i rather suspect, they said, no, he was not there. still, detectives wanted to find out for themselves. >> they placed him inside of a room. there was a detective lying down in one of the bottom bunk beds smoking a cigarette.

>> hincapie told a detective exactly what he did that night, but the detective didn't believe a word of it. >> he called me a liar and told me he had all my friends in another room. he knew what happened. he's blowing smoke into my face from the cigarette he was smoking. he slapped me in the face, he told me and he kicked me down to the floor. >> you tell me you didn't do this crime, so i'm assuming you are very dorsal in your denial. >> on telling him, i'm innocent. >> hincapie says that's when the detective offered him a way out . >> he said, if you really want to go home, all you have to do is just memorize a story that i want you to say. i will have you driven home immediately. >> you believed him? >> yes, i did. >> detectives led him to believe he was a witness, not a

suspect. >> i'm thinking, if i may witness and i'm saying i knew somebody had a knife and this is what i need to say to go home, then i'm going to do that. >> that's what he did. hincapie sat in front of a video camera and told a story that he now says was scripted for him to a district attorney. >> i said, okay. it's over with, i'm done for. >> hincapie didn't know, but he had just written his arrest warrant. his confession was all police needed, a confession he given them three hours after he was picked up. >> to me, it was a long time. i was cared. >> under the law, hincapie and ex-others were each constable, even though only one actually stabbed brian watkins. hincapie never went home again.

and so for more than two decades, his mother, maria, has made the same two hour journey every other week since her son was sent away. >> it is very hard, because it has been 24 years. >> they say their visits are heartbreaking for both of them. >> how have you been able to hold on all these years? too many years. >> don't cry, mom. >> but maria says she has been crying out, pleading for anyone to listen since that very first day her ordeal began. >> i wanted to scream to the world and tell the world, my son is not guilty. please help me. >> little did she know help was on the way. >> coming up. a new witness could reveal critical information about the night of the crime.

>> he was shaking. he was visibly nervous. >> he started crying. >> when dateline continues. lin

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to you by comcast business. >> i've been up and down throughout this whole incarceration. >> johnny hincapie is serving his 25th year behind bars for the 1990 murder of a young forest on a subway platform in

manhattan. his own words sealed his fate. >> anybody looking at it and see that you are agreeing to it. >> but i wasn't. >> a jury convicted him, and over the years, hincapie couldn't get a court to hear his case again . >> went on my appeals were finished, i literally got down on my knees and told god, i don't want to be here anymore. i don't want to live. >> and then one day, 16 years into his prison sentence, a reporter heard hincapie's claim of innocence. >> i got a lot of letters from prison inmates saying they were innocent. i never believed any of them. i met johnny, i listened to him for a couple of hours, and i didn't believe him. i saw his confession and i thought he was guilty. but i read the transcripts, i started to look into it.

>> one of the first things he did was reach out to the other men convicted of this crime, who were all still in prison. >> i interviewed gary moralez, who actually stabbed brian watkins. both admitted they were involved in both said johnny was not. >> hughes also watched the original interrogation videos. and for the first time, he saw how that other suspect told hincapie and another scene were not of the crime scene. hughes was intrigued, especially when he heard the suspect saying a second time that hincapie was not involved . >> so there were eight people -- >> six. >> a tape hincapie's jury never saw . >> the more i investigated it, the more i came to believe that he might be telling the truth. there's not a shred of forensic

physical evidence. >> but he convinced. not even after several weeks of interrogation, after several hours. >> you can't possibly fathom admitting to something you didn't do. but the truth is, a skilled interrogator can probably get you to admit you kidnapped the lindbergh baby. >> in the summer of 2010, hughes wrote an article about hincapie's story for a magazine called city limits. >> and nobody really cared. >> and the years continue to pass. >> we have been imprisoned with johnny for 24 years. >> alex is johnny's younger brother. he was 15 when johnny was arrested. like his parents, he never believed his brother was guilty. >> just watching my parents go

through all that they went through, it was heartbreaking. especially when my dad would going to my brothers room, kissing the pillow at night. that's been in my memory for many years. >> johnny. so this is home? >> i wouldn't call it home. my home is with my family on the outside. i am 42. >> you spent more than half your life behind bars. >> yes. it's terrible. being separated from your family is probably the worst thing. >> throughout his incarceration, hincapie has been a model prisoner. he's been involved with an inmate theater program. and he took college courses offered at the prison, which is where he met a man by the name of bob denison.

>> he said, i don't know if you know any thing about my case. i said, of course, everybody knows about your case. >> he's the former head of the united states parole board. he told me he was innocent. >> you rolled your eyes? >> yeah, i did. something about johnny stuck with me. >> so he decided to reach out to hughes, and all of a sudden, hincapie had a former parole commissioner and a reporter teaming up to reinvestigate his case. >> we were pounding around queens looking for potential witnesses. >> after nearly a year of searching, they found one. a man who said he knew the truth about johnny hincapie. >> he was shaking. he was visibly nervous. we sat at his table and he started crying. >> he took out a napkin and

drew a map of the subway station. he remembered is clear that it was a recent event. >> they knew that if what this recent witness told him was true, it was a bombshell. neither were lawyers, so they got in touch with one. new york city's well-known civil rights attorney ron kuby. >> we know there's no money to pay you, but he's an innocent guy. would you take the case? i said yes. >>'s first task was to talk without witness. his name is louise montero. >> louise montero offered proof that johnny did not commit the crime. >> but with the court agreed? luis montero is about to tell a harrowing story . coming up. >> did you see them go onto the platform? >> when dateline continues. ne

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>> welcome back to dateline. i am andrea cannon. decades after a tourist was murdered on a new york city subway platform, a potential bombshell. a new witness said he knew the truth. but could they get a judge to

hear it? continuing with tipping point, here is lester holt. >> the mystery of what happened on the subway platform so long ago took a new twist with a new witness named luis montero . >> this is a three level subway station. >> montero had been in the subway station during the crime and told attorney ron kuby a story that backed up johnny hincapie's account of the night watkins was stabbed. >> not only did johnny not participate in the attack, he could not have participated in the attack. >> that's established by what luis saw from where we are standing? >> based on montero story, he filed a motion for new hearing. 25 years after he went away, hincapie got his wish . a manhattan supreme court judge agreed to reopen his case.

in february of 2015, the hearing was called to order. for this proceeding, the burden was on hincapie's attorney, ron kuby, and his cocounsel, leah busby, to convince the judge that hincapie's conviction should be vacated. >> leah, who is your first witness? >> luis montero was the first witness, and he was there to prove that he saw johnny at the time the crime took place, and johnny wasn't there. >> how long have you known mr. hincapie? >> a year, give or take. >> montero testified that he was also on the subway, headed to the dance club. >> we knew each other. >> in fact, they hadn't seen each other or spoken since then. to understand montero's story, it is important to understand how the subway station is laid out. the platform level is where the trains come in and where the crime took place.

one long flight up from the platform is what is called the turnstile level. and then a final set of stairs gets you to the street. montero says that hincapie was not on the platform when the crime happened, but one flight up on that turnstile level with him. >> he asked me for this other guy that came in. >> montero testified about specific details that matched hincapie's version of events. >> he was looking for the other guy because he supposedly had some money for him. >> another detail that matched hincapie's story, montero says hincapie started going down this up escalator, which wasn't working at the time. seconds later, montero said, something caught his attention.

>> screaming. >> montero says that's when he saw hincapie turnaround and run backup. if true, it means hincapie could not have been near the crime scene. >> did you see them go onto the platform? >> no. >> so i had an montero combo forward before? kuby said that montero was terrified, because it as it turned out, he was been accused of this crime. >> he was held in jail 18 months awaiting trial on this crime. he was identified as a member of the watkins family, and then they realize that watkins was not sure. they say that luis montero, gosh. wrong guy. sorry about that. and they turned him loose. >> but perhaps the most compelling part of montero's testimony is how he says detectives tried to coerce a false confession from him -- the very same thing hincapie

says happened to him. >> he hit me around the kidneys and slapped me every time i told them something they didn't want to hear. so that's when the nightmare started. >> but montero never cracked and maintained his innocence. to be argued to the judge that what montero and hincapie say happened to them was easy to believe. that they were just two of many innocent people swept up by police in a time in new york history one crime was out of control. simply in the wrong place, in the wrong era. >> we have done some terrible, terrible things to innocent people in the course of fighting crime. >> case in point, he argued, the central park jogger case. the other so-called wolfpack. just like hincapie, those five teens had also confessed on

tape , but they were exonerated in 2002 after dna cleared them. now, the time had come for hincapie to tell his story under oath on the witness stand, something hincapie says his original trial attorney advised him not to do. >> i wanted to take the stands. he told me that the district attorney's office would basically just walk all over me because i had confessed. >> he testified about how he left the station and then went back down to look for his friend who was holding his money. >> i gave him my wallets, complete with all my money. >> in the first time, he could accuse the police of coursing a confession from him. hincapie said he even had proof that he tried to recant his confession almost immediately. jailhouse letters, including one letter dated two days after

his arrest, telling the same story he tells today. >> please believe me. please help me. please talk to the judge and tell him that i'm telling the truth. that the detective told me to say everything. >> is or anything else you would like to add? >> i was just 18 years old when this happened. and i never had a chance. i never had an opportunity, your honor. from the moment that i was arrested, not one chance. >> as the prosecution got ready to present its case, hincapie's mother, maria, leaned on her faith , as she has from her beginning. >> we been separated for 24 years. i pray to god that johnny will be exonerated and that we would be fine together. >> coming up. a last-minute twist could upend the whole case. >> she's a surprise to me.

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>> manhattan assistant district attorney's eugene hurley and ben rosenberg didn't work and hincapie's original trial. but they say hincapie is a liar. to make their point, prosecutors cross-examined hincapie's witnesses , starting with luis montero . assistant

d.a. ben rosenberg pointed out that over the years, details and montero's story have changed. >> it's right there. >> your testimony here today is inaccurate. >> in all these years, montero never once mentioned seeing hincapie at all that night , and that montero's unlawful arrest giving me motive to lie. >> you are angry about it, aren't you? >> i'm not angry about it. i am just scared. you kept me innocent for 18 months. you think i'm not going to be scared of you guys? i am petrified. i can't even look at you guys. i'm not angry. i'm scared of you. >> prosecutors have their own witnesses to discredit hincapie's story, who did not want us to record their testimony. remember that friend who hincapie said was holding his money that night ?

>> i gave him that wallet complete with all my money. >> that friends name is anthony nichols, and he testified that hincapie never gave him any money to hold. >> looking for anthony nichols was the whole predicate for the suspect going down to the platform. which mr. nichols says didn't happen. >> i asked ron kuby about that. >> that friend tells a prosecution that johnny is lying. >> that friend also admitted on the stand that he just didn't remember. >> hurley argued to the court that hincapie was lying about something else . he says the escalator that hincapie says he ran down was working just fine, and it was moving up, not down. >> you made the ridiculous claim i went down the up escalator. >> perhaps the most dramatic part of the hearing was prosecutor hurley's cross-

examination of johnny hincapie himself. hurley argued that hincapie was making up the holes worry about falsely confessing. >> it is the first time that you are ever alleged to a court that your confession was coerced by detective casey physically abusing you and making you memorize a story. >> the detective wasn't called to testify, but we tracked him down and he denied ever abusing hincapie. hurley moved on to that letter. >> please believe me. these help me. >> the one hincapie says he wrote to a lawyer two days after his arrest. hurley argued it wasn't really written back then. >> this could've been put in 2011, right? >> and that it was conveniently addressed to an attorney who is now dead. >> you waited for them to pass away to forge that letter. >> not at all, sir. >> prosecutor hurley also

ridiculed his story about being coerced into confession by an abusive detective. >> wearing a t-shirt, smoking cigarettes like some evil movie cop. you made that up, didn't you? >> hurley argued that hincapie you details about the crime not because he was coerced, but because he was there. >> you know they said that because you were there, right? >> that's not true, mr. hurley. >> you were there and you knew it was true. >> the prosecution's case was over. hincapie's fate was now in the hands of the judge, and that is when ron kuby got a phone call. >> a new witness came forward who had never spoken to anybody before. >> this is your surprise witness. this is a perry mason moment. >> she's a surprise to me. she is a surprise to everyone. >> coming up.

from out of the blue, a new eyewitness that was on the platform the night of the murder. but which side will she help? >> she saw all of the attackers. she knew what johnny look like. >> when dateline continues. ne but this is my story. ( ♪♪ ) and with once-daily trelegy, it can still be beautiful. because with 3 medicines in 1 inhaler, trelegy keeps my airways open for a full 24 hours and prevents future flare-ups. trelegy also improves lung function, so i can breathe more freely all day and night. trelegy won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. do not take trelegy more than prescribed. trelegy may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating,

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>> witness testimony had just ended in johnny hincapie's hearing when his attorney, ron

kuby, notify the judge of an unexpected development. >> amazingly enough, during the course of the hearing itself, a new witness came forward -- a young woman named mary lou's santana. >> she recently read an article about hincapie's court hearing . >> and she realizes, he is still in prison. >> santana said she knew hincapie from her neighborhood . she was on the subway that night headed to the dance club and saw the robbery unfold. >> shall see is standing here, and she sees them surrounding the watkins family. and at that point, she starts to run. >> she says she saw them all, and was certain hincapie was not one of them . she said when she heard the news of hincapie's arrest back then, she even told her mother he was

innocent. santana says she was afraid to come forward. >> completely silent, except for telling her mother. she doesn't get involved, but she's figured, you know what? hincapie wasn't there. the police will sort this out. and she sort of forgets about it. >> in 2015, santana went on the stand but didn't want us to record her testimony. prosecutors attacked her credibility, pointing out that santana was convicted of a drug charge back in the 1990s. and they argue that just because she didn't see johnny doesn't mean that he was there. >> is it possible she dismissed seeing johnny in the confusion of the platform? >> absolutely impossible. she saw all of the attackers. she knew what johnny looked like, and johnny was not among them. >> it would now be up to judge eduardo pod drove to decide a

case that brought up critical questions about police conduct in a different era. i asked bill bratton, then new york city's police commissioner, about that as everyone awaited the judge's condition. >> given the climate of fear and political pressure, was there pressure on detectives to just cast a wide net and these high-profile crimes? >> i don't think so. is there pressure? certainly. but as to idea of going over the threshold -- >> does he think the police crossed that threshold with johnny hincapie? >> if the court exonerates him, would you have different views on this case? >> i don't have enough intimacy as to his particular case. i have no reason to not be supportive of the police investigation. >> on october 6, 2015, the day came for the judge to announce his decision. hincapie's family and friends, along with the media, filed

into manhattan supreme court to learn his fate. in a packed courtroom, hincapie was clearly anxious. as the judge began to read the decision. >> under the newly discovered evidence, the court does find an the defense has born the burden of proof. the court is going to set aside conviction. >> the judge throughout hincapie's conviction . in the decision, the judge said hincapie failed to prove that he was actually innocent, but the judge did find hincapie's witnesses persuasive enough to grant him a new trial. but that didn't mean he would walk free just yet. prosecutor eugene hurley asked the judge to send hincapie back to prison while the d.a.s office considered its options for appeal. >> ron kuby was steaming. >> let's not ignore that mr. hincapie has been incarcerated for 25 years, one month, and as

of today, three days. he has delivered a quarter- century down payment. >> the judge originally agreed to release hincapie on a two and one dollar bail. the d.a. filed to appeal the judge's decision. prosecutors will now decide whether to retry hincapie. hincapie and his family were overcome with emotion . he was led away to be processed for release. that would take nearly six hours. downstairs, his mother, maria, waiting. a quarter-century prior, she had stood in nearly the same lot in shock after her son was

convicted of murder. now, here she was again. this time, with her family and a clash of reporters to witness her first steps into freedom. two brothers separated as teenagers, now reunited as middle-aged men. there were two other men among the crowd hincapie wanted to find. bill hughes and bob denison, self named irish guys gumption squad, launched his journey to freedom. >> tremendous, tremendous love, energy, gratefulness to these two individuals. >> welcome home. >> cheers.

cheers. >> i am so happy you are home. >>'s first meal -- stuffed filet of sole. his 20-year-old niece, who was born while he was already in prison, introduced johnny to his first selfie. we stepped outside to talk about what his first hours of freedom were like. >> i've been thinking about how beautiful it is to be free again in new york city. watching the cars go by, the lights in the tree. there's a lot of nostalgia, and i'm grateful for it. >> so where does the truth live in this story? for johnny hincapie, it lives in this moment. >> you got to love it at the end of the day. this is a dream come true. >> and one thing is for sure. the city he now rejoins is much

different and much safer than the one he left behind more than two decades ago. in the end, the former police commissioner said that has a lot to do with what happened on that subway platform. >> i truly believe that the death of that young man was a propelling catalyst for the new york miracle that we experienced. >> that's all for this edition of dateline. i am andrea cannon. thank you for watching. watchin hello. welcome to morning joe weekend. let's kick off the hour with one of the