CSI on Trial

False confession. Fake evidence.
It became one of the most controversial crime stories in recent Nebraska history.

In 2006 someone brutally murdered Wayne and Sharmon Stock, a respected farm couple, in their Murdock, Nebraska home. The Cass County Sheriff quickly suspected a nephew, Matt Livers. Livers confessed and claimed his cousin Nick Sampson helped him. Days later evidence from the crime scene, including a DNA match, led to the arrest of the real killers: a pair of out-of-state teenagers.

Investigative journalist Bill Kelly spent a year attending trials, interviewing key participants, and reviewing thousands of pages of documents. His research unveils a case that put police procedure out in public and on trial.

It’s also the story of how creative work by a crime scene investigator followed one key piece of evidence…a single gold ring… that revealed the identities of two killers on the verge of getting away with murder.