My Mother's Lies

She was the citizen sleuth celebrated for cracking a cold case and nabbing a killer. But her son says Susan Galbreath had an ulterior motive, and sent the wrong man to prison.

After a 2000 murder case went cold, Kentucky housewife Susan Galbreath did her own snooping. With the help of cooperative cops and a British journalist, she identified Quincy Cross as Jessica Currin’s killer. Quincy got a life sentence and Susan became a local hero. But in a story already filled with inconsistencies and recantations, Susan never disclosed the original prime suspect was her friend’s son. Now, Susan’s own son is stepping forward with new evidence, saying her mother’s tales should not be believed.

From Message Heard and Sony Music Entertainment comes the podcast “My Mother’s Lies.” Host Beth Karas explains how Galbreath and her enablers reshaped the investigation, diverting attention from one suspect to another. It asks whether money, recognition, and self-preservation drove a citizen sleuth to knowingly put the wrong man in prison.

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "MY MOTHER'S LIES" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 13 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.

In Crime of the Week: like shooting fish in a breakroom.