Kevin Keith, a man who has been imprisoned since 1994 for a triple murder he says he didn’t commit, is the subject of a new podcast by Kim Kardashian.
Spotify on Monday (3 October) unveiled the first two episodes of The System by Ms Kardashian, who has campaigned for criminal justice reform over the past few years.
Mr Keith has always affirmed his innocence in the case. He has been supported by his brother Charles Keith, who has advocated on his behalf, and by Lori Rothschild, an executive producer who has investigated the case independently and brought it to Ms Kardashian’s attention.
In the first episode of The System, Ms Kardashian explains that she met Ms Rothschild, a producer on Family Feud, while taking part in the show “a few years back.” (The Kardashians first appeared on Family Feud in 2018.)
“I’ve only been on the case about a year. It really spoke to me. The whole situation sucks,” Ms Kardashian says in the episode. “And I just don't feel like he was given a fair shot.”
The System’s first episode presents the facts of the case as follows: In February of 1994, three people – Linda Chatman, 39; her niece Marichell Chatman, 24; and Marichell’s four-year-old daughter Marchae Chatman – were killed in Bucyrus, Ohio.
They had all been in the same apartment, along with Marichell’s boyfriend Richard Warren and her two young cousins, when a man “started lingering around the door”, according to The System. The man asked to speak with Linda, and once inside, asked for a glass of water, drank it, pulled out a gun, and opened fire.
The man fled the scene. Richard Warren was wounded but managed to run to a nearby restaurant and ask for help. He and Marichell’s cousins survived the attack.
Kevin Keith was arrested two days later and charged with three counts of aggravated murder. According to the podcast, he was never questioned by the police.
“Kevin Keith’s trial began on 10 May 1 of 1994, only three months later. This is unbelievably and concerningly fast for a capital murder trial,” Ms Kardashian says on the show. “Kevin was represented by defense attorney James Banks. Banks had never worked on a capital murder case before.”
Mr Keith was convicted despite what his lawyer at the time – and advocates since – described as a lack of evidence.
“They searched the apartment where the crime was committed,” Mr Banks, the defence attorney for Mr Keith, says in an audio clip. “They considered fingerprints. They considered glass samples fiber samples, and yet not one piece of evidence was retrieved that would point to Kevin Keith.”
Mr Keith’s “friends and family expressed concern that the jury selected was all white, especially considering that the key witness, surviving victim Richard Warren, was also white,” Ms Kardashian says on the program, adding: “In fact, Richard Warren was the only victim that wasn’t Black.”
Mr Keith was sentenced to the death penalty. In 2010, then-Ohio Governor Ted Strickland commuted that sentence to life without parole. His legal team, supporters, and family are now hoping to secure a pardon, a commutation to time served, or the possibility of parole, Ms Kardashian says in the podcast.
The System’s first episode serves as an introduction to the case; its second episode examines Mr Keith’s alibi. Eight episodes will air in total.
