American Justice A Teenage Murder Mystery (1992– ) watch online HD

The title of this documentary is slightly misleading, although after it was aired whatever mystery there was, was cleared up. In 1999, the body of the not quite 19 year old Hannah Hill was found stuffed in the trunk of her car. She had been beaten and appeared to have been raped.

Her boyfriend, who was said to have physically abused her, was quickly ruled out, and another suspect came to light, Denny Ross. The evidence against him appeared compelling, and because the crime was committed in Akron, Ohio, this was a capital case.

Compelling it may have appeared, but the defense did more than nibble at the evidence. The police investigation came in for a great deal of criticism, but much of this appears to have been wisdom in hindsight. Although Hannah had had sex shortly before she died, there was no evidence of forcible rape. At the end of the prosecution case, the defense rested without calling a single witness, which was a bold decision, and one that might have paid off but for an extraordinary development.

During their deliberations, one juror said something to another which indicated that he had ignored the judge's instructions and had read about the case in the press. This second juror – from whom we hear – reported this to the foreman, and the judge was given the awkward decision of ruling on a mistrial, which she did, even though Ross wanted to proceed in the knowledge that at least one juror believed him to be guilty. The jury had already ruled out the capital murder charge, and Ross would probably have been convicted of manslaughter, if of anything at all.

The documentary ends with the announcement that a retrial of Ross would constitute double jeopardy, and the belief of Hannah's friends and family that the murderer of their loved one had escaped on a technicality.

Later though there were more extraordinary developments. The prosecution appealed against the double jeopardy ruling, and in the meantime Ross, freed on bond, went on to rape and savagely beat another woman. Then it was ruled that he could be retried for the Hill murder, of which he was duly convicted and given a sentence of 19 years to life in addition to the sentence he received for the rape and assault.

To add further grief to Hannah's family, her brother was found dead in his home in June of last year; this time there was no suggestion of foul play.