The Guardian Investigates

Off Duty: The Last Stand

Of all the hearings Alex Villa had been through in nearly 11 years, Jennifer knew this could be the one. In her possession was the disc with the FBI cellphone map – evidence that prosecutors had never turned over. But in a system that had fought Alex…

Off Duty: The Sentence

Alex was in prison for life, and Jennifer and Eric discovered they’d become captives to the case, too – the ‘termites’ digging in at every level of their lives. For the first time, they thought about giving up. But then they got their hands on a disc…

Off Duty: The Prosecutors

Raul Palma, the video game repair specialist who found the evidence that could break open Alex’s case, had gone missing. Again. As Jennifer and Eric worry that Raul has been spooked, they must face the prosecutors in a ‘bone-crushing’ courtroom battl…

Off Duty: Digital Forensics

Since the day he was arrested, Tyrone Clay had been asking police to look at his PlayStation. He said he had been playing NBA 2K11 on the night of the murder. For years, the console sat in an evidence room gathering dust while the FBI claimed it was …

Off Duty: The Police

Unlike the other suspects, Alex Villa refused to confess. He was released after 48 hours, but the police weren’t done with him. Not by a long shot. To build their case, the state relied on three people who claimed they overheard Alex saying he did it…

Off Duty: The Interrogations

Within 72 hours, three men confessed to having murdered Officer Clifton Lewis. But in time, they all recanted, insisting they never had anything to do with the murder. So if they didn’t do it, why did they say they did? This is episode two of Off Dut…

Off Duty: The Crime

Officer Clifton Lewis was moonlighting as a security guard at a Chicago minimart when two men walked in. They shot Lewis several times, then took off with his gun and police star. A week later, police had their suspects: four men affiliated with a ga…

Off Duty: a new series on a fight for justice from Guardian Investigates – trailer

In 2011, a Chicago police officer is murdered. Police find four suspects. Three confess. But the fourth refuses to break. He’ll embark on a 12-year battle to prove his innocence, against a system which refuses to admit that it might be wrong. The lat…

The Birth Keepers: Death plan – episode six

A backlash against FBS grows and Emilee and Yolande respond to the growing crisis. This is episode six of a year-long investigation by Guardian journalists Sirin Kale and Lucy Osborne

The Birth Keepers: FBS goes global – episode five

Emilee and Yolande had grown an ideology and seeded it globally. A reach investigative reporters Sirin Kale and Lucy Osborne could not have fathomed when they started reporting on the story. They set out to see just how far FBS has spread. This is ep…