Folks in the Columbus area already know how the 30-year-old murder mystery case turned out … or do they? CBS-TV’s 48 Hours presents “Last Chance for Justice,” a look at the Marilyn McIntyre murder that occurred in March of 1980. Curtis Forbes, a friend of the family, was found guilty of murdering the 18-year-old woman during a jury trial last November and sentenced to life in prison in February.
Erin Moriarty is the correspondent who worked on the story for 48 Hours. She says McIntyre’s husband was the first suspect. “As always is the case, the first suspect is the husband, but he was working that night and he immediately pointed his finger at his best friend. And that set the stage for the next 30 years of suspicion.”
Moriarty says the case may never have been solved if McIntyre’s niece hadn’t called the wrong law enforcement agency. “She thought she was calling Columbus Police Department begging to have them reopen and she accidentally called Columbia County … they decided to take it on.”
Moriarty had pored over the old records in the case and interviewed many of the same witnesses, but admits she was puzzled at how fast the jury came back with a decision about Forbes’ guilt. “Maybe it was much clearer to the jurors than it was to me.”
But could McIntyre’s husband Lane have put Forbes up to the murder and did the jury convict the right man? That says Moriarty is why they call it a 48 Hours Mystery.
The show will air Saturday night at 9 p.m.
Bob Nelson, KFIZ