Untested: The True Crime Podcast Exposing the Rape Kit Backlog

The Case of Marshon Curtis

• 💡 The podcast "Untested" begins with the case of Emily Zabalos, who accused Marshon Curtis of rape in March 2020.
• 🔍 Detective Annie Harrison interviews Emily, whose account differs from initial reports, leading to a recorded conversation that leaves Emily feeling like a criminal.
• ⚠️ The detective's questioning focuses on Emily's alcohol consumption and demeanor, rather than the alleged assault.

The Rape Kit Backlog Crisis

• 🔬 The series investigates the systemic issue of untested rape kits, where evidence collected from sexual assault victims was not processed for years.
• 📈 This backlog, estimated to contain hundreds of thousands of kits, allowed many serial rapists to remain free and continue assaulting women.
• 💰 A federal grant program was established in 2015 to help jurisdictions clear the backlog, with each kit costing between $500 and $1,500 to test.

Detective Annie Harrison's Journey

• 🎯 Detective Annie Harrison, initially specializing in child sexual abuse, became an expert in sexual assault investigations.
• 🧩 She recognized the disparity in outcomes based on investigator training and compassion, particularly in "he said, she said" cases where DNA evidence was crucial.
• 🗺️ Harrison later joined a task force dedicated to resolving cold cases involving untested rape kits, driven by the potential to connect perpetrators across different cases.

Jocelyn Phillips's Story

• 💔 The podcast details the 2012 case of Jocelyn Phillips, a high school junior who accused Marshon Curtis of rape.
• ⚠️ Despite reporting the assault and undergoing a rape kit examination, Curtis was not charged, and Jocelyn experienced severe mental health struggles, including homelessness and a suicide attempt.
• 🔗 Years later, Detective Harrison received an email linking Marshon Curtis to Emily Zabalos's case through DNA evidence from an untested rape kit in Georgia, a state with a law requiring all kits to be tested.

Connecting the Cases

• 🔍 The testing of Emily Zabalos's rape kit, mandated in Georgia, provided a DNA profile that, when entered into the national database, matched evidence from Jocelyn Phillips's case in Michigan.
• 💡 This connection revealed Marshon Curtis as a serial predator who had evaded justice for years due to the rape kit backlog.
• 🏆 The podcast highlights how testing previously ignored evidence can bring long-delayed justice to survivors and identify dangerous individuals.