MISSING AND MURDERED IN THE MIDWEST: A podcast looking into crimes that made the headlines, starting in the Quad City area, and expanding throughout the Midwest. Podcast host and News 8 Executive Producer Toria Wilson, has dedicated her time into researching and looking back at stories News 8 has reported on, the murder cases that shocked us and the missing persons cases that left us with unanswered questions.
EPISODE FOUR: Jennifer Lewis was just about to start 4th grade and was days away from turning 10 when she went missing in September 1990.
The young girl had left her home around 6 p.m. to go to a nearby store to pick up a pack of gum. When she didn’t immediately return home, her parents reported her missing.
Three hours later outside of a Davenport Elementary School three miles away, a custodian stumbled upon a fire and a dead body. Fingerprints on a textbook, matched the ones of Jennifer Lewis.
A medical examiner’s report stated she was strangled to death. Her killer wrapped her body in plastic and poured gasoline on her and a trail leading towards a bush that was set on fire.
Stanley Liggins, 28, would later be arrested for the crime, and charged with kidnapping, rape and murder.
On this week’s episode we dive into the murder itself and how in the 1990s Liggins was convicted twice for Lewis’ death, both of which were ultimately overturned. He would be tried two more times in this case before his ultimate conviction and sentencing in 2019.