‘Motive’

A podcast from the Chicago Sun-Times and WBEZ Chicago.

By Lizzie Schiffman Tufano | September 13, 2019 at 7:43 AM

It’s a cruel sociological experiment. Lock up a 13-year-old boy for a murder that he swore he didn’t commit. Release him as a 30-year-old man. Then, give him $25 million. New from the Chicago Sun-Times and WBEZ Chicago, “Motive” is a true-crime podcast hosted by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Frank Main.

Click any episode below to stream the podcast and see photos, videos, court documents and more materials that helped us report this story.

20 Total Updates Since
January 25, 2012 03:14 PM

Follow this stream

September 27, 2019 03:00 AM

‘Motive’ Episode 2: Violated into the PeeWees

By Sun-Times

T.J. Jimenez’s mother Victoria says she did her best to keep her son out of gangs. In this episode of ‘Motive,’ we learn about what he was like as a kid.
September 20, 2019 05:00 AM

‘Motive’ podcast: Who’s who

By Frank Main

These are the key players in the Sun-Times/WBEZ podcast ‘Motive.’
September 13, 2019 06:34 AM

Introducing ‘Motive’: a podcast from the Chicago Sun-Times and WBEZ

By Frank Main

Hosted by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Frank Main, ‘Motive’ tells the story of a wrongfully convicted teen turned self-appointed gang boss.
June 09, 2017 10:42 AM

Chicago’s jailhouse strip club — and feds say they can’t shut it down

By Frank Main and Maria Cardona

THE WATCHDOGS: For years, women have put on strip shows atop a downtown parking garage for inmates at the federal Metropolitan Correctional Center.
April 20, 2017 11:26 AM

How millionaire’s gang fantasy ‘blew up the West Side’

By Frank Main

T.J. Jimenez won $25 million from the city of Chicago for wrongful conviction — then blew it on a deadly gang war that “blew up the West Side.”
April 14, 2017 01:56 PM

Even $25 million can’t keep wrongfully convicted Chicago man out of trouble

By Frank Main

Even the $25 million Thaddeus ‘T.J.’ Jimenez won from City Hall can’t keep wrongfully convicted Chicago man out of trouble.
March 28, 2017 07:21 PM

Multimillionaire Chicago gang leader gets more than 9 years in prison

By Frank Main

Thaddeus “T.J.” Jimenez received 110 months for shooting the man twice in August 2015 from his Mercedes convertible.
March 01, 2017 07:31 PM

Decade in prison urged for millionaire-turned-criminal Thaddeus ‘T.J.’ Jimenez

By Frank Main

Jimenez was in prison for 16 years after he was convicted in the fatal shooting of a man in 1993. He was freed after his conviction was overturned.
December 10, 2016 08:00 AM

Gang member loses $6M of wrongful-conviction windfall to shooting victim

By Frank Main

Earl Casteel sued Thaddeus “T.J.” Jimenez for shooting him in 2015 on Chicago’s Northwest Side. A judge awarded Casteel $6.3 million.
January 25, 2012 03:14 PM

Man wins $25 million for wrongful conviction in 1993 slaying

By Stefano Esposito

A federal jury Tuesday awarded $25 million to a suburban man who sued the city of Chicago after spending 16 years in prison for a murder he didn’t commit. “Sometimes the criminal justice system makes a mistake,” said Jon Loevy, one of the attorneys for plaintiff Thaddeus “T.J.” Jimenez. “In this case, we proved that’s exactly what happened.”