What plea deal did Frank Armani and Francis Belge offer prosecutors for Robert Garrow?

Armani and Belge met a state police investigator and the district attorney and said they had information on two bodies, which they would share only if prosecutors agreed to send Garrow to a mental institution instead of prison. The prosecutor guessed they meant Susan Petz and Alicia Hauck and refused. The meeting lasted about five minutes and the deal collapsed, leaving the lawyers with no way to share what they knew.

• The lawyers searched the officials' briefcases for recording devices before the meeting.
• When the plan became public, a Syracuse headline said the bodies had been used as pawns in a game of law.

Source: our own transcription of the episode. The full conversation is on Radiolab (2026-10-30). Read the whole episode summary →

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