The Murder Tapes is examing the death of Anthony Pearson, who was gunned down by Joel Miles in Sandusky, Ohio, in 2017.
On the evening of August 2, 2017, Miles found 46-year-old Pearson parked in his car near MacArthur Park and started a fight with him. The argument ended when Miles shot his victim with a .40 caliber handgun at point-blank range in the back of the head.
Miles was a real nasty piece of work, and the cops were able to pick him up fairly quickly as a suspect in the murder. He was actually arrested five days after the murder on a charge of trafficking cocaine.
His downfall on the murder charge came about because he attempted to intimidate several witnesses into keeping quiet. Unfortunately for the killer, the cops managed to get their hands on a recorded telephone conversation where witnesses discussed Miles’s intimidation.
The investigators also acquired another phone recording which featured a friend of Miles discussing how the killer always carried the same gun that was used in the murder.
Cops suspect that Anthony Pearson’s murder was a case of mistaken identity
The cops believe that Miles shot Pearson because he thought the victim had been dealing heroin to his girlfriend. In fact, this was a tragic case of mistaken identity.
Joel Miles was subsequently found guilty of murder and was sentenced to 49 years to life behind bars. He was also found guilty on the drugs charge and was sentenced to another 34 years.
Watch the Latest on our YouTube ChannelMiles continued to maintain his innocence; at his sentencing, he said: “I ain’t kill that man. You won’t ever believe me. I’m not going to shed a tear because I didn’t kill that man.”
This was not the first time tragedy hit the Pearson family as Anthony’s brother, Kenneth Pearson, had been shot two years earlier, and that murder was never solved. Anthony’s wife, Tanitra Hale, has argued that the two cases may be related.
More from The Murder Tapes
The quiet town of Sanders, Arizona, was left shaken when Garry Blaine Wilckens brutally murdered elderly couple Robert and Martha Sorenson. The couple were the parents of his girlfriend, and the motive remains somewhat a mystery.
Christopher Takhvar murdered and dismembered his so-called long-term friend and business partner, Robin Lee Upson, at her home in Belleview, Florida. He then fled the state before being hunted down in Texas.
The Murder Tapes airs at 9/8c on Investigation Discovery.