Hi, I'm Dan Slepion, an investigative producer for Dateline.

I hope you're already following my new podcast, Letters from Sing Sing.

It's a story that started in 2002 with a single letter from an incarcerated man claiming

his innocence.

20 years later, it's still unfolding.

You're about to hear a clip from the third episode, where JJ, the man convicted of murder,

discovers from his prison cell that detectives had identified a different primary suspect

before JJ's name ever came up.

If you like the clip, you can hear the rest of the episode and others right now.

Just search for Letters from Sing Sing wherever you're listening and make sure to follow

the podcast.

When I first met JJ Velasquez in 2002, he'd been in prison for three years, serving 25

to life.

That meant he wouldn't be eligible for parole until he was 48 and getting parole is never

a guarantee.

It was possible JJ could spend the rest of his life behind bars.

I saw how JJ lived, locked away in his seven by nine foot cell.

He told me when he was first sent up state, he fell into the routine of prison life, sleeping

in his cell, hanging out in the prison yard.

I was going through a lot of pain for a long time.

I was private about my matters.

But after a while I realized I can't always say, man, I'll let this go.

...