Missouri man recalls being wrongly convicted of brutal murder in 'The Real Killer' podcast: ‘I lost all hope’

Rodney Lincoln had been serving two life sentences for the 1982 murder of JoAnn Tate and an attack on her two daughters.

According to the outlet, the hasty, emotion-fueled investigation was mostly based on the eyewitness testimony of a traumatized DeBoer, as well as inconclusive evidence. Lincoln professed his innocence."I wasn’t really her boyfriend," Lincoln said of his brief relationship with Tate. "We dated a few times. That relationship was strictly sexual. I vaguely remembered the last time I saw her. But I do remember that she was a very kind person. She was a loving mother, that was certain. I just couldn’t believe what had happened at the time. I still find it hard to believe. But I also couldn’t figure out how I was chosen. For a while, I lost all hope."