One Jailhouse Snitch's Lies Helped Convict Dozens of Men. One Still Sits on Death Row.

A con man's testimony sent men to prison for decades. One is still on death row.

Paul Skalnik was, according to ProPublica reporter Pamela Colloff, a prolific jailhouse informant whose testimony helped send dozens of men to prison. Colloff lays out his story in her new book, Catch the Devil, discussed this week on Reason's Just Asking Questions podcast with guest host Billy Binion.

Colloff explains that Skalnik repeatedly traded supposed jailhouse confessions for leniency. Among the men whose convictions relied in part on his testimony is one who remains on death row despite serious questions about his conviction, Colloff says. The podcast episode includes a segment specifically addressing a 1985 Florida murder case.

Why prosecutors kept using him

The obvious question is why police and prosecutors continued to rely on Skalnik despite his long history of deception. Colloff and Binion discuss this directly on the podcast, examining how the incentives built into the criminal justice system can reward unreliable testimony rather than punish it.

Colloff also describes her own reporting process for the book, including her meetings with Skalnik himself and her conversations with people she describes as his victims, as part of the research behind Catch the Devil.

Why these convictions are so hard to unwind

Colloff and Binion also discuss why wrongful convictions are so difficult to overturn, and how courts can compound errors long after new evidence emerges. The podcast frames this as a broader problem tied to procedural hurdles that make it difficult to reopen a case even when new evidence comes to light.

What's unresolved

The podcast conversation with Colloff raises serious doubts about the 1985 case and the fairness of relying on an informant with Skalnik's track record, but it is framed as an ongoing discussion rather than a settled legal outcome. The broader questions Colloff raises — about why law enforcement trusted Skalnik for so long, and how the system can correct itself after a wrongful conviction — are explored throughout Catch the Devil and the podcast episode, without a resolution offered as fact in the reporting provided here.