An Absurd Result is a podcast exploring the fallout from an assault on an 8-year-old girl in Billings, Montana, in 1987.
It happened after a man broke into her family’s home through a bathroom window.
A young man went to prison for the crime but was later exonerated through post-conviction DNA testing. The man matching the DNA found in Linda's bedroom faced charges, but would never go to prison. He lives about an hour from the victim, who is now in her forties.
This podcast introduces the stories of the people involved and the places they live. It investigates how this crime and its legal twists expose larger problems, as a backlog of DNA gets tested and statutes of limitation expire.