(NewsNation) — In 2007, a special deck of cards being used by prison inmates helped solve a murder case that had gone cold. Now, corrections facilities around the country are adopting the program.
In prison on cocaine charges, Derek Hamilton was playing cards in Lake City, Florida, when he pulled a seven of clubs with a familiar face on it. It was a picture of Jim Foote, a man he had murdered outside a Fort Myers karaoke bar three years earlier.
“He was gunned down in the parking lot and murdered,” said Trish Routte, Southwest Florida Crime Stoppers manager. “There was very little information.”
The deck of cards being used by inmates at the prison in Lake City, Florida, was marked with the faces of cold case murder victims.
After seeing Foote’s face, Hamilton began to brag to the other inmates about having killed him. Then, one of those inmates sold him out.
“Out of nowhere, a law enforcement agent ended up getting a letter from an inmate from the prison in Lake County, who was playing with that very first deck of cold case cards, and said, ‘Hey, my former cellmate was talking to me about the Jim Foote case, he told me that he had killed the guy,'” Routte said.
Donna Foote, the widow of Jim Foote, who had been mourning her loss without answers, suddenly knew who killed her husband.
Hamilton ultimately agreed to a four-and-a-half-year plea deal, never contesting the murder charges.
Now, more than 75 corrections facilities from Minnesota to Indiana and Connecticut have adopted this program, distributing playing cards with the state’s cold case murders on them.
Lori Massey of Mississippi Coast Crime Stoppers saw the success of the program in Florida and decided to implement it in seven Mississippi countries in 2024. Thousands of decks later, she tells NewsNation the tips are pouring in.
One of Massey’s wardens, Evan Hubbard, says the cards are an opportunity for prisoners to atone for their past mistakes.
“You have people that just made a bad decision, but their moral compasses are very well aligned, and if they have information, you know, in this situation, you had a lot, a lot of time to think about your transgressions,” Hubbard said.
However, it is not all good news.
Hubbard admits inmates could be motivated to snitch on their fellow inmates for selfish reasons, like landing better deals from prosecutors. Groups like the Innocence Project say this motivation can easily lead to wrongful convictions.
This is what happened with Donald Raynor, whose recently overturned conviction was originally achieved through jailhouse testimony tied to a deck of the special cards.
“You have some inmates that try to use it for their own gain. They tell you that they have information, and they want X, Y and Z to give you that information. And that’s not what it’s for,” Hubbard said.
Still, victims’ families say the possibility of clearing cold cases makes it worth betting on the program.
“Whenever we have the opportunity to push the cards or tell people to continue to fight to try to get some answers to a violent crime, my daughter and I are right there trying to do it,” Foote said.
The deck in Florida is currently on its third edition and has helped solve at least two cases. In Connecticut, the cards are on their fifth edition and have contributed to solving dozens of cases. The goal is to grow the program to become an international tool for families who are missing loved ones.
