LIW50-I Was Framed for Murder at 14 Then Spent 17 Years in Prison - Locked In With Ian Bick

In this raw, transcript‑driven conversation, host Ian Bick sits down with John Bunn, a Brooklyn native who was arrested at 14 for a murder he insists he didn’t commit. Bunn opens up about a childhood marked by his father’s death, a single‑mother household battling depression and crack, and the anger that hardened him from an early age. He recounts the pretext arrest that sent him to the DFY youth division on his 16th birthday, the brutal transition to Goshen Secure Center, and the leap to maximum‑security prison at 18. Bunn describes the daily survival tactics—fist‑fights, fear‑driven aggression, and a prison culture that, in his view, never rehabilitates but merely reinforces criminal identity. He draws parallels to the Central Park Five, cites Raymond Santana as a mentor in DFY, and critiques the notion that incarceration can make a person better. Throughout, Bunn maintains his innocence, arguing that the system’s failure to protect the innocent creates a cycle of violence that only deepens the trauma of those it claims to punish. Ian Bick lets Bunn’s voice lead, probing the systemic flaws while highlighting the personal toll of a wrongful conviction that stole 17 years of his life.

Categories: Law