5 harrowing details about Michael Lee Wilson's crimes on Dateline, explored

Over the years, Dateline has showcased several horrific true-crime stories that have left viewers baffled. One such case is the story of brothers Corey Atchison and Malcolm Scott, who were wrongly convicted of murders and had to spend over two decades in prison.

The case was the subject of Oxygen’s Dateline: Secrets Uncovered season 11, episode 10, The Long Road to Freedom. Amid the tragic tale of the brothers, a man named Michael Lee Wilson got into the spotlight.

He was the one who had actually committed the murder and framed Malcolm Scott for the crime. In 1994, he was involved in a drive-by shooting. A year later, he killed a 30-year-old store clerk. Here are some details about his horrifying crimes that were showcased on Dateline.

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5 details about Michael Lee Wilson's crimes shown on Dateline

1) Michael Lee Wilson’s group killed Richard Yost in 1995

Wilson was a part of the group that killed Richard Yost, a 30-year-old store clerk, in 1995. He and his accomplices beat Yost with a baseball bat 54 times in just over two minutes. After the attack, they left Yost to die in a walk-in cooler.

To hide the crime, Wilson put on Yost’s uniform and pretended to be him. He even helped customers and answered a security call. However, the murder was caught on the store’s surveillance camera. The footage included the terrifying visuals of Yost screaming as the bat struck him repeatedly.

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2) Wilson mocked Yost before his murder

Just minutes before the attack, Wilson talked to Yost about his future plans. When Yost said he hoped to become the store’s manager one day, Wilson laughed and sarcastically asked, ‘For real?’ The small conversation shows Wilson mocked Yost before taking his life, which makes his action even crueler.

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3) He lied to put two innocent men in prison

As seen on Dateline, Wilson was involved in a 1994 drive-by shooting that killed a young mother named Karen Summers. Although Wilson was caught with the gun and car used in the crime, he made a deal with prosecutors.

He lied on the stand and blamed two innocent teenagers, Malcolm Scott, and De’Marchoe Carpenter, for the crime. His false testimony led to the life imprisonment of both men, while he was sentenced to only five years initially. He was out on bail when he killed Yost.

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4) Wilson and his group robbed the store after Yost’s death

Wilson and his group walked around the store calmly and waited for the customers to leave before they attacked Yost. After beating him to death, they stole a safe and tried to cover their tracks by removing the security tape. Wilson even smiled later and acted calm while wearing Yost’s uniform and working the cash register.

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5) His actions traumatized people

Wilson’s crimes hurt not only his victims but also their loved ones. The surveillance footage of Yost’s murder traumatized those who had to see it during the trial, including attorneys and court staff.

Wilson was eventually tried and sentenced to death for first-degree murder. He was executed by lethal injection in 2014. Just before he died, he admitted that Malcolm Scott and De’Marchoe Carpenter were innocent.

However, his confession came too late, as the men had already spent over 20 years in prison. They were finally freed in 2016. Wilson’s death might have ended his story, but the trauma he caused to his victims and their families still continues to haunt them. In 2023, Scott and Carpenter sued the city of Tulsa for their wrongful conviction.

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