The True Story Behind Kim Kardashian's The System Podcast
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Content warning: This article contains references to murder some may find upsetting. Reader discretion is advised.
Kim Kardashian has been clear about her decision to advocate for the wrongfully convicted. After passing the baby bar exam with a near-perfect score in 2021 and inking a podcast deal with Spotify in 2020, she has officially launched Kim Kardashian's The System: The Case of Kevin Keith podcast.
The reality star-turned-mogul-turned-criminal justice activist narrates the podcast alongside true-crime producer Lori Rothschild Ansaldi. The podcast's debut season details the story of Kevin Keith, who was sentenced to death following a triple homicide conviction in 1994.
Kardashian and Ansaldi will share investigation tapes, old news briefings, recreations of court transcripts, and interviews with Keith, his family members, and other officials who were involved with the case throughout the podcast.
Ahead, find everything we know about Kim Kardashian's The System: The Case of Kevin Keith podcast, from its release date to reactions from surviving victims.
When does Kim Kardashian's The System: The Case of Kevin Keith air on Spotify?
On Monday, October 3, Spotify released the first two episodes of the podcast. New installations of the eight-episode podcast will air every Monday.
What is Kim Kardashian's The System: The Case of Kevin Keith about?
On February 13, 1994, a gunman approached Marichell Chatman's apartment at the Bucyrus Estates Complex in Bucyrus, Ohio, between 8:45 pm and 9:00 pm. Six people were present at Chatman's home, including her boyfriend, Richard Warren, her four-year-old daughter Marchae and Chatman's two younger cousins that she was babysitting, Quanita and Quentin Reeves, and her aunt Linda Chatman, who stopped by to pick up Chatman's two younger cousins for their mother. The gunman reportedly ordered everyone in the house to lie down before he opened fire, killing Marichell, Linda, and Marchae. The three other victims survived their wounds.
Two days later, Keith was arrested at his fiancé's home in Crestline, Ohio, and charged with three counts of aggravated murder and three counts of attempted aggravated murder. Keith, who has maintained his innocence, claims he was never questioned by the police upon his arrest. His trial began three months later, on May 10, 1994, and lasted two weeks before he was convicted and sentenced to death.
Why are there questions about Keith's conviction?
Keith reportedly had an alibi at the time of the crime. For nearly three decades, Keith and his family have been working to prove his innocence. In September 2010, Ohio's then-governor Ted Strickland commuted Keith's sentence from death to life without parole 13 days before he was scheduled to be executed.
According to The Canton Repository, the Ohio Public Defender's Office asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review Keith's case and grant him a new trial in 2018. This decision came in the wake of questions about the credibility of G. Michele Yezzo, a now-retired Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) analyst whose testimony linked Keith to the crimes. According to the Columbus Dispatch, "two former attorneys general, defense attorneys, a judge, a former BCI superintendent, and a nationally renowned forensic expert from the FBI all say that Yezzo has credibility issues that may have poisoned cases she touched."
What does Kim Kardashian hope to achieve with The System?
Kardashian wants to use The System to give Keith a platform to raise awareness about his conviction and shine a light on the flaws within the criminal justice system. "That's why I'm really hopeful with this podcast. Just to get your story out there," she told Keith on the debut episode. "I think it's so important for people to understand that, just our system is so f****d up."
She opened up to television producer Lori Rothschild — who specializes in true crime — about what inspired her to learn more about Keith's case. "I've only been on the case about a year," Kardashian said. "It really spoke to me. The whole situation sucks. And I just don't feel like he was given a fair shot."
What have the victims said about the podcast?
Three of the six shooting victims survived the 1994 incident, two of whom shared their thoughts on the podcast to Daily Mail. Siblings Quanita and Quentin Reeves were six and four at the time of the shooting. They both were shot in the stomach during the crime and stood firm in their initial testimony, along with the other surviving victim, that Keith was the shooter.
Both siblings deny ever being contacted by Kardashian or Spotify in regard to the podcast. "She did not contact us, not one time. If Kim Kardashian wants to get involved, she should come and meet us face-to-face," Quentin told the outlet.
According to Quanita and Quentin, Keith was friends with their father, and they recalled seeing him point a gun at their relatives. "We saw it with our own eyes. You don't forget something like that, Quentin said. "I don't care what Kim Kardashian says — Kevin did it."
Both siblings agreed that Keith seemed "nervous" when he entered the Bucyrus, Ohio, home on the night of the shooting. According to Quanita and Quentin, he reportedly asked for multiple glasses of water before retrieving a gun, ordering everyone to "get on the ground," and beginning shooting. "It was Kevin. He came in and shot up the place," Quanita said.
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