Leo Schofield was sentenced to 36 years in prison for his wife's murder - he forgave the man who admitted to being killed.

In January 2025, Schofield and his daughter Ashley were involved in a serious motorcycle accident. Schofield was released on parole in April 2024 and has remained innocent.

Gilbert King, a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer, has been investigating the case of Schofield’s podcast Bone Valley, visiting Schofield after the crash. He received a call from Jeremy Scott, a convicted murderer who testified in 2017 that he killed Michelle Schofield. He was jailed for crimes that were not related to crimes.

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Schofield agreed to talk to Scott. After some awkward chat, Kim was shocked by what he heard.

"I was shocked by the fact that I was with Leo, and Jeremy called me at the same time," King recalls. "It wasn't planned, but I found it to be sincere. Jeremy Scott was... trying to clean it up.

"When we talked to him in 2021, he said it was torture for him because as the year went on, he went to bed and saw the face of the person he was killed," King said. "He said, 'That's my punishment.' He said, over the years, it's getting worse."

Neither the King nor Scott were prepared for what Schofield said. Season 2 Episode 6 allows you to hear conversations between men.

"Jeremy, I want to tell you something," Schofield began. "It's from a long prayer and a lot of thought. I'm glad to have the opportunity to thank you for telling the truth. I hope you know I forgive you with all my heart. You have a lot of people who care about you now because you did the right thing (confess it, which means a lot to me. It means a lot to me. Thanks to my family. I thank you for your buds.

He shared: "…You are so respected here because you are brave enough to tell the truth." "It's important, Jeremy. It's really important because it changed my life. I absolutely thank you."

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There is silence. Then Scott replied, "I just hate this happening, man."

"Sorry, this happened," Schofield replied. "…But now it's your turn to start doing the right thing. Do you hear me? You just keep on being your own role."

"Continue to pray for me," Scott said.

King told Fox News that over the years, Schofield turned to God to deal with the loss of his beloved spouse and the struggle he faced in obtaining a new judgment to prove his innocence.

"I think it's just tearing his soul apart," King explained.

"He was just plagued by this anger, pain and confusion. Leo said, '...this will destroy me, and I have to rely on my faith in God to achieve this. The only way I can stop this anger and pain is to let it go away and find some way to forgive Jeremy.'''"

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During his prison time, Schofield became a "spiritual figure." He found a pastor of comfort in prison.

"He just said, 'I hope Jeremy finally finds love is my prayer to God because I'm here to be supported,'" King said. "'I have a loving family and friends who believe in me. Jeremy has nothing.'"

King added: “I think this is a testimony of Leo as a person.”

Watch: Murdered Texas teen father provides information on faith, forgive tragedy

On February 24, 1987, Michelle left work at a restaurant in Lakeland, Florida. The 18-year-old called her husband, who was six months old, and said she would be home soon. They have been planning to go out together. Michelle will never see him alive again.

"The search took place for three days. All friends and family were looking for Michelle," King explained. "On the second day of the search, they found her car, which was broken on the roadside outside Lakeland, Florida."

According to the New York Times, on February 27, Michelle's body was found to have been stabbed in a drain pipe. According to the media, Schofield was charged with murder, but there was never any physical evidence to associate him with the crime. It turned out that a set of fingerprints found in Michelle's car did not belong to him.

"Leo was searching there," King said. "He kept calling police officers and showing up to ask if they found her. He submitted a report of missing persons. They didn't really immediately consider Leo as a suspect. But... they started to build a case around him."

"Some neighbors said they had seen Leo and Michelle fight several times," King continued. "One neighbor said she had seen Leo float out of the house, carrying something heavy, put it in the back of his car and drive. But the problem was that Leo was causing it at the time. I don't think even the police believed her.

King added: “That was the downfall of Leo.”

During Schofield's trial in 1989, prosecutors insisted that Schofield was violent against Michelle. Despite the lack of forensic evidence, Schofield was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.

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Scott is less than two miles from the discovery of Michelle's body.

"He left the radar, but he shouldn't do that," King said. "...When they found people in the car that didn't match people like Leo or Michelle, they should go to suspects in the area, and they never did. These fingerprints were mysterious for 17 years until they finally returned to Jeremy."

Due to the lack of forensic technology at the time, fingerprints were not matched until 2004. They belong to Scott. Initially, Scott denied anything to do with Michelle’s murder, claiming he only stole stereo speakers from the car.

"Six years after he denied killing Michelle, he came out to write a letter to a Leo lawyer saying, 'I'm the one who did it.' That was when he started talking about it in 2016. ”

King said: "He said to me, 'That guy never belonged to prison. I took my life from him.' "He felt sorry for it. …I think he is one of those people trying to leave time on Earth to do the right thing. He will never be outside the prison wall. ”

The New York Times reported that Scott admitted to the murder "multiple times".

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"(Scott) spoke before and no one believed him," King said. "They just beat him in the stands and said he was a liar and unreliable … I think it was with him. He was thinking, 'I want to do the right thing here. I admit to the murder.' And the state just decided to attack his credibility."

"But I reached out to him," King said. "I said, 'I'd like to listen. I believe you're telling the truth.' We talked a lot and I continued to keep in touch with him.

While in prison, Schofield was addicted to faith. He instructed the prisoners. He also found love again. He married Crissie Carter, a social worker he met during his service hours in 1995.

According to the New York Times, the state has not filed additional murders against Scott.

"The jury found Leo Schofield murdered Michelle Schofield. Several courts upheld the ruling," Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd wrote in a statement to Fox News Numbers.

Media shared that Schofield is currently working to overturn his beliefs. If denied, he may be parole for another four to six years.

"Outside, you think of you're not free - that's what Leo lives," King said. "...If he had just taken them, he got two deals that would have taken him out of prison in the early 90s. He refused. He said, 'It's much easier to serve me than to admit I didn't do anything.'"

"Leo is trying to avoid this exemption, and that's what he lives today," King said. "Luckily, there are some very powerful people in Florida who believe him and fight for him. I have hope for him. I really think something will happen."