‘The Innocent Man’ Trailer: John Grisham’s True Crime Tale Is The Spiritual Successor To ‘Making A Murderer’

It appears that Netflix truly has found its the spiritual successor to “Making a Murderer.” The streaming service is about to release the latest docuseries, “The Innocent Man,” which is sure to be the next true crime obsession for fans around the world.

In the first trailer for “The Innocent Man,” we meet John Grisham. That’s right, popular novelist Grisham wrote a true crime book of the same name. He looks to be the viewers’ introduction to this seemingly incredible case about one corrupt police department, two murders, and four men who are sent to prison for crimes they probably didn’t commit.

The series is directed by Clay Tweel, who is best known for his documentary “Finders Keepers.” Grisham not only appears in the series, but is also listed as the producer.

“The Innocent Man” launches December 14.

Here’s the synopsis:

In a story that gained national attention with John Grisham’s best-selling non-fiction book, The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town, the six-part documentary series The Innocent Man focuses on two murders that shook the small town of Ada, Oklahoma, in the 1980s — and the controversial chain of events that followed. In 1982, 21-year-old Debra Sue “Debbie” Carter is raped and killed inside her home. In 1984, another Ada woman, 24-year-old Denice Haraway, is killed after being kidnapped from the convenience store where she works. Local men Tommy Ward and Karl Fontenot are charged with Haraway’s murder and sentenced to life in prison. A couple years later, police charge two other men, Ron Williamson and Dennis Fritz, with killing Carter. Fritz receives life in prison, while Williamson is sentenced to the death penalty. Similarities emerge between how the two cases are handled; their videotaped confessions are questioned, as are forensics results and physical evidence (or lack thereof). In 1999, with help from non-profit legal organization the Innocence Project, DNA testing helps exonerate Williamson and Fritz. To this day, Ward and Fontenot remain in prison and maintain their innocence.