The Wrong Man Served 16 Years for Her Attack - Episode 29

The Wrong Man Served 16 Years for Her Attack: The Murder of Chantal Marie Green and the Attack on Diana D'Aiello

A nine-months-pregnant woman was found unconscious in her bed at 2 AM with her brain exposed through a forehead wound — and the only man convicted of the crime was sitting in a prison cell when a serial attacker confessed to the truth seventeen years later. The forensic science had the answer the whole time. The question is why nobody looked.

In this episode, we explore the sixteen-year wrongful conviction built on a domestic violence history and a victim's recovered memory, a preserved sexual assault kit that no one tested for over a decade, and the confession of a Marine who provided details only someone present at the scene could know. How does a man get convicted of nearly killing his own wife when a serial killer was operating in the same neighborhood on the same night? The investigation and the homicide record tell two stories that cannot both be true.

Case Details

Victim: Diana D'Aiello (Diana Green), 20, nine months pregnant; Chantal Marie Green, unborn daughter, died 12 hours post-attack.

Date: September 30, 1979.

Location: Tustin, California, USA.

Case Status: Kevin Green was exonerated on June 20, 1996, after DNA evidence confirmed Gerald Parker as the true attacker. Parker was convicted of six counts of first-degree murder in 1998 and sentenced to death. Parker remains on California's death row.

Episode Key Points

- Diana's recovered memory identified Kevin as her attacker with absolute certainty — yet DNA from the preserved sexual assault kit confirmed the semen belonged to Gerald Parker, not Kevin.

- Gerald Parker confessed knowing the street name, the bedroom layout, and the side-entry door location — details never made public during Kevin's trial.

- Kevin Green served sixteen years before exoneration, attending parole hearings where Diana testified against his release every single time.

- A regional task force formed specifically to catch the Bedroom Basher was disbanded in under one month — just one week after Parker attacked Diana — and women continued to be murdered.

Diana D'Aiello, Tustin California wrongful conviction, Bedroom Basher Orange County, Gerald Parker serial killer, Kevin Green exoneration 1996, homicide, forensic science, true detective, criminal minds, investigation, murder, unsolved mysteries, true crime English.