Wrongly Convicted Man Freed From Prison Thanks To ‘MythBusters’

A wrongly convicted man has been freed from prison thanks to an episode of MythBusters! While that was never the intention, it was a good thing he happened to see this certain episode!

See, there can be some good to come out of sitting on the couch watching TV all day! Here's more on the crazy story with a happy ending. A real happy ending--er, a joyous ending! You know what I mean.

The story begins when brothers Guadalupe and Julio Martinez, of Chicago, were killed by a fire in their apartment in 1986. LAD Bible reports that two other siblings, Blanca and Jorge, manage to escape the deadly fire and told police that their female neighbor had threatened to burn down their building in retaliation for her brother's death.

At the time, it was believed that Jorge was a member the Latin Kings street gang and he was the one accused of killing her brother, according to LAD Bible. However, when the neighbor was accused by police, she named John Galvan as the person responsible.

LAD Bible says other neighbors also pointed a finger at Galvan who they say was involved in the crime along with his brother Arthur Almendarez. However, Galvan was reportedly asleep at his grandmother's house at the time of the crime, but police arrested him and interrogated him where he claims he made a false confession, per LAD Bible.

Later, he was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life behind bars. However, in 2007 Galvan was watching an old episode of MythBusters while in prison and realized he had discovered a way to prove his innocence.

During his false confession, he must have admitted to lighting a Molotov cocktail with a cigarette; however, the MythBusters episode "Hollywood on Trial" showed that would be nearly impossible to pull-off.

Due to the findings in this episode he was released from prison in 2022. According to LAD Bible, his attorney, Tara Thompson, said, "It was honestly shocking to me...I feel like all of us have seen movies--like Payback is a famous one--where they light the gasoline in the street with a cigarette and a car explodes, and I really had never given much thought to whether or not that might be real."

You can't always believe what you see on TV!

While committing crimes may seem black and white (you either broke the law or you didn't), there are certainly some crimes that are dumber than others. Sometimes it's the crime itself that's wild, other times, it's the people committing said crimes. These are 5 of the craziest, cringeworthy crimes ever committed.

Crimes can happen anywhere, anytime, to anyone. However, it takes a very unique individual, a case study if you will, to commit some of these outrageously dumb crimes. Years ago, these criminals would have been featured on Spike TV or one of those America's Dumbest Criminal shows. Today, I'm not sure if those shows are around...and I'm certain Spike TV isn't around anymore. That's a story for another time.

Crimes can happen for a number of reasons. They may happen out of necessity. They could also happen on accident. These crimes, however, do not fall into those categories. These crimes are different. None of these would accidentally happen. They also aren't a matter of life or death. There's no ethics quiz here, or any matters of 'would you steal bread to support your family?' These crimes, and criminals, aren't straight up cringeworthy.

While all of these crimes are crazy and certainly cringeworthy, they also make for excellent conversation pieces. That's why I've gone and found five examples of the wildest stories that Dave and Chuck the Freak have talked about and made a list highlighting the best of the best. Let's be honest...what's better than reading a story about one of the craziest crimes ever committed? Or, watching Dave and Chuck the Freak talk about some of the dumbest crimes ever committed? Personally, I'm going with the funny storytellers.

They add their own two cents and perspectives on these stories that nobody else could provide. Not even those talking heads on the dumbest criminal shows. Am I the only one who remembers those? I feel like they were a staple on TruTV or VH1, but now all I can find on TruTV is Impractical Jokers, which is awesome but...you get it. Let's not delay! Here's the list!

Dave & Chuck the Freak talk about a man in Wisconsin who was arrested after lighting his own car on fire and being found naked, covered in liquid soap near a lakae. He is supposedly a licensed psychotherapist, works with 'magic mushrooms' and is "pretty much an expert in magic."

Dave & Chuck the Freak hear about a new Amazon vendor scam involving glue guns and head-lamps, or a potential windfall if you're James.

Dave & Chuck the Freak talk about a man in Dearborn, Michigan who exposed himself to someone at a Burlington Coat Factory. They are very confused when they learn about their hours and huge social media following. Then, they try to figure out what they even sell there.

Dave & Chuck the Freak talk about a man in Las Vegas, Nevada who stripped nude and danced on the gaming tables before he was restrained and arrested. Vegas, baby...

Dave & Chuck the Freak talk about a man in Illinois who accidentally shot himself in the leg whilst dreaming of burglars breaking into his house. Living the proverbial dream isn't always what it seems...