Dan Slepian
Dan Slepian is an American journalist, author, podcaster, and senior investigative producer at Dateline NBC. He is best known for his reporting on wrongful convictions and the U.S. criminal justice system, including the cases featured in his podcasts 13 Alibis, Letters from Sing Sing, The Last Appeal, and his book, The Sing Sing Files: One Journalist, Six Innocent Men, and a Twenty-Year Fight for Justice. His work has earned national recognition, including a Pulitzer Prize finalist honor in Audio Reporting and the News & Documentary Emmy Award for Best Documentary for The Sing Sing Chronicles
In 2026, Slepian covered the decade-long relationship that filmmaker Rob Reiner and his wife Michele had with Nanon Williams, a Texas man incarcerated for more than three decades for a murder he maintains he did not commit. The work documented the personal bond that developed between the Reiners and Williams through years of correspondence and advocacy.
Early life and education
Slepian graduated from Stony Brook University in 1992, where he served as student government president.Career
Slepian began his media career in NBC's Page Program. He served as an audience coordinator for The Phil Donahue Show before joining Dateline NBC in 1996.At Dateline, he has produced dozens of investigations and documentaries, and developed three limited series: Vegas Homicide, Vegas Undercover, and Wild Wild Web.
Slepian frequently collaborates with anchor Lester Holt on justice-related programming, including Justice for All, a weeklong NBC News and MSNBC series examining the U.S. legal system. The series included Emmy-nominated specials filmed at Louisiana State Penitentiary and Sing Sing Correctional Facility.
In 2002, Slepian began documenting the re-investigation of the 1990 Thanksgiving night murder of a bouncer at the Palladium nightclub in Manhattan. Slepian’s reporting helped contribute to the eventual release of David Lemus and Olmedo Hidalgo after 13 years in prison. The story aired as the Dateline special In the Shadow of Justice.
Lemus introduced Slepian to Jon-Adrian Velazquez, who also claimed he was innocent and asked Slepian to look into his case. Slepian's 20-year investigation into Velazquez’s conviction culminated in the 2023 podcast Letters from Sing Sing which was named a Pulitzer finalist.
Velazquez was granted clemency in 2021 and formally exonerated in 2024 after a review by the Manhattan District Attorney's Conviction Integrity Unit.
Slepian was introduced to three other men by Velazquez who were also incarcerated at Sing Sing and wrongfully convicted: Eric Glisson, Richard Rosario, and Johnny Hincapie. Each man’s conviction was reopened and ultimately vacated following new evidence and reporting. His work on Rosario’s case became Dateline’s first podcast, 13 Alibis.
In January 2026, Slepian spoke with Nanon Williams, an incarcerated man in Texas who became like family with Rob and Michele Reiner. During an on-camera interview, Williams read an email from Michele Reiner sent in the hours before her death. Due to prison email delays, Michele’s email was delivered the day after she died. The coverage also referenced a letter written by Rob Reiner to the Harris County District Attorney’s Office urging Williams’ release, in which Reiner wrote, “I’ve led a high-profile life for over 50 years, and in that time I’ve met some very impressive and influential people. But if I’m being honest, apart from my father, no one has impressed me more or been more influential to me than Nanon Williams.”
The Sing Sing Chronicles
In 2024, NBC News Studios and MSNBC Films released The Sing Sing Chronicles, a four-part docuseries directed by Dawn Porter. Slepian is an executive producer on the docuseries and is the featured investigative journalist.The series expanded on the cases featured in Slepian's book and podcast and received awards including the 2025 News & Documentary Emmy for Best Documentary,
the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Journalism Award,
and the Hillman Prize.
The Widower
Slepian produced and filmed The Widower, a three-part NBC/Peacock documentary that chronicled the case of Thomas Randolph, a Nevada man accused of murdering his wife and staging the crime scene. Slepian began following the case in 2008, documenting interviews and law enforcement operations over more than a decade.Publications and podcasts
Slepian is the creator and host of 13 Alibis and Letters from Sing Sing, all produced by NBC News. His 2024 book, The Sing Sing Files: One Journalist, Six Innocent Men, and a Twenty-Year Fight for Justice, chronicles his investigations into wrongful convictions and was featured in The New York Times and Vanity Fair.In 2025, Slepian covered the case of Robert Roberson, a Texas man sentenced to death for the murder of his two-year-old daughter based on a diagnosis of Shaken Baby Syndrome, a theory that has since been widely challenged by medical experts. Roberson has long maintained his innocence. Slepian’s work led to the four-episode podcast series The Last Appeal, hosted by Lester Holt, which unearthed newly uncovered evidence within a week of Roberson’s scheduled execution. Roberson’s defense attorney filed a motion with the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals citing information discussed in the podcast; on the same day the fourth episode was released, Roberson was granted a stay of execution.