“Mr. Ferreira had hit a wall, sort of a rock bottom,” said attorney Karl Hayes. According to Ferreira’s own attorney, Ferreira had been drinking heavily before he confessed and that his life had been peppered with brushes with the law and mental illness.

On the very same day that he called his wife, Ferreira took his confession a few steps further by first calling a mental health crisis hotline and then WISN news director Chris Gegg. He recounted his story to all of the people he spoke with, and the truth finally came out as Ferreira’s conscience caught up with him.