Subu Vedam’s case to be featured on new episode of docuseries. How to watch
A State College man who spent more than four decades in prison before his murder conviction was overturned will soon have his story featured in a new episode of a true crime docuseries.
Subramanyam “Subu” Vedam’s odyssey is the focus of the second episode of the newest season of “True Crime Story: It Couldn’t Happen Here.”
The episode is scheduled to premiere 10 p.m. Thursday on Sundance TV, with other episodes on the network scheduled for 1 a.m. and 1 p.m. Feb. 27. It will also air 8 p.m. and about 9:30 p.m. March 3 on AMC+.
Hosted by “One Tree Hill” star Hilarie Burton, the docuseries markets itself as one that puts a spotlight on murder cases from small towns across America. It has a 7.3/10 rating on IMDb.
In a January interview with People, Burton said Vedam’s case was top of mind and one that she is “very torn up about.”
“It is such a grave injustice what’s happening to him right now,” Burton told the outlet last month. “We’re in this really delicate phase where we want to be respectful of the people who have Subu’s fate in their hands right now, but we also want to be very firm.
“I really have a great deal of affection for his family,” she added. “His family meant a lot to me this year.”
Vedam served more than 40 years of a life sentence before his first-degree murder conviction was overturned in August by Centre County President Judge Jonathan Grine. He sided with defense lawyers who argued Centre County prosecutors hadn’t disclosed ballistics evidence during Vedam’s two trials in the 1980s.
Centre County District Attorney Bernie Cantorna, whose office fought to defend the conviction, did not appeal Grine’s decision and then dropped the murder charge. With key witnesses dead and some evidence no longer available, a third trial in a circumstantial case would have been difficult if not impossible.
He also said Vedam served a “sufficient sentence” for a killing he was accused of committing as a 19-year-old.
A day later, Vedam was taken straight into the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He pleaded no contest to drug charges in 1984 — after his first murder conviction — for selling LSD in State College, a conviction that ICE has used as its basis to deport him.
He remains detained at the Moshannon Valley Processing Center just outside of Philipsburg while he fights deportation. The Justice Department’s Board of Immigration Appeals agreed this month to hear his case based on what a judge described as an “exceptional situation.”
It was assigned to immigration Judge William H. McDermott, who hears cases in Philadelphia. A status hearing is scheduled for March 4, when he is expected to set a date to hear the merits of Vedam’s claims.
Vedam came to the U.S. legally from India as an infant and was raised in State College, where his late father taught at Penn State. His family was among the first from India to make their home in Happy Valley and was a pillar of the community, especially among immigrants.
“Subu is nothing if not resilient, and we’re resolved to emulate the example he sets for us by focusing on the next step in his fight for freedom,” his older sister Saraswathi Vedam said in a statement after a recent bond hearing. “We continue to believe his immigration case is strong and look forward to the day we can be together again.”
This story was originally published February 20, 2026 at 10:24 AM.