Police Line Do (Not) Cross: True Crime TV & Podcasts

this podcast may be the only reliable souce of actual solid info

VG and I have been boggling over this for a few months now. Truly insane case.

And seconding VG on The Women and the Murderer, as I was the one who recommended it to her. (And said not to look up info about it first. Indeed, there's a real, profound sense that the presentation is clearly meant to be in a much different fashion from how the public saw the case at the time; even without that context, the way it IS presented does so in a fashion that becomes more striking the more it continues.)

Meantime, news just broke that Murdaugh is turning himself in, at least

https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/15/us/murdaugh-shooting-arrest/index.html

Oh jeez and there's ANOTHER death:

Wednesday, SLED announced it was opening a criminal investigation into the February 2018 death of Gloria Satterfield and the handling of her estate.
Satterfield was the Murdaugh family housekeeper for more than two decades before dying in 2018 after what was described as a "trip and fall accident" at the Murdaugh home, according to attorney Eric Bland, who is representing her estate.
SLED said it is opening an investigation based upon a request from the Hampton County coroner that highlights inconsistencies in the ruling of Satterfield's manner of death, as well as information gathered during SLED's other ongoing investigations involving Alex Murdaugh.
"The decedent's death was not reported to the Coroner at the time, nor was an autopsy performed. On the death certificate the manner of death was ruled "Natural," which is inconsistent with injuries sustained in a trip and fall accident," the coroner's request to SLED said.

yep

there’s still another unsolved death from 2015 that has rumored link to the older son Buster Maurdaugh - investigation recently reopened after originally being closed in 2016

That Murdaugh case is strange as fuck.

I’ve been looking for a new investigative journalism pod so that French one sounds good.

I’ve been enjoying Wicked Words, where the host interviews writers about a case they covered. I like the conversational style.

Oh duh - it’s a doc not a pod.

I read 'We Keep The Dead Close: A Murder at Harvard and a Half century of silence" by Becky Cooper, about the Jane Britton cold case from 1969

It's really good, and exhaustive in its search for details and connections. Cooper is a good writer, and puts an impressive amount of shoe leather into her own investigation.
The world of late 60's Harvard and the niche world of archaeology/anthropology becomes incredibly vivid and at times I found myself picturing Britton as an endearing real-life Franny Sinclair
But it also got me thinking about the effect that blogs and livejournal have had on true crime reporting, that is:
the trend of amateur investigations that ultimately intertwines with the inner life of the investigator, ruminations on where their own lives have ended up, diversions into real life relationships, breakups, etc.
On the one hand I like the personal angle when it's done well ... but as someone who still favors old-fashioned journalism over navel-gazing, I'm not sure how well the trend really serves true crime.
I'm not sure that it does.

Also there's some super snarky reviews on Goodreads that got my hackles up -- the case was solved with DNA in 2018. And quite a few reviewers they did not finish the book because "what's the point of even publishing the book if the case was solved in 2018". Which really annoyed me. The author didn't know when she started poking around in 2010 that it would be solved. The end result didn't negate any of her work. I don't believe it did, anyway. Because it was such a thorough excavation of Jane's world and the people she knew, and it shows the ways that a mysterious/unsolved death creates its own narrative. And if anything, the 'solution' raises more questions than it answered! Anyway.

Big recommendation for the Firebug podcast here. You may already know the story about the Glendale, CA FD arson investigator who was convicted of setting thousands of fires around California in the 80s and 90s (Joseph Wambaugh wrote a book about it. Ray Liotta played him in a HBO movie). It's an interesting and disturbing story and the podcast

Interview with Firebug's host here, but if you're unfamiliar with the story just dive into the podcast.
https://www.kcrw.com/news/shows/greater-la/street-serial-arson-oc/firebug-points-of-origin-podcast

i havent started this yet but the Wambaugh book is excellent & v disturbing

I lived just up the street from that Ole's, but moved about a year before the fire.

oh wow :(

I think the fire hit the paint section and then really exploded, and the people killed were blocked by the flames from getting to the exit. I also think one or both of the employees that died were trying to save the grandmother and child.

when i lived in australia i worked w a guy at a commercial laundry who i swear to this day was an arsonist

he was a volunteer firefighter with an uncontrollable temper & zero social skills
he was never, ever on shift when there were fires even when he wasn’t on call (we had a lot of bushfires in our region, much like california). ppl who knew him said he was at at least two huge local fires *before* the crews had even arrived, and he lived the complete opposite direction. i personally saw him leave work a full hour before his shift was over & there was a fire that afternoon. unsurprsingly he got fired for fucking off early, but still… i always wondered

there was more to it than that

arsonists are so heinous to me & .. baffling in upsetting ways. the most awful combination of cowardice & malice

I'm sure this one will be coming to Dateline, 20/20, 48 Hours or a crime podcast soon, if not already being talked about.

This is a very 2022 crime. You got right wing paranoia with guns and the end of the world. A rich politician who has built a prepper doomsday bunker only leading it to be advertised in selling this crazy 6.5 million dollar house and end up getting his daughter killed in a shootout. World is a f'n weird place.

https://foxlexington.com/news/local/jordan-morgan-case-what-we-know-so-far/

not exactly true crime, but still

Molly Lambert (Night Call) has a new podcast that went up today - Heidi World: The Heidi Fleiss Story - also doubles as a history of Los Angeles during that time ie LA’s symbiotic relationship btw underworld + “over world” etc

it’s done in the style of some of the You Must Remember This episodes, with actors/podcasters/friends etc doing the voices of the people involved in the story - it’s pulling mainly from primary source material at the time so lots of direct quotes from all the main players.

Annie Hamilton does the voice of Fleiss - perfectly cast, gives a v good Heidi vibe

first ep’s a little clunky in its structure but i dont care, love that this story is being told

should be a good (cough) deep dive

Am two episodes into Mind Over Murder on HBOMax and it is really unique & well done

Examines a 1985 murder in a tiny town in Nebraska where 6 people were somehow charged & later exonerated … while the director also stages a community theater “documentary play” in the town, with the townfolk, based on the trial & interview transcripts etc

dunno where the heck its going but i like it

No love for Phoebe Judge's Criminal?

I used to like Truth & Justice, when it was about trying to undo wrongful convictions. Now, it's pretty much all about unsolved murders, and while I admired Bob Ruff's work on behalf of the wrongfully convicted, he's just not that good a host.

i enjoy Criminal! phoebe is great

I'm totally into Phoebe Reads a Mystery. Her voice is enchanting.

Brand new this week: “The Sunshine Place”: New podcast that goes deep into Synanon (produced by RDJ & his wife)

I’ve listened to the first 2 eps and am impressed by the amount of detail & it’s use of mainly primary sources. Long interviews with members & family members. Host is daughter of a Synanon couple.

Incldes interview w a 95 year old (!) survivor, who joined Synanon all the way back in 1960. Maybe the only one left from that time. She’s remarkable, and so lucid - she truly sounds like she’s about half that age irl.

Hoping for something in the general vicinity of the Heaven’s Gate series by Glynn Washington? Maybe that’s a big ask, idk. That for for me is still the only series about a cult that felt different, and interesting, and like it was saying something new. We’ll see.

Synanon has a lot of interesting & weird aspects to it & a lot of just straight bugfuck nuts stuff (snakes in the mail!) so i’m already intrigued by the inside stories from ppl who were in it rather than just “OMG THIS IS SO CRAZY” secondhand retellings of wikipedia articles

Just now getting around to “Black Bird” on Apple+

Only 3 eps in but really well done - wasn’t familiar w the true story but can def see why they picked it for adaptation, wild. Hauser is creepy as hell, so weird to see him like this - i mainly think of him as the home depot guy from Cobra Kai lol

I’ve always been a big fan of Lehane’s novels, his attention to detail & ear for dialogue def serves this show well

The investigative reporting series Reveal is rerunning its coverage of US rehab joints exploiting clients as free labor, with the story of Synanon as role model, with one link being a guy who was actually in Synanon, and later started Cenikor---late in interviews with a very early Synanoneer, he says he remembers the Cenikor cowboy, Luke, but dies before they can find out more. Lots of careful detail about the original organization and follow-ups, which are still with us as an industry, despite some corporate cock-ups (deaths etc.)https://revealnews.org/american-rehab/

Lots of interviews, transcripts as well as podcasts:

So, like Synanon leader, Chuck Dederich said, experimental society. One thing about communal living, it means lots of intimate aspects of life are known by and influenced by the community. Since Phil brought up relationships, let’s talk about it. When Lynn met Phil for the first time, she was already going steady with another square inside Synanon but she caught Phil’s eye, they started talking, they had a leisurely meal in a Synanon dining room. They sat at the bar without any booze and Lynn started to get the feeling that she was into Phil, but before she could tell her boyfriend that she wanted to see someone else, she stepped into a game. One where other players had already seen her have this flirtatious meal with Phil, so they laid into her. It was the most gossipy parts of life institutionalized.

*nursery* days, that should be!

My Favorite Nurder

typos aside, this looks really interesting. I'll check it out.

I can’t decide if I like “Welcome To Chippendales” on hulu or not

kumail & murray are really good as banerjee & de noia
but it also feels way too long?
& tonally confused, like full musical numbers & comedy & idk idk

who killed robert wone? on peacock was p good

casefile has a new episode up today on Sherri Papini

not ashamed to admit i mashed “download” immediately
i am what i am

Didn’t realize until earlier today that HBO was about to start a four part documentary adaptation of Elon Green’s _Last Call_, easily one of the best books in the field I’ve read in a while precisely because it was the stories of those who died that were centered first. Pleased to say that the first episode sticks to that well plus adding further context from good and appropriate voices. Recommended.

Yeah, I also thought the book was great and am looking forward to watching the series.

i’ll def check it out! thx

Last Call is now complete to watch, and again, I really strongly suggest watching it. It's very well done and very moving (and infuriating).

Excellent interview here:

https://www.vulture.com/article/last-call-anthony-caronna-elon-green-interview.html

And again, I highly recommend the book.

Monday night, HBO aired the first of three installments in its documentary series Murder in Boston: Roots, Rage & Reckoning. Directed by Jason Hehir (who made The Last Dance), it's about the October 1989 murder of Carol Stuart. The murder was originally reported by her husband, Charles, as a carjacking by a Black assailant in which they had both been shot. She died, as did the baby she was carrying. By January, Charles' brother confessed that he had assisted Charles in murdering his wife and that Charles' own injury was essentially a misdirect; the carjacker never existed. In the intervening months, a manhunt had resulted in the police stopping, searching and harassing large numbers of Black men in Boston, one of whom they even arrested. Charles Stuart identified him as the — as it turns out — fictional murderer, then took his own life shortly after his brother gave him up to the police.

There is an obvious way this series could have gone: exacting detail on the Stuarts, their families, how beautiful Carol was, how it all went wrong — on other words, on Charles' decision to kill her and his brother's decision to turn him in. Instead, it wisely focuses not on the murder itself, but on the police investigation, both its origins and the deep scars it left. The bulk of the first installment is spent on the history of segregation and racism in Boston, with particular focus on the ugly protests against busing as a way to desegregate public schools. It's a bit of a salutary bait-and-switch, seeming like another true-crime story, but really taking this case and using it as only one example of much broader problems. The result is far more satisfying and substantial.

i want to watch this! - dont have hbo anymore but will def grab it

watching “Under The Bridge” on Hulu - based on the murder of Reena Virk, starring Lily Gladstone & Riley Keogh

it’s really good, does a nice job so far of centering Reena in the story so that it’s not just about the group that killed her.

but holy fuck it is a tough watch. triggers so many of my own lesser memories of my own teen years and bullying. and just all the desperate, terrible things you do to try to fit in with people who don’t even like you that much! ugh.