S28.E30: Father And Son: The Verdict

[starri]

 

A son is determined to prove his father, a doctor, killed his mother, a noted scientist. Will a jury believe him? Correspondent Susan Spencer reports.

Can I just say that I'm freaking relieved that we're getting a break from Troy Roberts and Peter Van Sant for a week?  Maybe I'm just biased but Susan Spencer has always seemed like one of sharpest of the correspondents, and she (and Erin Moriarty) always seem to have more interesting reports.

 

Also, wow those boys looked like their dad.

[Morbs]

Yeah, Susan isn't so bad.  I liked how she thought the scrap booking was fucked up.  Scan those pics to make digital copies and everyone can have their own!  I always get so excited when I see Maureen Maher promoting the show on Twitter because I think she'll be the host but then she rarely is.

 

The son reminded me of like a boy band member or Disney star.

[starri]

Yeah, Susan isn't so bad.  I liked how she thought the scrap booking was fucked up. 

She's always snarky.  I think that's why I like her.

[Sims Addict]

The older son seemed quite smug, but I guess he had to develop a thick skin having two immature children for parents.

[RedheadZombie]

Also, wow those boys looked like their dad.

 

I thought Pelle looked just like his mother, but I also thought the mother and father could have been twins. 

 

The older son seemed quite smug, but I guess he had to develop a thick skin having two immature children for parents.

 

The son really grated on my nerves.  He smiled and grinned in inappropriate moments.  He told the interviewer that his father did or said something definitively, then testified in court that he "thought" his father did. 

 

I thought the father withholding the passports for the scrapbooks was his way of keeping her from taking off with the kids.

 

I always have a hard time when I dislike the victim.  The father was no prize, either.

[jenkait]

She's always snarky.  I think that's why I like her.

 

She is, and I like her too!  I like Tracy Smith for the same reason...she's a little snarky and also fairly confrontational with people who are clearly full of BS, which I appreciate.  I'll never forget the look on her face when some convicted murderer told her something like "Your life is easy because you're a woman and you have blond hair."  Yikes!  I like all the hosts, though.  Troy Roberts doesn't really stick out to me, but Peter Van Sant is pretty good.  Love Maher Maureen Maher, of course!  But I do like the variety.

[Ohmo]

I thought Pelle looked just like his mother, but I also thought the mother and father could have been twins. 

 

I also thought Pelle looked like his mom. I chalked up his general demeanor to his upbringing. Even before everything that happened, his parents were both in the medical profession.  They seemed like very "clinical" people.  Uta was also German, and frankly, she seemed to fit one of the stereotypes that exists about people from Germany. She seemed to favor order and structure.  I also think that was one of the issues with the scrapbooks.  The idea of giving each person a copy of the pictures wouldn't have worked, I don't think.  He took the pictures, and she arranged them in very specific books. I don't think the issue was just about the pictures. It was about the presentation as a whole---the structure of it.

Edited May 11, 2015 by Ohmo

[starri]

Uta was also German, and frankly, she seemed to fit one of the stereotypes that exists about people from Germany.

There were a lot of severely Teutonic names going around.  Uta was German, and of course gave her kids German names, but even the new boyfriend was named Nils.

[ChristmasJones]

I had mixed feelings about this one. I think I have seen this case profiled before, even by 48 Hours, but maybe they featured it before he went to trial and this time it showed the conviction.

 

I am not sure I could have convicted the dad based on what I saw in this episode. It seems likely that he did it, but I did not have that overwhelming "HE DID IT" feeling that I get with some cases.

 

I guess because the actual death seems a bit confusing to visualize as a murder- injecting her with crush xanax tablets?? So he goes into her house in the middle of the night and grabs her and injects her and then puts her in the tub with a scrap book and a knife, after making a couple of cuts on her?

 

Something about that seems a bit far-fetched to me.

 

The son did not bother me. I am estranged from my abusive mother (by choice) and I don't cry when I talk about her. I sound cold and detached because I can't stand her. So on that level, the son's demeanor made sense to me.