General True Crime Shows

[BigBlueMastiff]

 

As another poster noted (or was it you?), unbelievable the police sat outside that house for a half hour "observing" the home.

That was another astute poster. I forgot about the cops waiting so long and as applecrisp said, it is incomprehensible as to why? I don't remember this being fleshed out in the doc. I also saw the Deadly Sins version, laughable compared to the HBO doc. Thanks for sharing that article, auntjess, I live in Chicago, but that happened way before I moved here. I am so sick of these idiot teenagers killing people for no reason, to see what it feels like, or because they were bullied, I could go on and on...That poor family, what a waste.

[auntjess]

Just saw the Mansions & Murders on Helle Crafts.
I was so offended by being told the story from the point of view of the nanny.
I can see that she was frightened, but even at the time, I'm sure she didn't consider her loss of a job as THE most important aspect.
Those poor kids, and their poor mother.
 

Edited May 1, 2015 by auntjess

[auntjess]

This afternoon, 5/2, starting at 3PM ET, TLC (yes, TLC), is showing episodes of Redrum and then Deadly Women.

Maybe some of our killers will go after their Duggars, brides, polygamists, and Amish.

[slensam]

This afternoon, 5/2, starting at 3PM ET, TLC (yes, TLC), is showing episodes of Redrum and then Deadly Women.

Maybe some of our killers will go after their Duggars, brides, polygamists, and Amish.

We can only hope.

[Josette]

There's a new series called The Killing Hour, which just started this past Friday.  The case was one from England in the 1980s, and I was not familiar with it.  This might be a British series since the next episode is also about a UK murder.  I do remember that case from some other show.

[applecrisp]

There's a new series called The Killing Hour, which just started this past Friday.  The case was one from England in the 1980s, and I was not familiar with it.  This might be a British series since the next episode is also about a UK murder.  I do remember that case from some other show.

I saw it.  I would like a show that was about crimes in other countries.  

[tobeannounced]

I know Dateline already has its own thread, but I'm not seeing a new topic for the show Friday, Angels and Demons.  I really was intrigued by that one and didn't have it figured out from the get-go.  Very different from the usual "husband did it."  I felt so bad for the two sisters, especially the younger one who was being molested by the leader.  Geez, I will never understand these parents who willingly submit their children to this kind of abuse in the name of God.

[applecrisp]

I just watched The Impostor last night, I know people were talking about it at TWoP.  I just could never find it to watch it.  I felt sorry for the family that took him in.  They were lower income and not so educated but that doesn't make you guilty.  I was very unimpressed by the FBI person.  She did not seem to be very good at her job.

[friendperidot]

applecrisp, and being well-to-do does not make you nice, good living people. Was watching something yesterday on ID, don't remember which show, but son & his girlfriend & her friend killed his parents in their mcmansion. When the neighbors were first interviewed, they all said what nice people then as the story came out, the parents were judgmental and rude to the girlfriend because she didn't come from money. They didn't socialize with the neighbors, none knew them well, they were mostly concerned with appearances. Can't remember everything, I wasn't paying a lot of attention & I had seen this story before. But I didn't think they were such nice people.

[auntjess]

I saw The Killing Hour, and there was some really sloppy police work, on the part of some.
Did you get the impression that there was a split among the police on how/who to focus on, and I assume the higher ups must have been the ones who bought his story at the beginning?

ETA;  If you can't get frightened enough watching these shows, catch Engineering Disasters on the History Channel, and Uverse has some on demand.
You won't want to cross a bridge, live near a dam, or be in a town with gas lines.
If the serial killers don't get you, the crumbling infrastructure will.
It is a good show.

 

Edited May 4, 2015 by auntjess

[RedheadZombie]

Am I the only one who despises Aphrodite Jones?  She just drives me crazy.  I just watched "Cold Case in Hotlanta", and she's like the human version of a tabloid magazine.  Her style is just so salacious. 

 

The victim is a man who works twelve to thirteen hour shifts at a steel plant, and works on the side as a bartender.  The guy is found dead of multiple gun shots, on the driveway of an unoccupied house.  Aphrodite announces:  "From the looks of it, this has all the signs of a drug deal that's gone bad."  The cops don't even hint that that's what they thought.  The victim was black, is that what makes her think this looks like a drug deal?

 

She's interviewing the cold case cop who mentions the victim's wife's lovers.  Aphrodite cuts him off:  "Where you able to confirm that?" *tosses hair with left hand, tosses hair with right hand*  "Did you confirm that she had ...... different lovers?"

 

But the best part:  "She calls ...... (dramatically raises eyebrows) ..... to check up on him .......... as Eric driiiiiiiives to Atlanta ....... (extremely dramatic eyebrow raise) knowing (big grin) that she is driving him ........... right to his death (eyes bulging)." 

 

Her finale:  "I love it when things fall into place.  Last minute in the last hour, the jury's already being chosen, and BOOM  - they find. the missing. link."  She's grinning through this whole part, and is actually rocking forward and head bobbing in affect as she speaks these words.

 

Now I admit that I despise this woman for being a Michael Jackson apologist, who claims that he was framed.  And it drives me crazy how she talks without opening her mouth.  But she is just so tacky in the way she inserts herself into the story, and talks into the camera.

 

[tobeannounced]

ReadHead Zombie, I'm with you on Aphrodite!  Can't stand her crazy eyes and ZOMG!!! comments.  Anyone else think of Susanna Hoffs and her side-to-side eye movements in Walk Like an Egyptian when watching Aphrodite?  Maybe that's where she got it.  I only listened to the latest episode while trying to fall asleep, and that worked much better.

Edited May 5, 2015 by tobeannounced

[RedheadZombie]

Paula doesn't bother me.  Her stories can be repetitive, but when I watch her I feel like I'm watching a professional journalist.  My only criticisms are she over does it with the sympathy rather than remaining detached, and she has the common habit of labelling every murdered female as "beautiful".   

[applecrisp]

Redhead Zombie, I have said on several occasions that I like Aphrodite, I think partly because when I first started watching she stated what I was thinking-"this poor family had been through so much." I thought it was nice that she had expressed it, something most journalists do not.  Same as the woman on Fatal Vows, when she expressed that this women had killed a really nice guy and so many women were looking for one.  I thought Amen to that!

 

I still watch her if she has a story I am interested in.  I have started watching with a more critical eye and can understand why she annoys so much.  There are people that just bug us.  I did not know she was a MJ apologist though.  That is too bad.

[RedheadZombie]

applecrisp, I actually liked Aphrodite at first.  What sucked me in was her story on the San Francisco dog mauling case.  That story deeply affected me, and the suffering that Diane Whipple experienced haunted me for a while.  Jones actually wrote a book on the case, and I almost bought it.  What stopped me, were critiques I read on Amazon.  Apparently Jones goes after the victim's girlfriend, criticizing her for not mourning enough, and moving on too soon.  I don't have time for that BS, and that's what initially started my dislike.

 

She actually had a special on Michael Jackson, and I watched it until I realized she has an elaborate theory about how the poor guy was framed.  That put a period on my dislike.

[applecrisp]

The last Fear Thy Neighbor was really bad.  I think the neighbors of this nut were subjected to many years of psychological torture.  I know that is harsh but this guy was angry and crazed.  He went around the city videotaping the cops at a donut shop or roads in disrepair.  He was angry and vengeful.   He built a truly ugly fence and his yard was a mess in an otherwise nice neighborhood.  

 

Meanwhile the(good) neighbors were repeatedly getting citations about their garbage cans and their dogs.  Why wasn't some of this checked on by the city?  It was a disgrace.  Of course the good guy was killed.  The family had also lost their son.  At the end the prosector said that no vandalism or disruption was caused by the guy who lost his life.  He had taken the high road.

 

I don't know how he did.

[jenkait]

So my grandma just got ID...she's 91!  She loves true crime shows like I do, Dateline, Forensic Files...  Here's hoping she much enjoyment out of ID!  I will have to warn her about the silly, probably less grandma-friendly (or less mostpeople-friendly) shows such as "Scorned: Love Kills" and "Poisoned Passions" and the like :)

[auntjess]

Another channel that I now check is Destination America, 465 on U-verse, which has repeats of FBI Files on, in the middle of the night.

[Taylorh2]

Suz At Large:  I live in Aurora.

[aurora296]

I agree Applecrisp regarding the latest episode of Fear Thy Neighbor. Why wasn't the city more involved in dealing with this crazy guy? Why was he allowed to erect that hideous fence? I doubt it was in compliance with zoning laws. Plus you know he was the one filing countless unsubstantiated complaints against his neighbor. The city should have put a stop to it.  

 

I need to send a petition to the producers of the ID channel and I hope you'll all agree and sign it. Please stop airing that God-awful commercial for Houses of Horror. You know the one, showing the man sitting in his recliner, sipping his wine, listening to his classical music: while the woman is locked up in his basement as she squeaks out a pitiful cry for help. Ugh! It just annoys me. 

[auntjess]

I hate that commercial too, but since I mostly watch on the DVR, I ff past it.
That is one show I'll never watch.

[tobeannounced]

I'll sign your petition to get rid of the House of Horrors commercial if you'll sign my petition to get rid of the blackhead commercial.  It may be Proactive, but I always fast forward.  So tired of seeing those clogged pores.

[Taylorh2]

My son goes to that theater a lot. He likes the stadium seating. Since we live with-in walking distance to 'The Movie Tavern (Hampden & Tower) he has starting going there. I'm surprise that no one in my family was called for jury duty. They sent out thousands of summons.

[slensam]

So my grandma just got ID...she's 91!  She loves true crime shows like I do, Dateline, Forensic Files...  Here's hoping she much enjoyment out of ID!  I will have to warn her about the silly, probably less grandma-friendly (or less mostpeople-friendly) shows such as "Scorned: Love Kills" and "Poisoned Passions" and the like :)

"Scorned" is awful! Why do they keep renewing that show? Late-night Cinemax movies have more integrity.

[BigBlueMastiff]

 

I need to send a petition to the producers of the ID channel and I hope you'll all agree and sign it. Please stop airing that God-awful commercial for Houses of Horror. You know the one, showing the man sitting in his recliner, sipping his wine, listening to his classical music: while the woman is locked up in his basement as she squeaks out a pitiful cry for help. Ugh! It just annoys me.

Count me in, that poor pathetic voice asking if anyone is there is awful.

[applecrisp]

Did anyone watch Fear Thy Neighbor or am I the  only one?  Well, in this case, I sided with the old guy.  He only had a lawyer to speak on his behalf.  I don't think he should have used that gun at all.  It just seemed like he and his wife started out as good and kind neighbors by bringing the family food or money when needed.  

 

Then some feuding started.  His beloved and kind wife had cancer and the neighbors were like "yeah she was sick with something and he was broken up about it."  I thought couldn't you have checked up on them and given some kindness and support??  They saw it was killing him.  

 

It was awful the dad had to go through much surgery, I have sympathy for that but that is all.  I don't think they were good neighbors and did not feel sorry for them.

[BigBlueMastiff]

 

Did anyone watch Fear Thy Neighbor or am I the  only one?

I watched the one about the old guy who shot the couple he shared a driveway with, and after that, no more, can't take it.

 

 

I'm really wondering if the old guy had some sort of dementia or Alzheimer's.  I have wondered the same in many of these episodes since they often involve cranky older men.  I don't remember them ever touching on this in Fear Thy Neighbor or mentioning it as some sort of defense.

Except they could tell from the crime scene, that he hid the gun in his waistband, so his neighbors didn't know they were about to be ambushed. Also he lied on the protective order form about having a firearm in the house. They also caught him saying something menacing to the wife on the 911 call as he stood over her and executed her. I don't know if any alzheimers or dementia patients are capable of such planning and cunning.

Edited May 14, 2015 by BigBlueMastiff

[tobeannounced]

I'm really wondering if the old guy had some sort of dementia or Alzheimer's.  I have wondered the same in many of these episodes since they often involve cranky older men.  I don't remember them ever touching on this in Fear Thy Neighbor or mentioning it as some sort of defense.

Edited May 13, 2015 by tobeannounced

[applecrisp]

I'm really wondering if the old guy had some sort of dementia or Alzheimer's.  I have wondered the same in many of these episodes since they often involve cranky older men.  I don't remember them ever touching on this in Fear Thy Neighbor or mentioning it as some sort of defense.

I wondered about that,too.  I just agreed with the lawyer that no one ever really talked to him or even helped him out with his dying wife.  The neighbors were kind of like "I will do as I please."  The older couple were very good neighbors for a long time and were involved in their lives.  

 

It didn't have to come to that.  I know I am blaming the victim but I did not think they were kind people.  I,also don't think the daughter would have hurt the girl with special needs either.  I hope you understand what I am trying to say. 

[Taylorh2]

Anyone notice that sometimes the same actors are used on different shows/reenactments ?  Like on 'Sinister Ministers: "Devil In Disguise"

 

The guy playing the part of the minister (old dude with grey bear and dreadlocks) looks just like the actor who played the crazy dude on 'Obsession: Dark Desires, the one about a women who buys a home but the former owner starts stalking, her trying to get her to move out of the house.

[friendperidot]

I would sign the petition about the House of Horrors commercial. I won't watch that show. I don't care for the Neighbor one, but my sister has one of those. A couple of years ago, a huge tree in her front yard was half destroyed & came down in the yard. I helped with the clean up, but it took a couple of months for the city to pick up all the storm damage. Last week the rest of the tree came down in another storm, it came down in the street. While the city crew was picking it up and taking it away, the neighbor was on the phone complaining about my sister not taking care of the tree. In my neighborhood, we have all come out to help each other clear storm damage if it's a lot.

[ari333]

"Scorned" is awful! Why do they keep renewing that show? Late-night Cinemax movies have more integrity.

Bow chica wow wow.......... :)

[auntjess]

What happened to the general true crime topic?  It has disappeared, at least for m.

[Jaded]

This is the old link for that thread and it does appear to be gone. I asked about it in the Questions section here at PTV to see if we could get an answer.

http://forums.previously.tv/topic/6697-general-true-crime-shows/

Edited May 15, 2015 by Jaded

[Jaded]

The previous thread got zapped aka deleted accidentally so here's the continuation... 

[Jaded]

After confirming the previous General True Crimes thread was indeed deleted (it was by accident btw) I started a new one.

http://forums.previously.tv/topic/26536-general-true-crime-shows/

[auntjess]

Thanks! 

[Andyourlittledog2]

Yes, it was deleted. Everything I ever posted and every thread I ever started was deleted.  That's because I reported a spammer in one thread and the mod involved accidentally banned ME instead of the spammer and when you get banned you get wiped out entirely. So.....thank God someone else started this thread. All my previous posts are forever gone however.  Bitter?  Yeah, why do you ask?  Sigh. 

[Jaded]

Sorry that happened to you. I help Admin a good size board elsewhere and have made a few mistakes in my time but even that one would be hard for  me to make. 

Edited May 17, 2015 by Jaded

[auntjess]

Sorry this happened.
I thought maybe they'd deleted it because I posted something not about a show.
 

[auntjess]

Here's one to look for in a future show, at least that's what it looks like at the moment.http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/housekeeper-of-dc-couple-found-dead-wondered-if-something-was-amiss/2015/05/16/08140154-fbf7-11e4-9030-b4732caefe81_story.html?hpid=z1
 

[Andyourlittledog2]

I thought maybe they'd deleted it because I posted something not about a show.

 

Nope.  The McStay Family thread is also deleted out of the Disappeared forum.   I am never reporting spam again.  LOL

[walnutqueen]

OMG, Andyourlittledog2, that is unbelievable!  I just reported something similar the other night - now I feel like I dodged a bullet!  I certainly will think twice before reporting anything again.

[Andyourlittledog2]

Nah, it was just a mistake.  I've made plenty of mistakes in my life, I can forgive this one. I'm just so sad that all my posts and threads are gone now.  But I'll live.  

 

I see that they are flitting through their backlog of 'Sex Sent Me to The Slammer' episodes now.  Sigh. What a stupid show. It reads like Penthouse Forum, so juvenile. 

 

"I was that guy, you know? The hot bartender at the hottest bar in town. I had my pick of the girls to take home every night. One night this babe caught my eye and I talked her up, she was ready and willing, you know what I mean?  Yeaaahhh.. Anyway, we go to walk to my place just down the street but she is so into me that she can't wait and she pulls me onto the hood of this car...."  

 

Seriously, every episode reads like that. They are all so full of themselves, so proud of their 'embarrassment'. Sure fella. We totally believe you. I'm sure it happened just like that. And now there's a TV show that lets you tell alllllll about it and bask in the glory. Sex so hot it sent you to jail!!  Wow. I am sooooo impressed.  

 

That this is on ID annoys the shit outta me. I was hoping it died its well-deserved cancellation but now it's back with MORE!  Yay.  

Edited May 17, 2015 by Andyourlittledog2

[walnutqueen]

I am ever so glad I've avoided that show!  I can't stand crap like that.  Another one I won't watch is Scorned: Love Kills.

[auntjess]

I skipped the Mansions & Murders on Sunny von Bulow.
I remember when it was all the news, and I think he was convicted, but still had his partisans.
Not my kind of show.

[BigBlueMastiff]

This case has not yet been solved, but surely will get the iD treatment upon resolution. http://abcnews.go.com/US/mansion-fire-mysterious-voicemail-latest-clue-dc-blaze/story?id=31121535

 

So sad, reminds me of that awful case in Connecticut.

[auntjess]

I think you're right on that one showing up, and also, this kayak one.  http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/05/01/how-a-kayak-accident-became-a-murder-mystery-on-the-hudson/

I wish there were more See No Evil ones.  Despite the IDish title, it's about crimes where surveillance video played a big role.

 

Meant to tell you all, I saw several Disappeared on the schedule of Discovery whatever, that used to be Discovery Fit & Health.

 

Edited May 18, 2015 by auntjess

[auntjess]

Who else saw the 48 Hours on ID (a lot older than the ones discussed in the 48 forum), on Jane Mixer, the Michigan coed who was found dead in a cemetery after getting a ride on a school bulletin board?
One of the twists of the case, was years later when DNA was available, a blood drop matched a serial killer, but he was only 4 at the time.
I'm sure I've seen this on another show, and in that one, the man had a vague memory of being in the place with his father or stepfather.
But this show dismissed him, without trying to explain the blood.

The man whose DNA was on her hose was convicted, but I honestly wondered.
There are ways around DNA, far fetched, but possible.  Does he have an identical twin, unknown to him.
And not pertinent in this case, because DNA was unheard of then (1976), but now, a person could grab a bottle or cigarette butt, or piece of gum, and leave it at a crime scene, and if it matched a person in the database, how would that person ever disprove it.
 

Edited May 20, 2015 by auntjess

[Calamity Jane]

ID doesn't think they need an intervention, walnutqueen!

 

But if they screw up Disappeared, I'm going to be beyond pissed!

We can't help you until you admit you have a problem, ID.