General True Crime Shows

[LuvMyShows]

In the recent Buried in the Backyard episode, "Secrets in the Snow", a guy is rescued in -25 degree weather.  The guy had just committed two murders that night he was rescued, and the murders/disappearances were never solved.  Fast forward to 40 years later when DNA linked him to the murders through genetic genealogy, but DNA alone won't be enough for a conviction. How on earth could they prove that the guy was in that part of Colorado at that time, since he didn't live there, and further that he was in that area where the crime occurred 40 years earlier?  Well, his rescue was very very unusual, and it had made the local newspaper, so there was the proof. He probably thought that freezing night rescue saved his life. Turns out it was partially what cost him his freedom about 40 years later. Karma is great!

[LuvMyShows]

FYI, there are new seasons of Killer Cases and Accused: Guilty or Innocent on A&E

[LuvMyShows]

Watched the latest episode of Final Moments, "The Missed Bus". Early on, there was video of the car that kidnapped the victim, and it was an unusual car. The cops found that there were 9 of the cars, and they visited all the owners. And according to what was said, all 9 owners were cleared. Later, they had reason to re-visit one of the 9, and it turns out that the alibi that cleared him was that he was at home, by himself, watching TV or something. SMH. WTAF? Since when is that an alibi that clears someone? At the very least, it should keep someone on the possible suspect list, and at the best, they should actively look into the person further.

[Annber03]

I remember seeing that story on a "20/20" episode once as well, and they brought up the whole thing about the car there, too. I agree with you on the alibi, most shows, someone says that, the police are like, "...yeah, we're gonna need some confirmation of that to clear you." 

(I remember they interviewed Yingying's family in the "20/20" episode and my heart just broke for them throughout. Her mom looked like her grief was physically draining her, to the point where I was genuinely concerned about her. I really hope they've had a good, strong support system around them all this time.)

[andromeda331]

12 hours ago, LuvMyShows said:

Watched the latest episode of Final Moments, "The Missed Bus". Early on, there was video of the car that kidnapped the victim, and it was an unusual car. The cops found that there were 9 of the cars, and they visited all the owners. And according to what was said, all 9 owners were cleared. Later, they had reason to re-visit one of the 9, and it turns out that the alibi that cleared him was that he was at home, by himself, watching TV or something. SMH. WTAF? Since when is that an alibi that clears someone? At the very least, it should keep someone on the possible suspect list, and at the best, they should actively look into the person further.

Yeah that's not an abili that clears anyone. There's no way to verify it. 

[LuvMyShows]

On 10/26/2023 at 11:48 AM, LuvMyShows said:

Watched the latest episode of Final Moments, "The Missed Bus". Early on, there was video of the car that kidnapped the victim, and it was an unusual car. The cops found that there were 9 of the cars, and they visited all the owners. And according to what was said, all 9 owners were cleared. Later, they had reason to re-visit one of the 9, and it turns out that the alibi that cleared him was that he was at home, by himself, watching TV or something. SMH. WTAF? Since when is that an alibi that clears someone? At the very least, it should keep someone on the possible suspect list, and at the best, they should actively look into the person further.

Quoting myself because I saw another example of this genius investigative ability, on A Time to Kill, "Easter Murder".  A young woman was murdered while working at a card shop, and they are unable to solve the crime. At some point, a call comes in about a year later from the lawyer of a woman who used to live with her husband about 10 miles from the little town where the murder occurred (they had since moved 3,000 away), and the lawyer thought the woman might have information to help the murder. 

Apparently the husband had an infatuation with the case, the wife had a striking resemblance to the dead woman, and he had sexual tendencies that involved some level of violence. She even had a gift he said he bought from that card store. The police reached out to him and he said he was coming to town soon and would come in for an interview. But then his lawyer called and said he won't come in. And further that the wife was only doing this to gain an advantage in the custody case that they were involved in, which was a concern to the police dept. Still, the police asked him to give a DNA sample, but he refused. This made them suspicious, so they looked into his background. But when they saw that he had no criminal record and no other red flags, they decided to "move on" and didn't do an interview with him. 

They eliminated all local suspects and the case went cold for 25 years (!!), but still they never contacted the guy for an interview. Interestingly, the narration states that the case remained a priority and that the case never "collected dust" and never "experienced a period of time where work wasn't done" (cough [bullshit] cough). Anyway, you can figure the rest..of course, he did it, and of course the woman's input was devalued and basically ignored, even when they had nothing else at all to go on in the case.

 

[Vermicious Knid]

This past week's episode of New York Homicide also included some ahem, brilliant police work. A woman is reported as missing by her friends. She was an immigrant from Ukraine who worked as a translator for the FBI so when they begin looking into it they concentrated on it possibly being the Russian gangs she was helping arrest. Which sure, makes sense. There was an informant who sent them on a wild goose chase because he lied about having information to try and get better treatment in jail. They wasted a lot of time with that, really had nothing and then investigators decided to check her financials. 18 months later. This is like, the most basic detective work in any investigation. Someone disappears, the first thing cops should do is check their credit card and bank activity. It's so basic, TV cops are always doing it at the start of any investigation. Sure enough, that's where they found the information that led to the killer. Information they could have had within weeks of her disappearance. I wondered if no one involved realized how bad this made multiple law enforcement bureaus look instead of as  dogged investigators. 

[LuvMyShows]

On 10/31/2023 at 12:46 AM, Vermicious Knid said:

This past week's episode of New York Homicide also included some ahem, brilliant police work. 

And I've got another one!  It's the Sherri Rasmussen case, which we've all probably seen many times before on other franchises (killed by her husband John's college ex, who was a police officer). This time it was on The Real Murders of Los Angeles, "Once Bitten". And the part that struck me is that the police went to talk to Sherri's parents, who told them that John's ex from college (it was now quite a few years since college) was causing problems and had tracked down Sherri at work and at home but they didn't know her name. So the police went to talk to John, and asked him if there were any exes that might have it in for Sherri and want to do her harm. He said that there was a girl he had dated casually in college, but it had been 8-9 years ago, and he didn't think she would do something like that.

Then, oddly, the DA that was narrating said, "Sometimes family members have a theory based on what their sense of the case is. That's a normal reaction. But as a detective, you have to follow the facts where they lead." And then he goes on to say that crime was rampant at that time, and because Sherri's car was missing and some stereo equipment had been placed by the door (as though someone was going to steal it, but got interrupted), detectives decided that it was a burglary (even though there was no forced entry, Sherri had a bite mark on her arm which a burglar is simply not going to get involved with, none of the usual areas in the apartment had been touched where burglars would usually focus, and Sherri lived in the middle of the apartment complex but burglars usually go to the outside units to make a quicker getaway).

And so nothing more was done about that lead, even through the next 23 years when the case went cold!!!!  Clearly the detectives didn't "follow the facts"...it's a fact that John's ex came to Sheri's work and home (good Lord, that is not a common thing at all), but they didn't choose to follow that, because, well, I guess they were completely minimizing the importance of the facts her parents said, and putting extraordinary value instead on the opinion that John expressed that his ex wouldn't have killed Sherri. It was finally solved when a cold case team re-looked at the case, decided it wasn't a burglary, and compiled a list of women in Sherri's life at the time. Then they interviewed John more in-depth than the detective had 23 years ago, and it led to the case being solved. Pathetic.

[LuvMyShows]

FYI...there is a new Homicide for the Holidays on Oxygen for Halloween, plus there were 2 for July 4th.

[auntjess]

After watching Murder in the 21st, I was wondering why Todd Kohlhepp didn't get the death penalty for killing all those people and keeping one woman chained up.
Turns out South Carolina ran out of the drug it used, and can't get more.
For someone like him, I'd think they'd change the law to allow an electric chair, or some other form.  If anyone deserves it, he does.

 

Edited November 5, 2023 by auntjess
typo

[One Tough Cookie]

I saw the recent spi of Accused::   Guilty or Innocent--the one when thee marine shot 3 bullets into the tires of a man in a road rage incident and the guilty partY got SEVEN FREAKIN,MONTHS!!! I would have given  him 7 YEARS.  

[LuvMyShows]

15 hours ago, One Tough Cookie said:

I saw the recent spi of Accused::   Guilty or Innocent--the one when thee marine shot 3 bullets into the tires of a man in a road rage incident ...

If you're not watching Accused: Guilty or Innocent, you should! If you don't get A&E, it's available on A&E replay on the app, and is the only show that follows along as a trial occurs and really goes in-depth into the preparation and strategy by the defense. 

This is the fifth season, and I haven't yet seen the latest episode that One Tough Cookie wrote about (therefore I actually didn't even finish reading the comment), but so far, I encountered only the second episode ever where I have actually wanted the person to be convicted of something. So usually, the cases are not a "did they do it?" situation, but rather a "did what they do rise to a level of a crime?", and unfortunately for society, often I wonder why on earth the person is being prosecuted for this (when other 'real' crimes seem to go unpunished).

But in the case of the "Killer Biker or Self-Defense Shooter" episode, I disagreed with the jury and absolutely thought he should have been found guilty of something. He was the one who escalated by giving the victim the finger, he is the who escalated by walking towards the victim to engage him in proximity, he is the one who escalated by pulling out his gun. And I don't care that the re-enactment showed that he could have not noticed the victim putting his gun back...I care that he pulled out a lethal weapon, and he didn't stay aware enough to notice (if it's even true in the first place that he didn't see it...I could easily doubt this dude).

It seems like the jury didn't consider all the escalations that he initiated, and only considered a very narrow view of what was going on at the exact time of the shooting...a situation that he absolutely 100% engineered and could have walked away from at a million different points. Now, what the jury didn't hear but I found very interesting, was when that defense-side investigator was practicing a witness-stand interrogation, and said something like, "...and then you shot him in the chest, with the intent to kill", and the guy said Yes!  I definitely believe he was being a d*ck motorcycle driver on the road and doing the speeding/weaving that the victim was yelling at him about. But dang, to have a kid in the car and pull over to engage in conflict with a stranger, is messed-up, and now the person who has to pay that penalty is the kid, who has to live with having seen his step-father get killed right in front of his eyes while begging him to stop.

By the way, I don't recall the specific episode, but the other one where I wanted a conviction, had something to do with a property-owner and maybe shooting someone hunting on his property? Or maybe it was the one where there was a serious nuisance guy in the neighborhood, and one of the neighbors seemed to take justice in his own hands? Does anyone recall anything like this?

[LuvMyShows]

On 11/4/2023 at 10:59 PM, One Tough Cookie said:

I saw the recent spi of Accused::   Guilty or Innocent--the one when thee marine shot 3 bullets into the tires of a man in a road rage incident and the guilty partY got SEVEN FREAKIN,MONTHS!!! I would have given  him 7 YEARS.  

OMG where to begin with this a**hole?!

• Now that I have seen this episode ("Road Rage Vigilante or Family Protector?"), I have to amend my earlier statement that I only had 2 episodes where I've wanted to see the person found guilty...now it's 3.
• I really wonder if A&E thought we would find the person sympathetic or not. Most cases, we do find the person sympathetic, but I didn't in this one.
• I think the judge was fooled by this guy. At sentencing, the judge said something about how there are two kinds of people: bad people who make bad decisions, and otherwise good people who get caught up and make bad decisions. And he said this dude was the latter, but I disagree.
• When the prosecutor asked him if he felt "authorized" in spite of not being a lawman, to shoot the guy's tires, and he said yes, that said it all. Even though the defense lawyer tried to counter in her closing by saying he meant that he felt "a duty", it was very obvious that he damn well felt he was authorized.
• He also showed his true colors when they played the jail house recording and he talked about how the justice system doesn't do a good job. That's absolutely part of why he felt 'authorized' to take the action he did, because he distrusts the justice system. 
• I felt so bad for the defense lawyer, especially when she was prepping him for testifying. She was warning him about having to control his behavior on the stand, and she asked if he'd be able to keep his cool. And he said, "Not only to keep my cool, but counteract whatever bullsh*t the state throws at me."  And when he added that last part, she looked so dejected, because she knew that his ideology would seep out and get him in trouble.
• And he showed his true colors again when the prosecution played the 9-1-1 call and he appeared to call the victim a racial epithet. I was confused, because it was presented as though that was the first time that the recording had been played in the trial. And I don't recall that we, as the audience, had heard that in the pre-trial prep by the defense. But they must have listened to it in pre-trial prep, and if they did, then the defense lawyer should have told him not to lie if he was asked about calling the guy a racial epithet before the 9-1-1 call was played.  Instead, he said he didn't call the guy a racial epithet but then they played the 9-1-1 call, which showed he was lying. 
• And here's the part no one explored, but I'm curious about. He said that the victim was tailgating the motorcyclist, so he flashed his high beams to get him to stop, and then the victim slammed on the brakes. So he said that he went around the victim's car when that happened, to avoid hitting the victim's car. This seems preposterous. If you are behind someone who slams on their brakes, the first thing you do is slam on your brakes. You don't have anywhere near the time or distance to steer all the way around the back of that person's car and come up beside them. I think the real reason he got up beside the victim's car was to gesture/glare menacingly at him or intimidate him or something escalate-ish.  

[LuvMyShows]

Two recommendations on Hulu:

• Wild Crime is one of those where the whole season is dedicated to one crime, and there are four episodes per season. I prefer one-episode whodunnits, so I stopped after season 1, episode 1. But season 1 seemed very good so far. It's the case of Harold Henthorn, one of those pushed-his-wife-over-a-cliff murderers that has been covered on multiple franchises. And with four episodes, they were able to go into a lot of detail that I had never heard before about all the reasons the death looked suspicious. Season 2 is about a Jane Doe in Yosemite, who is eventually identified, but I think the murder may still be unsolved...although one of the suspects is Cary Stayner, who was an employee at the Cedar Lodge motel and killed a mother, daughter, and daughter's friend that were staying there, which is a case that's appeared on several franchises. (OMG, I just looked this up in Wikipedia and it says that Stayner was questioned originally in the murder of the three women, but he was not considered a suspect at that point because he had no criminal history and remained calm during the police interview. Great detective work, guys. SMH.)
• Mother Undercover is another four-episode series, but there is only one season. It is very good, and is about mothers who went undercover unofficially to solve a crime or bring about justice.

 

[LuvMyShows]

Is anyone watching the new ID show FEDS? I am so confused by something in the first episode, "Kidnapped".  As we saw it, a couple is kidnapped from their house. The woman is let out at the bank to go in and get a cashier's check for $350K.  No one is with her and there is no microphone/camera placed on her by the kidnapper. So why did multiple people in their voice-overs, make such a big deal about how she had the presence of mind to pull out her church bulletin from her purse and write a note for the teller that she had been kidnapped????  She could speak!  I understand why she returned to the car, cause she was worried that if she didn't, her husband would be killed. But that explains nothing about why, when she was in the bank, she didn't just tell them every single detail that she could possibly remember, to help the cops catch the kidnapper?

[LuvMyShows]

IRL, I need some input from my fellow true crime peeps. I recently watched an episode (can't remember the franchise) where the bad guy was a cop, who actually was the one who had delivered the stay-safe presentation to the community.  So last month I went to our community's stay-safe presentation delivered by the cops, and they offer a home security assessment, where they will come out and assess your home from the viewpoint of a burglar. I would really like to do that...but there is a nagging worry in the back of my mind, that it will be a bad cop who will exploit whatever weaknesses he finds in a later burglary of my home.  Thoughts?

[Vermicious Knid]

Request a female police officer?

[kathyk2]

American Monster made me furious, If the courts had paid attention to Michelle and kept her ex husband in jail Kay would still be alive.

[Schnickelfritz]

12 hours ago, kathyk2 said:

American Monster made me furious, If the courts had paid attention to Michelle and kept her ex husband in jail Kay would still be alive.

How about the irony of Kay testifying for Matt at his first trial for the attempted murder of Michelle? Did she listen to any of the other testimony? A whole lot of sadness...

[kathyk2]

Let Us Prey on the ID network was horrifying. It's about sexual abuse within the Baptist Church. I think the Duggar family belongs to this group. The second part of the series airs tomorrow night.

[badhaggis]

13 hours ago, kathyk2 said:

Let Us Prey on the ID network was horrifying. It's about sexual abuse within the Baptist Church. I think the Duggar family belongs to this group. The second part of the series airs tomorrow night.

I could see the innocent  little girls in each story. The round robin lets move the child molesters to new hunting grounds is disgusting. I greatly admire the courage of the survivors. And their mission to help prevent this from happening to others. It has got to be incredibly frustrating to hit so many dead ends. Institutional abuse has got to end!

[LuvMyShows]

Did anyone watch the Accused: Innocent or Guilty episode "Killed My Mother or Innocent Driver"? That woman is sooo lucky that her husband succumbed to dementia when he did and prolonged her case 6 months, during which time they had that police department dust-up, and she was offered an insanely good plea bargain. The defense lawyer said he thought they offered the plea because all the new evidence had been trending in their favor. But if so, then there is some evidence that they didn't show us, because all the new evidence I saw, kept looking worse and worse for her (the brother's interview, the speeding, the recent DUI). I feel so terrible for her with what's going on in her personal life, but I think she can benefit from that 60-day rehab she has to go to. And Dr. Google says to wait 8 hours after taking Ambien before driving...good for them for finding an expert to say it's a shorter timeframe, but I don't think they'd score points on that if the prosecution did their job.

[Annber03]

So I'm watching the show "Feds" on the ID channel right now, and it's about the FBI's efforts to stop a militia group from carrying out a terror plot against Muslims in Garden City, Kansas. 

And I swear to god, you could make a drinking game out of how many times the militia members use a particular racist term to refer to said Muslims. It gets said a LOT in the recordings of these militia members' meetings. And then they're going on and bragging about how they'd totally love to go in all Rambo-style and take them out and everything and...ugh. The whole thing is just making my skin crawl. Talk about a group of pathetic losers who are VERY DESPERATELY trying to overcompensate for something. 

[LuvMyShows]

OMG. I just can't. SMH. Wow. Just watched the latest Murder in the Heartland, "Mother's Intuition". A young mother named Brandi disappears. One of the suspects is her ex-boyfriend Kelly, who is a real sh*t, as are apparently her current boyfriend, ex-husband, etc, all of whom are suspects. Kelly tells the police a few months into the investigation that he got a call from Brandi a month after she disappeared, and he thinks she's in Myrtle Beach, SC, where he says she can make the most money (she's a stripper). Whoop whoop whoop warning bells going off whoop whoop whoop.

So let me get this straight, Kelly. You're the only one who has heard from her...not her mom (who she was very close to), not her friends, not whoever would be taking care of her adored son, not her employer. Just you, an ex-boyfriend she didn't care for and who had been hounding her before she disappeared. And she's not dead...she's still alive!  OK, sounds good, see ya.

And that was that. The show literally didn't say another word about the supposed phone call (which would seem to have been a great lead if it were true, and something the detectives should follow), or mention ANY follow-up with Kelly about how suspicious it was that he was the only one who received a call from her, or checking his phone records for the existence of the call (and call location information, if it were there)...a call that just happens to suggest taking attention away from her disappearance as a murder and getting the police off his back.

And I don't think it's because the show chose not to mention it...I think the detectives didn't see that supposed phone call as a red flag, or should I say, a RED FLAG!!!!!!!!   Several years later when someone came forward with a confession that Kelly had made about the murder, they decided to check his alibi, which had something to do with a hotel. Turns out he hadn't been at the hotel at all, and thus his alibi was blown and they moved into the mode of him as the primary suspect....which they could have known about YEARS EARLIER If they had just used their brains about the supposed phone call. 😠😞

[kathyk2]

1 minute ago, LuvMyShows said:

OMG. I just can't. SMH. Wow. Just watched the latest Murder in the Heartland, "Mother's Intuition". A young mother named Brandi disappears. One of the suspects is her ex-boyfriend Kelly, who is a real sh*t, as are apparently her current boyfriend, ex-husband, etc, all of whom are suspects. Kelly tells the police a few months into the investigation that he got a call from Brandi a month after she disappeared, and he thinks she's in Myrtle Beach, SC, where he says she can make the most money (she's a stripper). Whoop whoop whoop warning bells going off whoop whoop whoop.

So let me get this straight, Kelly. You're the only one who has heard from her...not her mom (who she was very close to), not her friends, not whoever would be taking care of her adored son, not her employer. Just you, an ex-boyfriend she didn't care for and who had been hounding her before she disappeared. And she's not dead...she's still alive!  OK, sounds good, see ya.

And that was that. The show literally didn't say another word about the supposed phone call (which would seem to have been a great lead if it were true, and something the detectives should follow), or mention ANY follow-up with Kelly about how suspicious it was that he was the only one who received a call from her, or checking his phone records for the existence of the call (and call location information, if it were there)...a call that just happens to suggest taking attention away from her disappearance as a murder and getting the police off his back.

And I don't think it's because the show chose not to mention it...I think the detectives didn't see that supposed phone call as a red flag, or should I say, a RED FLAG!!!!!!!!   Several years later when someone came forward with a confession that Kelly had made about the murder, they decided to check his alibi, which had something to do with a hotel. Turns out he hadn't been at the hotel at all, and thus his alibi was blown and they moved into the mode of him as the primary suspect....which they could have known about YEARS EARLIER If they had just used their brains about the supposed phone call. 😠😞

Murder in the Heartland made me furious. Brandi's mother should have had help from the police as soon as she went missing. If they had done their jobs her killer would have been found sooner. I think families of missing people should sue the police if they didn't try to locate them and are killed.

[Vermicious Knid]

Former police officer Stephanie Lazarus successfully got away with killing her ex-boyfriend's wife for 20 years before she was arrested and sentenced to 27 years to life. It was featured on The Real Murders of Los Angeles among other shows. Now she may get parole.

Quote

 

Pannell recalled that at the beginning of the November hearing, the presiding commissioner said Lazarus was invoking a 2018 California law that aimed to reform how offenders who were younger than 26 when their crimes were committed are handled in the criminal justice system.

The statute cites state and federal high court decisions that have reviewed evidence showing that parts of the brain involved in behavior control are not fully mature until a person’s mid- to late-20s. According to the California law, with few exceptions, people who meet the criteria “are required to have a meaningful opportunity for parole during their natural life.”

Lazarus was a junior police officer and almost 26 when she killed Sherri.

 

It's not guaranteed of course but I hope they find against her. 

[chick binewski]

On 12/14/2023 at 1:03 AM, Vermicious Knid said:

It's not guaranteed of course but I hope they find against her. 

I like The Real Murders of Los Angeles but the Sherri Rassmusen episode was infuriating. They left way too much out -Sherri's husband's actions, the lawsuits, LAPD's handling of the case. 

I agree - I hope Lazarus is not granted parole.

[One Tough Cookie]

So I just re-read Fatal Vision by Joe Maguiness and have to say, after reading true crime for over 20 years, this book is the standard by which all other crime books should be held.

I find the case fascinating and have absolutely NO DOUBT of Mac's guilt.  None whatsoever. However, I really think he could pass a lie detector because he has been telling everyone, especially himself that he is innocent and if you tell yourself something over and over, you start to believe it.

Anyway, it's a crackling good read.

[LuvMyShows]

Once again, Accused: Guilty or Innocent shines a light on cases that NEVER should have made it to court. This one, "Party Killer or Innocent Bystander" was insane. In fact, the original prosecutor got so mad about the lies that the police department told, and the obfuscations, that he resigned. And what's 'funny', is that the stuff the police department was covering up by lying about the existence of body camera footage, was far less damning to the case, than the fact that the original prosecutor actually ending up testifying for the defense because of his outrage at the body camera footage lies!

There was literally no evidence...not just no physical evidence, but no circumstantial evidence, no eyewitnesses, nothing. There was only a perceived motive and a physical proximity at the time of the shooting. I think the defense lawyer kept getting more and more stunned as the case progressed, about the developments that just fell into their laps. The second prosecutor even suggested that the charges should be dropped, but the police department insisted on going forward. Thankfully the (wrongly) accused was found not guilty.  Unfortunately, nothing has happened to any of the police department staff about anything that they did.

[LuvMyShows]

I've been watching Prosecuting Evil with Kelly Siegler, and I had assumed that the existence of this new show meant that Cold Justice would not be returning. But according to Kelly, there will be a season 7 of Cold Justice in 2024.

The most recent Prosecuting Evil episode, "The Cop Who Wouldn't Stop", was interesting because it featured a very young Johnny Bonds, who is one of our Cold Justice peeps. It's a pretty amazing story in terms of his unshakeable persistence to bring justice in the case.

[Vermicious Knid]

I watch Cold Justice because it's performing a valuable service and I hope to see people brought to justice. But I've come to realize I don't like Kelly very much and haven't cared to see this new show. 

[CrazyInAlabama]

On 12/18/2023 at 9:57 AM, LuvMyShows said:

I've been watching Prosecuting Evil with Kelly Siegler, and I had assumed that the existence of this new show meant that Cold Justice would not be returning. But according to Kelly, there will be a season 7 of Cold Justice in 2024.

The most recent Prosecuting Evil episode, "The Cop Who Wouldn't Stop", was interesting because it featured a very young Johnny Bonds, who is one of our Cold Justice peeps. It's a pretty amazing story in terms of his unshakeable persistence to bring justice in the case.

I first heard about Johnny in the book about the case.    "The Cop Who Wouldn't Quit" was fascinating to me. The amount of coincidences that led to a solution to that case were stunning. 

I've been very skeptical about Kelly S. since the David Temple case in Texas. There was another very strong suspect, and everyone just took the suspect's word for it in court that he didn't murder the victim.  The neighbor kid had access to the same type of shotgun, lived a few doors down from the Temples, and was in serious trouble at school relying on the wife's testimony.     

Just because David Temple cheated doesn't mean he murdered the wife.   Even his ex-wife (the former affair partner) had nothing incriminating to say about him on the stand at the second trial.  

Too many cases in Houston, and on the show have been 'solved' by jailhouse snitches, or people who got a reduced charge for testifying. 

Too many of the cases featured on Cold Justice have fallen apart. 

Edited December 23, 2023 by CrazyInAlabama

[andromeda331]

On 12/19/2023 at 4:52 PM, CrazyInAlabama said:

I first heard about Johnny in the book about the case.    The amount of coincidences that led to a solution to that case were stunning. 

I've been very skeptical about Kelly S. since the David Temple case in Texas. There was another very strong suspect, and everyone just took the suspect's word for it in court that he didn't murder the victim.   Just because David Temple cheated doesn't mean he murdered the wife.   Even his ex-wife (the former affair partner) had nothing incriminating to say about him on the stand at the second trial.  

Too many cases in Houston, and on the show have been 'solved' by jailhouse snitches, or people who got a reduced charge for testifying. 

Too many of the cases featured on Cold Justice have fallen apart. 

I've been skeptical of Kelly since then too. It turned out that David Temple had an alibi that was later verified. How do you miss an alibi? She was wrong about him how many other cases was she wrong about. I don't trust her after that.

[One Tough Cookie]

On 12/19/2023 at 12:26 AM, Vermicious Knid said:

But I've come to realize I don't like Kelly very much and haven't cared to see this new show. 

ditto

[kathyk2]

Prosecuting Evil made me livid. A Justice ofthePeacewas allow to set a suicide? If the victims  family didn,t have money he would have gotten away with it. 

[Andyourlittledog2]

On 12/18/2023 at 9:26 PM, Vermicious Knid said:

But I've come to realize I don't like Kelly very much and haven't cared to see this new show. 

I can't get past how terrible a lying prosecutor she was in Texas and how she got her comeuppance and let go. I don't trust her as far as I could throw her (which is not at all). So her new show leaves me as cold as the previous one. I cannot watch this woman at all.

[Minivanessa]

Last night I watched (streamed it on Max) a three-part documentary that I think aired on ID: Lost Women of Highway 20. IMO it was def above average for an ID show. I'm old enough to remember the utter misogyny of law enforcement in the 1970's, 1980's, and beyond. Rape victims brushed off. Missing teens assumed to be "runaways" with no investigation. Adolescent girls confiding to school teachers that they're being molested at home, but not believed. This show did a good job of presenting those things, along with the saga of a predator who def got away for years with murders, and probably committed more than the two he was imprisoned for. Also got away with other crimes against girls and women. And yet for quite awhile, he was roaming free when LOTS of people thought he was a dangerous creep. For example, this was back in the days of CB radios; he gave himself the CB handle of "The Pervert." Aargh.

Add me to the "can't stand Kelly" crowd. Also I can't stand Nancy Grace. I tuned into a new ID show but clicked right off when I saw her face and heard her screeching voice. Absolute hard pass. 

In other news, here's a case that I'm sure will turn up on some true crime documentary in the future: 

Quote

A Broomfield man charged with murder in his wife’s death had been impersonating her ex-boyfriend and stalking her for months before killing her, according to an arrest affidavit filed in the Broomfield County Combined Court.  .  .  .

Broomfield detectives then received IP address data for the phone numbers and emails [the wife's] ex-boyfriend supposedly had used to contact her and determined they originated from [the husband's] workplace, according to the affidavit.

Broomfield officers also confirmed that the ex-boyfriend was in Utah, not Colorado, on the date of the killing, according to the affidavit.

Story here: https://www.denverpost.com/2023/12/30/broomfield-murder-charges-man-stalking-wife-impersonating/. So the doofus husband waged a campaign of stalking and harassment of his wife - impersonating her ex - from his own workplace internet connection. Thank goodness for criminals who aren't as smart as they think they are. 

And finally - I've been away and am catching up here - I had to wait to watch Let Us Prey until I was in the right headspace for it. I already knew more than I probably ever need to, about the Independent Fundamental Baptist churches, and this documentary delves right into the IFB world. I'm glad I did watch the show, and was so pleased that the survivors of IFB abuse were front and center and kinda loud and proud. 

Edited December 30, 2023 by Jeeves
formatting

[One Tough Cookie]

My husband ordered the Fatal Vision DVD for me and I can't 
Wait to watch it!

I'm reading about the Murdaugh murders--psycho narcissist in the extreme.  The guy thought he could talk his way out of everything--he thought he was the smartest person in the room. At all times.

And I'm calling bullshit that he was taking 120 hydros a day.  His stomach/intestines would have ruptured. 

[Annber03]

Good lord, @Jeeves, that story about the man who impersonated his wife's ex to stalk her before killing her. That's hideously creepy. 

 

[andromeda331]

4 hours ago, One Tough Cookie said:

My husband ordered the Fatal Vision DVD for me and I can't 
Wait to watch it!

I'm reading about the Murdaugh murders--psycho narcissist in the extreme.  The guy thought he could talk his way out of everything--he thought he was the smartest person in the room. At all times.

And I'm calling bullshit that he was taking 120 hydros a day.  His stomach/intestines would have ruptured. 

I'm amazed he thought that. Everything he said to the police when his wife and son were murdered made him look even more guilty.

[LuvMyShows]

On 12/30/2023 at 9:28 AM, Jeeves said:

And finally - I've been away and am catching up here - I had to wait to watch Let Us Prey until I was in the right headspace for it. I already knew more than I probably ever need to, about the Independent Fundamental Baptist churches, and this documentary delves right into the IFB world. I'm glad I did watch the show, and was so pleased that the survivors of IFB abuse were front and center and kinda loud and proud. 

I did not know specifically about the IFB world. Just awful, absolutely terrible. It got me curious about what the IFB churches are up to now. Apparently, there is a NIFB, which stands for New Independent Fundamental Baptist church.  Their website says the N, for New, is "because the 'Old IFB' got stuck in their backslidden, wicked ways". And yet, right beside that explanation is a picture that I guess shows 11 church leaders...and you don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out what gender the 11 people are. Yeah, "New" my a**.

[One Tough Cookie]

6 hours ago, LuvMyShows said:

ecause the 'Old IFB' got stuck in their backslidden, wicked ways".

Well, I USED to go to the Baptist Church until I walked in and the church was divided by a thick black sheet separating the men from the women.  That was a little too Fundie for me.

[One Tough Cookie]

On 12/30/2023 at 5:39 PM, andromeda331 said:

 

n/m wrong case!

Edited January 2 by One Tough Cookie

[One Tough Cookie]

Damn, I wrote a rather lengthy [post about the Anthony lie detector and the computer ate it..  Anyone else watch it?

[andromeda331]

Court TV has a series Betraying the Badge in one of the episodes a cop on the NYPD realizes that the mob (I don't remember which one)  was paying off a cop or cops to ignore their casinos. He decides to go to the FBI because he doesn't know who it is and worries if he talks to his captain who ever the dirty cop is will find out. Turns out it is his captain.

The captain's daughter is also interviewed and she's a piece of work. I get family members often have a hard time or refuse to believe their father could do any wrong. This one doesn't even care what her father did. The first thing she says how pissed she is that he went to the FBI and that if he was so unhappy with his job or the station he should transfered or quit. Ah, what? He wasn't unhappy with his job. He was doing his job by finding out who was taking bribes.  The next thing she says was how her father was not that bad of criminal and got mad how everyone portrayed him as one of the worse criminals. He was police captain who took bribes from the mob. You know the group of people who likes to murder people. Instead of doing his job. Hell, he could have called the FBI and got them arrested himself.

I turned it off at that point. I couldn't listen to her anymore. Some are delusional. This one really didn't care what her father did.

[LexieLily]

A new season of See No Evil starts on Wednesday January 10 at 8:00 p.m. Yay!

[One Tough Cookie]

Did anyone watch the Anthony Lie Detector test last week {I felt like I needed a shower afterwards}?  I wrote about length about it and it disappeared, but I would like anyone else's opinion.

I've said before that after seeing Casey's 3 part docu I came away thinking George had a large part in the whole sad situation.  Lee, her brother said George would dispose of dead pets in a garbage bag and--Cayley was--surprise, found in...you guessed it...a garbage bag.  No way are his hands clean in this matter.

Of course, they passed the test, they needed the money.  And, if you tell yourself for YEARS that you didn't do anything wrong, you probably could pass one, easy peasy. {see: Jeffrey MacDonald}

 

The whole family is, IMHO, FUCKED UP

thoughts?

[Pi237]

George was really odd. He had a hard time just answering yes or no to simple questions like-did you have anything to do with disposing of Caylee’s body? He yammered alot and said “I didn’t know where she was.” He paused for a long time before each answer. I wonder if they’re instructed to do that, or was it an attempt to calm his breathing? He also wouldnt stop tapping his feet, and this was After the questioner said, before he even took the test, that tapping your feet would affect the results. I felt he was doing it on purpose to get an ‘inconclusive’ result.  I was surprised he passed. I came away more suspicious of his involvement after this show.

I don’t know what to believe about the sexual abuse, but the way he talked about Caylee made my skin crawl. The smelling her wet skin, how they had a ‘different way of showing love’ he kept wanting to isolate their relationship as more special than the one she had with anyone else. Ok but it sounded romantic, not grandfatherly.  He kept saying he wanted to be with her not ‘I wish she was with Us.’  It was just Really weird. 
 

The dynamic in their marriage was strange, as well. I truly think Cindy doubted him. She was quick to say “I always believed you.” after he passed, but her face said different. She looked like she knew he failed.  They seemed to hate each other and she seemed very resentful toward him. Then, at the end it’s all love and we’ll always be there for each other. I can’t imagine the pressure and stress this whole thing has put on them, so perhaps I’m being unfair. But they both were just very odd people.  
 

Hope someday we hear from the brother. 

[One Tough Cookie]

Another thing:  she was taking anti-anxiety pills, which is something you shouldn't do as it can affect the results.  I think the two of them popped a few before the tests.

I wouldn't put anything past them.

 

[Grumpbump]

Latest episode of American Monster, "Success at any Cost", the storyteller is the older brother (Robert Jr) and he does not come across well at all.  I doubt that he ever really loved his brother or treated him with any basic kindness.  Not at all excusing what his brother (Richard) ultimately ended up doing, but clearly the kid had a lonely isolated childhood and an older brother who clearly disliked,resented, and was jealous of him.