General True Crime Shows

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Jeeves said:

Is that the case of Barbara Bentley, who married John Perry? http://www.nbcnews.com/id/31130493/ns/dateline_nbc-crime_reports/t/dance-devil/#.V8RGQZMrK5Q I don't remember a pegnoir photo, but her lipstick was very red. 

Yes. That's her name.

The picture is shown sometime after her lamenting the disappointment of being married in Tijuana (because she thought they'd have some hoopty-doo wedding) with no family or friends.  It was taken in their honeymoon suite (very elaborate) and she was posed with one hand on the mantel of the fireplace looking seductively into the camera.   With a whole lot of red lipstick.

And I just remembered another photo from her wedding night.  She's facing the fireplace and looking even more seductively over her left shoulder to the camera. 

Thinking of that prompts me to add a new question - who takes a formal picture on their wedding night dressed in a peignoir showing off their rear end?  (anyone named Kardashian is disqualified from answering this).  And by formal picture I mean one that is printed as an 8 x 10 and framed. 

Edited August 29, 2016 by PsychoKlown

[tobeannounced]

Wow, y'all are chatty today!  So I have to give Paula Zahn props for her season premier last night.  Amazingly, it wasn't a story about how a BEAUTIFUL girl was murdered back in the day and the case went cold and was solved by the miracle of DNA a million years later.  It was a story I had never heard about and was quite engrossing as I had no idea how it would end.  She actually seemed to be pretty engaged as well.  Good job, Paula.

[millennium]

7 hours ago, auntjess said:

I watched some of the Greystone one, but bailed fairly early.  I'd recorded it thinking it was about Grey Gardens and Jackie's crazy relatives.
 

90% of the show is devoted to the murder of Ned Doheny (son of California oil baron Ed Doheny, a model for the Daniel Day Lewis character in There Will Be Blood).   But where it starts to get freaky is in the last 10 minutes.  Incidents that seem to be more than just chance.

[ButterQueen]

9 hours ago, PsychoKlown said:

Let me just say Butterqueen that if I see the Dateline episode one more time with the lady whose husband had this whole big scam of a military background complete with paintings by Red Skelton (!), VIP tours of super-secret ships and briefcases filled with prescription bottles I will bang my head on the coffee table. 

One other thing about this - and it might have already be mentioned somewhere in this thread (possibly even by Brattinella) but who in the heck poses in front of a fireplace in their wedding night peignoir for a formal picture?  Who does that?  I didn't.  And even if I did do you think I'd give that photo to the Dateline producers to show the whole world?   And another complaint is the "victims" jammy lipstick.  It's clownlike.  It got to the point I wasn't watching the episode as much as I was watching her lipstick move.

If I saw the episode once or twice I probably wouldn't have mentioned it but I swear that episode had more showings than Mousetrap. 

HaHa!!

For me, it's the Gainesville love triangle where the girlfriend tells the story and the twins who killed their mother.

Edited August 29, 2016 by ButterQueen

[auntjess]

Don't know if it was on Dateline, but I've seen this twice in the past month, and see it on a schedule again.
R O C.
Forget the initials, dammit, and figure who ate the pizza!

[millennium]

7 hours ago, AKraven said:

Speaking of The Vanishing Women:  Is that the longest running series in the history of series?!  I didn't realize it was still on until I saw ID promoting the finale.

I lasted about twenty minutes into the first episode before my interest vanished. 

[TaraS1]

On 8/25/2016 at 2:42 PM, PsychoKlown said:

Apologies to the moderator if this is considered stupidity-shaming but that's exactly what I intended. 

I'm of the opinion that some things should be shamed.  Stupidity is one of them.

9 hours ago, AKraven said:

Speaking of The Vanishing Women:  Is that the longest running series in the history of series?!  I didn't realize it was still on until I saw ID promoting the finale.

Right?  When I saw the commercial for the new episodes, I thought, "Still?  We're still trying to find out who killed our gurls?"

[editorgrrl]

9 hours ago, AKraven said:

Speaking of The Vanishing Women:  Is that the longest running series in the history of series?!  I didn't realize it was still on until I saw ID promoting the finale.

http://www.chillicothegazette.com/story/news/2016/08/18/the-vanishing-women-finale-airs-chillicothe-aug-29/88957176/

Quote

Producers delayed the final episode to help provide closure to one family—that of Timberly Claytor—as the trial for Jason McCrary, later convicted on a murder charge, loomed.

The series, the first of its kind for Investigation Discovery, filmed in Chillicothe beginning earlier in the year and continuing intermittently through late July.

[Brattinella]

It turned into a droning kind of soporific as time went on.  I still feel bad for the poor girls who were murdered, but what a boring,  disjointed presentation it was.  The best part was the song by Amy Stroup.

[NewDigs]

Just (re) watched the Dateline episode about tech-millionaire John McAfee. He was on the run after a neighbor was shot to death in Belize. When he was finally found in Guatemala rather than sending him back to Belize for questioning he was sent to the US. Where nothing happened re: the murder in Belize.

This guy always struck me as a smarmy lying POS so I googled to see if justice was ever served in the death of Greg Faull. It would appear this lying glib faker has maybe gotten away with murder.

But wait! There's more. 

"My most prominent act of civil disobedience occurred in Belize, when I refused to be extorted by the government. This led to a series of events that to this day, no fictional movie has matched."

Civil disobedience!?!? 

The mind, it reels.

[Brattinella]

Truly.  McAfee is a scumbucket.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Brattinella said:

The best part was the song by Amy Stroup.

Yeah.  The stuff of my nightmares.  LOL

[LexieLily]

Cry Wolfe annoyed me again tonight. The girl is a legal adult, hasn't been your foster child for sixteen years so you don't have legal custody of her, and the foster parents only had an "off and on relationship" with her since she was eight. This young woman has no obligation to tell you what is going on with her, how dare you hire a private investigator to track her down when you hadn't talked to her in two days?!

And, to top it all of, your stupid investigating actually ends up bringing danger to her, because her boyfriend guy has to play keep away from your P.I because he's trying to hide her away from her birth mother that wants to kill her!

Edited September 1, 2016 by LexieLily

[Christina]

I came across a show on OWN that I had never seen before. It is called It Takes a Killer and is 30 minutes long. I was familiar with the case in the first episode I watched, but not the second. I'm sure it eventually will cover the same shows as Dateline, 20/20, 48 Hours, Snapped, etc., since they all seem to cover the same cases. 

[auntjess]

I just realized that there are 3 JonBenet shows or series, CBS, A&E, and ID.
They've already made a forum for Case of JonBenet... here.
I'll probably skip them all, but is that going to make it harder, for those who watch all, and want to compare and contrast?
I don't ususally like to watch cases I've seen so much coverage on at the time.

[zxy556575]

20 minutes ago, auntjess said:

I don't ususally like to watch cases I've seen so much coverage on at the time.

I can't with Jon Benet any more. Despite the various claims of "Solved!", there's no definitive answer and it's just more spinning of wheels to me. But I trust the rest of you will let us abstainers know if anything amazing is revealed!  :)

[Brattinella]

Have we discussed Paula Zahn's creepy, buffed-out, blurred-out features yet?  She looks like a ghost!

[auntjess]

On ‎8‎/‎30‎/‎2016 at 11:10 AM, NewDigs said:

Just (re) watched the Dateline episode about tech-millionaire John McAfee.

 

On ‎8‎/‎30‎/‎2016 at 0:59 PM, Brattinella said:

McAfee is a scumbucket.

Forget it.  Not switching back to Norton, and I get McAfee free because I still keep an AOL account. 
 

[tobeannounced]

I can't remember which ID show covered the Jacob Wetterling case, but it is one I will never forget.  One of the early "persons of interest" in the case led authorities to his body recently, 27 years later.  This is a very informative article about the case.

[Brattinella]

I am so glad they finally found him.  At last his family can have a burial.

[auntjess]

I assume it's an anniversary.  I didn't watch any of the OJ ones on that anniversary.
I did watch a Brad Bishop one, though, because ir seems like he's been almost caught, but gets away again.

[tobeannounced]

12 hours ago, auntjess said:

I assume it's an anniversary.  I didn't watch any of the OJ ones on that anniversary.
I did watch a Brad Bishop one, though, because ir seems like he's been almost caught, but gets away again.

It will be 20 years Christmas Day.

[Brattinella]

Watching Killer Instinct with Chris Hanson.  He really shows his bias when he says, of a shotgun, "It is a wild and unpredictable weapon".  Get another host who knows something about guns, please?

[LexieLily]

Just saw a commercial for a new season of True Nightmares starting next month. I liked that one!

[Guest]

On ‎9‎/‎4‎/‎2016 at 10:45 PM, Brattinella said:

Have we discussed Paula Zahn's creepy, buffed-out, blurred-out features yet?  She looks like a ghost!

Brattinella!! My husband calls it the "Liz Taylor lens".  Her White Diamonds commercial that pops up around the holidays just frosts him.  As soon as I hear the music I know he's going to say (in this order) "She's been dead for fifty years."  Then after a couple of beats "They must have smeared a whole gallon of Vaseline on that lens" and by this time I've stopped listening because he starts talking about something with Barbara Walters and a vat of Vaseline. 

Anyway.  Yes.  I agree and I will be charitable when I say Paula Zahn's features are vague.   I apologize for the veering off of subject but the holidays are coming and I need to prepare myself for my dh's editorial comments. 

Edited September 7, 2016 by PsychoKlown

[Brattinella]

1 minute ago, PsychoKlown said:

Brattinella!! My husband calls it the "Liz Taylor lens".  Her White Diamonds commercial that pops up around the holidays just frosts him.  As soon as I hear the music I know he's going to say (in this order) "She's been dead for fifty years."  Then after a couple of beats "They must have smeared a whole gallon of Vaseline on that lens" and by this time I've stopped listening because he starts talking about something with Barbara Walters and a vat of Vaseline. 

Anyway.  Yes.  I agree and I will be charitable when I say Paula Zahn's features are vague.   I apologize for the veering off of subject but the holidays are coming and I need to prepare myself for my dh's editorial comments. 

ROFL!  He sounds just like I do regarding the lens and the gallon of Vaseline!  I actually did an image search of Paula Zahn last night, and she has had QUITE a bit of facial work done.  Some of her older pictures (2006, maybe 2008) don't even resemble her today.

[auntjess]

Quote

and by this time I've stopped listening because he starts talking about something with Barbara Walters and a vat of Vaseline

Wasn't that first used for Doris Day? 
 

[Guest]

25 minutes ago, auntjess said:

Wasn't that first used for Doris Day? 
 

auntjess.  Is there a Doris Day thread?  I would love to spill my guts on that show.  Remember the fashion show?

She had the same lens and tried to pass 'the look" off as a youthful, dewey look. 

Yeah right.  And I'm a 23 year old model who's going to Monte Carlo with Leonardo DiCaprio tomorrow. 

Edited September 7, 2016 by PsychoKlown

[KellsBells]

I'm watching a Swamp Murders episode that first aired on August 16 (I hadn't seen it yet) and it's crazy. The girl was missing for two weeks before her mom and boyfriend went to the police. The mom was a mailperson who handed out flyers for two weeks to her customers. When she finally went to report her daughter missing she said she would never have left her child -- and yet it took her two weeks to come to that realization?? I hope if I ever disappear my family takes things just a bit more seriously quite a bit more quickly. 

Also, it's nice to see so much activity here. I've been out of town and not watching television, so am planning to catch up on my ID shows. 

[Brattinella]

Oh, MAN, I'm watching "Cry Wolfe".  There is NOTHING ELSE ON.  I can't stand this guy, his delivery, he is just awful.

[Court]

Is the Chris Hanson show worth watching?

[KellsBells]

16 minutes ago, Brattinella said:

Oh, MAN, I'm watching "Cry Wolfe".  There is NOTHING ELSE ON.  I can't stand this guy, his delivery, he is just awful.

Can't stand that show. I'm actually watching the news, which is more terrifying than any ID show. Think I'll switch over to Modern Family reruns. 

[auntjess]

40 minutes ago, Court said:

Is the Chris Hanson show worth watching?

I liked the Yale one,  which used surveillance video, a plus for me.

[TaraS1]

On 9/4/2016 at 11:15 PM, tobeannounced said:

I can't remember which ID show covered the Jacob Wetterling case, but it is one I will never forget.  One of the early "persons of interest" in the case led authorities to his body recently, 27 years later.  This is a very informative article about the case.

I want to think that I first heard about Jacob's case years and years ago on 20/20 and, like you, it's one that has always stuck with me.  Probably because of the incredible strength of his parents, especially his mother.  I was heartbroken and relieved for her at the same time when I heard his remains had been found.  I can't imagine the strength it took for her and the rest of Jacob's family to sit there and listen to that animal tell them what he did to Jacob.

And another 20/20 episode that ID repeats a lot that's also stuck with me for years is the disappearance of Jodi Huisentruit, the young news anchor from Iowa who was abducted/disappeared in the mid-90s and has never been found.

13 hours ago, Brattinella said:

Oh, MAN, I'm watching "Cry Wolfe".  There is NOTHING ELSE ON.  I can't stand this guy, his delivery, he is just awful.

There has to be something else!  Anything!

[editorgrrl]

From the JonBenet Ramsey thread:

15 hours ago, Sarah D. Bunting said:

You can always come on over to the-blotter.com to talk non-TV true-crime properties. We're up all night. :)

 

20 minutes ago, TattleTeeny said:

Ohhh? (< Said like Keith Morrison.) Here I come!

My, my, my! </Joe Kenda voice> Me, too!

[TattleTeeny]

Haha, Keith Morrison makes me laugh! What the hell is that inflection? It seems almost inappropriate!

But Joe Kenda--that voice, that snark. Love him.

[Maizie131]

Re:  Cry Wolfe.  Hey, hey, hey, you guys!  There’s "definitely some kinda shenanigans goin’ on" (love that line of his!) if you don't think Brian Wolfe is a pretty damn good private investigator.  Did anyone watch the 2 episodes last nite?  Very entertaining with realistic, shocking outcomes in both.  Of course it's all re-enacted - it has to be.  Although I've never been a big fan of Boston accents (my apologies to anyone from MA!), there's just something about the guy I really like.  Anyhow, let the mud-slinging begin...

I know this is the wrong forum (sorry Mods), but I wanna thank Auntjess for letting me know about the documentary "Grey Gardens,"  starring 2 of Jackie O's bat-shit crazy relatives.  Anyone else catch that the other night?  I can't even recall what channel it was on, but talk about entertaining!  OMG!

[auntjess]

Mazie131, it's on U-verse on demand for another week, TCM, and I found out it's on youtube.
Lots of things on google about it, and the people.}
Glad you liked it. 
Would it be eligible for a one-off in the http://forums.previously.tv/forum/937-specials-tv-movies-other-one-offs/ ?
(NO IT WAS NOT.)
Topic created in movies.

OK, I've made a topic.  Have no clue how to move anything, but it's not a bad idea to have something for people who might not otherwise see it.
 

Edited September 7, 2016 by auntjess

[millennium]

I'm having difficulty feeling empathy for some of the victims on these shows.

I just watched Forbidden Love I'd Die for You (or some shit like that).   It starts with the victim's mother saying what a "sweet girl" her daughter was, a "loving mother" before we discover that this sweet, loving mother was imprisoned on a charge of assault with malicious wounding, a crime she co-perpetrated with one of her boyfriends.

Sweetie goes off to jail and immediately falls in love with the first prison guard who comes along.   The relationship is discovered by prison officials, he loses his job, she marries him anyway and discovers afterward that he is a controlling and abusive mama's boy who treats her like a prisoner in her own home. 

Hello?  He was a PRISON GUARD.  You met when you were an INMATE.   What did you expect?

She leaves him and instantly takes up with another guy.   Mr. Prison Guard comes along, kills her in a fit of possessiveness and jealousy, then kills himself.  Tragic, but there were so many points in this story where just one better choice could have prevented it all.   "I have a child to think about, so I'm not going to maliciously wound someone" or "I have a child to think about, so I'm just going to do my 18-month spin, be on my best behavior, and get back to my kid" or "My little girl is more important to me than all these guys I'm getting involved with."  

I felt bad for the daughter left behind, but the rest just left me with a deep sense of hopelessness. 

Edited September 8, 2016 by millennium

[NewDigs]

51 minutes ago, millennium said:

I'm having difficulty feeling empathy for some of the victims on these shows.

I just watched Forbidden Love I'd Die for You (or some shit like that).   It starts with the victim's mother saying what a "sweet girl" her daughter was, a "loving mother" before we discover that this sweet, loving mother was imprisoned on a charge of assault with malicious wounding, a crime she co-perpetrated with one of her boyfriends.

Sweetie goes off to jail and immediately falls in love with the first prison guard who comes along.   The relationship is discovered by prison officials, he loses his job, she marries him anyway and discovers afterward that he is a controlling and abusive mama's boy who treats her like a prisoner in her own home. 

Hello?  He was a PRISON GUARD.  You met when you were an INMATE.   What did you expect?

She leaves him and instantly takes up with another guy.   Mr. Prison Guard comes along, kills her in a fit of possessiveness and jealousy, then kills himself.  Tragic, but there were so many points in this story where just one better choice could have prevented it all.   "I have a child to think about, so I'm not going to maliciously wound someone" or "I have a child to think about, so I'm just going to do my 18-month spin, be on my best behavior, and get back to my kid" or "My little girl is more important to me than all these guys I'm getting involved with."  

I felt bad for the daughter left behind, but the rest just left me with a deep sense of hopelessness. 

And I have difficulty blaming the victims. 

Sure, some victims could have acted in a less confrontational manner. Doesn't mean they should be killed. Or deserve to die. Imho

[millennium]

28 minutes ago, NewDigs said:

And I have difficulty blaming the victims. 

Sure, some victims could have acted in a less confrontational manner. Doesn't mean they should be killed. Or deserve to die. Imho

I never blamed anyone.  Nor did I say anyone deserved to be killed.  Or accused anyone of being "confrontational."

But while we're on the subject, if a man solicits a prostitute in a bad part of town and gets robbed and beaten by her pimp, does he share none of the blame for the outcome?   What if he contracts HIV?   Not his fault?   If another person gets wasted at a bar, climbs into a car and smashes into a tree (or worse, into another driver), is that person blameless?  

Bad choices can lead to bad outcomes.   It's an inescapable fact of life.

I said I have difficulty empathizing with the victims on some of these shows because they make bad choices. 

You translated that into "blaming."

Edited September 8, 2016 by millennium

[KellsBells]

I just watched an episode of the show "Betrayed," although I think it started a couple of weeks ago. It's the same format as the older "Stolen Voices, Buried Secrets," but not as well done. They dragged it out to an hour and it's a bit like watching paint dry. Has anyone else seen any of this show? What do you think? 

Oh, and I forgot to add, that Janet Walsh story happened right near where I lived for years. It was HUGE news when the guy was finally identified so many years later, and the surprise of who he was. 

[Brattinella]

2 minutes ago, KellsBells said:

I just watched an episode of the show "Betrayed," although I think it started a couple of weeks ago. It's the same format as the older "Stolen Voices, Buried Secrets," but not as well done. They dragged it out to an hour and it's a bit like watching paint dry. Has anyone else seen any of this show? What do you think? 

Oh, and I forgot to add, that Janet Walsh story happened right near where I lived for years. It was HUGE news when the guy was finally identified so many years later, and the surprise of who he was. 

SO many of these shows on ID are like watching paint dry.  I dunno, maybe I am just jaded.

[millennium]

19 minutes ago, KellsBells said:

I just watched an episode of the show "Betrayed," although I think it started a couple of weeks ago. It's the same format as the older "Stolen Voices, Buried Secrets," but not as well done. They dragged it out to an hour and it's a bit like watching paint dry. Has anyone else seen any of this show? What do you think? 

Oh, and I forgot to add, that Janet Walsh story happened right near where I lived for years. It was HUGE news when the guy was finally identified so many years later, and the surprise of who he was. 

 Oh God, I just sat through this.   I fell asleep twice.

17 minutes ago, Brattinella said:

SO many of these shows on ID are like watching paint dry.  I dunno, maybe I am just jaded.

The tedium is off the charts.

[KellsBells]

1 hour ago, Brattinella said:

SO many of these shows on ID are like watching paint dry.  I dunno, maybe I am just jaded.

Or they're just so poorly done that no one can stay interested. 

[ratgirlagogo]

On 9/6/2016 at 9:14 PM, auntjess said:

Wasn't that first used for Doris Day? 

No, it goes back to very early in the movies, even for actresses like the Gish sisters who were in their teens and early twenties when it was used.  Literally could not begin to even come up with a list of examples, it was so commonly done.

[editorgrrl]

ID is jumping on the bandwagon with a three-part special, JonBenét: An American Murder Mystery, starting this Monday, Sept. 12, at 10 p.m.

Upcoming projects include Bookshots, a six-part series written by James Patterson, and Black and Blue, an hourlong special about police affairs and race relations: http://variety.com/2016/tv/news/investigation-discovery-jon-benet-ramsey-1201827995/

[auntjess]

I'm going to assume that if it really is solved, I'll read  about it either here, or in the paper.

[KellsBells]

As Joe Kenda said: even if they actually figure out whodunit, there's no way to get a conviction because the crime scene was so compromised. 

[auntjess]

When the solved Jack the Ripper, it was very anti-clilmatic, and they're still arguing after the DNA test.