Homicide Hunter: Lt. Joe Kenda - General Discussion

[editorgrrl]

"A statement is icing on the cake. But you already have the cake."

Edited September 6, 2014 by editorgrrl

[Null 302]

The murder of a furniture salesman is investigated.

 

 

[Writing Wrongs]

"If you want sympathy, look it up in the dictionary. It's between 'shit' and 'syphilis'." LOL Classic Kenda.

 

I wish they wouldn't put the dates of the cases up on the screen, because last night's was supposed to be in 1979 but all the people and cars looked like 2014. It distracts me.

[Captanne]

I think that they must give Kenda a fair amount of personal say in the show.  He doesn't aggrandize murder and the show doesn't, either.  It's refreshing -- and adds that sort of "Mickey Spillane" touch that Kenda has himself.  

 

ETA:  I'm also a friend of Bill's.

Edited September 11, 2014 by Captanne

[Null 302]

The corpse of Jamie Foster is found hidden under a blanket. But when Lt. Joe Kenda digs deeper, he discovers that Foster’s business put him in close quarters with a host of unsavory characters.

 

 

[MichelleAK]

Not surprised that the crackhead ex-girlfriend was the killer.  Also not surprised that the safe didn't contain tens of thousands of dollars. Was surprised that the forensics people didn't notice the divots in the carpet of the closet where the safe was, or the drag marks.  Of course, they may have been less obvious than they were in the recreation on the show, but still. 

 

I did feel for that poor woman who was test driving the car.  I would have been terrified!

[walnutqueen]

Well, my, my, my, Suz - you do know how to make my morning.   ;-)

[Null 302]

A war hero is beaten to death for no apparent reason. The crime scene offers few clues, but Lt Joe Kenda notices an unusual pattern in the victim’s head wounds and enlists a team of engineers to help him identify the murder weapon and crack the case.

 

 

[Captanne]

Those pictures are wonderful!!  :-)

[mojito]

 

Was surprised that the forensics people didn't notice the divots in the carpet of the closet where the safe was, or the drag marks.

I'm guessing that for drama's sake, the sequence of events is altered for this show. Probably annoys the crap out of Kenda, too, because it makes him and his co-workers like like the Keystone Cops. It seems that it took them awhile to consider the girlfriend. Didn't ring true.

[mojito]

In another life (and world), Joe Kenda and Lenny Briscoe (Law & Order) would've made a great team. Add them to that ME that Lenny was always swapping cracks with and you'd have a sarcasm fest.

 

My favorite Joe Kenda line so far was stated about a suspect whose mouth kept digging him a larger hole: "Christopher, I could kiss you on the mouth."

[tarragon918]

I watch this show with my daughter, who likes to try to figure out who the murderer is. This one had Joe stumped at first as to the murder weapon, but he went to the right folks for help. I had to chuckle at the first couple of guesses they gave him - he had no idea what they were talking about! Neither did I, for that matter! But as soon as they said the tire iron for a 1972 GM car, that sent his focus in the right direction. And it ended up pretty much as he had first envisioned the crime. I'm glad it wasn't the partner. But that poor guy! He was pretty much murdered, very brutally, for nothing. :( I love Lt. Joe Kenda, but I sure hope he's quit smoking, and that's coming from a former smoker.

[zxy556575]

I wish they wouldn't put the dates of the cases up on the screen, because last night's was supposed to be in 1979 but all the people and cars looked like 2014. It distracts me.

 

Was this the first time they showed one of the witnesses/suspects? I'm not sure how hearing from the wife in the present day added to the story, but seeing her so old now took me out of the show. I don't know why, because Kenda is young in the re-enactments, as are the other detectives, the newspeople, etc.

[editorgrrl]

Joe Kenda, regarding the possible murder weapon: "It's the leg from a surveyor's transit post. And I'm thinking, 'Who's gonna have one of those in their pocket in a bad neighborhood at one o'clock in the morning?' I don't think I'm looking for Mason and Dixon."

[walnutqueen]

Joe Kenda, regarding the possible murder weapon: "It's the leg from a surveyor's transit post. And I'm thinking, 'Who's gonna have one of those in their pocket in a bad neighborhood at one o'clock in the morning?' I don't think I'm looking for Mason and Dixon."

 

HEE!!!

 

Joe has such a way with words, doesn't he?  It's all in the inflection and deadpan delivery.

[editorgrrl]

"How powerful can jealousy be? More powerful than a thermonuclear explosion."

[walnutqueen]

"We did not bother to speak to Barney Davis, because if you do, somewhere between the Barney and the Davis he tells you to drop dead".

 

Classic Kenda!

[Null 302]

When a pregnant mother and her young sons are brutally slain, pressure mounts for the CSPD to catch the monster who did it. After a city-wide manhunt, Kenda begins to tighten the noose on a prime suspect, but what happens next will shock him to his core.

 

 

[Writing Wrongs]

I can't believe that stupid jury fell for that guy's "found Jesus" bullshit. Glad he got his in the end, though.

[Shriekingeel]

I was dying to know more about the circumstances of Jimmy the Monster getting defenestrated in NYC; the show devoted about a minute to it, and I wanted more. Was anyone ever arrested for it? Could it have been a revenge killing for one of his murders (either the Cisneros massacre or the earlier homicide)? Or did he just piss off the wrong person? Oh well, at least it made for a happy ending.

[Taylorh2]

Damn! I cant believe that guy was acquitted of the Cisneros murders. I wish Joe had said more about his murder in NY. I wonder if the cops even investigated it ? I hope that put as little effect into finding who threw him out that window and just went through the motions of looking.

 

I wonder if he jumped ?

[editorgrrl]

Damn! I cant believe that guy was acquitted of the Cisneros murders. I wish Joe had said more about his murder in NY. I wonder if the cops even investigated it ? I hope that put as little effect into finding who threw him out that window and just went through the motions of looking.

 

I don't think Joe Kenda would agree with you. From an August 2014 interview:

“There is nothing worse than violent murder,” he said. “People unfortunately often become participants in their own demise because of their lifestyle, because of people they associate with. There’s more of that this time [on the new season] than there has been in the past, of people who are perhaps doing something questionable, something maybe that’s even a little dangerous, and somebody killed them. But as a policeman you can’t make the decision, cannot make the decision about the importance or value of a victim. No one gets to play God—no one. So you investigate those as diligently as you do any other—from the truly innocent to the probably not so much.”

[mojito]

Maybe Jimmy was trying to fly home to Jesus, but forgot his key this time.

 

Poor Sisneros (I'm quite sure that's how the captions spelled it). Sounded as though he's had a rough time of it for 30+ years. I just wonder how the jury dismissed the blood and paint on the watch. But one thing I learned from being on a couple of juries: sometimes, your instructions from the judge can be extremely specific and can make you feel boxed in.

[Taylorh2]

Did he go out the window or through the it ? For safety reasons, I didn't think that windows that high up could be opened without a safety feature to prevent just this sort of thing from happening ?

Edited October 15, 2014 by Taylorh2

[Irritable]

I actually gasped and felt like I'd been punched in the gut when they said "Not guilty".  WTF???  No DNA yet, but they had pretty much everything else, including an eye witness that saw him letting himself into the apartment with the key his commonlaw wife was missing.  Back then, eye witnesses were hugely important.  All the evidence fit.  If this was a case like Casey Anthony where they were being told to make a decision based on narrow requirements that they just couldn't make work, then I feel bad for the jurors, because that had to be awful for them and I'll bet they had trouble sleeping at night after that mess.

 

If only every monster who walked free found themselves not bouncing so good after a long fall down to concrete.  I think Kenda included this in the series because it was a powerful, emotional and shocking case that ended up being a stain on the record of the justice system, not him.  He got his man, but the system failed to keep that man imprisoned.

[Captanne]

I saw the "not guilty" coming -- there has to be at least one, right?

 

As a former litigator, one of my problems with "outrage" when we're told by television (or the media in general) about lawsuits that turn out in a surprising way is that, usually, we simply don't have all the facts.  It's been -- to some extent -- spun by the storyteller to get the "gasp" response he or she is looking for.  Lots of fist shaking and righteous indignation -- but without the whole story.  We don't know what those jurors heard.  (FOX News makes its billions doing exactly this -- lots of "the sky is falling" without the whole accurate story.  I don't care about them politically -- they can say what they please, macht nicht to me -- but their pearl-clutching without the whole story gets boring.)

 

So, I reserve judgment on the jury in this case.  However, as presented to us by the show, it did look like a mistake on their part.

Edited October 16, 2014 by Captanne

[Null 302]

When a mother is killed, Lt Joe Kenda wonders if it’s a robbery gone wrong, until a slew of hateful messages surface. Then, patrols discover a body on a roadway after an evident hit-and-run, but the victim’s true cause of death turns the case on its head.

 

 

[Shriekingeel]

Was this the first one that had two different unrelated cases in it?

Both were pretty straightforward, but were redeemed by extra special Lt. Joe snark (the blood fairy!).

[walnutqueen]

I'll listen to Joe Kenda reading the phonebook (why do they still throw those things onto my porch?).  So I wish he'd expand any of his stories like that stoopid Dateline 2-fucking-wasted-hours show does.   But I applaud the "No BS" style of telling a story simply and succinctly; Kenda knows how to do that very well. 

 

I get the feeling Joe knows that anyone who enjoys hurting animals should not walk among us.  I concur.

 

He always seems to have such compassion for victims, especially the young witnesses/relatives; yet another trait that leads me to believe he's one of the white hats. 

 

Suicide by a lucky frontal lobe small cal shot = ability to drive to the grave you'll dig for yourself.  Who knew?  :-)

[TattleTeeny]

I love learning little personal details about Joe. He doesn't care about food so he always orders a #1!

[mojito]

 

So I wish he'd expand any of his stories like that stoopid Dateline 2-fucking-wasted-hours show does.

I hate those shows with the interviewers like Paula Zahn. "So that must've made you feel terrible." Yep, she felt pretty lousy when her husband was murdered. They just state the obvious and are so darned cloying,  or Dateline draaaaaaags out a story by repeating the storyline and then breaking for a commercial.

 

I like getting a two-fer of Joe's stories.

 

And TattleTeeny, I envy him for not caring about food.

[technorebel]

This one was so sad.  It was obvious that James was trouble just based on his behaviour to the female tenants in that apartment building.  I wonder if any of them had complained about him to the building manager because he should have been fired based on that alone, and maybe Mrs. Cisneros and her children would still be alive.  The fact that this pervert murdered the children as well is particularly disturbing.  I'm glad he got what he deserved...a little rough justice.

 

Shriekingeel, I love you for using "defenestrated"!

[Null 302]

A father is shot in the head just steps from a strip club. When Lt Joe Kenda traces the victim’s last hours, the field of potential suspects grows, but no one will talk. The case is halted until Kenda uncovers a conspiracy organized by an unlikely gunman.

 

 

[Null 302]

When a squabble at a store turns violent, Raymond Archuleta steps in to help- only to be stabbed through the heart. Lt Joe Kenda must solve the case with little evidence besides a bloody bouquet, and a sketch of the mystery woman last seen holding them.

 

 

 

[Wiishtrh]

I bet his brother feels guilty as sin, even though of course he didn't mean for that to happen. Just shows why you should never get bats**t drunk.

[Wiishtrh]

Man, after this one and the episode after it, I'm gonna be careful with my drinking, lol. Too bad she offed herself before she went to trial. He was acting like an idiot but he didn't deserve death.

[auntjess]

I agree, and maybe it's just for TV, but I at least expected to hear that William felt responsible (which he was) for getting his brother into the fight.

[Null 302]

A rookie detective takes on an "unsolvable" case.

 

 

 

[Irritable]

I enjoyed this episode very much.  Finally got to see some pictures of Joe from early in his career, hooray!  It really is quite something that he was able to get his man using only that bracelet, and I love that he got to cut his teeth and succeed on a case that the old codgers would have just shrugged off, making them look like the lazy quitters they were.  It's more than a little upsetting that they were all ready to give up on day one...those victims deserved better than that, and I'm glad they had Joe to solve the case, but it makes you wonder how many attacks such as this are shrugged off because the detectives don't believe they are worth putting in the work to solve stranger-on-stranger crime.  I hope that was more of a problem in the 70's than it is today.  And am I wrong, or was the shooter smiling in that photo that was taken for the newspaper, as he was being handcuffed by one young Detective Kenda?  I would have sworn he actually posed for that picture, like it was for the paparazzi.

 

Another classic line from Joe: "She said the guy was a real asshole.  Well what do you know, I'm looking for one of those!"

 

I'm so sad the season is already over, but look forward to Season 3.

[andromeda331]

"She said the guy was a real asshole.  Well what do you know, I'm looking for one of those!"

 

 

That was awesome.

 

I'm not sure what disturbed me more how fast the other detectives gave up on the case or how easily one could walk around the hospital like that without getting stopped. Good thing he was a cop and not say, the criminal showing up to finish off the victims. Here's hoping both of those don't happen anymore. When Kenda was listing cities that could do engraving I'm surprised he didn't list Manitou Springs as possible its closer then both Denver and Pueblo with God only knows how many jewelry stories. 

 

I kind of think Kenda should have bragged a little more about solving the case. Not only did he do it when no one else could be bothered to do a little extra work, he solved it in five days. 

[Taylorh2]

OMG!!! I was rolling when they showed the actual pictures of Joe at the end. He was a fat nerd in bad 70's clothes. He looked nothing like the *HOT* guy that they have playing him for this show. Hahahaha.

[Deianeira]

I'm sad that the season is over already, but that was a great closer.  I loved that he saw what he wanted to do, went for it full-on, succeeded against all odds, and proved his naysayers wrong.

 

And yes, the asshole quote, the photos from the 70s, and the contrast to the flashback actor are all hilarious!

[editorgrrl]

[zxy556575]

How old is Joe, anyway? I always thought early 70s or thereabout. The detective who said he knew Kenda from his first day on the job looked about 10 years younger than Joe, though.

[cattykit]

I just would never have thought about Joe ever being anything other than THE Lt Joe Kenda, homicide supersleuth.  Was great to see how he got his foot in the door. 

 

However, according to this, he actually solved his first murder in 1973.  So it's confused I am.

[Irritable]

How old is Joe, anyway? I always thought early 70s or thereabout. The detective who said he knew Kenda from his first day on the job looked about 10 years younger than Joe, though.

 

 

Joe being such a heavy smoker for most, if not all, of his adult life could be why the other detective looks younger but might still be around the same age.  If there was ever a career that calls for smoking, I can't think of anything that qualifies more highly than homicide detective, so even though I am very much a non-smoker myself and get super pissed whenever someone's smoke finds its way to the air I have to breathe into my own lungs, I give a heeeyuge pass to Joe Kenda and his ilk.  The horrific things they see, the gut-wrenching notifications they have to make to families, it's a wonder they don't all drink themselves to death, honestly.  If smoking was his only true vice, color me impressed, although it certainly doesn't make me happy that cancer is likely going to be what takes such a strong man down - but, he probably figures it's going to be something eventually, and it's better than being murdered .  I can't imagine the toll that work takes on a person, and Joe managed to do it for decades and still maintain what, to my very limited knowledge, appeared to be a happy and normal family life.  Truly remarkable. 

[mojito]

I like seeing how many seventies touches they are unable to make, given their probably small budget (I'm sure it's not a case of missing these touches, it's a matter of economics). I ignore the cars, that's just too costly, using vintage cars.  This episode had me asking, were people wearing blue latex gloves back then? Or dialing 911?

 

Agree about the heavy smoker. Also, he might have been a heavy drinker, too.  I'm learning with time, how all these teetotalers I've been meeting of late (older men) are actually in recovery. JUST THINKING ALOUD, NOT PASSING ANYTHING OFF AS FACT. To me, he looks like he's been rode pretty hard. Not necessarily old looking, just kind of hard looking. I think he's 68.

[editorgrrl]

How old is Joe, anyway? I always thought early 70s or thereabout. The detective who said he knew Kenda from his first day on the job looked about 10 years younger than Joe, though.

 

According to this article from his hometown paper, Joe Kenda is 68 years old.

 

I just would never have thought about Joe ever being anything other than THE Lt Joe Kenda, homicide supersleuth.  Was great to see how he got his foot in the door. 

 

However, according to this, he actually solved his first murder in 1973.  So it's confused I am.

 

I think Diablo magazine got the year wrong. That case was featured in Season 3, Episode 8: "Blood Red Highway." The link I posted above (from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) gibes with the timeline as presented in "My First Case":

Mr. Kenda, a 1964 graduate of Greensburg [Pennsylvania] Central Catholic and a 1968 graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, moved to his mother's hometown, Colorado Springs, Colo., in 1973 and joined the local police department. He retired after more than two decades as a detective in 1996.

Edited November 20, 2014 by editorgrrl

[editorgrrl]

Yes, Carl Marino is pretty. But bless him, he can't act. (And he's right-handed, whilst Joe is a lefty.)

 

[auntjess]

I sympathized with him as a "college" kid.
My first summer job after my first year, was behind a drug store soda fountain, with women who did that year round to support themselves.
I really had to prove that I was hard worker, before I was accepted.
I did wonder about getting that warrant without (seemingly) having the witnesses pick out the guy's mugshot.