Homicide Hunter: Lt. Joe Kenda - General Discussion

[mojito]

My first jobs were in a career where most of the employees were men without degrees and boy, did I make many of them uncomfortable. I think it was more about them seeing the writing on the wall, that this career would require degrees from people, and these guys were running scared. The good old boy day was over and employers were beginning to use degrees as minimal requirements. Some 20 years after I started my career, I was working with a geezer who, almost every time I talked to him, was somehow sneaking his not needing a degree into conversation. Talk about protesting too much.

 

I think Joe got the warrant based on meticulously-documented circumstantial evidence. One victim stating that he'd pulled off the man's bracelet was a very good start. The rest fell into place nicely.

Edited November 21, 2014 by mojito

[bubbls]

Oh that pic of Young Joe is great! He looks like Dave Grohl in Learning to Fly. 

[GoRunner]

Words cannot express how much I enjoyed this episode. :) I enjoy them all, but it was so interesting to hear about his first case, and how he overcame the objections of the "old guard" and proved them wrong. How he took so much time and put in such effort with a case they deemed unsolvable. And he nailed it! I also loved all the little humorous touches, like the kind of tense "wild west" face-off music that would play when he'd encounter one of the old guard. I kept expecting to hear the theme from "The Good The Bad and The Ugly. :)

 

And there's just something about him to me, that makes him very handsome, both when he was younger, and even now. All that cragginess and wear has its own appeal. Plus, he has a great smile. And it seems like the smile always came fairly easy to him, even with all he has seen...

Edited November 24, 2014 by GoRunner

[auntjess]

I saw a few episodes today on Discovery channel, the plain one, not the fit & health or science.

[andromeda331]

Did anyone see the new episode? I thought it was pretty good. Kenda was back to his funny comments like

the one he made about the witness seeing the murder climbing on top of her car. If I was her I don't

think I would have gotten out of the car even if he left. She didn't know if he left for good or what. I think

I would have speed to a safe place or even the police station then letting them know about the guy lying in

the street.

[BBDi]

The next season starts on August 18. Apologies if you've already seen that, but I saw it on Facebook and was all "Squeeee!!!" over it.

 

(I know. But please don't tell me to act my age even that's what you're thinking. I'm in my late 60's and by this age way too many people are dead. I don't want to act dead until absolutely necessary.)

I love your avatar, Suz.

Last year my 21 year old daughter and I discovered that we had independently become big HH fans. I just love Joe. So does she. Now she's got a Joe Kenda calendar and the mug that says "I know when I'm being lied to."

I thought this week's episode was pretty good. Glad real Joe Kenda acknowledged that he's left -handed. Too bad Faux Joe isn't.

[Null 302]

A horrendous crime scene leads to an unexpected killer; and a soldier's apparent suicide is investigated.

[TattleTeeny]

I would have liked more on that eye business! I mean, ugh--I hate, hate, hate eye injuries on TV, but information was warranted in this case! Why in the hell is that what she did? And how, exactly? She went beyond the standard self-defense-class gouge and scooped those fuckers out, man! And put them in his mouth! She was not a career killer and--as far as we know, at least--had no serious issues aside from booze abuse and being a pain-in-the-ass tenant. How does someone opt for that as opposed to a knee to the groin or a slap in the face? What is in this chick's history that summoned a reaction that seems more like something you'd see with a most-wanted serial murderer that people are still reading about 30 years after?

Edited August 26, 2015 by TattleTeeny

[Yokosmom]

Obviously, if you are going to commit a murder, Colorado is the place to be.  Only 16 years for the eye gouger (and WTF--she put his eyeballs in his MOUTH?!!!) and 4 months for the jealous bitch girlfriend, though I suppose that was a military judge and not a civil one.

Forgot to add, that the poor victim was probably one of the only people in history to choke to death on his own eyeball.

[MichelleAK]

Wow, that eye case was a real "aaaggghhhh!" for me.  Eye injuries really freak me out. And I agree; what would make someone go that far?  Was she on something more than alcohol?  Just bizarre.

 

I missed the outcome of the second case, since I fell asleep (I just got back from an overseas trip, and the jet lag is--not good).  I assume the girlfriend actually shot him?

[TattleTeeny]

She did; it was not a particularly intriguing case but the Joes--real and faux--were as fabulous as usual.

[sereion1]

I wish there a seperate forum for quotes; because I tell you, he certaintly has a way with words, and his deadpan delivery make it even more awesome!

[Jaded]

I wish there a separate forum for quotes; because I tell you, he certainty has a way with words, and his deadpan delivery make it even more awesome!

You can start a thread just for that.

[zxy556575]

Obviously, if you are going to commit a murder, Colorado is the place to be.  Only 16 years for the eye gouger (and WTF--she put his eyeballs in his MOUTH?!!!) and 4 months for the jealous bitch girlfriend, though I suppose that was a military judge and not a civil one.

 

I was a slack-jawed yokel when I heard that 4-month sentence! Stumbling drunk or not, she took a gun, killed her boyfriend with it, then lied, lied, lied. I also wondered about the family friend who unintentionally started the argument just by mentioning the ex-girlfriend. I was imagining how horrible I'd feel, but then, it was such an innocuous comment and how could I blame myself for that.

[TattleTeeny]

Yeah, no one was even saying that the last GF was better or anything! It was like she was pissed off that he'd even had others in his past. I don't know about anyone else but, as a grown woman, I might be somewhat put off if I met a grown man who'd never dated anyone before me.

[sereion]

Post your best one-liners from the show here.

[sereion]

Done!

[RedheadZombie]

So I wasn't interested in this show.  The advertisements made him look like a strangely affected non-blinking Hannibal Lecter.  Then I stumbled upon an episode.  He is a compelling narrator, that's for sure.  I usually dislike re-enactments, but it works on this show.  His arrogance does bleed through, but I like him.

[cattykit]

I just love the latest since we've had a focus on meetings at my work:  "I consider meetings weapons of mass distraction."

[cattykit]

The thought of the eye gouging and eye in the mouth made me gag and I've been a nurse for 30 years.

[Brattinella]

I just adore him!  I haven't read all the threads yet, but has anyone noticed his resemblance to the Cigarette Smoking Man?

[auntjess]

The sniping death of young father to be was very sad, but first degree murder for a 15-year-old kid who stole a rifle was  shooting it around?

They said it was reducted to manslaughter or such, but the only reason I can see that he was originally convicted of murder 1, was because he was black.

He seemed appalled that he'd killed someone, and there was no intent.

[walnutqueen]

Paraphrasing here:  "Its not against the law to act peculiarly.  But when you're acting peculiarly within 500 feet of a dead body, I am interested".

 

 

"I know when I'm being LIED to".

[Brattinella]

I really don't think in any jurisdiction, they can arbitrarily charge and convict a 15 yr old of first degree murder especially due to skin color.  I didn't see the episode, but there must have been more to it.

[andromeda331]

He was a fifteen year old but he still shot and killed someone. Yes, he was playing and didn't plan to kill anyone but that still doesn't change the fact he did. He ended up getting ten years for manslaughter. That was most likely due to his age. I feel so bad for the victim and his family. He died for no reason. His poor wife and he never got to meet his kid.

I loved when Kenda was interviewing the woman and asking her about the gun shot. Of course he assumes she might not know what a gun shot sounds like, she pulls down the zipper of her jacket which says she's in the army, and tells him she's an army ranger. Yeah, she knows what gun shot sounds like. I know he's probably used to people who don't but I thought it was funny that it turned out she did. Also, loved the landlord going off on the roommate I don't know why but it cracked me up the way she blew through his lie about living there.

[walnutqueen]

ITA, Suz.  Kenda has show time and again his empathy for the victims, and even at times the perpetrators of crimes he investigates (when circumstances are stupid tragedy, rather than overt evil intent).  The man has a heart, and a soul, and a good deal of common sense.

[mojito]

So Kenda has a guy claim that he went to a friend's house, found a confession and suicide note, and saw a lot of blood so he and another detective search the house and yell, "clear". But not until they went into the garage and found two victims and a trail of blood leading to the crime scene (one of the bedrooms in the "cleared" house) do they stop and take a look. Seems screwy to me. You'd see the bloody bedroom, and then follow the blood to the garage, or at least, that's what makes sense to me.

 

I don't think doing the whole "clear" business added anything to the episode, so why do it and make the detectives look like bozos? I'll bet Kenda winces at how some of these scenes are depicted.

[Irritable]

I agree that the reenactment and editing of that story was a mess.  If they wanted to keep us in suspense, then just tell us that an upset man came into the police station to report that he believed someone had been killed at his friends house, and leave out the part about the suicide / confession note until after the crime scene has been laid out for us.  Knowing exactly what the police had been told prior to entering the house made instantly obvious the what, how and why of what had taken place.

 

I also agree about Joe Kenda's capacity for empathy and compassion.  He even has it for the killers sometimes, which is pretty amazing, considering the things he's seen.  I'll never forget in the heart wrenching episode "A Beautiful Shade of Death", that he was obviously so sad about the family that had senselessly died, but also sad for the person responsible.  In that particular case I had zero empathy for that person, and was shocked that Joe could find it in himself to feel bad for someone whose bad decision ended the lives of 4 people.  Might have been 5 people - I remember it was a mother and the rest were her children.  Anyway, most people would never give their killer (unintentional or not) a moment's kind thought, but it really stood out to me that Kenda still managed to do it.  I worded that carefully in case someone here hasn't seen that episode yet - it was one of the top 3 most haunting episodes for me.

[andromeda331]

In that particular case I had zero empathy for that person, and was shocked that Joe could find it in himself to feel bad for someone whose bad decision ended the lives of 4 people.  Might have been 5 people - I remember it was a mother and the rest were her children.

 

That one surprised me because I too had zero empathy for the person. I'm not sure why he did either.

The man knew of the problem, he had more then enough money to fix it and chose not to do that. Not only that but he

tried to point the finger at his former tenants. The same ones who nearly died the same way. Zero sympathy

for him.

Edited September 20, 2015 by andromeda331

[RedheadZombie]

I've never been to Colorado, but excluding Kenda, the majority of reenactments are done with an obvious southern accent. What's that about?

And regarding the fifteen year old kid being charged because he's black, I don't doubt it. I know of at least one case in the Midwest where a white man, knowledgeable about firearms, shot randomly in the air, and killed another person. It was viewed as a tragic accident and no charges were filed.

[auntjess]

So why was the repeated as a new show, with 9/22/15 as the original air date, at least on U-verse.

[andromeda331]

That's for the information Suz at Large! I've always wondered where they did the reenactments.

[Irritable]

And regarding the fifteen year old kid being charged because he's black, I don't doubt it. I know of at least one case in the Midwest where a white man, knowledgeable about firearms, shot randomly in the air, and killed another person. It was viewed as a tragic accident and no charges were filed.

 

 

I wonder if another possible reason for the difference in punishment could be that the kid actually had the victim in the gun's site when he fired.  It wasn't a random shot in the air, he aimed at a human being, pulled the trigger, and then claimed he was shocked when the bullet hit his target.  If I was presented these two cases without any information about the race of the perpetrators, I would consider them to not be exactly the same type of killings that deserve the same charges.  Also, perhaps part of his sentencing included that he broke into someone's house and stole firearms...that's kind of a big deal. 

[RedheadZombie]

I believe the reenactments are shot in Tennessee. So I assume they cast them with local talent.

I've followed Carl Marino (aka Young Joe) on Facebook and he's posted from Tennessee (I think the Memphis area) when they've been shooting new episodes. On the show, they use establishing shots from Colorado Springs - those aerial or wide landscape/cityscape shots, including the mountains off to the West. And they show the exterior of the Springs' police buildng.

 

That makes a lot of sense.  I wonder if ID itself is based in the south.  I just watched a promo for the new Wendy Williams show (which I have no intentions of watching) and the voice over lady called her "Windy" Williams.  Dead give away that the speaker was Southern.

 

I wonder if another possible reason for the difference in punishment could be that the kid actually had the victim in the gun's site when he fired.  It wasn't a random shot in the air, he aimed at a human being, pulled the trigger, and then claimed he was shocked when the bullet hit his target.  If I was presented these two cases without any information about the race of the perpetrators, I would consider them to not be exactly the same type of killings that deserve the same charges.  Also, perhaps part of his sentencing included that he broke into someone's house and stole firearms...that's kind of a big deal. 

 

Anything's possible.  I care less about this kid being found guilty, than I do that the white man was not even charged.  He was experienced with firearms, and at the very least was extremely reckless.  I thought people obsessed with their guns "treated them with respect".  I don't recall the race of the victim on Kenda's show, but I'm going to hazard a guess that he was white.

Edited September 26, 2015 by RedheadZombie

[andromeda331]

I think it was crappy in both cases. Someone died because someone was playing with a gun. To

be shot and killed because someone was playing with a gun.

 

In the case of the15 year he pointed a gun at someone and pulled the trigger. He thought he was playing
but that doesn't change the fact someone died. The fact he was fifteen I think its fair he was given ten years.

Now is that a fair charge for the victim? That I don't know.

 

Now in the other case. It sounds like a grown man playing with a gun. Unless he was being attacked and

fired off a gun to scare them off, I think he should have been charged too. And given a lot longer then the

fifteen year old. Because he was a grown man.  Guns aren't toys. They shouldn't be played with. And

adult should know better and if he's playing with a gun and someone dies, they should be charged.

I think its crappy he wasn't.  I think its crappy the woman in a previous episode only got four months

for killing her boyfriend. Tactic on a few decades and her sentence would have been more appropriate.

I still don't know how a jury found that man not guilty for the rape and murder of the pregnant woman

and the murder of her children. And although this isn't a case on the show, I still don't know how that

NY got off for self-defense for cropping up the neighbor. 

[azshadowwalker]

ITA, Suz.  Kenda has show time and again his empathy for the victims, and even at times the perpetrators of crimes he investigates (when circumstances are stupid tragedy, rather than overt evil intent).  The man has a heart, and a soul, and a good deal of common sense.

I've had a problem with some of the perps he's shown empathy for. I've never gotten over him making excuses for the landlord whose greed led to the death of a family. I'd feel much more empathy for a 15yo kid who made a mistake than an old man who wouldn't buy a $6 part, and ended up killing people.

[andromeda331]

I've had a problem with some of the perps he's shown empathy for. I've never gotten over him making excuses for the landlord whose greed led to the death of a family. I'd feel much more empathy for a 15yo kid who made a mistake than an old man who wouldn't buy a $6 part, and ended up killing people.

And tried to blame his former tenants for those deaths, the same ones that almost died of the exact same thing.

How does he have sympathy for that? He knew there was a problem, he had more then enough money to fix it

but he didn't. Thanks to him five people are dead.

Edited September 28, 2015 by andromeda331

[DebDe]

This may seem old news to those who are Kenda followers, but I would sure like to know how Carl Marino was picked to be Lt. Joe Kenda on the series and did the real Lt. Kenda have to approve?

 

[Shriekingeel]

5.07, "Mr. LA" was a good one, very satisfying with a truly evil perp and classic Kenda-isms ("Oops!"). I wanted to reach through the screen and beat the crap out of White Crip Wannabee Guy myself.

[andromeda331]

So did I.

The "hotel" comment. That was really funny. Kenda's so funny.

[Ina123]

Don't know how many people know it, but Carl Marino was part of the group that Charlie's Angels was supposedly based on. A Private Investigator, Chris Butler (Bing him), started a PI company with soccer moms. He needed a guy to work for him as manager, I guess, and Carl was formerly in law enforcement so he was hired. It didn't take Carl long to realize the business was not only "shady" but down right corrupt. People were setup for crimes and evidence was stolen from evidence rooms at police stations to plant on people. Carl tipped off the right people and got Butler and his buddies convicted and jailed. I saw it all explained on Dateline or 20/20, a show like that.

Not only is he great-looking but he's a good guy.

[Ina123]

I know it was a year ago but I just saw this. In answer to the troll spewing mush on page one about the Jon Benet Ramsey case. The following is from an interview with Channel Guide Magazine:

CGM: When you see cases that are being tried in the press, or are at any rate receiving a lot of publicity, do you find yourself playing your hunches, speculating on what really went down?

Joe Kenda: True, but I also know something else that tempers that approach. The press is hopelessly inaccurate — no offense. You tell those guys the truth and they screw it up. They just do. I was asked, for example, on the famous case in Boulder — Jon Benet Ramsey. The chief of police in Boulder called me and said, ‘Can you help us with this case?’ I said, ‘I have one question for you.’ ‘Well, what’s that?’ ‘Are the press accounts of what you’ve done so far reasonably accurate?’ ‘Well, yeah, they’re pretty accurate.’ ‘I’m not interested.’ ‘Well, why not?’ ‘Because you’ve already destroyed the case. You’re not going to get in a courtroom with a confession. You’ve made too many mistakes, and you can’t get them back.’ He was very insulted. I didn’t care. You’re the one who screwed it up — deal with it. Nobody’s ever going to pay for killing that kid.

[Yokosmom]

Interesting re the Ramsey case.  Thanks for posting that.

 

 I thought that  both of tonight's episodes were rather obvious as regards the perpetrators/motive, but were covered due to the bizarre circumstances.  People sometimes get very inventive with well-thought out suicides.  I wondered about the photo of the train, though.  In the reenactment, he was laying on the tracks, but, unless he had a very long photo trip cord (to cause the camera to take the photo), he probably took the picture and then got onto the tracks.  Or maybe he had it on a timer?  Weird thing to wonder about I know.  He was so talented--such a shame.

 

Once again irritated at a short sentence for murder.  The guy only served half his sentence!  And, as Kenda mentioned, it can take several minutes to strangle someone, so he had plenty of time to change his mind and call it off.  

[cissyboo1]

Yokosmom The camera was on a timer.  But, still, a very elaborate plan to do away with one's self.  Just like last season's episode with the female pilot.

[phantom]

From season five, episode six (Loose Cannon), about the man who killed his ex-girlfriend, and also shot her toddler son and mother. He turned himself in a few days after the crime. Kenda's take on hearing that news was something along the lines of "I didn't get the chance to shove my gun up this guy's nostril, and that disappoints me."

[cattykit]

"Come on down.  You're the next contestant on This Murder is Right."

[berserker]

This excerpt from "The Setup: A True Story of Dirty Cops, Soccer Moms, and Reality TV" by Pete Crooks details Kenda's direct standpoint on Marino. There are other passages I don't relate here, covering Carl Marino's various personalities, such as a military history that never occurred.

 

The part directly concerning Joe Kenda and Carl Marino is as follows:

 

-----------------

 

Marino plays a young version of Kenda in the re-creation sequences. Example: Kenda says, in voice-over narration: "I wanted to check the police report again, so I went back to my office and pulled the file." Then Marino is shown looking at a manila folder.

 

After setting up an interview through Investigation Discovery, I asked Kenda what he thought of Marino. Kenda said, "I've talked to him on the phone one time, for about ten minutes. You know what he told me? In the brief call we had, he told me he was a detective back in New York. I thought, 'You're pretty young to be a retired detective,' so I made a couple of calls. Turns out, he was a detention officer in Upstate New York."

 

Kenda had seen Marino on 48 Hours, and told me he thought Marino was "lying his ass off" on that show. "What was he even doing [working for Butler], where someone would give him drugs to sell?"

 

Kenda, who spent forty years interrogating liars, had an interesting take on Marino. "He's Walter Mitty," Kenda said. "He wants you to think he's this other guy, not the guy he really is. And if you say, 'No, you're not that guy, you're this guy,' he gets upset."

 

Sometime after my interview with Kenda, he had a chance to meet Marino in Knoxville, Tennessee, during production of Homicide Hunter's third season. Kenda posed for a few pictures with Marino, and "the two Kendas" filmed a behind-the-scenes video together. Kenda's experience meeting Marino in person was similar to that of retired FBI agent Chuck Latting.

 

"I met Walter Mitty," Kenda wrote. "He was quiet, nervous, and intimidated."

 

Kenda noticed that Marino carred a prop to the set to feel important. "He has purchased a director's chair, hardwood and canvas, looks pricey," Kenda wrote. "He has had a canvas support made and embossed with his name in white 4" letters on one side, and the other side reads LIEUTENANT JOE KENDA: HOMICIDE HUNTER in blue. Why don't I have such a chair?"

Edited October 25, 2015 by berserker

[Mannahatta]

Wow. So Carl Marino is a compulsive liar? Well that's disappointing to know. Of all the actors they could have picked to portray Joe Kenda! You would think they could have come up with someone with a decent personality. That said - I love how the real Joe Kenda was able to see right through him.

Edited October 27, 2015 by Mannahatta

[berserker]

I've found it to be a pretty fascinating subject. Dotted all over the internet are portraits of "Carl Marino: Good-Looking Good Guy" right alongside tales of "Carl Marino: Compulsive Liar." I tend to side with Joe Kenda on the latter interpretation. The evidence seems clear. Time will tell if this becomes a big bone of contention behind the scenes. I certainly think that if Carl Marino were to actually read this exchange published in "The Setup", he would be rather displeased.

[TresGatos]

"He has had a canvas support made and embossed with his name in white 4" letters on one side, and the other side reads LIEUTENANT JOE KENDA: HOMICIDE HUNTER in blue. Why don't I have such a chair?"

 

And this is Example #1 of why I love the original Kenda.