S01.E03: Person Of Interest / S01.E04: About The Alibi

[Tara Ariano]

Quote

The work of private investigator Bill Dear, who's collected evidence pointing to a different "person of interest," is examined.

 

Quote

The alibi of the potential "person of interest" is examined.

[Guest]

On tonight's episode of The Adventures of the Sears Catalog Model and the Derp-faced Boy, we see our intrepid team of investigators mock Ron Shipp for "having already made up his mind" that OJ committed the murders. Previously seen: the boys interview a kid who went to military school with Jason Simpson who claimed Jason was one of the boys in school with an "anger problem" (me: "a child at a military academy? with an anger problem? YOU DON'T SAY") and as soon as their anonymous source says the minute he saw Jason on the news arguing with OJ after he arrived back after the Bronco chase, he immediately thought Jason "had something to do with [the murders]. And boy howdy! That's enough for our intrepid investigators! 

This show is making the A&E program about locating a living Hitler after he had committed suicide seem like Pulitzer Prize winning journalism. 

I'm in it only for the LULZ right now. Shame on you, Martin Sheen.

[rwgrab]

11 hours ago, Giant Misfit said:

I'm in it only for the LULZ right now. Shame on you, Martin Sheen.

Me too!  Dismissing Ron Shipp, a close friend of the Simpson family, but then seriously considering the word of a guy who heard Jason be agitated on the phone at boarding school that one time?  I know I'm not a "seasoned investigator", but I'm definitely going to value the insight of the former over the latter.

I really enjoyed the second part where they went way off the rails over the time card.  So a busboy tells them they "certainly" would have closed the kitchen at 9pm on a Sunday.  The three musketeers take that information to decide that Jason would have left the restaurant no later than 9:30 on a Sunday.  Buuuut, if you look further down the timecard to the following Sunday at the bottom, you'll see that he punched out at 10:20pm.  And yet nobody's willing to mention that or explain how that fits with their determination that chefs would leave the restaurant no later than 9:30 on Sundays.   Even if you're willing to let that slide, then they try to make the drive and it winds up being 48 minutes instead of the 29 minutes they think Jason would have had available to him.  My guess for the next episode will be that they drop the 9:59 thing when they find that the watch is indeed working which then gives them the time Jason needs to commit the crime.  

I get that Dear is really married to this theory he's devised (I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and not call it tunnel vision), but according to an interview I read with him, this all started because he just couldn't buy that OJ would commit the crime with his two children at the Bundy house "as a father".  I think we've now seen ample evidence from Jason that OJ isn't exactly the most caring or dedicated dad.  I appreciate that at least Kris is willing to challenge Dear a bit on his assessment of Jason.  I just wish the executives at ID had done the same!

[Guest]

1 hour ago, rwgrab said:

The three musketeers take that information to decide that Jason would have left the restaurant no later than 9:30 on a Sunday.  Buuuut, if you look further down the timecard to the following Sunday at the bottom, you'll see that he punched out at 10:20pm.  And yet nobody's willing to mention that or explain how that fits with their determination that chefs would leave the restaurant no later than 9:30 on Sundays.

YESSSSSSS!!!! I watched that episode after my earlier post and kept wondering if any of those wizards were going to scan down the time card and notice that it's totally possible that he worked until 10:30! How about looking an historical snapshot of his prior Sundays at work and what time he left? These guys have the nerve to complain about the shoddy job the LAPD did investigating the crime when the lot of them make the Scooby Doo gang seem like FBI agents. 

It also killed me they were basing the time they believe on pure conjecture. They don't know he left at 9:00! And then they hauled out the creep private investigator who opined that Jason seemed "sullen" and "aloof." I'm sure glad no one's following me around without my knowledge as they're likely to come to the same conclusion considering when I'm alone I'm not exactly laughing to myself and chatting with all random strangers who cross my path. 

1 hour ago, rwgrab said:

My guess for the next episode will be that they drop the 9:59 thing when they find that the watch is indeed working which then gives them the time Jason needs to commit the crime.  

I was guessing that they'd totally make it the 12 or so miles in the time that fits neatly with their guessing game. However, they police report did indicate the watch was in working order when it was collected into evidence. Have they conveniently forgotten that? And the overly aggro Sears catalog model guy needs to zip it with constantly reminding people that the LAPD "never! interviewed! Jason!" He continually makes it seem like they never bothered trying to talk to him. They did. Jason lawyered up (as is his right as a citizen) and declined to be interviewed. 

[Primetimer]

And other not-quite-burning questions about the middle two episodes.

View the full article

[tobeannounced]

Oh, goodness, I guess I'm the only one kind of digging this show. Maybe it's interesting to me because there's a lot of "behind the scenes" info of the family I've never heard before. And I like that the two cops are at least being somewhat skeptical and questioning things, unlike some of the recent Jon Benet rehashes that had "experts" stating opinions as fact.

Edited January 17, 2017 by tobeannounced

[toodywoody]

could the write in time be for Monday and the Sunday be for the Sunday in question, was there a date ever revealed by the punch in and outs? I look at time cards all the time and they are usually only for a week. Soooooooo. looks like Monday was the write in time. it clearly says accumulated hours and Tuesday has it as 7.22, Wednesday at 15.22 then he was off Thursday and Friday and then whoever added in his hours for the write in of MONDAY, bringing it to 23.22 hours then he worked Saturday and Sunday which was the end of the work week. Yes I totally paused this and looked and looked at it.

And my other question it says for week ending 6-19, which would be for the following week. 

Someone's grasping at straws in the time card.

Edited January 18, 2017 by toodywoody

[Lovecat]

Yeah, those hours are definitely in the timeslot for Monday, June 13. If they want to know what hours Jason worked on the night of the murder, they need to look at the one for week ending Sunday, June 12.  It makes me wonder, though--would Jason really go to work the same day his stepmother was found slaughtered (6/13)?  Or the day after, for that matter?  Also, that time card shows him at work on Saturday, June 18, the day after the Bronco chase. We know he was at Rockingham at around 6pm on Friday the 17th, when OJ returned to the nest. Did he seriously go to work the next day?  I'm still watching the episode, and he said his job gave him some time off.  So why does he even have a time card showing he worked Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday?  Not to join the conspiracy parade, but I don't think that's his time card for the week ending 6/19.  If I were one of these crackpots, I'd track down the person responsible for payroll at Jackson's, to see when time cards were normally collected. I'm betting that would be sometime on Monday, meaning that Jason's actual time card for week ending 6/12 wouldn't be available for monkey business, and someone mocked up one for week ending 9/19, with an entry early in the week ambiguous enough to create the illusion of an alibi.  If I were one of those crackpots, heh.  I think OJ's totally guilty, but I'm just saying that time card is bullshit as far as an alibi for Jason is concerned.

[navelgazer]

On 1/17/2017 at 1:50 PM, tobeannounced said:

Oh, goodness, I guess I'm the only one kind of digging this show. Maybe it's interesting to me because there's a lot of "behind the scenes" info of the family I've never heard before. And I like that the two cops are at least being somewhat skeptical and questioning things, unlike some of the recent Jon Benet rehashes that had "experts" stating opinions as fact.

Nope, not the only one digging this show.  I was familiar with Dear's theory/book because I never believed OJ was guilty.  The rush to judgment was too much.  

[Tdoc72]

The time card is murky!!

I agree that the handwritten time looks like it would be for Monday.  A few things I wish these investigators had done:  1-try to find another time card (preferably the one from Sunday, the 12) to compare it to.  Double check that the date on it (6-19-94) was correct.  IIRC, it said week ending but is that what it really meant?  Did their work week run Mon to Sun (as opposed to Sun-Sat or Sat-Fri)?  2-Talk to the other co-owner who actually worked w/Jason and gave him an alibi.  Don't just accept he was lying because someone claimed he was at a BBQ.  3- talk to a few different restaurant co-workers instead of relying just on Carlos who Dear (with his agenda)  interviewed years ago. 4-try to find out who initialed the handwritten times and why.  Probably too late now.

Jason did seem reflective during the deposition.  Also, during the depo, he said work gave him some time off after the murder.  Does anyone know if he meant like immediately after (in which case the time card is even weirder because he shouldn't have any time after the murder due to him not working) or like in the weeks after/when OJ was a suspect?

I still have to watch the last 2 episodes.  So far noting compelling me to believe anyone other than OJ is guilty.

On 1/17/2017 at 8:34 AM, rwgrab said:

Me too!  Dismissing Ron Shipp, a close friend of the Simpson family, but then seriously considering the word of a guy who heard Jason be agitated on the phone at boarding school that one time?  I know I'm not a "seasoned investigator", but I'm definitely going to value the insight of the former over the latter.

I really enjoyed the second part where they went way off the rails over the time card.  So a busboy tells them they "certainly" would have closed the kitchen at 9pm on a Sunday.  The three musketeers take that information to decide that Jason would have left the restaurant no later than 9:30 on a Sunday.  Buuuut, if you look further down the timecard to the following Sunday at the bottom, you'll see that he punched out at 10:20pm.  And yet nobody's willing to mention that or explain how that fits with their determination that chefs would leave the restaurant no later than 9:30 on Sundays.   Even if you're willing to let that slide, then they try to make the drive and it winds up being 48 minutes instead of the 29 minutes they think Jason would have had available to him.  My guess for the next episode will be that they drop the 9:59 thing when they find that the watch is indeed working which then gives them the time Jason needs to commit the crime.  

I get that Dear is really married to this theory he's devised (I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and not call it tunnel vision), but according to an interview I read with him, this all started because he just couldn't buy that OJ would commit the crime with his two children at the Bundy house "as a father".  I think we've now seen ample evidence from Jason that OJ isn't exactly the most caring or dedicated dad.  I appreciate that at least Kris is willing to challenge Dear a bit on his assessment of Jason.  I just wish the executives at ID had done the same!

I've always liked Ron Shipp because he always seems sad that he didn't help Nicole more or that he was snowed by OJ.

Not sure if they are showing these in the order they were shot, but in episode 1, they mentioned the watch and had Tom Lange's actual notes saying the watch was operational (and also the autopsy logs w/times).  But here they are in episode 4, still talking about the time. 

If, according to Dear, OJ wouldn't do this 'as a father', then wouldn't the same for Jason 'as a brother'?  Did they ever even mention his relationship w/Sidney and Justin?  IIRC he got along with them and would visit and hang out with them. 

Edited January 22, 2017 by Tdoc72

[lohroffc]

Issues with the time card.

First, this time card was for the week ending 6/19, the means his time for 6/12 would be the last entry on the previous time card. The written in time would be for Monday. Secondly, the security guard from the restaurant (the one with the video testimony from 2004) was adamant that they didn't stay open late on Sunday and Jason would have been gone by 9:30. According to the time card they had, he worked until 10:20pm (electronic punch) on Sunday 6/19... so again that testimony has to be dismissed or the time card has to be dismissed. They can't both be correct.

How can they crack investigators not see what was so obvious to the rest of us by episode 2? Because if they make those conclusions then they don't have a show.