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The Blotter Presents

Sarah D. Bunting

By Sarah D. Bunting
in Podcasts

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bosawks

bosawks

11 hours ago, Sarah D. Bunting said:

And yes, I do remember that AE; @bosawks, do you know offhand if it's available on the PBS app?

It is not but it is on YouTube in fairly watchable condition.

And before anyone asks I did take one for the team and watched the whole thing.  

Ok, I googled it and pressed play and next thing I know it was 90 minutes later.

Damn you Ken Burns!

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Sarah D. Bunting
Sarah D. Bunting

Yeah, I'm definitely wanting to focus on cons, identity fraudsters, bank robbers, forgers etc. -- I'm fascinated by those crimes and they tend to leave me with less of a grinding blue feeling than non

Sarah D. Bunting
Sarah D. Bunting

This is where a hack TV writer would call for that Bowie break. I'll just observe the silver lining here, to wit: there is some VERY TERRIBLE writing about the Bembenek case that I can't wait to evisc

starri
starri

If you'd like to cover some non-murder crime, Bad Blood, the recently released book about Elizabeth "Scammy McScammerson" Holmes and her unicorn fart-testing company Theranos is a terrific read.

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starri

starri

I can't quite get to being convinced of Peterson's either guilt or innocence.  I confess to finding the owl theory halfway plausible, but I also have a really hard time trying to find an alternative if the owl strike isn't possible.  And I could live the rest of my days without hearing the word "blowpoke" again.

I don't know, the prosecution didn't play fair.  Rather than just go off of the evidence they had--leaving aside the bullshit about blood spatter--just deciding that the DA's hammering of the homosex-SHUL pornography and the fact that Peterson was going around hiring sex workers and played on the jury's prejudices.  I don't know.  I'm cool with the Alford plea.

I didn't see The Staircase until after...I don't remember if it was the first season of Serial or Making A Murderer.  So I wonder if that predisposed me to be sympathetic towards Peterson.  And the fact that I am also a homosex-SHUL.

KlavdiaVavilova

KlavdiaVavilova

(edited)

[Columbo voice] One more thing ... [/voice] .... thinking of "citizen sleuths" the area where such folks are legit solving crimes or mysteries is missing people. There's been a lot of them solved by just lots and lots of late night internet trawling of various pages of Does on one hand and missing people on the other.  I've been following the DNA Project where amateur (at least in the sense of not being cops) enthusiasts have just started comparing DNA of Does to DNAs uploaded on ancestry sites for insight. Their first case "Lyle Stevik" hasn't been solved yet (it's only been a couple of weeks) but there are strong DNA clusters in some counties in New Mexico and he was at least 1/4 Native American so investigations can be re-directed there.

Their second case identified the woman within a couple of hours of the sequencing being done. It was quite moving this morning the wake up and see the Wikipedia page for "Buckskin Girl" changed to something with her real name, Marcia King and real photo. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Marcia_King

Anyhow, I don't think they have but I hope they've got a camera crew trailing them - would make a great documentary.  With an actual resolution for once ...

https://dnadoeproject.org/

Edited by KlavdiaVavilova
veronicamers

veronicamers

(edited)

So like Sarah, I have personal connections to this part of the world and have pretty much followed the Peterson case from the jump. At the time of the murder I was in a job that required me to follow all the happenings in Durham and it was huge news as you can imagine. And during the trial I was planning my wedding and getting married in Durham. When we went to get our wedding license at the courthouse the Court TV brigade was in full effect.

I'd put myself in the same camp as Stephanie. Leaning toward guilty (and the other staircase death is a big factor for me as well), but not unwavering. I cannot bring myself to buy the owl theory at all.

I also agree with y'all about the really privileged and entitled vibes coming off the entire clan. In fact, a bit of trivia: Peterson's son Clayton was convicted of placing a pipe bomb on the Duke campus when he was a student there. This was a few years before Kathleen's death. Weird, huh?

Like Sarah put so astutely, the prosecution didn't have to put forth any effort showing that Peterson was maybe the kind of guy who could have done this. Not a good dude in my opinion. 

Edited by veronicamers
MCMLXXVII

MCMLXXVII

I knew nothing before this podcast, but agree that the earlier death is suspicious. He sounds like one of the many guys in Erased who have more than one wife/gf “mysteriously” die the exact same way, and they almost all have other secret and separate relationships going on.

https://www.amazon.com/Erased-Missing-Women-Murdered-Wives/dp/0787996394 

rwgrab

rwgrab

I grew up in this area (you can see the Peterson house from my grandparents' house), and the owl theory was never convincing to me.  There can be owls in that part of Durham, but I can't construct the sequence of events that would lead to one fatally attacking somebody all while that person's spouse is like 50 feet away by the pool hearing nothing.  Not that owl attacks never happen, but it seems rare enough to me that we'd see some other evidence around that would lead to that conclusion.  That plus the Ratliff "accidental death", which I think does factor in, makes me lean towards Peterson's guilt.  This was a guy who was happy to spend well beyond the family's means with no prospect of getting out of that debt any time soon, and I can see how he might be desperate enough to try anything to maintain life in that fancy house with the nice things.  If you look at the e-mails he exchanges with the sex worker he wanted to hire, he spends a fair amount of time bragging about how smart he is and how wealthy he is.  The appearance of superiority is very important to him.

But I also think he didn't get a fair trial the first time around.  All the malfeasance by the prosecution's experts was really a shame, and the fact that it was exposed may be the only positive thing to come out of this whole affair.  In addition to that, it's interesting to go back and look at how forensics like blood spatter analysis was looked at as recently as 2001-2002.  I mean, half of the "evidence" from that kind of thing comes from the theatrics of how it's displayed for the jury (Henry Lee coughing on the poster board, etc.).  I don't think there's any way to get to the bottom of the exact events of that night at this point.

Rosepink

Rosepink

I totally buy the owl theory. I know it seems bonkers, but I think about the way any major trauma happens and you don’t realize how bad it is right away before the pain sets in, there’s just shock - and I can see her heading into the house before realizing how bad it is and getting part of the way back up the stairs and falling ass over teakettle and then struggling to get back up.

Also, iirc, owls are fucking quiet.

RoadFullOfPromise

RoadFullOfPromise

I just now realized that the pilot ep of Forensic Files is about the woodchipper murder, and it’s definitely an interesting story worth exploring: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Helle_Crafts

My mom attended several days of the second trial in order to support her friend, who is the sister of the murderer. I was 12 so I don’t remember much about it, but I think it may have been the case that put Henry Lee on the map. I do remember Mom saying his testimony was really interesting (if very difficult to hear, given the circumstances). 

I’ve not watched this ep of FF but I think it may be lunch break tv tomorrow.

veronicamers

veronicamers

On 4/10/2018 at 1:53 PM, Sarah D. Bunting said:

Anyone know if any of the newsmags has done anything on Gary Wilensky? http://www.newsweek.com/little-cabin-horrors-193382

I don't recall any, but this would seem like prime Vanity Fair Confidential (ID) material if VF ever covered it in any detail.

I've been hearing a lot about the new memoir by one of his students. I look forward to reading it.

KlavdiaVavilova

KlavdiaVavilova

I don't know when linguists pinpoint the emergence of the modern Australian accent but it's plausible to me the 1880s accent was more identifiably British/Irish than today's. And that accent choice is one often made in Australian historical productions, see for eg Mick Jagger as Ned Kelly ... Y'all just need to watch more shitty aussie period pieces to get used to it!  I live in Redfern which is mentioned in various contexts so I suppose my interest level was high enough to get me through it on that basis, although I basically agree with your assessment on quality.  Now, I'm trying to think of an excellent true crime tv/film from here .... can't really.  

starri

starri

I believe in this case, small "r" republican refers to someone who believes Australia should exist completely autonomously from the UK, where the Queen would no longer be nominally the head of the government.  Although, at the time of the Mount Rennie case, Australia as we know it didn't exist, because the individual colonies didn't unite under a single banner for about another fifteen years.  It was something like the US in the period between the Revolutionary War and the drafting of the Constitution.

The podcast made me want to hear more about Syphilitic Bob.  I was on the subway when I was listening to the episode, and I burst out laughing.

I (shamefully?) admit that I kind of like Mariska Hargitay.  I mean, yes, SVU ceased being Appointment Television at least a decade back, but all the props in the world for having something from her day job move her enough to make her into an advocate for that thing.  There aren't a lot of celebrities who actually walk the walk the way she does.  Also, if you're so inclined...

SnideAsides

SnideAsides

On 4/19/2018 at 12:35 PM, starri said:

I believe in this case, small "r" republican refers to someone who believes Australia should exist completely autonomously from the UK, where the Queen would no longer be nominally the head of the government.  Although, at the time of the Mount Rennie case, Australia as we know it didn't exist, because the individual colonies didn't unite under a single banner for about another fifteen years.  It was something like the US in the period between the Revolutionary War and the drafting of the Constitution.

Yes. In Australia, the conservative political party is called the Liberal Party. Because even irony is trying to kill you in Australia.

KlavdiaVavilova

KlavdiaVavilova

Of course it could be argued the Australian use of the word in this case is the original and actual meaning of the word (theoretically, there are many examples of the big L Liberals drifting from small-l liberalism, "Conservative" is a better word for them these days) and it's the American use of the word which is out of step, just like the red/blue as political signifiers is opposite in the US to what they mean everywhere else.  Anyway, totally off topic ... :-D

To add to the republican thing, in the 1880s it would have specifically referring to anti-Royalist Irish and Irish independence, not really an aspiration for Australia as such.

veronicamers

veronicamers

So I started watching this new Marcia Clark/First 48 joint on A&E. First ep is on Chandra Levy and the second is Robert Blake. Looks like the Spreckles Mansion Murder will be covered this week. 

It is pretty good. I live in DC and feel like I know a lot about the Levy case (my bf/now husband lived two buildings down from Chandra when she disappeared and I was working on Capitol Hill during all this Condit drama) but I'm still learning quite a bit about the investigation that I was not aware of.

starri

starri

When we finally get to the Katrina season of ACS, my suggestion for a Cold Case is an episode of the short-lived ABC series Final Witness from 2012.  I'm not sure if it would be difficult to track down, but there was an episode about the murder-suicide Zack Bowen and Addie Hall, who'd ridden out Katrina together.  There's a pretty good book written about it called Shake the Devil Off.  

Final Witness was, IIRC, essentially an ID series with much higher production values, but it as diverting enough.  What's even creepier is that one of the talking heads in the episode, a friend of Addie's, was arrested a few weeks after the episode was taped and eventually plead guilty to an entirely separate murder.

veronicamers

veronicamers

13 hours ago, starri said:

When we finally get to the Katrina season of ACS, my suggestion for a Cold Case is an episode of the short-lived ABC series Final Witness from 2012.  I'm not sure if it would be difficult to track down, but there was an episode about the murder-suicide Zack Bowen and Addie Hall, who'd ridden out Katrina together.  There's a pretty good book written about it called Shake the Devil Off.  

Final Witness was, IIRC, essentially an ID series with much higher production values, but it as diverting enough.  What's even creepier is that one of the talking heads in the episode, a friend of Addie's, was arrested a few weeks after the episode was taped and eventually plead guilty to an entirely separate murder.

I remember this series! I don't think I caught all the episodes, but I definitely saw the Zack/Addie episode. And Shake the Devil Off has been on my TBR list for a long time.

The other cases I remember this show profiling are the Nina Reiser murder out in the Bay Area and the Christian Longo case in Oregon. Both of those are doozies.

starri

starri

(edited)

I dug around, and I did find the episode, but on Vimeo.  I swear I remember it being on iTunes back then, but that was a long time ago now.

The thing is done, Lovely Bones/Desperate Housewives-style with the actress playing Addie narrating the story, but their cast is pretty good.  They would always show actual photos of the people involved at the end of the episode, and they would get astonishingly close to the real thing.  Probably the best casting that I've seen for one of these reenactment shows.

ETA:  If you're not familiar with the case, Sarah, "murder-suicide" is REAAALLY underselling what happened.

Edited by starri
panthergirl13

panthergirl13

I am soooooooo excited! I cannot believe this isn't getting more media attention. Patton Oswalt is tweeting that he's on his way to the presser (I told you I was excited!) and he said he wants to meet the guy so he can ask the questions that Michelle wanted to ask him.

I'm living in the Netherlands now but thanks to the miracle of rapid transatlantic travel I'll be watching that presser live, once I figure out what channel it's on.

Squeeee....

veronicamers

veronicamers

While entertaining, Wild Wild Country was pretty incomplete and ultimately unsatisfying for me. I feel like the filmmakers were too focused on making it simply a clash of cultures story. After six hours shouldn't I have a better understanding of the Rajneeshee belief system other than dynamic meditation and lots of sex?

More than any other group, they reminded me of Scientology. The money, the vagueness of beliefs, the campaigns against enemies. I mean, just sub David Miscavige for Sheela.

Nanna

Nanna

This podcast was perfectly timed for me, since I was a little late to the party as well and just watched Wild Wild Country during the last three nights. You summed up my feelings quite accurately: I enjoyed it and would absolutely recommend it to others, but there was a lot missing from it. One thing I find interesting to think about is: what is the difference between settling and forming a new society (Sheela mentions something about opening a bank by borrowing money from the members, which basically sounds like a sort of coop) and a cult? Is it the worshipping of one leader? Coming to a foreign land a settling and taking over is kind of how the US was founded, so is that in itself bad? (No offense to the US, I just find the parallel interesting). The series doesn't help to answer questions like this, because we're not told what this particular cult believes or does, which is a shame.

veronicamers

veronicamers

19 minutes ago, smmoe1997 said:

I haven't had a chance to watch this one yet, but everything I hear made me go back and re-watch the Forensic Files episode about this case, which is available on Netflix. It's mainly focused on the poisonings. I've added this to my queue to watch.

Yes! The only thing I knew about the Rajneeshees before WWC came from that episode of Forensic Files chronicling the salad bar poisonings. 

Silly Angel

Silly Angel

13 hours ago, MikeyWM3 said:

Information beginning to leak out now. His name is Joseph DeAngelo, a former cop who'd been fired from the Auburn, CA police department for shoplifting "dog repellent and a hammer." It always seems to start with animal abuse, doesn't it?

They're saying that the reason he could evade dogs' attention during his attacks was related to his carrying dog repellent. Information isn't abundant yet, but I saw that somewhere while frantically researching. God, what strange mixed feelings. 1) they found the monster and can make him pay. 2) so, so, so many years late. My heart grieves for the victims, their families and friends. There is no such thing as justice after all this time.

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