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The Blotter Presents

Sarah D. Bunting

By Sarah D. Bunting
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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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Pogojoco

Pogojoco

The second documentary of the three Paradise Lost films really drives home the Byers as killer theory. The victims had bite marks on them that didn't match any of the Three. The defense wanted to test Byers but he'd had all of his teeth pulled four years after the kids were killed. The bite mark situation is weird in general, because they weren't identified as such until much later and based on pictures of the bodies. Byers also gives the filmmakers a knife for testing. 

I agree- Echols seems like every art-y, moody teenager who hates his town and Byers is far more strange. 

The documentary about this that wasn't made by these filmmakers "West of Memphis" actually points the finger at a different stepfather, Terry Hobbs (Stevie Branch's stepfather.) 

Sarah- your description of Byers as "Miltonian" is great.  Ties back into the name of the documentaries. 

swimmyfish

swimmyfish

2 hours ago, Pogojoco said:

The second documentary of the three Paradise Lost films really drives home the Byers as killer theory. The victims had bite marks on them that didn't match any of the Three. The defense wanted to test Byers but he'd had all of his teeth pulled four years after the kids were killed. The bite mark situation is weird in general, because they weren't identified as such until much later and based on pictures of the bodies. Byers also gives the filmmakers a knife for testing. 

 

I also rented Paradise Lost from my local video store a few years after it was released, so I came to it with an awareness that most people considered Byers the actual killer. It made it very difficult for me to enjoy (well, "enjoy") the film because it seemed very clear to me that the case against Byers - his general odd behavior, that he would give the film-makers a knife at all, much less one that turned out to have blood on it - was just as speculative as the 'evidence' against the WM3. I think it speaks both to how compelling that case was as well as to the point Todd made in the podcast about the Amanda Knox case, how people can feel they have a full understanding of a case, enough to definitely name a killer, even though they actually know very little about it.

And I agree with Pogojoco - the second film in the series does make it clear that the film-makers considered Byers a viable suspect in the case. And he does indeed seem very shady - when he talked about pulling his teeth, he said it was because a medication he was taking (Tegretol, I believe - he had such a careful way of pronouncing it), was making them loose, but there was a chyron stating that loose teeth is not a side effect of Tegretol. Additionally, by the time the second film was underway, his wife had died. I don't remember the specifics of her death, but there was at least an implication in the film that it was under suspicious circumstances. Again, though, all of this odd behavior on his part doesn't necessarily make him guilty of anything.

That being said, the two films really are exceptionally well done. I don't think there's any question that those boys would still be in prison if not for the attention brought by HBO films and all of the people who were moved to take up their fight. 

MCMLXXVII

MCMLXXVII

The movie "Colors" (1988) is really good watching on L.A.'s racial relations. I first watched it in a crime film class around 2008 and was surprised how much of a premonition it was to the riots. 

The "Straight out of Compton" movie (and it's police backlash upon release) is of course relevant, and it totally proved N.W.A.'s point about their thin-skinnedness/narcissism. A now officer with whom I attended h.s. was on FB super upset about "Fuck the Police" t-shirts being sold on Amazon at the time.

Pogojoco

Pogojoco

(edited)

"Magical negro" wasn't called that until pretty recently (Spike Lee coined it, I think) but the trope is from the 19th century- it can be argued that Jim in Huckleberry Finn is one. But Song of the South is definitely one of the earlier filmed ones.

Crash is Trash. It was a Powerpoint presentation on race. The fact that it won over Brokeback Mountain is one of the worst things in the history of things.

Los Angeles is a fascinating place. That 30 for 30 is one of the best of that series of docs. 

Edited by Pogojoco
veronicamers

veronicamers

(edited)

Fab episode. I was such an Unsolved Mystery devotee back in the day. I watched it with my parents both of whom were into the paranormal stuff where I was more of a missing person/unsolved murder type. As Kevin noted, something for everyone.

Sadly, a season 2 episode chronicles the tragic 1988 hit and run of four young men from my hometown. Killed in the accident was the boyfriend of my childhood best friend's sister. It is a haunting case, still unsolved: http://unsolved.com/archives/greensboro-hit-and-run

Edited by veronicamers
FozzyBear

FozzyBear

I didn't  follow the Casey Anthony case all that carefully, but it always struck me as a case where the prosecution screwed themselves by starting the game clock before they were ready. They didn't really have a clear picture of what happened before they pressed charges and had to move forward. I even remember the prosecution's closing argument had some line about not really knowing what happened to the little girl. I had a WTF moment because you should have a pretty good idea if you think it's a murder. It seemed like they were asking the jury to convict Casey of doing something bad at some time that somehow hurt Caylee and probably killed her or something like that. And the jury was like "Nope! We convict people of actual things!" I'm guessing it was public pressure, but the DAs office just really did not seem ready to go to trial. I also remember getting Casey and Caylee's names mixed up because, seriously?

FormerMod-a1

FormerMod-a1

Was the Gypsy and DeeDee Blanchard case covered on some other show?  I swear I saw something, maybe on the ID channel.  I know I have read articles, too, but I don't usually confuse my reading with my TV.  :-)  I do sympathize so hard with Gypsy - Deedee mentally and physically abused her her whole life.  We have no idea what that can do to someone.  I, too, hope she can get the psychological help she needs/deserves.  I also think she is probably happy in prison - feeling better than she's ever felt before since she's not taking meds she doesn't need, getting normal and regular meals every day, going outside, not worrying about lying correctly for mom, etc.

txhorns79

txhorns79

Quote

I also think she is probably happy in prison - feeling better than she's ever felt before since she's not taking meds she doesn't need, getting normal and regular meals every day, going outside, not worrying about lying correctly for mom, etc.

It definitely gives you a sense of her life that she'll have a better time in prison than living with her mother.     

tita

tita

Re: Love & Hate -- Wow, you guys. what a journey! There was some *major* thespianing in those clips. I'm the same age as Tara and I'm from Regina, so your examination of the movie was a total time-machine experience. Thanks for enduring the hours of shitty YouTube clips for my benefit!
I don't remember ever watching this movie but, like Tara, I was pretty steeped in the story as the trial was taking place. I think by the time the film came along, I felt like I knew the whole saga and didn't need to watch it on tv.
The whole story still makes me pretty uneasy, especially since Thatcher's out and about in the community these days. Uch, what a creep.

Sarah D. Bunting

Sarah D. Bunting

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Hello! We're off this coming week, but here's what's coming up in June:

- E011: Kim Reed on Bill Cosby and Dr. Robert Neulander

- E012: Alex Collins on Menendez: Blood Brothers ("the Courtney Love one") and TBD

- E013: Eve Batey's back for a Jonestown special ep

 

In other news, if anyone watched James Ellroy's LA: City of Demons and can tell me/future guests whether or not to bother, I'd love to know. 

 

Thanks for listening!

ScoobyDrew

ScoobyDrew

I don't know if it's Canadian, but there is a movie KARLA starring Laura Prepon and Misha Collins ...it's craptastic and and gross. Apparently the conditions on the set were terrible, with the production team finally having to file a restraining order against the director, because he threatened to come into the offices and shoot everyone ... he also said one of the rape scenes was "really hot" I think it might be on Netflix, I know it is on youtube.

FormerMod-a1

FormerMod-a1

45 minutes ago, Sarah D. Bunting said:

Ugh, Biography just punted both the Biggie and the Tupac specials to September (they had set airdates at the end of this month; wonder what happened). So much for E014. Any suggestions for the week of 6/26?

I can only think of things that have already aired, or may be too far in the summer, but here they are.  Other people may have better ideas.

Oklahoma City on PBS
America's War on Drugs on A&E
Manhunt: Unabomber on Discovery
Christine on Netflix

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