All Episodes Discussion

[badgerwoman]

16 hours ago, Court said:

Did anyone watch this Tim/Becky case on Dateline? I'm curious of the impressions of the lawyer there as how she appeared on 48 Hours. 

She wasn't nearly as irritating but they didn't use as much of her as 48 hours did.  That helped.  At least dateline said she had other criminal law experience.

[Medicine Crow]

On 11/3/2023 at 2:17 PM, badgerwoman said:

She wasn't nearly as irritating but they didn't use as much of her as 48 hours did.  That helped.  At least dateline said she had other criminal law experience.

I just watched it last night & thought she was less than effective.  Question:  Was it ever mentioned where his kids were when he was killing their Mother??  Did he leave them alone?  He supposedly had custody of them at the time!!  I'm still scratching my head!!

[Enigma X]

Does anyone remember the name of the woman who murdered her husband, retired from her job where she handled federal funds (HOME program), after her retirement it was found that she was stealing from the government, and her and her daughters were living the highlife off the stolen funds? I may have the order of events wrong but this was a case on Dateline and other shows.

[Medicine Crow]

2 hours ago, Enigma X said:

Does anyone remember the name of the woman who murdered her husband, retired from her job where she handled federal funds (HOME program), after her retirement it was found that she was stealing from the government, and her and her daughters were living the highlife off the stolen funds? I may have the order of events wrong but this was a case on Dateline and other shows.

Was is Lori Isenberg?

4 minutes ago, Medicine Crow said:

Was it Lori Isenberg?

Oops.

[Enigma X]

1 hour ago, Medicine Crow said:

Was is Lori Isenberg?

Yes. Thank you.

[UsernameFatigue]

I was hoping someone might have commented on The Mystery at Eagle Creek. I remember this case from several years ago so almost didn't watch. Wow, Nichols is even creepier than I remembered. Not to mention narcissistic, arrogant, etc. I almost laughed when his answer to one of Peter's questions was that anyone with a brain cell would know the answer to the question, then almost in the next breath said that Rhonda had committed suicide several times before. I loved Peter correcting him that he meant almost committed suicide several times before.

In any case I have no doubt that he killed Rhonda. Personally though, you would never get me on a trail like that. I don't think even if I wasn't afraid of heights, you would get me on a trail that narrow with nothing but a steep drop on one side and a rock face on the other.

I had forgotten about his sleeping with Rhonda's underage sister, don't think I knew about the pics sent to the 13 year old. Thank goodness the courts terminated his parental rights. He hinted at wanting to commit suicide. I can't imagine anyone would care. Anyone. 

[Annber03]

Oh, god, yeah, that episode. That guy was a piece of work. So hideously creepy. I liked how, once the investigators realized he was going to take his new girlfriend to the same path where he'd taken Rhonda, they were keeping close watch the whole time and continuing to work on building their case, 'cause they were like, "Yeeeeeeeeeeah, we need to get her away from him." 

[nora1992]

First, 20/20 did this case.  A month ago, Dateline profiled it.  What can 48 Hours show in 60 minutes that the other 2 didn’t show in 120?  

[sempervivum]

'Death at the Front Door' murder of Heidi Firkus in St. Paul, MN. The male lawyers who Nick (the murderer/husband) had representing him couldn't seem to understand why he would kill his wife 'just because' he was ashamed of his financial failures. They didn't see that as a viable motive!  I think female lawyers would have totally got it,and might have worked harder to prove that Heidi knew about the foreclosure.

I was disappointed that the police didn't unearth where he spent the money; the jury would have taken 5 minutes to find him guilty instead of 5 hours. Of course it was 2010 and they might just not have had the amount of cyber evidence they could find today.

 

[Annber03]

Yeah, finances are always one of the most common motives for murder, and in this case, even if Heidi knew about the foreclosure, if she started to confront him about it or get on him about it, or something of that sort, I mean...it's not exactly much of a leap to go from that to killing your wife.

Plus, the story about how she died is just too weird. A burglar breaks into a home at 6:30 in the morning on a Sunday, when the homeowners will likely be home (which, as one of the investigators pointed out, is not how most burglars prefer to operate), they get spooked by the couple, and they shoot and kill her...but he only gets shot in the leg? They don't at least try for a kill shot to get rid of their remaining witness? 

To say nothing of how most husbands are not going to let their wives leave their bedroom if they suspect a burglar is in the house, let alone go ahead of them down the stairs to investigate. And a husband carrying a gun, like Nick was? In my experience with those kinds of stories, those guys are often going to be the ones going in literally guns a-blazin'. They're "the man of the house", after all, they've got the weapon, they're gonna protect their home and their wife, stand your ground, and all that. 

It just doesn't make sense. 

Edited December 3, 2023 by Annber03

[pdlinda]

20 hours ago, nora1992 said:

First, 20/20 did this case.  A month ago, Dateline profiled it.  What can 48 Hours show in 60 minutes that the other 2 didn’t show in 120?  

What in ALL TARNATION qualifies THIS CASE for coverage on ALL 3 true crime shows most of us watch each week?  

I'm noticing that this season all we're getting are REPEATS, variations of which each show highlights...examples being:  MURDAUGH, L.I. SERIAL KILLER, AZ RUNAWAY GIRL WITH SUSPICIOUS FATHER AND NO BODY, case on tonight about Minnesota murder of Heidi.

I'm thinking that the budgets for these shows may be dwindling.  I know the kids don't watch cable/networks.  Only stream.  Maybe these shows are not available streaming???  

[txhorns79]

1 hour ago, pdlinda said:

Maybe these shows are not available streaming???  

48 Hours is on Paramount Plus. 

[pdlinda]

1 minute ago, txhorns79 said:

48 Hours is on Paramount Plus. 

Maybe the other two, as well.  

Thinking about it, maybe the principals in each case are easier to interview because they already have experience appearing "on camera" and maybe the locations for the various cases are easier to film due to their appearances on the other shows?  

The reason I'm referring to these aspects of this OBVIOUS redundancy is because I ALSO notice that all 3 shows have come to rely heavily on:  cases where they solve cold cases through the field of FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOGY and the use of "bloggers" covering the cases who are well versed in appearing on camera and offering interesting features they have uncovered.  In other words, the producers of the 3 shows have a lot of their "work" already provided by these interested individuals.  

My preference would be for the staffs of these vintage true-crime shows to roll up their sleeves a little more and ferret out some great new crime stories to interest the audience that awaits their episodes each week!

[txhorns79]

54 minutes ago, pdlinda said:

Thinking about it, maybe the principals in each case are easier to interview because they already have experience appearing "on camera" and maybe the locations for the various cases are easier to film due to their appearances on the other shows?  

I think you are right that it can appear redundant when these true crime shows all cover the same case.  Having said that, I would defend them a bit in that the shows do not share their programming choices with shows on other networks, so they have no idea if 20/20 or someone else is going to cover a particular case

 

4 hours ago, Annber03 said:

To say nothing of how most husbands are not going to let their wives leave their bedroom if they suspect a burglar is in the house, let alone go ahead of them down the stairs to investigate. And a husband carrying a gun, like Nick was? In my experience with those kinds of stories, those guys are often going to be the ones going in literally guns a-blazin'. They're "the man of the house", after all, they've got the weapon, they're gonna protect their home and their wife, stand your ground, and all that. 

I mean, how much of that is gender stereotypes as presented through pop culture versus real life?  In reality, if there is a prowler in your home, I'd think it would be rather dangerous to just leave your spouse behind while you investigate.  The smart thing to do for both people is to exit the house and seek help, if possible, or barricade your door and call the police immediately while sheltering in place.        

[Annber03]

True. I was just thinking about it being more like, if they were in their room - the husband might be like, "Just stay here" and hand her the phone while he goes to investigate. 

But yeah, hell, they also could've barricaded the bedroom door and then tried to escape through their bedroom window or something ,too. Still risky in its own right, but at least they could've gotten a chance to get outside and go to a neighbor for help. 

[sempervivum]

I didn't realize this case had been covered by the other two, but I don't really go out of my way to watch true crime stuff. It's pretty much something I only do on Saturday nights if there's nothing on PBS or I'm too lazy to look for something on streaming.

Anyway, in the end, 'It's always the husband, it's always the husband, it's always the husband', per Lt. Provenza.

[oliviabenson]

On 12/3/2023 at 6:52 PM, pdlinda said:

What in ALL TARNATION qualifies THIS CASE for coverage on ALL 3 true crime shows most of us watch each week?  

I'm noticing that this season all we're getting are REPEATS, variations of which each show highlights...examples being:  MURDAUGH, L.I. SERIAL KILLER, AZ RUNAWAY GIRL WITH SUSPICIOUS FATHER AND NO BODY, case on tonight about Minnesota murder of Heidi.

I'm thinking that the budgets for these shows may be dwindling.  I know the kids don't watch cable/networks.  Only stream.  Maybe these shows are not available streaming???  

20/20 is on hulu

dateline is on peacock 

[12catcrazy]

Does anybody watch 48 Hours any more?  This past episode was about the LA Therapist who had been engaged to Drew Carey and murdered by an obsessed ex-boyfriend (who she hadn't seen in 10 years, and who was "triggered" when he saw her at an event. 

[patty1h]

It is programmed into my DVR so I get every episode but most of these crime shows are recycling stories so I end up skipping or deleting episodes.  There seems to be a lack of new material for these shows.

For example, I've seen the story about Amie Hardwick numerous times and last week they covered the story about the female bike racer who was murdered - that case has bounced around every show at least once already.   Another episode to delete.   

[TVbitch]

I record it every week, and if it is a case I am already familiar with, I just scan it to see if there is any additional info. The Amie Hardwick one had the poor roommate's reactions that night. Mind bogging that the murderer tried to claim that he was just there to shoot the breeze when she attacked him. 

20/20 actually had an interesting case last Friday that I was not at all famililiar with. 

[nora1992]

Maybe it’s my own experience of in-laws, but I can see reasonable doubt in the case against Kouri Richins.  If the glass the allegedly-fentanyl-laced drink was served in didn’t test positive for the drug, maybe it did come from something he took.  And when he spent 4-5 months on hunting trips, were any of the kids with him?  This is my own perspective, but I wouldn’t gush about how good a father any man was if he spends 1/3 of the year away from his kids for recreational purposes.  Men who are deployed/assigned are exceptions; hunting antelope on the tundra are not the same.

There are Betsy Faria vibes here.

[badgerwoman]

3 hours ago, nora1992 said:

Maybe it’s my own experience of in-laws, but I can see reasonable doubt in the case against Kouri Richins.  If the glass the allegedly-fentanyl-laced drink was served in didn’t test positive for the drug, maybe it did come from something he took.  And when he spent 4-5 months on hunting trips, were any of the kids with him?  This is my own perspective, but I wouldn’t gush about how good a father any man was if he spends 1/3 of the year away from his kids for recreational purposes.  Men who are deployed/assigned are exceptions; hunting antelope on the tundra are not the same.

There are Betsy Faria vibes here.

I am really curious on how this plays out on trial because there's  reasonable doubt here.   and the whole hunting 4 to 5 months a year is just crazy.  You aren't a good parent if you are not present that much!

 

 

[TVbitch]

I think she probably did it. The letter was very damning. It was clearly not "fiction" for a book she is writing. 🙄 I can see that there is reasonable doubt though. Seems it would be pretty easy to OD your spouse and just claim they took drugs that must have been laced with it. 

[seasons]

So is Natalie going to be hosting and reporting all the episodes now? I don’t necessarily mind once in a while , but I like the other reporters and would hope for a rotation. 

[Chalby]

On 2/25/2024 at 3:00 PM, TVbitch said:

I think she probably did it. The letter was very damning. It was clearly not "fiction" for a book she is writing. 🙄 I can see that there is reasonable doubt though. Seems it would be pretty easy to OD your spouse and just claim they took drugs that must have been laced with it. 

I agree that by saying the paper was a book, makes her out to be a liar. However, the bits I could read sounded like she wanted her brother to recall every time hubby spoke about doing or seeking out drugs. Maybe brother did mention something years ago that she's just remembering? I'm torn with her case. It's 50/50 for me. I need forensic proof, and not just a drink that no one bothered to test.

[TVbitch]

10 hours ago, Chalby said:

the bits I could read

I froze the letter every time they showed it and was able to read quite a bit. She was definitely trying to get the mother to probe the brother to see if he would be willing to come forth with a made up story that she was providing about the husband and drugs and Mexico. She probably never sent it cuz she knew they would not do it. 

[Realitystarr]

The update on the Semintelli case is new to me so I rewatched their original in 2019 which is everything they are showing again in this update.

I see nothing sexy about Robert Baker and the fact he went to prison  years ago for  having sex with a 14 year old would be a big red flag. Wonder if Monica knew about that.

 

[TVbitch]

The case was new to me too. 48 Hours is very hit or miss. They almost always give away the entire case in the opening minutes, so there is zero suspense. And they often present an espisode like this right before the defendant goes to trial. Why not wait until April so so they can give us the conclusion?

[12catcrazy]

Ok, so did anybody watch the case about Jane Dorotik?  This is the first that I've seen anything about this case (I wasn't watching true crime TV 20 years ago).  From what they showed here, it appears that she became the victim of bad police work.