Antonio Banderas · Bill Cosby · The Dope
Buckle in, we're entering a new level of budget doc cleanup
the true crime that's worth your time
Hope you’re ready to read. Sarah and I have been hoarding some of our budget doc items for so long that we had to move, like 45 different reused Crystal Geyser containers and at least 73 unopened boxes of Christmas ornaments to get to some of them. It’s time for a purge, before Sarah and I end up bickering in a dilapidated coastal cottage, attired in headscarves and broaches as we fondly recall the good old days when all we had to write about was Unsolved Mysteries and Serial.
OK, that doesn’t actually sound that bad. But you know what I mean! So get comfortable, we have a lot of items we loved and really really really meant to write up. It’s time to let those links fly free into your eyeballs, so here we go. — EB
Antonio Banderas to Play Crime Reporter Mario Spezi in ‘Monster of Florence’ Series [Hollywood Reporter]
Based on Spezi’s book, The Monster of Florence: A True Story, this six-part limited series will cover “a notorious series of murders in Italy from the late 1960s to the mid-1980s” in which Spezi and a fellow writer were targeted by police as the suspects.Bill Cosby to leave prison after court overturns sex assault conviction [Associated Press] The news broke just as I was sitting down to write today’s issue: “Pennsylvania's highest court overturned Bill Cosby's sex assault conviction Wednesday after finding an agreement with a previous prosecutor prevented him from being charged in the case.” Prosecutors have not said if they will appeal or seek to try the 85-year-old for a third time. You’ll obviously hear a lot more on this in the hours and days to come.
True Crime Team James Pietragallo & Jimmie Whisman Launch Podcast Network Upside Down, Set Inaugural Slate [Deadline]
The folks behind the Small Town Murder and Crime in Sports podcasts have launched a new podcast network that “will feature true crime and comedy podcasts, and will also venture into organized crime, personal narrative, interview-style, and serial/episodic shows.” Two of those podcasts are already in the works: Game of Crimes, a podcast about “some of the most notorious cases from those who broke the law and those who were sworn to enforce it” and Life After Happy Face, a show from the daughter of the Happy Face serial killer.
Inside Ghislaine Maxwell’s Battle With the Bureau of Prisons [Vanity Fair]
My plan with this one was to struggle with the general truth that the U.S. carceral system is inherently horrific (which, to be clear, is not the publicly-stated intent of the operation), so how do we handle it when folks we find repugnant — like Maxwell, like (to a lesser degree) Lori Loughlin — complain? Anyway, the VF story is good.Saudi Operatives Who Killed Khashoggi Received Paramilitary Training in U.S. [New York Times] Here’s the lead graf, which does the deed quite well: “Four Saudis who participated in the 2018 killing of the Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi received paramilitary training in the United States the previous year under a contract approved by the State Department, according to documents and people familiar with the arrangement.”
RIP Dennis Griffin [Rome Daily Sentinel] Griffin’s obit is brief and sweet, and notes only that he “was a Madison County Deputy and transferred to the NYS Department of Health to become the Director of Investigations. After retiring, he fulfilled his ambition of becoming an author of true crime and cold case stories. During his journey he successfully wrote over twenty books that were published.” A look at his website shows his investment in chronicling the mob and its activities in Las Vegas, including Policing Las Vegas, Battle for Las Vegas, and Cullotta. He was 75.
Don’t forget to vote! Generation Hustle is currently in the lead for Sarah’s paid-subscriber-only July review. Will it prevail? That’s up to you.
We Talked to the Realtor Who Sold the Infamous Manson Family Murder House [Vice]
We already discussed how that ghost-hunting guy sold the LaBianca house for a loss; now here’s the realtor on the sale. Most of the item is fluff, tbh, but it was interesting to hear that (per the realtor) “Its history brought out a combination of aspiring social media stars and serious buyers,” and that many who attempted to book a showing were just “trying to win points on Instagram.”Longtime Lake journalist publishes new book on 'Vampire Cult Killer' [Daily Commercial] Reporter Frank Stanfield covered the so-called “vampire cult leader” Rod Ferrell since 1996, when the 16-year-old killed his classmates’ parents as part of an alleged ritual. Now he’s written a book about the case, which didn’t wrap up until last yeat.
True Crime’s Deceits: The Genrefication of Tragedy [LA Review of Books]
”I don’t like true crime. It doesn’t entertain me or hold me in titillating suspense,” Gabriella Gage writes, but as opposed to moving on from there the way I do from a dish that contains green peppers, she spends a lot of time sort of passive-aggressively suggesting that we shouldn’t like it, either. It’s odd!
A Pappy Van Winkle Bourbon Heist Is the Subject of a New True Crime Documentary on Netflix [Food & Wine] Of the three true-crime cases detailed by Netflix series Heist, the most exciting one for boozehounds like Sarah and me might be the episodes on the brazen series of thefts of Pappy Van Winkle bourbon. The six-episode show drops July 14.
True crime is one of TV’s top genres. Critics say it’s failing us [LA Times]
I know, the headline is uuuugh! But this is actually a smart and incisive look at the oft-awkward network of relationships between true-crime content creators (documentarians, podcasters, etc.), law enforcement and the courts, and the audience. It’s well worth a read.Patrick Fugit Joins Elizabeth Olsen & Jesse Plemons In ‘Love And Death’ HBO Max True Crime Limited Series [Deadline] This is the non-Elizabeth Moss Candy Montgomery property we’re talking about here. Fugit will play Pat Montgomery, Candy’s (Elizabeth Olsen’s) husband
Thursday on Best Evidence: Get ready for The Duke.
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