Cocaine Cowboys · Robert Durst · True Crime 'Junkies'
Plus: Bill Gates states the obvious
the true crime that's worth your time
Cocaine Cowboys: The King of Miami is here. I understand if you’re like “which one is that” right now, because there are so many Florida-related drug trafficking docs out these days! So, the big question is if this Netflix series, which dropped on Wednesday, is worth adding to the white and powdery pile.
Writing for Primetimer, Sarah says that it “doesn't disappoint,” and that the latest of director Billy Corben’s three projects on the subject is “well worth watching.” Here’s a snip:
The Kings Of Miami isn't about the rise of Miami as the country's cocaine capital generally, as the previous three docs were, but rather about "the Boys," Willy Falcon and Sal Magluta: high-school dropouts, womanizers, and world-class speedboaters who ran a massive drug-trafficking organization. Falcon and Magluta eventually got busted, only to stretch their notoriety out over decades, embroiling their attorneys, their families, friends, and state AND federal governments in trials, retrials, hung juries, fugitive pursuits, jury-tampering rackets, and more.
Their story has many twists, making for a wild ride of a series, especially in the first handful of episodes. Add to that Corben's evidently significant music budget; the natural charisma of the two central "antiheroes"; and the fact that dozens of other central figures in the story participated, and Cocaine Cowboys is a pretty impressive piece of work. (And the story really just won't quit: one of the key lieutenants in Falcon and Magluta's operation got arrested after his interview with the filmmaker for selling coke to an undercover DEA agent. The mother of that guy's child? She was on The Real Housewives of Miami. And she's not the only link to that show in the case.)
If Sarah’s word isn’t enough for you, critic Richard Roeper showered the show with praise, rather questionably calling the Netflix series “addictive,” and Decider comes dangerously close to the same cliche. All six episodes are available on Netflix now, so there’s your weekend. — EB
And today in “daily” news: Almost every true-crime property began as a daily news story — and the biggest ones have spawned several more “for the daily” reports. Here’s what we have for you today:
Robert Durst takes the stand today. The central figure of The Jinx is expected to testify in his L.A. murder trial Thursday, the Associated Press reports. The 78-year-old is expected to testify for “several days.” An odd note: “Durst will likely take the stand in the county jail attire he's been wearing in court for the past several weeks, which his attorneys said was necessary because severe health problems make him unable to stand and change into a suit.” Those issues include bladder cancer, brain fluid that requires drainage, and a UTI.
Bill Gates says his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein was “a huge mistake.” You think, ding-dong? In a CNN interview reported on by the New York Times, Gates told Anderson Cooper that “You know, there were lots of others” who also spent time with the convicted sex offender.
Former eBay exec Philip Cooke is headed to jail. You likely know Cooke from landmark true-crime longread “Inside eBay’s Cockroach Cult: The Ghastly Story of a Stalking Scandal,” the NYT story that detailed a wild harassment plot allegedly led by high-level staffers at the online auction site. Cooke, who was accused of threatening and abusing Ina and David Steiner, two writers who were sometimes critical of eBay, was sentenced this week to “18 months in federal prison; three years of supervised release that includes one year of house arrest; a $15,000 fine; and 100 hours of community service,” the MetroWest Daily News reports.
Truth be told, I was sucked into this true crime longread by the reporter’s bio. “RF Jurjevics does research consulting work for a New York City-based private investigator. They were previously a staff writer at the San Diego Reader, and have written for Allure, GOOD, and Real Simple.” So, basically, they (that’s Jurjevics’s preferred pronoun) have the life I’ve always dreamed of at the intersection of organization, beauty, and detective work. (Oh my god, they also do ceramics? I am a failure, I give up.)
The polymath can also spin a true-crime yarn, it appears. This one is a time-consuming sit on a the disappearance of 30-year-old Ethan Rendlen, as investigated by a Facebook group of amateur sleuths that were attracted to the case by online posts from Rendlen’s wife, Tatiana Badra.
Along the way there’s Eve-specific details like an alleged “accidental melatonin overdose” (melatonin is my party drug of choice), as well as bankruptcy and claims of a cancer-curing miscarriage. Here’s a snip:
As activity in the Rendlen True Crime subgroup—which today has 5.3k members—gained steam, locals who had encountered the couple before Rendlen’s disappearance began to join, too. Xaviera Crockett, then a clothing-store manager in Plano, posted a photo her employees had taken of Rendlen and Badra just hours before his disappearance on July 14, 2019. Badra’s strange behavior had employees on alert, said Crockett. She’d entered the store barefoot, with “her nipple hanging out of her wedding dress,” and wandered in and out of the changing rooms, which she left a mess, in just her bra. One of the employees took the photo after Rendlen threw away a bottle of Clonidine, a blood-pressure medication, declaring, “I won’t need this anymore.”
Members of the subgroup started speculating about what had happened to Rendlen. Some thought he had fled and was hiding out, others blamed Badra. “She killed him” was a frequent comment. People flocked to the threads; choruses of “any update?” followed. Moderators cautioned the group to respect the Rendlens’ privacy and not to go “real life.” But word had spread. Badra’s Instagram posts were flooded with comments. “WHERE IS ETHAN?” “What did you do to him??”
I assume that a multitude of TV/film true-crime producers have reached out to Jurjevics since the story went up Wednesday, eventually making their life even more enviable. Until then, there’s the longread in Vice, a wild wild ride of deception, grift, and more. — EB
Yesterday was the 128th anniversary of the Borden family slaying. It was August 4, 1892 when someone (Lizzie? Who knows?) used an ax to kill Abby and Andrew Borden. Their Massachusetts home has long been enshrined as a destination for creep-seeking traveler like my Best Evidence partner Sarah, who once bought me a very nice lip balm from the Lizzie Borden House gift shop. (The lip balm’s flavor? Pina colada! Insert joke about “Escape” here.)
Speaking to the The Herald News, Jared Robinson, the manager of the LBH, says that the business is “looking to do some cool events for the community” to commemorate the anniversary on August 8, 15 and 22. “Probably some re-enactments involved there.”
In a pandemic, few folks want to crowd into a tight space, so this year, Robinson says, “We have a full cast of actors in the house and it’s being filmed and live-streamed out to the parking lot,” tour guide Vic Jessop said. That way, “Everybody can spread out and have your own space and see everything that’s happening, and not get blocked in the room while the action is going on,” or, you know, avoid a deadly and infectious variant of a serious and debilitating virus. Either one!
The LBH actually changed hands in May, the Herald News reports, when a company called US Ghost Adventures bought the bed and breakfast from Donald Woods and Lee-ann Wilber, who’d run it since 2004. The new owners say they also plan a “a community space — some place where people can hang out” for the parking lot with — I kid you not — an ax-tossing range. No word on if the business will continue with its lip balm, arguably its most significant contribution to this chapped-lipped member of its community. – EB
Friday on Best Evidence: Drug rehab is on Sarah’s (Best Evidence! She’s fine) docket; we’ll see how it goes.
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