Culpable · Warning Shot · Bardstown
Plus: The latest on the Curtis Flowers case
the true crime that's worth your time
True crime podcast Culpable has ginned up a $100,000 reward for the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for the death of Christian Andreacchi. The podcast, which Sarah reviewed here, dropped its season finale on September 15, and -- using the hashtag #JusticeForChristian -- says that it’s offering a $50,000 for information leading to felony arrest and charges, and “an additional $50,000 for felony conviction.”
The bounty comes from Black Mountain Media, LLC and Tenderfoot TV, the producers of the pod, which is kind of unusual to my journalistic eyes. While typically, a news org will publicize a reward offered by others, it’s pretty rare that it will offer its own cash for the solution to a case. Andreacchi’s death was ruled a suicide in 2014, but podcast producer Jacob Bozarth tells Business Insider that “the writers and producers of the show decided to contribute money for a reward after months of investigating left them determined to figure out what happened to Christian.”
Am I being too old media crusty by saying that this sits oddly with me. I’m trying to imagine how I’d feel, for example, if Sarah Koenig offered 50 grand for information that might clear Adnan. I think I’d question the rigor of the show if it took that specific a stand. There’s always the possibility, too, that this is just a publicity stunt -- after all, here I am writing about it! -- or an attempt to differentiate Culpable from the sea of other true crime offerings. What do you guys think? -- EB
My Australian true crime obsession continues with Warning Shot, a podcast about gun crime in Victoria. The show released three episodes earlier this month (it’s unclear if more will follow), and is a co-production of Crime Stoppers Victoria and the Victoria Police. It details a 2018 residential robbery in which four guns were stolen, then traces the havoc those weapons (and, of course, their wielders) wreaked.
According to a press release for the show, the goal of the pod is to both highlight the impact of gun violence and to help find the suspects behind crimes committed with the firearms, including an armed robbery at a mall. It’s unlikely that most of us will have any scoop on the do-ers, but that won’t stop me from checking out the podcast to learn more about the case. -- EB
Here’s another podcast you might like: With(in), a show about life inside Colorado prisons. The show’s a product of the University of Denver’s Prison Arts Initiative, which “promotes access to high-quality therapeutic arts programs” for inmates. According to a report from CPR, the show not only features interviews with prisoners, but is recorded, edited and hosted by incarcerated people.
Many of the folks on the show have been incarcerated for so long that they have no idea what podcasts are -- for example, Denise Presson, a recent guest, has been in jail since 2008, and is serving a 42-year second-degree murder term. “It's something you subscribe to, other than that I had no knowledge,” she says. You can learn more about With(in) here, and listen or subscribe here. -- EB
Good lord, is this an all-podcast issue? I guess so! This time I’m telling you about Bardstown, a show about the Kentucky town knows as the “Bourbon Capital of the World.” We’re halfway through its ten episode run, so this is as good a time as any to pick up this show, which is about the multitude of unsolved (and seemingly unrelated) cases in the city. The crimes include the ambush of a police officer, the slaying of a teacher and her teen daughter, and the fatal shooting of the husband of a woman who -- months before -- had disappeared. It’s true, the number of unsolved homicides is pretty high for a town as small as Bardstown (13,164, per census estimates). Is that enough to suggest that the city has a “dark secret,” like it’s Castle Rock or something? Here’s some local coverage to help you make up your mind, and its current episodes can be found here. -- EB
American Public Media reported Monday that Curtis Flowers, the subject of the second season of its In The Dark podcast, has been moved to county jail. As you might recall, in June the Supreme Court struck down his murder conviction, ruling that Grenada, Mississippi, District Attorney Doug Evans had violated Flowers’s constitutional rights. As part of the SCOTUS decision, the county must either decide to try Flowers for the seventh time or set him free. Last week, Flowers’s defense team filed a motion for bail and dismissal in the case, with a hearing expected some time this fall. -- EB
Wednesday on Best Evidence: It’s The Blotter Presents, Episode 113, in which guest Anna Beth Chao and Sarah will discuss Unbelievable and the Parcast podcast Sports Criminals. No, really, that’s what it’s called.
What is this thing? This should help.
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