Edgar Award Winners Announced · I-65 · Gucci
Your April budget doc cleanup awaits
the true crime that's worth your time
The 2022 Edgar Award Winners were announced last night. By now, you’re pretty familiar with the Fact Crime category nominees, as Susan Howard has spent the last few months talking us through the contenders. She even predicted the winner for us last week, and, what do you know…she was right. From her report:
This year’s nominees are an interesting lot, comprised of less straightforward true crime than past slates. Best Fact Crime winners tend to lean toward historical true crime and “crime-oirs” most often, with some investigative journalism sprinkled in.
This year’s slate includes a historical entry (The Confidence Men), a Cold War espionage tale (Sleeper Agent), a “crime-oir” (Two Truths and a Lie), a cultural and social history (The Dope), a civil rights-era history (When Evil Lived in Laurel), and a lesser-known true crime story from the 1980s (Last Call). Of these, The Confidence Men seems the most Edgar-esque, but I have a feeling Last Call takes it. To my mind, it’s the frontrunner and title to beat.
Sure enough, Elon Green’s Last Call: A True Story of Love, Lust, and Murder in Queer New York took the true crime prize last night (all the winners are on the Mystery Writers of America website), as Susan foretold, writing then that it “really broke away from the pack and made it on everyone’s must-read list.” Congratulations to Green, whose work we really love here at Best Evidence, and well done, Edgars — Last Call was the right call. — EB
How you can tell April is almost over: Kids are starting to study for finals (or say they are), Sarah’s May bonus review poll is live (come on, Uncover!) and it’s time to clean off the budget doc. This is when I take all the true crime-related items we thought we might get to and drop them in one big whirlwind of news and gossip. And this month is a doozy! As always, thanks for reading, see you in May! — EB
‘There are no answers’: Toni Collette brings a murder victim to life in The Staircase [Sydney Morning Herald]
The Staircase’s dramatic adaptation drops next week, so Sarah will have a review, of course — but I wanted to highlight this interview with Collette (who plays Kathleen Peterson) here. Specifically, this bit:
Collette felt that Michael Peterson has been “somewhat glorified, within their family, and certainly in the documentary.” In contrast, she says, Kathleen “was objectified and nothing more than really a victim. So, I think that this particular version of the story, it is much more balanced in terms of its perspective. And it is just as much about the breakdown of their marriage as it is what happens after her death.”
It’s been a while since I saw the The Staircase doc, but I’m tempted to rewatch given Collette’s gripes with the film. Or maybe this is just her frustration after living as Kathleen for a bit? Anyway, interesting. — EB
Introducing ‘South Texas Crime Stories,’ a newsletter and podcast about true crime [KSAT]
This is a new effort from broadcast journos Leigh Waldman and Erica Hernandez, one that leads with the announcement that “True crime shows, documentaries and podcasts have been growing in popularity for years.” Is this one of those ventures where a boss says “we gotta get in on that true crime thing,” or just an unfortunate choice of a lead sentence? The first episode of the podcast is only 18 minutes long and about a still-unsolved disappearance of a toddler, so the jury remains out. — EB
Elizabeth Holmes Takes Center Stage in Former Business Partner, Boyfriend's Trial [NBC Bay Area]
As I’ve mentioned, basically no one is covering the Sunny Balwani trial, and reading this NBC piece I have no idea what’s up. “Holmes, in absentia, took center stage,” is a phrase that was written, for example, but is talking about someone who isn’t there really “center stage”? If so, Jason Statham has taken center stage in my home for years!
It was fun, however, to be reminded that “Betsy Devos, the former secretary of education and her family, invested $100 million in Theranos and they said they were duped by Holmes and Balwani.” Oddly un-upset by that one! All this to say I have no idea what’s happening at the trial and it’s driving me nuts. — EB
Introducing three new Apple Podcasts Collections: Darkside, tbh, and Popped [Apple]
If you’re looking for something to listen to and cursing how bad all podcast apps’ discovery tools are, Apple claims they might have a bit of a solution: [sic] “editorially curated Collections” for certain subject groups. To that end:
True crime is one of the most popular and fastest-growing podcast genres in the world. Each Tuesday, Darkside presents new series and seasons that go deep into the wide and unpredictable worlds of crime. From murder mysteries to missing persons cases to scammers, con artists, and cults — listeners will find their next binge here, no matter how macabre it may be.
You can find Darkside via your Apple podcasts app. — EB
More on The Stocking Mask. Last month we mentioned The Stocking Mask, Staunton News Leader reporter Jeff Schwaner’s series on the botched investigation into a 1970s-era serial rapist. Schwaner actually commented on Best Evidence inviting questions after the full ten-part series was fully published. Here’s what he had to say:
Thanks for mentioning The Stocking Mask! The ten-part story is now entirely published (though as you can imagine there's a lot that didn't make it into even a long-form project) on The News Leader site. It's also on USA Today now, and I'm pretty sure you can get a month free on a couple of deals for digital access to USAT.
I spent two years on and off researching that story; the best part of it was having some of my own sources (who were in Staunton while this crime spree was creating havoc) come to me and say that even they learned something new from reading the story. If anyone here reads the project and has questions, I'm happy to answer them in this forum. Thanks again for including my project here!
You can find the full series on USA Today, and Jeff says he’s up for questions in this part of our comments section. — EB
Indiana State Police identify the 'I-65 killer' after a 30-year investigation [CNN]
Another forensic DNA case closure, this time for the I-65 killer, who police say sexually assaulted and killed “several” women along the interstate in the 1980s and 90s. He was definitively linked to four cases, but “it is possible there are other murders, rapes, robberies and assaults yet to be connected to the killer,” a law enforcement spokesperson said.
The suspect, Harry Edward Greenwell, died in 2013, but his wife spoke to the Independent and his daughter has been a prominent voice in the coverage of the case since the revelation. Keep your eye out for a podcast or series on this one. — EB
Eight stories of life after life in California’s prisons [Facing Life]
This Pulitzer Center-funded piece on life after incarceration is from writer Pendarvis Harshaw and documentarian Brandon Tauszik. From Harshaw:
Starting in 2018, photographer Brandon Tauszik and I began documenting the lives of eight people who’ve spent decades in California’s prison system. All of them, save for one, had been serving life sentences; but even that one person is serving a different sort of life sentence, one where he may never become a citizen. In the decades since these eight people were convicted and sentenced, California has passed new legislation, the state’s prison population has decreased, and public perception of people who’ve been incarcerated has begun to shift. But as these individuals and thousands of others who’ve served extended prison sentences are coming to find out, it’s not easy to navigate the free world.
The eight people profiled in Facing Life have told me about the everyday difficulties of operating smartphones, auto-flush toilets, and electric cars. Arguably more important are the hurdles they face when applying for jobs and finding shelter in California’s scarce housing market. And then there are more nuanced issues: mental health, generational trauma, the search for purpose in a world that does not seem to care for them. These are obstacles faced by many, but for the formerly incarcerated, such struggles can bring life-or-death consequences.
There’s a lot to take in with this package, which spends a lot of time with each subject. It’s not a “read all at once” kind of thing. — EB
The queen of crime-solving – podcast [Guardian]
This is one of the Guardian’s “audio longreads,” so you’re not committing to a full series, just 38 minutes. And if even that is too much, there’s a text version! Angela Gallop’s a forensic scientist who’s helped crack slews of cases in her five-decade career, and most of the piece is about that — and then it takes a turn into an indictment of “the current state of forensic science in England and Wales, which has been getting worse for at least a decade.”
To save money, police forces have started to do more testing in their own forensics laboratories, rather than outsourcing the work to specialised forensics companies. The result, said Jim Fraser, a forensic scientist at the University of Strathclyde, is “a real dog’s breakfast”.
Police officers, who may have no training in forensics, are often tasked with choosing which simple forensic tests to have carried out. Their options are restricted to a limited “menu” of tests, and younger forensic scientists are being trained in how to do just one or two of the tests on that menu, and not much more. “The real nadir of all this is when, instead of sending in an item for examination for blood, where the pattern might tell you something about what happened, the police cut a stain out and just send the stain in for DNA,” said Fraser. In summary, he said: “The police have completely fucked forensic science in England and Wales.”
The audio version is read by audio book standby Lucy Scott, if that helps make your “read or listen?” decision. — EB
Cuba Gooding Jr. Pleads Guilty to Forcible Touching [The Hollywood Reporter]
Please add to your Admitted Bad Men list the man who had every annoying person hollering “Show me the money” for a brief time in the ’90s. Per THR:
The single guilty plea came nearly three years after Gooding’s arrest in the case that saw several delays as his lawyers sought to get the charges reduced or dismissed. It had been scheduled to go to trial at least twice, with an April 2020 trial date scuttled as coronavirus cases surged in New York and the state shut down most court matters.
He’d initially faced six counts to which he’d pleaded not guilty, from as many as 19 other accusers. While he made this plea deal in his criminal case, Gooding also faces a civil lawsuit for an alleged 2013 rape, a claim he initially ignored, then denied earlier this year in belatedly-filed court documents. — EB
Hold Your Fire - Official Trailer | HD | IFC Films [YouTube]
The description for this doc doesn’t mention the arguably most controversial aspect of its subject, the Shu'aib Raheem gun theft hostage situation and case: During the 1973 standoff, police officer Stephen Gilroy was fatally shot (by who is unclear), two other cops were wounded. (The NYT has a good rundown of the case from coverage of Raheem’s parole in 2010.)
Instead, the logline is this:
In 1973, four young African-American men stealing guns for self-defense were cornered by the NYPD. Could visionary police psychologist Harvey Schlossberg convince his superiors to do the unthinkable – negotiate with “criminals” – and save twelve hostages from a violent bloodbath? In never-before-seen film and eye-opening interviews, HOLD YOUR FIRE has the potential to revolutionize American policing.
I get it, a police reform doc that includes a slain cop is a tough sell, and Raheem’s life is a complicated one, by his own admission. This description of the doc from the non-profit documentary support group the Better Angels Society does, uh, better:
In a country fraught with violence since our inception – a fact police officers openly lament on camera, discussing their struggles with alcoholism and broken families – it’s crucial that we discuss and address America’s toxic male legacy. In Hold Your Fire we’ll witness how the guns Shuaib desperately seeks as a source of power and self-defense ultimately strip him of power.
The store, bristling with guns and ammo, in which Shuaib barricades himself along with terrified hostages, becomes a metaphor for the wounded male psyche: overly armored, unreceptive to dialogue, and bristling with defensiveness and hostility. This film excavates a misunderstood, crucial moment in the long relationship between the NYPD and people of color, especially Muslims. In intensely powerful interviews, those on all sides of this traumatic event recount complex journeys toward healing.
The film drops on On Demand and in theaters on May 20. — EB
In a First for the Air Force, a General Is Convicted of Sex Abuse [New York Times]
Maj. Gen. William T. Cooley allegedly sexually assaulted his sister-in-law in 2018, who first reported the alleged attack to the Air Force Office of Special Investigations in December 2019. He was eventually found guilty of forcibly kissing her (the other charges were dropped) in the “the first court-martial trial and conviction of a general officer in the 75-year history of the military branch.”
He was sentenced this week “to a reprimand and docked pay for five months,” the NYT reports. He’ll end up paying out $54,550 if the sentence sticks, but right now Cooley is still saying he will appeal the conviction. — EB
To Dine For Podcast: Sara Gay Forden, Author of The House of Gucci [AdWeek]
What’s it like when your well-researched, incisive, and super fashion-y book becomes a Gaga/Leto/Scar joint? Journalist Sara Gay Forden is too nice to do the kind of Leto impression I do any time I see pink and brown (basically, a Chef Boyardee voice saying “but Papa, I want to be a dee-signer!”), but this is still a worthwhile podcast episode to tune into for insights on how she wrestled an extremely unwieldy story into an excellent book. — EB
Monday on Best Evidence: Art-theft name-dropping?
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