Horse Scams · ShotSpotter Scrutinized · Project Veritas
The September budget sweep might be our biggest yet.
the true crime that's worth your time
Why are there so many links on this month’s Best Evidence budget doc? I don’t think there was any more crime than usual last month, nor was there a glut of project announcements. But somehow, I have two pages of links to get through — and that’s even after I cut some for being past the sell-by date and others because I couldn’t remember why I thought Sarah, you, or I should care.
My recommendation for this month’s sweep is to consume it in chunks, like that big bar of dark chocolate your friend who just came back from Italy brought you because you watered their plants while they were gone. Snarf it all down and you'll probably end up feeling sick and bitter; but a row here and there over a couple days will be a pleasant and diverting treat. Let’s get into it! — EB
P.S. As you can imagine, it takes a lot of time and energy to keep up with and curate these links! Paid subscriptions make that task a great deal more managable. Thank you to all who subscribe, and if you don’t — maybe today is the day that you do?
Why we made The Reckoning, the controversial Jimmy Savile drama [The Times]
The Steve Coogan-starring dramatic adaptation of the Savile case isn’t on BBC1/BBC iPlayer until October 9, but folks have been mad that the show was made since its announcement over a year ago. That’s why, perhaps, that “few people apart from its makers, executives in the BBC drama department and, maybe, the director-general (the BBC won’t say)” have gotten screeners. In fact, “not even all of the cast’s names have been disclosed,” due to the complaints raised about the project.
DNA Drives Help Identify Missing People. It’s a Privacy Nightmare [Wired]
Police present these drives as a way to help ID cold cases, but the info provided might be used to “build out a suspect’s family tree and narrow down their identity.” Add to that that “consumer DNA databases are largely unregulated and can change their terms of service at any time,” and that Embark test I got for Ellie feels a lot more sinister.
Troops stormed a prison. They found inmates had built a luxury resort. [Washington Post gift link]
How can you quit on a story with this lede: “When 11,000 soldiers and police officers stormed Venezuela’s Tocorón prison this month, they discovered a professional baseball field, swimming pools, children’s play equipment — even a small zoo, with monkeys and flamingos. They also found concrete tunnels in and out … and 200 women and children, living on the grounds. What they didn’t find was Tocorón’s most notorious inmate.”
The October bonus review will be a movie — but which one is up to you. Sarah’s got a roster of aughts-famous properties for you to choose from, in a list that poses the question: “how many people with the last name of ‘Peterson’ have allegedly done terrible things?” Vote today, and remember that you can pick as many as you want — or use your votes to stack against the movie you want to hear about the least.
The Fast Life and Scandalous Downfall of an Olympic Champion [The Daily Beast]
Man, I wish TDB had a gift link option so you all could read this—it’s wild enough that it might be worth dropping the cash on a month of access (though the incessant emails the pub sends probably isn’t). Equestrian Eric Lamaze allegedly faked a brain tumor, right down to faking a note from a doctor, to avoid a lawsuit about horses he sold after basically removing the feeling from their feet. It’s very fucked up, even for the fucked up business of exploiting animals for sport.
First, the loss of a baby, then the loss of legal rights [gift link, Washington Post]
I almost didn’t click on this because I assumed it would be an infuriating article about an arrest over a miscarriage, but it’s actually something less known. Members of the military who are harmed as a result of medical malpractice can’t sue military hospitals for that breach in care, did you know this? That’s because “A decades-old Supreme Court decision bars service members from suing the U.S. government for any injuries or harm they suffer that arise from their military service, regardless of whether it occurred in a combat zone or on a training mission or during medical treatment at a base hospital.” This is wild.
Dodgers pitcher’s arrest puts spotlight on Exposition Park’s tiny police force [LA Times]
Here’s another one for the little known law and order fact list: “Exposition Park, a 160-acre expanse of public space that includes museums, schools and ballparks in the heart of Los Angeles” has its own teeny tiny police force, led by two officers with the CHP. The department is actually part of the California Natural Resources Agency, and was until recently made up of “museum security officers”; a 2021 (!! not a typo) California law “requiring all peace officers to graduate from a police academy and undergo various background checks” means its staffing underwent a pretty significant change. So many weird details there!
US Justice Department Urged to Investigate Gunshot Detector Purchases [Wired] and The Maker of ShotSpotter Is Buying the World’s Most Infamous Predictive Policing Tech [Wired]
As you know, one of my hobbies is reminding people that ShotSpotter is bullshit; thanks to you all for allowing me to engage in that pursuit. The first article I list here suggests — and I might be too hopeful, here — that other folks are starting to think it’s bullshit, too. The second one suggests the company senses that rising skepticism and is willing to spend big bucks to remain on top.
His father murdered his mother. Now, an Angels prospect is finding the light [The Athletic]
Of course it was Sarah, our resident baseball nut, who surfaced this piece on pitcher Zac Kristofak, whose mom was killed by his dad. It’s a good story not just for the crime aspect, but for the discussion of trauma and mental health that comes from it. Do you remember when both concepts and sports were unmixy things? In this regard, at least, things are getting better.
For the women who took on Daniel Snyder, the ultimate #MeToo moment [gift link, Washington Post]
While we’re on 1) sports and 2) how things are getting better, here’s a nice item on a bunch of alleged victims of former Commanders owner Daniel Snyder as they gathered — in triumph — to watch a game. Plus the fans, as “The stadium had sold out for the first time in years as fans who had sworn off the Commanders during the perpetually underperforming and scandal-plagued Snyder years returned to witness the team eke out a 20-16 victory over the Arizona Cardinals.”
A top official in the Adams administration gambled with the mob and, allegedly, took bribes. [NY Mag]
A former NYC buildings commissioner turned himself into police after the Manhattan DA’s office claimed he solicited bribes, used his position to benefit friends and family, and (per the NYT) “reaped New York Mets season tickets1, a custom suit, a painting by an apprentice of Salvador Dalí and cash for gambling” in the ongoing alleged scheme.
The Secret Life and Anonymous Death of the Most Prolific War-Crimes Investigator in History [New Yorker]
One of the estimated 55,000 killed in the Feb. 6 earthquake in Turkey was Mustafa, the deputy chief of Syria investigations for the Commission for International Justice and Accountability, whose work provided the foundation for the most comprehensive war crimes case since the Nuremburg trials. He’s remained anonymous until now for his safety; according to intercepted Syrian documents, officials from that country were actively hunting him to thwart his work.
A former White Sox exec on skimming bonuses, team ownership, life after prison and more [The Athletic]
David Wilder, an MLB player turned exec, went down in 2013 after federal prosecutors successfully argued that he was the “ringleader of the bonus-skimming scandal that defrauded the White Sox of more than $400,000,” SB nation reported at the time. Now freed, he did his first interview in 15 years with The Athletic and spoke about what he did and why.
Former Bay Area police officer who later killed 6 dies in prison [SF Chronicle gift link]
Should Dean Norris, Jonathan Banks, or Michael Rooker play Anthony “Jack” Sully in the imaginary dramatic version of how a Millbrae police officer turned coke-addicted investor in a so-called “escort service” was convicted in a six-month crime spree that included the slayings of a drug dealer, a pimp, his wife, his girlfriend, and a number of other sex workers. Then again, maybe we don’t need to hear about this guy anymore, at all!
These Prisoners Are Training AI [Wired]
Finnish prisoners are paid about $1.67 an hour to label data in articles and documents to perfect “a search engine designed to help construction companies find newly approved building projects.” It’s a project that, unlike a lot of prison labor, has gotten widespread support, as “in a high-wage economy like Finland, finding those data laborers was difficult” and “the Finnish welfare system’s generous unemployment benefits leaves little incentive for Finns to sign up to low-wage clickwork platforms.”
True Crime: Rare Book Theft Edition [Book Riot]
This is a breezy roundup of crimes involving the theft of rare books, a commodity I wouldn’t even know how to begin to sell off. It looks like, based on this list, most thieves don’t know either! Following up on these cases sent me down various holes and reminded me of longreads we’ve shared here in the past — and again, I’ll say that I need a series on John Holmes Jenkins, a character even in the character-packed state that is Texas.
Why longtime fans of true crime are quitting the genre for good [Washington Post]
Though the article cites anxiety and mental health as the prime drivers for the split, I can’t help but notice that the true crime these longtime fans are going cold turkey on are often the kinds of properties that everyone should quit — one person, for example, was way too much into Crime Junkie, while nameless “others” are grossed out by merch like a Dahmer cutting board. Is the problem true crime, or shitty content?
Our Docuseries Horrible Person Sheds An Important Light On Our Streaming Service’s True Crime Offerings [McSweeney’s]
As with so much of McSweeney’s, this item speaks to an extremely IYKYK audience segment — in this case, people who receive press releases and marketing materials about true crime. As written, it’s so perfect it’s almost not funny; that said, “we are bringing much-needed, seat-of-your-pants, shiver-down-your-spine thrills your way, sandwiched between pharmaceutical ads for treating moderate to severe plaque psoriasis” did make me laugh aloud.
David Grann on Turning Best-Sellers Into Movies [New Yorker]
Folks disgusted by the monetization of true crime must really hate David Grann! jk of course they don’t, as he is very fancy. In this new Yorker Radio Hour, Grann discusses “his writing and reporting process, and adapting his work to the screen.” It’s very interesting and process-y and worth your ears; it’s also free.
San Francisco razed its ‘Harlem of the West’. Detectives seek those who lost homes [Guardian]
Folks who saw The Last Black Man In San Francisco have a little bit of understanding of what happened in the city’s Fillmore District, where racist housing policies decimated the city’s Black population. A team of private investigators is now seeking folks who received promises of public housing as part of those policies, a complicated and research-heavy process that this longread details at length. Of course, this work wouldn’t be necessary if city officials had not screwed these people over in the first place! For more on how SF used “urban renewal” to push Black folks out, see my pal Walter Thompson’s in-depth report from 2016.
Love, Loss, and Pig Butchering Scams [Wired]
Not to be a smug married, but the idea of giving a guy I met on Hinge — but never in real life — any money seems unthinkable, but what the hell do I know? When I got married, apps hadn’t been invented yet and “online dating” was basically Match, Nerve, or randos from Craigslist. Anyway, Evelyn (IT’S NOT ME GUYS) drained her bank account and IRA to the tune of $300,000, sending it to her dating app boyfriend who said he’d be investing it in crypto. It was only after she tried to cash in that the relationship crumbled, Evelyn went to Google image search, and the rest is history.
Project Veritas audit accuses ‘untouchable’ founder of improper spending [Washington Post gift link]
Bullshit, far-right “investigative journalism” outfit Project Veritas parted ways with founder James O’Keefe in February, and this report explains why; details include O’Keefe’s use of funds from the nonprofit for “$208,980 worth of luxury black-car travel over a two-year period. There was a $600 haul of bottled water during one hotel stay in San Antonio. There was even a $2,500 set of DJ equipment; O’Keefe dreamed of playing a set at Coachella, according to two former employees, and was irritated when his staff couldn’t get him booked at the legendary California music festival.” And that doesn’t even cover the “many expensive bottles of tequila” allegedly bought on Veritas dime for Selling the OC star Alexandra Rose, on whom O’Keefe allegedly had romantic designs. I laughed while reading this one more than the McSweeney’s item above, and that’s not shade on McSweeney’s.
The politics of crime [NYT/This Morning]
Save this newsletter for its lead item, a data-heavy dismantling of the argument we’re all likely to hear in the coming months, that crime is high in Democrat-led areas and low in those led by Republicans. Yes, “Big cities generally have higher crime rates than rural and suburban areas, thanks to their density and other factors. Democrats run most big cities because urban areas tend to contain more liberal voters,” but access to guns appears to be a more significant factor in geographic crime rates than the leanings of a city’s or state’s mayor.
How a former TV reporter brings his journalism skills to a government-run true crime series [Poynter]
Thanks to reader Kyle for flagging this story about Adam Gaub, a former journalist turned flack for Gaston County, North Carolina who now helps produce Gaston Unsolved, a web series on “cold cases from police agencies in Gaston County as part of a multi-season, multi-year effort to bring justice to people to whom it is long overdue.”
The videos are professionally produced and feel true crime-level quality, and yet they’re a product that’s unreservedly promotional in nature. “Copaganda” doesn’t even feel right to use, as that somehow suggests the message isn’t overt. Poynter doesn’t interrogate this as much as I’d like here; I would have preferred an approach like Nicholas Quah’s, who looked at police department podcasts back in 2019. “Sure, law-enforcement agencies have every right to use any means of communication to engage with the public,” he wrote then. “But it’s another thing altogether when we’re talking about active law-enforcement officials producing what can essentially pass as entertainment products in order to achieve their goals.” That Poynter didn’t think about the product, and Gaub’s role in it, a little more critically is a bummer, but I’m still glad Kyle sent this in.
Oh, shit, Substack is telling me I’m about to run out of space. OK, so I’m just gonna bullet these last few, and then September is well and truly OVER:
Unmasking Trickbot, One of the World’s Top Cybercrime Gangs [Wired]
Bread, Water and Peanut Butter: Sam Bankman-Fried’s Life in Jail [NYT]
Tomorrow on Best Evidence: Lawsuits and dramatic adaptations.
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“so he’s been punished, IMO” - SDB