May/December · Coolio · Dr. Laguna
Part two of our budget sweep — and some new reporting — coming in hot!
the true crime that's worth your time
Hello, hello! Today’s the day you’d usually get an episode of The Docket, but various administrative matters have put a pin in our recording schedule. We’re sorry about that, and miss you! In any case, you’ll find part one of the monthly sweep here, and we’ll see you tomorrow for our usual weekend chat. More soon! — Sarah and Eve
Mary Kay Letourneau’s Ex-Husband Vili Fualaau Reacts to ‘May December’: “I’m Offended” [The Hollywood Reporter]
I feel like we all ended up agreeing that May/December falls into the “crime fiction and that’s OK” category, but Fualaau would apparently take issue with the “OK” part of that sentiment. “If they had reached out to me,” he said of the filmmakers, “we could have worked together on a masterpiece. Instead, they chose to do a ripoff of my original story … I’m offended by the entire project and the lack of respect given to me — who lived through a real story and is still living it.”
There’s certainly an irony that a movie about an actor obsessively scrutinizing a subject that they’re about to play doesn’t contact one of the people it is ostensibly (?) about. Or maybe not — maybe there is a conscious decision here? The filmmakers didn’t respond to THR, so we don’t have an answer, but I have been thinking a lot about how Margie Ratliff (Michael Peterson’s daughter) talked about being played by Sophie Turner in the adaptation of her dad’s case, and how it felt like no answer was the right one. — EB
It’s a weird and interesting question, the topic of adaptation and real life involvement. Is that something we should be talking about more in Best Evidence, 2.0? Sarah and I are currently scrutinizing every aspect of this operation as we prepare to leave Substack, and hearing from you — either via email (you can respond to this issue or email us at editorial@bestevidence.fyi) or in the comments — will help us determine our direction.
Nothing is off the table, tell us what you want more of and what we might skip. We’ll take it all into account, I promise. Thanks, as always. — Sarah and Eve
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Gypsy Rose Blanchard is free from prison. Now she's everywhere. [USA Today]
It’s interesting to see this take on Blanchard’s sudden ubiquity from a mainstream publication. I know I was certainly thinking that she sort of exploded onto the scene last week; that it ended up an item in the Gannett paper’s “Health and Wellness” section suggests that she’s past the tipping point.
I don’t necessarily agree with the tone it takes: there’s an archness to the voice, and a jokey glee that — were this an article in an actual publication devoted to true crime — might be viewed as “everything wrong with the problematic genre.” Even as it criticizes audiences for viewing the homicide case (one wrapped in a shroud of uncontested child abuse) as “a real life soap opera,” it writes about Blanchard as a character, not a person; the name of her mother/abuser/victim, Dee Dee Blanchard, isn’t written once. Given the resume of the reporter, one might expect better. — EB
A quarter of Americans believe FBI instigated Jan. 6, Post-UMD poll finds [Washington Post gift link]
I’ll leave it to BE contrib Dan Cassino to evaluate the quality of the Washington Post-University of Maryland poll this report summarizes. This part surprised me the most: “Among Republicans, 34 percent say the FBI organized and encouraged the insurrection, compared with 30 percent of independents and 13 percent of Democrats.” Really, 13% of the Dems who responded think Jan 6 was a false flag? I get 11% of Democrats thinking there are members of law enforcement who want to overthrow democracy and replace it with something more rigid, but I have a bad feeling that’s not what these folks are thinking. — EB
‘Dr. Laguna’ was Instagram famous, but patients call his ‘mommy makeover’ surgeries dangerous [LA Times]
If you love the premise of Botched but can’t deal with all the extraneous drama, here’s a longread on Arian Mowlavi, a social media sensation/Laguna Beach plastic surgeon accused of malpractice in a series of lawsuits. This snip says it all:
“We’re making some beautiful butts, so come with me,” he says in one video, The camera then pans to the unconscious patient, facedown on the operating table. Her face is covered, but her buttocks are exposed.
“This ass has pop,” Mowlavi says in the 2018 video. Medical equipment whirs and beeps in the background. The blue markings of the surgeon’s skin pen and red wounds where the incisions were made are still visible on the body. “This is what we’re talking about, guys. Body by Mowlavi.”
I love seeing stories like these during the New Year’s resolution high season, a great reminder of how many predators are poised to hop on the insecurities cultivated by Jan. 1 decisions spurred by gross societal expectations. — EB
What People Don't Know About Being A Crime Scene Investigator [HuffPost]
Costa Mesa CSI supe Kimberlee Guluzian spills the beans on how she does her job at a crime scene. If you do a shot for every detail she provides that’s in direct conflict with your procedural of choice, you will die of alcohol poisoning so don’t. There are other little tidbits that stuck with me, like this one: “Every photograph we take is considered evidence. You don’t want personnel in your photographs if you can avoid it, so I might tell them to hide behind a wall.” Imagining someone telling William Petersen to go hide behind a wall made me lol, I can’t lie. — EB
Podcasters Took Up Her Sister’s Murder Investigation. Then They Turned on Her. [NY Times gift link]
This isn’t the same story I shared yesterday about how amateur sleuths (etc) making a survivor miserable, but it is more support for my True Crime Ruined My Life series pitch. Who can help me make this happen? Come on, guys, someone here must know someone! — EB
Shoddy work from Houston lawyers, judges jeopardizes justice in death penalty cases, study reveals [Houston Chronicle]
The research from criminal justice reform advocacy group the Wren Collective is focused on Houston, but the findings seem applicable to any city strapped by resources and time. You don’t always see reform groups coming after Public Defenders, but Death By Design (the report’s grabby but perhaps too colorful name) pulls no punches, writing that “For too long, unprepared lawyers have done little to stop their vulnerable, mentally ill clients from being sentenced to death, and judges have turned a blind eye to it.”
Pat McCann (that’s him in the video above), one defense attorney, is super pissed about the report, saying, “Academicians should shut up about something they know nothing about, which is running a small business.” It’s an interesting tactic to go all “shop small!” in response to criticism of the legal system and your role in it! — EB
‘Coolio-style hair’: LAPD union official’s column sparks backlash and debate [LA Times]
As a union member, I always feel compelled to say “except police unions” when I express solidarity with my brethren. Dealing with SFPD’s union for years, as well as seeing how other big city union attitudes might as well be those expressed in a sundown town in Mississippi, have led me to believe that they’re a primary reason contemporary policing remains gravely broken. This report on an Los Angeles Police Protective League column, which says racist and ignorant things about Black hair, is a great example of this — it’s so messed up that present-day LAPD officers even spoke with the LAT to express their dismay. — EB
The CDC’s Gun Violence Research Is in Danger [Wired]
“Republicans are quietly trying to strip the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of its ability to research gun violence,” Wired reports, with some claiming the agency’s work is “overly partisan.” There’s a “don’t shoot the messenger” joke I’d make if this were not so fucking unfunny — and if some of these right-leaning leaders didn’t make shooting the messenger part of so many of their stump speeches. — EB
And a few bullets to close out the doc:
Police Trainers Used Sexist Language and Glorified Violence, Videos Show [New York Times gift link]
LeBron James’s manager, Maverick Carter, admitted using illegal bookie to bet on NBA [Washington Post gift link]
Hollywood would have us believe that an airplane can be hacked by a tech-savvy passenger. But can they really? [Random But Memorable]
Friday on Best Evidence: What true crime we’ll be watching this first weekend of 2024.
What is this thing? This should help. Follow Best Evidence on Instagram and Bluesky, email us at editorial at bestevidence dot fyi, or call or text us at 919-75-CRIME.