Paradise After Dark · In Cold Blood · Leverage
Plus: An Ear Hustle-r leaves prison
the true crime that's worth your time
The Naples Daily News has a nice profile on the couple behind the Paradise After Dark podcast. Lauren and Ken Samples do their show from a garage in the Golden Gates Estates home, which is located in Naples, Florida. I hadn’t heard about the show before now, but after I read the Daily News piece I gave it a listen and -- at the risk of sounding condescending, which is not my intention -- I found it quite charming!
The show’s focus is crime in its home state of Florida, which, as we’ve previously discussed, is a topic that’s frequently mishandled by the media. Neither Ken nor Lauren are crime experts (she’s a hairstylist, he sells propane) but both have found themselves sucked into local cold cases and missing persons. You can listen to the podcast here, and read the profile here. -- EB
If you’re a Patreon supporter of The Blotter Presents, make sure to check out its newest supporter-only review, which dropped this morning. For the episode, Sarah reviewed “The D.B. Cooper Job,” an episode from the fifth season of the TV show Leverage. Sarah’s obsession with the Cooper case is well-known, which presumably prompted this piece, and Sarah says she liked the ep! You can read it here. -- EB
NPR really liked The Less People Know About Us. The book, which was released last week, is being marketed as a “true crime memoir.” According to author Axton Betz-Hamilton, her parents’ identities were stolen when she was 11 years old, ruining their credit ratings and, eventually, their relationship. Then, when she turned 19, Betz-Hamilton discovered that her own identity had been stolen, and the thief was the last person she might have expected. (If you want to be spoiled, here’s a news article on the case, and an interview Betz-Hamilton did with Elle on the matter).
Critic Genevieve Valentine says that its “a briskly-written book; the air of menace is palpable — and occasionally so effective that Betz-Hamilton seems to recede from her own narrative, bursts of visceral motion overshadowed by long periods of passive action narrated through a fog of dread.” I know I’m intrigued! If you are, too, you can find The Less People Know About Us: A Mystery of Betrayal, Family Secrets, and Stolen Identity here. -- EB
You could buy the In Cold Blood house. According to Realator.com, the Kansas site of the Clutter family murders, aka the case at the heart of Truman Capote’s book, will soon be on the market. The spot was such a true crime tourist attraction that its owners even offered tours there in the 1990s, but discontinued them after complaints from their neighbors. It’s been sitting vacant for years, after its owner, Donna Mader, died this past July. Daughter Sue Wieland says that she’s currently “waiting on an appraisal” before putting the home up for sale, and that she already has “a few prospective buyers.” What do you want to bet that Zak Bagans is one of them? -- EB
Ear Hustle listeners will be interested to know that Antwan Williams, one of the show’s co-founders, was released from prison Tuesday. According to a GoFundMe established for Williams last spring, he plans on continuing his work on the podcast -- which seeks to give voice to inmates of San Quentin -- even after his release. Williams was serving a 15-year stint for armed robbery, the AP reported in January. If you haven’t listened to Ear Hustle, you can check it out here. -- EB
Friday on Best Evidence: Oh, Dan Abrams, what are you doing now?
What is this thing? This should help.
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