Stolen relics · Prison podcasting · Creepy CEO
Welcome to your weekend longreads
the true crime that's worth your time
I’m counting the hours until the weekend, as I promised myself a special treat. I’ve been squirming to watch Untold: The Girlfriend Who Didn't Exist since it dropped on Netflix this week, but haven’t had a moment to myself, let alone the two hours this doc on football star Manti Te’o’s wild catfishing would require. Sports Illustrated has already given it a glowing endorsement, and Te’o’s interview with USA Today also got me pumped. What’s your true crime plan for this weekend?
Of course, there’s more to a weekend of true crime than what’s on the tube. I have a nice collection of long and longish reads for you this Friday, so between everyone’s weekend watches and this reading list, I think we’re in for a fun couple of days. — EB
A luxury magazine photo hid relics Cambodia says could be stolen [Washington Post]
A wealthy San Francisco homeowner whose mansion was featured in Architectural Design is under scrutiny after online photos of the property depicted what the glossy mag didn’t: artwork that Cambodian investigators believe were looted from sacred grounds.
Snip:
Four years ago, one of Latchford’s business associates sent an email to Gordon, the American attorney working with Cambodian investigators. The email contained photos from a 2008 issue of Architectural Digest of a “dazzling” $68.5 million Palm Beach mansion. The magazine did not name the owners, but it was the home of Sloan Lindemann Barnett’s parents, George and Frayda Lindemann, then prominent figures in the art world, according to property records and news accounts.
Photos of the interior revealed an extensive collection of Khmer antiquities valued at $40 million or more, according to experts. From the photos, Cambodian investigators identified more than 20 statues that they suspect were looted.
The owners had designed a home that reflected the architecture of Southeast Asia, the magazine said. According to the article, the owners believed there was “karmic justice to installing their ancient stone warriors and divinities in an environment that recalled their birthplace.”
Pause at the top of the page, if you will, for one of the most damning gifs ever, then keep going for a great story of cultural theft, international smuggling, and vulgar wealth. — EB
Here’s a much quicker read. In a nine-tweet thread, record-obsessed journo Seamus Hughes follows “a suspected supporter of boogaloo boys” down a court filing thread. It’s a wild ride! — EB
Far-right figures in prison get their message out by podcasting behind bars [NPR]
We all remember Sarah Koenig’s calls with Adnan Syed as the backbone of Serial’s first season — and apparently other imprisoned folks do, too. According to the report from National Security reporter Odette Yousef, incarcerated members of far right groups, including Jan 6 rioters and members of Nazi groups, are now hosting shows from jailhouse phones.
Snip:
Some have created their own podcasts that spin their incarceration as examples of a tyrannical or deep-state government at work. Others call in collect as guests on far-right podcasts. They air the same conspiracy theories and lies that helped to propel the attack on the Capitol. Amy Spitalnick heads Integrity First for America.
AMY SPITALNICK: Of course, the goal of this, in many ways, is to continue driving attention, continue driving funds, continuing to promote extremism and hate.
The piece is a four-minute listen, or a much briefer read. — EB
Social Media Was a C.E.O.’s Bullhorn, and How He Lured Women [New York Times]
If details of sexual assault are triggering for you, please keep scrolling — even if you aren’t, this longread from Karen Weise on how payments company CEO Dan Price bounced back from domestic violence violations with a left-leaning twitter presence crafted by a reporter who, himself, faces sexual harassment allegations, then allegedly parlayed that charming presence into a situation in which he allegedly raped a follower, will make your blood boil.
Snip:
In April 2021, three months into their relationship, Ms. Margis met Mr. Price in Palm Springs. Along the calming rush of Tahquitz Creek, Mr. Price hiked barefoot, often whipping out his phone to check his Twitter. His message celebrating the sixth anniversary of the wage increase got 180,000 likes, and other media, including a piece in People, shared his story.
The next morning, Mr. Price had to make a call and demanded that Ms. Margis leave their room, she said. Wearing just a bikini and cover up, she protested, but he insisted. For hours, she was locked out, killing time by messaging friends.
“Drop hiiiimmm,” one friend wrote back.
“It’s a no from me dawg,” another agreed.
Mr. Price found her by the pool and leaned in for a kiss, she recalled. She rebuffed him. He snapped that she was not a good listener and didn’t understand him. “He said it is so hard being him in the world because of his intelligence,” she later recalled.
It was the last thing I read before I went to sleep the other night and it jacked my dreams up, but it’s a great and important story and if you can stomach it, you should read it. — EB
After 35 years missing, an Air Force captain mysteriously reappeared in the Bay Area [SF Gate]
Before you get on me for my Bay Area-centricity, it was Sarah who dropped this longread on missing-person-who-wasn’t Barry O’Beirne (real name: William Howard Hughes Jr.) onto our budget doc.
Pentagon officials confirmed that a captain “with top secret access is missing under mysterious circumstances.” With Cold War paranoia high, the FBI tried to downplay fears, telling the press that “there is no indication of espionage at this point.”
After months of silence, Hughes’ sisters in Seattle spoke out, pushing back on the idea that their brother was a spy, instead stating he was likely abducted. Sister Christine Hughes described his disappearance as “totally out of character for the Bill we knew. We do not feel he disappeared voluntarily.”
In a prepared statement, the family added that William was a brilliant, dedicated man who phoned his parents regularly before he vanished. A family reunion had been planned for the fall and Hughes was “always careful to notify his family of his whereabouts.”
The Hughes case was well-covered in 2018 by publications like the Air Force Times (“Air Force captures deserter 35 years after he disappeared”) and Irish Central (“Most-wanted US Air Force deserter lived secret life in California as Irish American”), among many others. This lengthy aggregation of reporting from the time is a cozy retelling of the tale. — EB
She was stabbed 59 times 40 years ago. Now, a DNA match has led Sunnyvale police to Maui to bring back her suspected killer [East Bay Times]
This one’s all me, though: 38-year-old detective Matt Hutchison had been obsessed with the 1982 rape and murder of 15-year-old Karen Stitt since he was a little kid — and using forensic DNA, he says he has found the man responsible.
Snip:
Hutchison sought out one of Gary Ramirez’ children and collected a DNA sample, which showed a high probability that the suspect was their father, he said. After that, authorities used a search warrant to swab Gary’s mouth for a DNA sample, which another Sunnyvale detective flew personally that night back to San Jose. About 2:30 a.m., the crime lab confirmed the match.
So many cold case prosecutors and Sunnyvale homicide detectives had tried to solve Karen’s case, Hutchison said, but with every passing year, an arrest seemed less likely, and the chance that the suspect would still be alive even more remote.
When he opened the email with the DNA match, “I wanted to scream, but I can’t because I didn’t want to wake up the hotel,” he said. “So I just took a moment to reflect.”
This is a succinct but surprisingly emotion-filled report from Julia Prodis Sulek, whose name you should keep an eye out for; she’s likely to lead local coverage of Scott Peterson’s retrial, should it occur. — EB
Scamming the boss: Some employees are outsourcing their jobs to other people. Here's how companies are spotting the fraudsters. [Insider]
Insider offers a 30-day guest pass, which means even if you’re not a current subscriber you can read this report on remote workers who are subcontracting work to others.
Snip:
Cameron Edwards, the senior vice president of client strategy and operations at the staffing agency Matlen Silver, a staffing agency, screens applicants for full-time jobs at Fortune 500 companies. She said that the practice is most common in technical, IT, coding, and developer roles and that the employees pulling these kinds of scams are often people authorized to work in the US and western Europe and therefore earn a relatively high salary. They get hired at large companies as full-time in-house technology consultants and then outsource their jobs or aspects of them to workers in lower-cost countries and pay them accordingly.
She said that before the pandemic she occasionally became aware of employees working two or more 40-hour-a-week contracts from different companies, sometimes competitors — but that the frequency has risen in the past couple of years.
"As the world has evolved to become more hybrid and remote, it's just that much easier to pull off," she said, adding that recently several clients have told her about newly hired employees who were outsourcing their jobs to others. "Nothing surprises me anymore."
There’s a lot of heavy language about fraud and security, but, y’all, I also feel like a lot of this piece might be some anti-remote-work bullshit masquerading as “oh no are your employees catfishing you better make them work on-site” nonsense. Or maybe I’m just feeling anti-work because it’s Friday? You tell me.
Monday on Best Evidence: Kids for cash!
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