Swedish Scarf · Telemarketers · Mushrooms
Do the SF 49ers have a crime curse?
the true crime that's worth your time
This weekend, we have fictional true crime, drugs, and phone scammers to get into — and that’s just what’s on the top of my mind. This summer has felt feast or famine. Some weekends leaving me scraping the bottom of the episodic barrel (I’ve already forgotten the name of that dumb Netflix series about people who have been reported missing). Other weekends I feel like there’s too much to get through and pay attention to it all. This weekend is closer to the latter, so let’s start talking about what to watch and when.
Only Murders in the Building
When you need a cozy, relaxing break.
There are two episodes of the lauded series out this week; critics were granted eight but have been warned to avoid spoilers. Which, sure, but the fun here isn’t the whodunnit-ness as much as watching these seasoned performers play. In the public episodes we have now, the true-crime satire angle is almost nonexistent, but I can’t say I miss it that much. Plus, Meryl! — EB
Painkiller
When you want to work up a righteous rage
I won’t say too much about this Netflix series on the Sackler family, which has six hour-or-so long episodes available for your viewing “pleasure,” as Sarah is tackling it for you next week. The criticism I heard a lot leading up to its release was that we already have Dopesick so we don’t need this, too — which is weird, because (as we discussed on The Docket last week) cases like Manson or the Zodiac get endless coverage, right? But those guys are responsible for far fewer deaths than the people behind Oxy’s irresponsible and unethical implementation.
That’s not to say that Painkiller is good (or not), just that arguments that the case has been covered and we need to move on miss the point. As far as I’m concerned, we need a quarterly take on the opioid crisis to remind everyone how dreadfully everyone, from drug companies to doctors to legislators to Walgreens, fucked up. Bring it on! That said, this story is infuriating in a way Manson or Zodiac aren’t, so if you’re feeling stressed I’d suggest you skip — at the least, try not to binge this one, because I suspect it’ll leave you feeling pretty frustrated.— EB
Telemarketers
For when you want your worst suspicions fulfilled
As someone who falls asleep to phone scammer honey trap YouTube content, I was anxious when news of this show first crossed my feeds, worried that this would establish an us v. them dynamic with people thousands of miles away on the wrong side of the income divide.
Blessedly, this HBO three parter is about scammers who work out of Sarah’s and my old stomping ground of New Jersey, and better yet, it’s a whistleblower success story — this isn’t a case of bringing down folks desperate to get by, as much as it is a discussion of how employees can jam up a predatory company, should they choose to do so. Sarah and her Extra Hot Great colleagues will be discussing this series on that podcast next week, and I’m going to watch it for fun like a regular person (!) when it premieres on Sunday. — EB
Hearsay
San Francisco 49ers CEO Jed York faces insider trading allegations in Chegg cheating lawsuit [East Bay Times]
The EBT is paywalled, but they recently launched gift links, hooray! The reason this one is fun, to me, is because the 49ers have a recent history of owners who end up on the wrong side of the law: York only owns the Bay Area football team is because previous owner, “Eddie” DeBartolo, was convicted in 1998 for his role in a riverboat casino extortion plot spearheaded by former Louisiana Gov. Edwin W. Edwards. Folks, you can’t make this shit up. From the NYT’s courtroom coverage:
During the hearing, an F.B.I. agent, Jeffrey Santini, testified that evidence from witnesses and wiretaps showed that Mr. Edwards and his son, Stephen, had repeatedly sought payments from Mr. DeBartolo in late 1996 and early 1997. The money, Mr. Santini said, was to insure that the state Gaming Board would award the license for its fifteenth and final riverboat casino to a consortium that included Mr. DeBartolo.
Then-president Trump pardoned DeBartolo in early 2020. The heir to the DeBartolo shopping mall empire was also accused of sexual assault in 1992 but was never charged; and faced battery charges in 1997 for a brawl involving a fan of a rival team.
The claims against York involve “Chegg Inc., a Santa Clara-based online education platform under fire for allegedly helping students cheat during the height of the pandemic.” According to the report, York sold Chegg stock while its price was allegedly falsely inflated, with a (paltry by Silicon Valley standards, I should note) profit of $1.4 million. Those allegations came out as part of a lawsuit brought in CA court by shareholders, so (unlike DeBartolo) this isn’t a criminal case. At least, not yet. — EB
She invited four people over for lunch. A week later, three were dead. [Washington Post]
Another gift link for this one, which you might have seen shared and reblogged in the last day or so. The circumstances of this lunch, during which three people were apparently sickened by foraged mushrooms (but the host and her children were unharmed), seem odd from the jump — the host is estranged from her husband, but it’s his parents who were at the fatal meal. There’s a discarded food dehydrator at play, as well as rumors that the husband had also experienced symptoms similar to death cap poisoning. Your thoughts and theories are welcomed! — EB
A Hollywood Insurrectionist’s Path to Extremism [The Hollywood Reporter]
To my great disappointment, this was not an article about Jimmy Pesto. (I would read the fuck out of that, wouldn’t you?) But Samuel Braslow brings us a different set of revelations, these about the Capitol rioter known as “Swedish Scarf.” Per Braslow via X, “For years, the name of the Capitol rioter known as Swedish Scarf has been a stubborn, international mystery. Until now. His name is Paul Belosic, a failed actor & LA native. Now, friends tell me how a Bush-hating liberal turned to conspiracies and Trump.”
Frustratingly, we don’t actually get to “how” in the story, not the way we have with other pieces on how people who stormed the building were radicalized: there’s a line that says he “fell in with a group of right-wing activists who hated masks, loved Trump and came to see the 2020 election as stolen,” but that’s less of an examination than I’d like, as it seems like it takes more than “falling in” to align yourself with violent hatemongers!
Nor do we get an understanding of how Belosic has evaded capture for as long as he has. The scoop is Belosic’s identification as the guy who — per a HuffPost report from two years ago — was likely identified by authorities in 2021. There’s more to write here, and I look forward to reading it. — EB
Next week on Best Evidence: More on Only Murders and Painkiller, royal crimes, and Henrietta Lacks.
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