The Council · Serial Killer Spirits · Chanel Miller
Plus: What's with American Horror Story and the Night Stalker?
the true crime that's worth your time
Will Smith will play a notorious New York mob boss in an upcoming Netflix true crime adaptation. Deadline reports that Smith has been cast in The Council, the “never-before-told story” of a crime syndicate led by Nicky “Mr. Untouchable” Barnes in the 1970s and ’80s. Smith will play Barnes, who led The Council and its international drug trafficking operations until his life imprisonment in 1978, during which he became a federal informant.
Barnes is the subject of a 2007 documentary called Mr. Untouchable, a nickname that went wide following a 1977 cover story in the New York Times Magazine (you can read a digitized version of the piece here). Also in 2007, he joined Frank Lucas (the guy Denzel Washington played in American Hustler) for an absolutely fascinating interview on how the drug trade had changed since their day. While I’m at it? This NYT interview, also from 2007, is also worth a read.
All that 2007 action was because that’s when Barnes (whose death in 2012 wasn’t reported until this summer) was promoting his book, which was also called Mr. Untouchable. Given how clearly well-documented Barnes’s life was, it will be interesting to see what aspect of it screenwriter Peter Landesman dug up to deserve the “never-before-told” tag. -- EB
It’s almost Halloween, which means that the “true” in true crime is being applied kind of liberally. For example, via press release our friends at television program Ghost Adventures are promising to serve true crime realness with their four-part show Ghost Adventures: Serial Killer Spirits.
If your eyes have rolled so hard that you can’t see the screen anymore, well, join the club -- but as some folks I have mocked this to said it “sounded fun,” here we are. (These days, the last thing I’m going to do is stifle any harmless fun! We all need a break, am I right?) Per the presser, Zak Bagans (who, loyal readers will recall, recently bought the LaBianca house) and his gang will explore the so-called “H.H. Holmes Murder House” in the Irvington district of Indianapolis, a cottage where in the late 1800s, Holmes killed a 9-year-old boy (here’s an actual news story from the Indianapolis Star about the home, crime, and alleged haunting).
Fun fact: I went to a party in that house in the 1990s and it just felt like a regular old residence, perhaps because only the cellar remains of the original structure. (Or maybe because ghosts are not real.) What do you bet that Bagans has a different experience? We can all find out together when the show kicks off on October 5 at 9 PM on the Travel Channel. -- EB
Speaking of ghosts and fiction and general BS, did you notice that this season of American Horror Story features Richard Ramirez? Every season of the show has woven in real-life figures (here’s a handy Pop Sugar listicle, if you care), and Ramirez also briefly appeared in its Hotel season. In the current iteration, subtitled 1984 (sadly, not about governmental control), Ramirez -- who, as he wasn’t identified until August of 1985, hasn’t been referred to by name -- is stalking one of the show characters from her residence in LA to a summer camp at which she took a seasonal position.
Obviously, the only thing that’s “true” about the true crime connection to the show is the hairdo on actor Zach Villa, who tells The Wrap that he looked at “a lot of source material” for the role. Ramirez, who was incarcerated at San Quentin until his death in 2013, reportedly attempted to escape from the prison in 1993 and 1998, so if AHS wants to continue to fictionalize his story, there’s plenty more where that came from, I guess. -- EB
Chanel Miller, the woman who was sexually assaulted by Brock Turner, has released a short film. It’s called “I Am With You,” and was written, illustrated, and narrated by Miller, whose book on the case, Know My Name, was released last week. Miller says that the film is a byproduct of her writing process, during which “I was constantly drawing as a way of letting my mind breathe, reminding myself that life is playful and imaginative.” You can watch the movie above, and here’s a link to it on YouTube. -- EB
Friday, on Best Evidence: Thanks, everyone, for your podcast review recommendations! I’m going to put up a poll tomorrow, and let the voting begin.
What is this thing? This should help.
Follow The Blotter @blotterpresents on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, and subscribe to The Blotter Presents via the podcast app of your choice. You can also call us any time at 919-75-CRIME.