True Crime Media Alert

[sdreid]

I don't get the controversy either. It's the young woman on death row drama I suppose.

Mrs. Router was also a white woman who was, at least originally, somewhat attractive. That also makes a difference I think.

[Magpie]

I don't get the controversy either. It's the young woman on death row drama I suppose.

I've since done a bit (okay a lot) of research and it looks like her family/supporters, aided by the very media they claim railroaded her, have launched a very successful campaign to promote the myth that there are unanswered questions in the case. Yep, unanswered unless you read the trail transcripts (which they count on people not doing).

But yeah, I think your observation is very valid.

[sdreid]

Watched about 4 documentaries about the Darlie Routier case on Youtube over the weekend.

Why so much controversy over an obviously guilty murderer is beyond me, but the doccos were well made.

I don't get the controversy either. It's the young woman on death row drama I suppose.

[Magpie]

Watched about 4 documentaries about the Darlie Routier case on Youtube over the weekend.

Why so much controversy over an obviously guilty murderer is beyond me, but the doccos were well made.

[sdreid]

There's supposedly a new high-end Gacy movie in the works but I don't see it on IMDb yet.

[sdreid]

I see that it's scheduled to replay late afternoon/early evening Saturday September 14 so there's plenty of time to plan your big weekend.

Just a reminder

[sdreid]

On Lifetime, Jodi Arias: Dirty Little Secret recently debuted so I assume it will be replayed in the near future.

I see that it's scheduled to replay late afternoon/early evening Saturday September 14 so there's plenty of time to plan your big weekend.

[Magpie]

I watched the Unsolved History episode on the death of Marilyn Monroe.

I'm amazed that any of the professionals involved would want their names associated with such terrible, terrible science.

[sdreid]

On Lifetime, Jodi Arias: Dirty Little Secret recently debuted so I assume it will be replayed in the near future.

[sdreid]

I have only seen the first Paradise Lost.

[Magpie]

Paradise Lost is much better. My problem with Jackson's doc is that he has no problem laying blame squarely at the feet of the stepfather of one of the boys-- Terry Hobbs, stepfather of Steve Branch. He (Jackson) seems oblivious to the irony that his "case," to use the term loosely, is mostly rumor and innuendo. Hobbs' DNA on the kids' shoelaces is one of the things that got the WM3 off, but what the fact that that DNA exculpates the WM3 because they would have to have touched the shoelaces, and their DNA was absent entirely, the presence of Hobbs' DNA on his stepsons' shoes, or the shoes of his friends is less problematic.

Yep, I have to agree. The second third of the movie is concerned almost entirely with trashing Hobbs, much of which was just demonization rather than anything substantive. It did bring up three interesting and valid points though:

1) His hitherto unremarked history of violent behaviour
2) The fact that his alibi witness not only seems to be wavering, but that Hobbs appears to be putting pressure on him.
3) It shows that the police did a woefully inadequate job of investigating Hobbs at the time (and I think that if they were going to talk about Hobbs at all, this is what they should have focused on)

The final third of the movie is a maudlin hodgepodge of the WM3's final reckoning/post freedom activities, which may be interesting for some but for me didn't do anything to add to our knowledge of the case. The very end, showing what an ignorant, mealy-mouthed jackass the new prosecutor is did underline the ongoing tragedy of the case--that as far as the State is concerned, they have three guilty verdicts and therefore no reason to investigate any further. Nobody can say the police/prosecutor/judge did anything wrong, and despite vocal evidence to the contrary, the public believes that investigators did right by the victims.

It's unfortunate: The first third was riveting, and I think had they continued along those lines they would have had a bona fide winner on their hands.

[RivkahChaya]

In the middle of watching "West Of Memphis", the Peter Jackson produced documentary of the WM3 case.

So far (I'm about a third through--it's a long docco), it's both fascinating (from a forensics point of view) and frustrating movie. Less dramatic and FAR less speculative than the "Paradise Lost" series, but they pull no punches when it comes to showing that the prosecution of the WM3 was not entirely a matter of prejudice and ignorance, but was actually based on deliberate lies.

Now I can understand why the Arkansas courts tried so hard to block a new trial--several careers would have lain in tatters is the full scale of corruption and ineptitude had gotten an airing in a court.

Anyhoo, back for part two...

Paradise Lost is much better. My problem with Jackson's doc is that he has no problem laying blame squarely at the feet of the stepfather of one of the boys-- Terry Hobbs, stepfather of Steve Branch. He (Jackson) seems oblivious to the irony that his "case," to use the term loosely, is mostly rumor and innuendo. Hobbs' DNA on the kids' shoelaces is one of the things that got the WM3 off, but what the fact that that DNA exculpates the WM3 because they would have to have touched the shoelaces, and their DNA was absent entirely, the presence of Hobbs' DNA on his stepsons' shoes, or the shoes of his friends is less problematic.

I admit that before Jackson's doc, it didn't look good for Hobbs, but Jackson's film is the cinematic equivalent of tar, feathers, and running him out of town on a rail. For a filmmaker who claims to take the part of the downtrodden and falsely accused, like the WM3 to begin with. Accusing someone with little evidence, and making it look like more than it is through the magic of cinema is the same old story, from the other side.

Even the boys (now men) who were the WM3 said "Stop!" When Paradise Lost meandered from its original purpose, and in documenting the town, focussed on the obvious odd expressions of grief by one of the fathers, then, and this is the big deal insinuated that his oddness somehow suggested guilt. That father is shown in the final installment of Paradise, looking very old, and sad, saying that not just three, but six lives were lost, after he has finally reconciled with the WM3.

The rigged trial is an important story. So is the poor investigation. Terry Hobbs did lie about the last time he saw his stepson, although in isolation, it could be an innocent mistake. The police didn't follow up on a report of a bloody man who stumbled into a restaurant and washed up. The police should have checked up on that regardless, but by the time it came in, they apparently had a profile that the boys had been killed by a white person known to them, and the report from the restaurant was that the person who came in to wash up was black. That report was a mistake. It was a white person in gloves and sunglasses and a hat who looked dark because his face was dirty-- something about his hat style may have "read" black, I don't know. But the description got corrected later.

The poor investigation is its own movie. Terry Hobbs is a side issue. Until he is actually arrested, making a movie about his guilt is no different from falsely accusing the WM3 in the first place.

[Magpie]

In the middle of watching "West Of Memphis", the Peter Jackson produced documentary of the WM3 case.

So far (I'm about a third through--it's a long docco), it's both fascinating (from a forensics point of view) and frustrating movie. Less dramatic and FAR less speculative than the "Paradise Lost" series, but they pull no punches when it comes to showing that the prosecution of the WM3 was not entirely a matter of prejudice and ignorance, but was actually based on deliberate lies.

Now I can understand why the Arkansas courts tried so hard to block a new trial--several careers would have lain in tatters is the full scale of corruption and ineptitude had gotten an airing in a court.

Anyhoo, back for part two...

[sdreid]

No, I'm just watching over-the-air when I watch which isn't that often.

[curious]

I'm not on satellite or cable anymore so my exposure to true-crime shows is much reduced but my wallet is much fatter.

Just curious -- are you using a roku box? I've been talking about turning off my dish tv for a couple of years now.

Thanks,

curious