The Blotter Presents

Latest Episodes:

033: Village Of The Damned And JFK: The Smoking Gun Nov 29, 2017

Show notes

Dan Brady's back for a look at yet another Investigation Discovery joint, Village Of The Damned, a limited series on the strange and deadly cluster of tragedies that struck Dryden, NY over the course of a decade. We discuss the re-enacting, the evocative soundtrack, and whether the stories of the Harris family, the disappearance of Aliza Bush, and others might be better suited to a podcast than to TV. Have a listen to find out whether we'll keep watching past the first couple of episodes.
Later, we address one of the crime stories that bonded us as a couple: the assassination of John F. Kennedy, and specifically an obscure theory involving the Secret Service first posited by ballistics expert Howard Donahue. The late Donahue co-wrote a book with Bonar Menninger about what HE thought happened that day in Dealey Plaza...and then an Australian cop got involved with adapting it for TV for some reason? And then a bunch of Australian day players murdered Texas accents and got away with it? Anyway, we first saw JFK: The Smoking Gun around the 50th anniversary of Kennedy's death, and we bought into Donahue's evidence 100 percent. (Menninger's teary talking-head interview, not so much.)
So sit back (and to the left, heh) and have a listen to the latest The Blotter Presents -- and don't forget to share your favorite conspiracy theories (and crappy re-enactments) on our forums.
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Episode 39: 032: Cold Blooded: The Clutter Family Murders And Mugshots Nov 22, 2017

Show notes

We're talking about another Joe Berlinger project, and we're talking with Mark Blankenship again about it: Cold Blooded: The Clutter Family Murders, an investigation of the murders that made, and perhaps broke, our first non-fiction novelist, and rippled through a family and a town. Later, we discuss a Mugshots episode on Robert Blake, who starred in In Cold Blood. Did he kill his wife, con artist Bonny Bakley? What is going on with his erstwhile roomie John Solari? And why have we never heard of the show before? Many questions, a couple of answers in the latest The Blotter Presents.
Show Notes

Watch Cold Blooded: The Clutter Family Murders on Sundance
Watch Mugshots on YouTube
Mark And Sarah Talk About Songs

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Episode 38: 031: The Hunt For The Zodiac Killer And American Horror Story: Cult Nov 15, 2017

Show notes

Eve Batey returns for yet another look at the Zodiac case, this one from History Channel -- is the much-ballyhooed new evidence and groundbreaking technology worth tuning in for? Or will the lack of context for certain "discoveries" frustrate viewers with any knowledge of the case? (And...all the other viewers?) Later, we discuss AHS's season-long remix of notorious cults and criminals, including a radical-feminist theory on the Zodiac, and make predictions -- which will be proven wrong by the time you listen! at us, please! -- on what other legendary leaders the finale has in store. Don't just sit there, go find Shelly Miscavige...but while you're in the car, have a listen to the latest The Blotter Presents.
Show Notes

Our previous Zodiac-isode with Eve
Eve and Sarah on Jim Jones
Eve and Tim on The Deuce

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Episode 37: SJ: And Did You Ask God For Forgiveness? Nov 15, 2017

Show notes

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Episode 36: 030: The Lost Wife Of Robert Durst And Crime Musicals Nov 08, 2017

Show notes

Is The Lost Wife Of Robert Durst -- or, as Sarah D. Bunting billed it to her guests, Smash meets The Jinx -- worth the two hours? Panel of Smash experts Tara Ariano, Adam Grosswirth, and Kevin O'Keeffe weigh in on the case narrative, bad wigs, worse accents, and who this movie is for. Later, the group pitted famous cases against each other in King Of "Notorious Crime: The Musical" Mountain.
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Episode 35: SJ: I've Run Off And Joined The Media Circus Nov 08, 2017

Show notes

As the jury struggles to agree on a verdict against Lyle and Erik, Leslie and Jill struggle to balance work and family, and Tara Ariano and Sarah D. Bunting struggle to understand why the emergence of the OJ Simpson case is handled so badly in the penultimate episode of the season.
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Episode 34: 029: On The Case With Paula Zahn and The Ryan Ferguson Case Nov 01, 2017

Show notes

On The Case With Paula Zahn returns for its 16th (!) season, and Dan Patrick Brady returns to the podcast for a reminiscence of...well, how we used to use the show as a sleep aid. Assessing the show's coverage of the 1989 Roundy/Gray case in Idaho Falls, we complain about inaccurate auto re-enactments; marvel at the piddling insurance payouts that murderers are motivated by; and theorize that Paula Zahn has never been in the same room as her interview subjects. (We are NOT crackpots.) Later, we talk about 48 HRS's take on the Ryan Ferguson case, and whether, in light of many recent documentaries on false confessions and vacated convictions, it's more relevant than ever. And could someone figure out who DID kill Kent Heitholt, maybe? All this and stupid spouse tricks on the latest The Blotter Presents.
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Episode 33: SJ: No One's Gonna Protect Us Nov 01, 2017

Show notes

Episode 6 of The Menendez Murders sees the Menendez brothers getting very real about the abuse they (allegedly?) suffered, as well as knock-knock jokes, Oziel talking back to the TV the same as we do, and terrible blocking and flashback wigs. The show's clearly picked a side vis-a-vis Lyle and Erik's justification for killing their parents, but do Tara and Sarah pick a side vis-a-vis whether that works narratively? It's all in the latest The Blotter Presents: Summary Judgment.
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SJ: One Liar At A Time Oct 25, 2017

Show notes

Episode 5 of The Menendez Murders centers the action on the courtroom -- but with two juries, a dozen pointedly pastel sweaters on the defendants, and myriad clanky lines of dialogue, Sarah and Tara find the writing guilty of amateurish checklisting. On the plus side, there's a top-notch portrayal of post-Princeton snottiness, Dominick Dunne shade given and received, and Dr. Oziel's foray into the poetic arts, and we're discussing all of it in the latest TBP: Summary Judgment.
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028: Mindhunter And The Eleven Oct 18, 2017

Show notes

Netflix's new series, Mindhunter, gets off to a slow start as it chronicles the evolution of a profiling program we have come to take for granted in true-crime narratives, but Anna Beth and I are going to stick with it, despite some over-explaining and an annoying girlfriend for the protagonist. The Eleven we're not so sure about, as the melodramatic VO seems to have crowded out some essential exposition in the first episode of A&E's latest limited series on a notorious case -- and Ed Bell's crazy might not make as good TV as Ed Kemper's.
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