#1
Our obsession with true crime is nothing new. People have been devouring that type of literature since the 1600s. But nowadays, the content is everywhere. Podcasts, documentaries, blockbuster films, television shows... It seems we just can't get enough of gruesome and gripping tragedies.
In fact, the "True Crime Consumer Report" by Edison Research and audiochuck found that roughly 84% of Americans over the age of 13 consume true crime in some form, and 42% have listened to a true crime podcast.
But why? What psychological wiring, social forces, and media mechanics combine to turn some of the most violent stories into such an addictive form of entertainment?
#2
About six months later, a couple of magnet fisherman on the lake snag something but can't pull it up, so one of them swam down to release the magnet and the line; it was the wife. She of course was terribly decomposed, and the reason she didn't float to the top was her jacket was filled with a s**t ton of sand. They pulled her up and ran a DNA test. Called in the husband to ID her, and his very first statement was, "I thought cold water preserves people." They had not told him yet where they found her.
I guess she had brought up divorce during the fishing trip, he got mad, beat her to death, and then filled her jacket was sand from one of the sandbags that lined the Icehouse, shoved her through the hole in the ice, and left.
Now he's spending life in a prison cell.
In short, true crime meets a lot of our human needs all at once: curiosity, problem-solving, threat management, social connection, and moral storytelling. Throw in some brilliant, suspenseful production and we're hooked.
According to a YouGov survey, more than one-third of Americans said they consume true crime content because of their interest in mysteries. “It’s just fascinating to look directly at the dark side of humanity from a safe distance,” shared one respondent.
Another said that they watch true crime in order “to see others get justice for themselves when [they] didn’t get it for a similar situation.” And one respondent said that his “female friends have told me they watch it to figure out how they would react if they were the victim in this situation as a way to feel safer while interacting with others.”
Some revealed they find it to be a healing experience. Interestingly, a few Americans who don't consume true crime think that those who do are either trying to learn to be criminals or enjoying others’ pain.
#3
Years later the man kidnapped another child. This child happened to have been walking with another boy around his age before he was taken. The other boy happened to know a lot about/have a special interest in trucks, and was able to relay to the police that he saw a (color/make/model/rust pattern). The police caught the man days later with that information, and both boys were safely released.
If you grew up in the community when he was growing up, you knew him. You worked with his mom, he managed you at the local pizza chain back in the day, he went to your high school, he asked your friend out long ago.
My partner and I were walking our dogs last night and saw a little girl playing outside her home unaccompanied by her parents. She was sweet, and we were sweet back. But it made me think about Michael, Sean, and Ben. How we talked about them growing up, and now not so much.
Almost half a million children are reported missing each year in the U.S.
Whitney Phillips is an assistant professor of digital platforms and ethics at the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication (SOJC).
According to the university's site, the expert has written and researched extensively on internet trolling, malicious online activity, and the ethical implications of popular culture subjects such as the true crime genre. She teaches students to examine the ethics of consuming true crime stories.
Phillips defines true crime as "content about violent, nonfictional events that have specific characteristics that make it popular as entertainment." And believes there are three main reasons why people love the true crime genre...
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Firstly, as we touched on earlier, human beings enjoy the mysterious element. "Novels and movies centered around a mystery have always proved popular, but true crime allows audience members the chance to feel invested in a real mystery unfolding before them," notes the university's site.
The second reason, says Philips, is that many viewers "enjoy watching a case getting solved while feeling that they’ve participated in it from the comfort of their couch."
#6
The third reason certain people are drawn to true crime as entertainment, according to the expert, is because they feel it's a way to be prepared in the face of real danger.
"Studies of true crime have found that white women are the largest demographic that enjoys the true crime genre. The hypothesis is that because 'women, in particular, have anxiety about potential threats,' they turn to true crime to feel better prepared if something violent were to happen to them," explains the site.
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But while we binge-watch hours of true crime content, many experts have raised ethical concerns about the millions of dollars being made from real victims’ stories.
Mackenzie Joy Brennan is one of them. In an article titled, "True crime" pays but who pays and who gets the loot?, she writes that "As the true crime genre has proliferated – much of it driven largely by entertainment and financial incentives – many creators have failed to balance public interest with the potential harm of re-telling the horrors inflicted on real people."
Often, adds Brennan, true crime creators consult neither journalistic ethics nor the real people harmed by the crimes they recount.
#9
Phillips has also raised concerns about commoditizing true crime. The professor explains that some podcasts create catchphrases and sell merchandise inspired by their shows and real-life cases.
"In doing this, they are reducing victims' lives and tragedies to marketable content. This branding of real violence and victims dehumanizes them by turning them into merchandise and memes," the university's site notes.
#10
One day, this same guy is drunk driving and runs into a school bus. Police search his car and find a pretty little pink cell phone apparently belonging to one of the missing girls. They search his house again, and this time in the pile of rubble find the last missing girls body.
Population of literally 135 where I grew up.
#11
He’s somewhat known in Germany — especially here in Hannover obviously — but outside of Germany, I don’t think too many people have heard of him and his crimes.
Another concern raised by Phillips is how the true crime genre has created so-called citizen sleuths. These fans discuss ongoing cases online and post their own theories and opinions, which are often not backed up by facts.
The expert warns that this can be harmful because "they often promote poor leads that distract the investigation."
#12
“It’s this ‘bingeability,” says journalist and author Rachel Monroe. “If you think about both podcasts and streaming series, you need something that will make people tune in for the next one – because we have so much culture, and it’s so easy to turn away to something else entertaining.”
“True crime isn’t the problem,” adds Phillips. “It’s how people approach it, who is telling the story, and whose stories are not being told, that’s the problem.”
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#18
Wife files for divorce and a restraining order, from her a*****e husband, files for full custody of their 2 kids all that fun stuff. A few weeks later, the husband shows up at the grocery store she works as a clerk at, armed with a .22 handgun, which he stole from his brother. He goes in intending to kidnap her at gunpoint.
He goes in and grabs her by her hair and begins dragging her into the parking lot but as he's forcing her out of the store a customer at the customer service counter attempts to step in and is shot and k****d, a second customer attempts to step in in the parking lot and meets the same fate, at which point she gets loose and attempts to flee, and he turns the gun on her k*****g her before sitting on a bench in front of the store and shooting himself.
My aunt was childhood friends with her, and my grandma told me the story one day when I found some pics of them together while I was trying to track down embarrassing childhood photos of my dad in the photo albums. To date, I've never seen any mention of the story outside of my family and old newspaper articles.
#19
Then he hanged himself and it all came out that he had molested his daughter (4 years old at the time) and beat his wife.
When people talk about him, they only talk about how good a football player he was.
Along the same lines, the high school football coach in the 90s (same time as quarterback) was found guilty of encouraging steroid use in his players, fraud/money laundering of school funds, covering up sexual a***e allegations and he literally left town being chased by the cops.
He then went on to do the same thing at the university level (including a university many people would recognize) and similar things happened there. I believe he is now coaching in Europe.
But all anyone talks about is how great a football coach he is.
#20
It's along a small river. In a little forested area completely hidden from the road is the oldest cemetery in the county. Across the road is corn fields now, but you can still see parts of a building foundation. The foundation is what remains from a church that burned down with the congregation inside, about 30 people iirc, in the 1920s.
A little further down the road, about 1/4 mile, was a house. In the 1960s the family that lived there was found m******d in their beds, husband, wife, and 3 kids between 5 and 13. No suspects were ever identified.
About another 1/4 from there the road curves and crosses the river. That bridge was used for lynchings until at least the 1950s. There's no clear verifiable number of lynchings that happened there that I've ever found but it was at least a couple dozen. .