This week, stories of two Aussie Serial Killers, the Elisa Lam case and solving the Delphi murders with an app?
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📚 Books 📚
From 1996-97 Perth, Australia’s sleepy well-to-do suburbs were subject to a menacing and dangerous presence. Two young women, Jane Rimmer and Ciara Glennon, were brutally murdered and another, Sarah Spiers, simply vanished into thin air. The case was one of the longest running investigations in Australia — only reaching a conclusion (of sorts) late last year, when the killer was finally sentenced. Bret Christian offers a first-hand account, he was a local journalist at the time, of the investigation, the indelible impact the killings had on Perth and the murderer behind them. Buy it here.
Historical Serial Killers can be difficult to track, for a start, the concept wasn’t even widely acknowledged until the 1980s (previously the more manic and less calculated ‘mass murderer’ was used) however, they have most certainly always been there. In 1930s Melbourne, Australia four girls were murdered and police were left overwhelmed. Katherine Kovacic tells the story with the pace of a great thriller novel. But this really happened. Buy it here.
The conman cannon both fictional and real has gained a fair few additions in last ten years, it’s come in parallel with the rise in knowledge of the types of personalities and psychologies that exist in human’s that deceive. Fake is “A startling true story of love in a world of liars, cheats, narcissists, fantasists and phonies” — in it, Wood explores her own experience with a man she thought she loved, who didn’t really exist and countless other stories of modern love. She deftly weaves together the ways in which people are drawn to those that blur the lines into the dark side of relationships. Buy it here.
🎧 Podcasts 🎧
Obviously, this newsletter’s long-form investigations focus on unsolved cases and there is nothing I like more than hearing another case has been solved. Melanie Road was murdered on her way home from a night out in 1984, in the historic city of Bath in the U.K. The murder shook the community but it wasn’t until 32 years later that the family would find justice. With exclusive insight to the case and the family this podcast is an enthralling look at the dogged attempts of investigators to finally catch a killer.
Prolific True Crime stalwart Billy Jensen works with co-host Alexis Linkletter on this look at the infamous unsolved serial killings of women in Long Island. The story has been told through many documentaries, podcast episodes and articles over the years but the case remains unsolved. Here’s hoping this podcast can shine the light on the right dark corners to move the needle.
Dragonfly: Brett Cantor Murder Mystery
Brett Cantor was a 25-year-old rising music executive when he was stabbed and killed in his own West Hollywood apartment in 1993. His murder has baffled investigators for nearly 30-years. In this podcast, hosts Jacy Nova and Thom Dre take a deep dive into the case with help from Pat Tapia, a 38-year veteran of law enforcement and retired LA homicide detective. Along the way they uncover new persons of interest and clues in the case.
📺 Streaming/TV 📺
The Investigation
Premiering on HBO February 1, the six-part series is a dramatization of the criminal investigation of the 2017 murder of journalist Kim Wall. Throughout the series, Wall’s murderer is never mentioned by name, nor does he ever appear as a character, and though violent acts are often discussed, they’re never shown. With director Tobias Lindholm it looks like it could be gripping viewing. On HBO from Feb 1.
The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel
Unless you have been living under a rock, you will have heard about Netflix’s new documentary investigating the mysterious case of Elisa Lam. Lam was found dead in the Cecil Hotel’s water tank days after going missing. So many theories have been put forward about the case, it will be interesting to see what direction Netflix goes with it. Streaming on Netflix on February 10th, 2021 at 8am.
📱App📱
Since for my day job I work in tech, the concept of CrimeDoor really struck me as I have often thought of ways tech can be used to enhance investigations. The app, which came out in 2020, lets users enter a crime scene by recreating them using AR (Augmented Reality). One of the most prominent cases featured on the app is the unsolved murders of Liberty German and Abby Williams in Delphi, the app proclaims to ‘give a voice to victims around the world’. I’m undecided on whether the app is lurid profiteering or actually going to help. What do you think?
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