Welcome to Best Evidence’s crime-alphabet project! A handful of contributors and I have gone through the English alphabet and picked a true-crime thing for each letter — maybe a series; maybe a case — as the ne plus ultra of that letter in true crime. At the end of the month, we’ll decide on the One True(-Crime) Alphabet for 2020. Right now, it’s YOUR turn to edit/argue!
Now show your As (hee) in the comments.
Susan Howard:American Crime Story — kudos to Ryan Murphy’s anthology series for its in-depth and humane examinations of the stories behind sensational and notorious true-crime headline grabbers. (Honorable mentions: American Justice, America’s Most Wanted, Atlanta Child Murders case.)
Margaret Howie:American Gangster (2007).
Kevin Smokler: April 19th (the Oklahoma City bombing; Waco) and 20th (Hitler’s birthday; Columbine).
SDB:American Vandal. It’s the first thing I thought of, and my sense is it’s getting forgotten already, but the first season was so funny, and at the same time so knowledgeably loving in its satirizing of the genre. S2 was less successful (and emetophobes like myself found it a trial at times) but I wish it would get revived.
I second American Crime Story. Ryan Murphy often goes (way!) Off the rails when left to his own devices but here he did a fantastic job. Even OJ, a case I grew up with and thought I knew everything about was riveting.
I'm going to have to go with A for Azaria as in Chamberlain. This is definitely a story that should get the prestige doco treatment, a batshit insane but poignant story with many socio-cultural angels which has been totally overshadowed by Meryl's terrible accented catchphrase.
April 19th. America's most haunted day. Anniversary of the battle of Lexington and Concord, Waco, the Oklahoma City Bombing and Columbine. Some of those were designed to match up with Hitler's birthday, most are coincidence. But what a creepy, bloody set of coincidences.
Ann Rule, true crime author; also, her book And Never Let Her Go, about the murder of Anne Marie Fahey. This was turned into a pretty decent TV movie starting Mark Harmon as the bad guy.
Late to the game but I love games! Andrew Cunanan for flipping the script on malicious faggotry in the ‘90s. Not excusing it, not admiring it, merely noticing it. As a flaming gay person who routinely devours Vanity Fair/Ryan Murphy projects, the fucked up psychology of Andrew Cunanan is too devastating to omit. (Read: Vulgar Favors; watch: Assassination of Gianni Versace, duh).
Had to goog “emetophobe”.
I second American Crime Story. Ryan Murphy often goes (way!) Off the rails when left to his own devices but here he did a fantastic job. Even OJ, a case I grew up with and thought I knew everything about was riveting.
I'm going to have to go with A for Azaria as in Chamberlain. This is definitely a story that should get the prestige doco treatment, a batshit insane but poignant story with many socio-cultural angels which has been totally overshadowed by Meryl's terrible accented catchphrase.
April 19th. America's most haunted day. Anniversary of the battle of Lexington and Concord, Waco, the Oklahoma City Bombing and Columbine. Some of those were designed to match up with Hitler's birthday, most are coincidence. But what a creepy, bloody set of coincidences.
On the Media did a deep dive on this in 2010.
https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm/segments/132747-killing-by-numbers
Ann Rule, true crime author; also, her book And Never Let Her Go, about the murder of Anne Marie Fahey. This was turned into a pretty decent TV movie starting Mark Harmon as the bad guy.
Late to the game but I love games! Andrew Cunanan for flipping the script on malicious faggotry in the ‘90s. Not excusing it, not admiring it, merely noticing it. As a flaming gay person who routinely devours Vanity Fair/Ryan Murphy projects, the fucked up psychology of Andrew Cunanan is too devastating to omit. (Read: Vulgar Favors; watch: Assassination of Gianni Versace, duh).