While you’re at it, don’t forget to check out a conversation with Nikki Young, the host of theSerial Nappertrue crime podcast, and Christy and Jackie, the hosts of theKill*r Funtrue crime podcast, who kindly agreed to talk with us more about adaptations of true crime cases.
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Gypsy-Rose Alcida Blanchard (born July 27, 1991) is an American convicted of mr. She rose to worldwide prominence when she was convicted of second-degree mr in Springfield, Missouri, for the death of her mother Dee Dee Blanchard, who subjected her to lifelong physical, mental, and medical abuse. She was sentenced to ten years in prison.She was paroled after eight years, near the end of December 2023. Given the sensational aspects of Gypsy’s childhood, including her mother forcing her to pretend to be disabled and terminally ill, she gained widespread media attention.
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What fascinates Nikki, the host of theSerial Napperpodcast, the most about true crime is the human element—the motivations and behaviors of people who commit these wrongdoings.
“Many times we see how what they did directly relates back to personal traumas, circumstances, andsocietalpressures. Knowing the why behind the motivation might give us insight into how we can prevent future crimes,” she said.
The hosts of theKill*r Funpodcast, Christy and Jackie, are interested in these stories because, like other women, they see themselves in them. “Thevictimsare frequently women, and even when they aren’t, we can see someone we care about in that role. Understanding the kinds of people who perpetuate crime and who the victims can be—just about anyone—helps us prepare ourselves to hopefully NOT become victims and support others in this kind of crisis,” they said.
The Central Park jogger case was a criminal case concerning the at and re of Trisha Meili, a woman who was running in Central Park in Manhattan, New York, on April 19, 1989. Crime in New York City was peaking in the late 1980s and early 1990s as the crack epidemic surged. On the night Meili was attacked, dozens of teenagers had entered the park, and there were reports of muggings and physical assaults.Six teenagers were indicted in relation to the Meili at. Charges against one, Steven Lopez, were dropped after Lopez pleaded guilty to a different a***t. The remaining five - Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, and Korey Wise - were convicted of the charged offenses and served sentences ranging from seven to thirteen years.
Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer was an American serial kr and sex offender who kd and dismembered seventeen men and boys between 1978 and 1991. Many of his later m*****s involved necrophilia, cannibalism, and the permanent preservation of body parts - typically all or part of the skeleton.Although he was diagnosed with many disorders, Dahmer was found to be legally sane at his trial. He was convicted of fifteen of the sixteen homicides he had committed in Wisconsin and was sentenced to fifteen terms of life imprisonment on February 17, 1992. Dahmer was later sentenced to a sixteenth term of life imprisonment for an additional homicide committed in Ohio in 1978.
When it comes to adaptations of these true crime cases, Nikki believes that they can be entertaining, informative, and problematic all at once. “Sometimes, creators take a direction where they glorify perpetrators and will re-victimize families who have to see their trauma play out in public again,” she told us.“However, at the same time, there are so many unsolved crimes that need more attention. Law enforcement simply cannot keep up. By informing the public and spreading the word, you’re opening up the possibility of bringing in new leads. The important piece here is whether or not the adaptation is victim-centric or simply exploitative. There is a clear difference.”
When it comes to adaptations of these true crime cases, Nikki believes that they can be entertaining, informative, and problematic all at once. “Sometimes, creators take a direction where they glorify perpetrators and will re-victimize families who have to see their trauma play out in public again,” she told us.
“However, at the same time, there are so many unsolved crimes that need more attention. Law enforcement simply cannot keep up. By informing the public and spreading the word, you’re opening up the possibility of bringing in new leads. The important piece here is whether or not the adaptation is victim-centric or simply exploitative. There is a clear difference.”
Candace Lynn Montgomery is an American woman who was accused of m***g her lover’s wife, Betty Gore. The kg took place in Wylie, Texas, on June 13, 1980. During the at, Gore was struck 41 times with a wood splitting axe. Montgomery pleaded not guilty to charges of mr on the basis of self-defense, alleging that Gore confronted her about an affair she had with Gore’s husband and attacked her with the axe. She was acquitted.The verdict received a great deal of criticism from the community. Crowds chanted, “Murderer! Murderer!” as Montgomery exited the courthouse following her acquittal.
Because media on true crime can be victim-exploitative, Christy and Jackie choose not to cover those specific ones on their podcast. “We think it’s important to cover stories where the people closest to the crime have a voice in how the story is told or that the story is fictionalized enough that the term “based on a true story” does a lot of heavy lifting,” they said.
Joji Obara, born Kim Sung-jong is a Korean-Japanese serial rapist who raped between 150 and 400 women between 1992 and 2000. He was charged with drugging, raping and kg an English woman, Lucie Blackman; the re and manslaughter of an Australian woman, Carita Ridgway; and the re of eight other women.In 2007, Obara was sentenced to life imprisonment on multiple r*e charges and manslaughter but was acquitted in the Blackman case for lack of direct evidence. In December 2008, the Tokyo High Court found Obara guilty on the counts of abduction, dismemberment and disposal of Blackman’s body. Blackman’s death, as well as Obara’s trial, received extensive press coverage internationally, especially in the United Kingdom.
Their recent favorite true crime adaptation that was done right was Woman Of The Hour. “It was based on truth—there really was a serial killr on The Dating Game in the 1970s!—but it gave us the truth in a way that didn’t expose victims in harmful ways, shed light on societal issues that made this crime possible but did not glorify the serial killr. One of the most successful adaptations of a true crime story in a long time,” they said.Whereas, the most controversial and disappointing for them (though for good reason) was Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story. “This show was the turning point for OUR podcast to decide we were going to concentrate on true crime that endeavors to be non-exploitative. The show told real stories that were disturbing and heartbreaking, with real victims’ names attached without the permission of the loved ones of those victims,” they explained.“Some people want for the stories to be told to serve as a warning or as an indictment of the perpetrator. Some families find that their beloved family member becomes merely a footnote in someone else’s heinous story and feel that their death shouldn’t be the defining factor of their life. Honoring those choices is the most important part of making media about true crime.”
Their recent favorite true crime adaptation that was done right was Woman Of The Hour. “It was based on truth—there really was a serial killr on The Dating Game in the 1970s!—but it gave us the truth in a way that didn’t expose victims in harmful ways, shed light on societal issues that made this crime possible but did not glorify the serial killr. One of the most successful adaptations of a true crime story in a long time,” they said.
Whereas, the most controversial and disappointing for them (though for good reason) was Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story. “This show was the turning point for OUR podcast to decide we were going to concentrate on true crime that endeavors to be non-exploitative. The show told real stories that were disturbing and heartbreaking, with real victims' names attached without the permission of the loved ones of those victims,” they explained.
“Some people want for the stories to be told to serve as a warning or as an indictment of the perpetrator. Some families find that their beloved family member becomes merely a footnote in someone else’s heinous story and feel that their death shouldn’t be the defining factor of their life. Honoring those choices is the most important part of making media about true crime.”
Nikki’s top pick for a true crime adaptation is Dr. Death. “It shows how the system, including hospitals, medical boards, and colleagues, failed to protect patients. It’s a critique of how difficult it can be to expose malpractice within the medical profession and how power, reputation, and institutional loyalty often shield dangerous individuals from scrutiny. It’s way more than just a true crime story. It’s an important deep dive into the systemic flaws in healthcare.”
So when you’re binge-watching your next true crime series or movie, try to critically assess if the piece of media you’re watching is ethical or accurate and whether you want to support it or not. Remember, the individuals you see on the screen are real, meaning that their lives are much more complicated, and reducing them to victims or villains isn’t always fair or correct.
The series is based on actual events in Koodathayi, a village in Kerala, India, between 2002 and 2016. Jolly Joseph, a mother and wife, was accused of poisoning six members of her family, including her first husband, with cyanide-laced food. She allegedly did this to inherit the family property and to marry her lover, who was her husband’s cousin.In 2002, Annamma Thomas (aged 57), the mother-in-law of the accused, drank a glass of water. Immediately afterwards, she began to feel uneasy and dizzy, eventually collapsing on the floor. She was taken to the hospital where she later died.In 2008, Tom Thomas (aged 66), Annamma’s husband and Jolly’s father-in-law, passed away after swooning and collapsing.In 2011, Roy Thomas (aged 40), Jolly’s then husband, died after consuming his dinner of rice and Bengal gram curry. He was found dead in a bathroom which was locked from the inside.In 2014, Mathew (aged 68) swooned and died after Jolly allegedly gave him poison-laden whisky. The deceased Roy has a cousin named Shaju Zachariah.The same year (2014), Shaju’s two-year-old daughter, Alphine Shaju, died after “choking on food”.In 2016, Jolly allegedly gave Sily Shaju (aged 41), Alphine’s mother, a mushroom capsule, which Jolly convinced Sily that would help her with energy and depression and Sily died on the spot soon after.
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Another important thing to mention is the effect that true crime consumption can have on us. Too much of it can increase anxiety and even change our worldview to a more negative one. Since these podcasters consume a lot of true crime content, we were curious about how they cope with it.
“I have a weekly true crime podcast called Serial Napper—meaning I am constantly consuming true crime all day, every day. At times, it has had a serious effect on my mental health and I need to take breaks,” Nikki shared.
Movie is based on the true story of the notorious “Lonely Hearts Killers” spree kg of the 1940s, Martha Beck and Raymond Fernandez.Raymond Martinez Fernandez (December 17, 1914 – March 8, 1951) and Martha Jule Beck (May 6, 1920 – March 8, 1951) were an American serial kr couple. They were convicted of one mr, are known to have committed two more, and were suspected of having kd up to twenty victims during a spree between 1947 and 1949.After their arrest and trial for serial mr in 1949, Fernandez and Beck became known as the Lonely Hearts Killers for meeting their unsuspecting victims through personal ads, posted in newspaper lonely hearts columns.Fernandez quickly confessed. The pair vehemently denied committing seventeen ms that were attributed to them, and Fernandez tried to retract his confession, saying he made it only to protect Beck. They were extradited to New York, which still instituted the death penalty. Fay’s m****r was the only one for which the couple were tried, and they were both sentenced to death. They were executed at Sing Sing prison on March 8, 1951.
Charles Edmund Cullen is an American serial kr. While working as a nurse, Cullen md dozens -possibly hundreds - of patients during a 16-year career spanning several New Jersey and Pennsylvania medical centers until being arrested in 2003.He confessed to committing as many as 40 ms at least 29 of which have been confirmed, though interviews with police, psychiatrists and journalists suggest he committed many more.Researchers who are intimately involved in the case believe Cullen may have md as many as 400 people. However, most m**s cannot be confirmed due to lack of records.
Caleb Lawrence McGillvary (born September 3, 1988), also known as Kai, is a Canadian man who first became known from the internet viral video “Kai the Hatchet-Wielding Hitchhiker”, which featured him recounting a crime he witnessed while hitchhiking. McGillvary subsequently received national attention in the press. In 2019, McGillvary was convicted of first-degree mr in New Jersey. He cited the fallout from the video as part of his defense against the homicide charge.McGillvary was arrested on mr charges on May 16, 2013, for the death of New Jersey attorney Joseph Galfy. According to McGillvary, Galfy offered McGillvary a place to stay for the night, only to drug and re him. Police said the sexual encounter was consensual and the m****r premeditated. McGillvary contended that he acted in self defense, and after the viral video in California, he had no need to have sex with men like Galfy, whom McGillvary described as unattractive, stating, “Do you know how many hot chicks - never mind. Even if I was gay, do you know how many hot guys wanted to fk me after that st in California? I’m not even being vain. It’s just a fact, like - no offense, but he [Galfy] was not a looker”. In July 2013, McGillvary was hospitalized after suffering from self-inflicted wounds while awaiting trial at Union County Jail in New Jersey.A jury found him guilty of first-degree mr, and he was sentenced to 57 years in prison. He is to serve 85 percent of that term (roughly 43.5 years, after accounting for the five years of pre-trial confinement, or until approximately October 1, 2062) before the possibility of parole, with the judge telling McGillvary, “when you become eligible for parole, you will still be younger than Mr. Galfy was when you md him”. This is not factually accurate, as McGillvary will be 74 before he is eligible for parole. Galfy was 73 at the time of his death.
The Zodiac Kr is the pseudonym of an unidentified serial kr who md five known victims in the San Francisco Bay Area between December 1968 and October 1969. The case has been described as “arguably the most famous unsolved mr case in American history.“He attacked three young couples and a lone male cab driver. Two of these victims survived. The Zodiac coined his name in a series of taunting messages that he mailed to regional newspapers, in which he threatened k***g sprees and bombings if they were not printed. He also said that he was collecting his victims as slaves for the afterlife.In 1974, the Zodiac claimed 37 victims in his last confirmed letter.
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Linas Simonaitis
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