But Jeffrey Manchester, the robber known as "Roofman," made headlines for being unusually polite when he executed his misdeeds. After he surprised McDonald's employees by dropping in through the roof-hence his nickname-and holding them at gunpoint, he gently reminded one of them to breathe while they collected cash. Before he locked them in the walk-in refrigerator, he made sure that they had coats to wear so they'd be comfortable in the cold.
Horror and true crime lead, but they're flanked by tentpole titles and global stories that extend beyond seasonal viewing and into marquee cultural conversation. Monster: The Ed Gein Story is positioned to spark discourse around the myth and media impact of one of America's most notorious criminals, while The Monster of Florence turns Italy's decades-long investigation into serialized, binge-ready narrative.
Maybe it's just me, but I have a strong aversion to these sensationalized true-crime stories. I've truly never once pressed play thinking, I'm so glad I took the time to reconsider this horrible murderer in a new light. Remember when The Office's simple, will-they-won't-they workplace romance was all we needed in order to feel fulfilled by TV? If only I could watch Jim propose to Pam at a gas station with new eyes! Sadly, it's not so simple nowadays.
At trial, Chambers had claimed that Levin's death was the result of a sexual encounter gone wrong. Rosanna Scotto, a Fox 5 news anchor who covered the case at the time, said Chambers looked like a Hollywood Adonis. Another described him as Kennedyesque. The fact that Chambers was an Upper East Side preppy added a whiff of ironyin these elite circles, violent crime just didn't happen.
Prime Video; available now Waleed Zuaiter, Robin Wright and Laurie Davidson in The Girlfriend. Photograph: Christopher Raphael/Courtesy of Prime Summed up in a sentence A steamy, incestuous adaptation of an excellent novel that pits an adult son's new girlfriend against his mother in an ever-more extreme contest. It has lost little of the book's psychological acuity and retained all of the suspense. Not one to watch with your sons, perhaps, but otherwise enjoy.
This collaboration highlights how Jackson has evolved from hip-hop icon to a dominant force in film and television production. With his company G-Unit Film & Television partnering with Lionsgate Alternative Television, Jackson brings a seasoned producer's expertise and a storyteller's instinct to the world of true crime. His cultural influence and eye for dramatic detail elevate each case, guiding viewers through the strategies and pivotal moments that ultimately lead detectives to justice.
Do you run to a haunted house every Halloween? Do you rubberneck after a grizzly car crash? Do you devour grotesque true crime documentaries? If so, that's natural-and it may even be good for you, according to Coltan Scrivner, a researcher of all things macabre and a fan as well-one recent project was founding a horror film festival where he lives in the Ozarks.
With terrific chutzpah, black-comic flair and cool, cruel unsentimentality, screenwriter Austin Kolodney and director Gus Van Sant have made a true-crime suspense thriller set in the 1970s, tapping into the spirit of both Sidney Lumet's Dog Day Afternoon and Network. Apart from anything else, it is a reminder that in that post-Kennedy, post-Watergate age, plenty of lawless and febrile things happened that would now be considered phenomena purely attributable to social media.
This week, Amazon announced it was developing a series based on the trial of Karen Read. Elizabeth Banks is set to star, with The Sex Lives of College Girls producer Justin Noble showrunning and David E. Kelly serving as executive producer. The show's logline says it will examine "society's obsession with true crime, the allure of conspiracy, and the deepening crisis of trust in our institutions."
You might recognise Cecilie Fjellhy from Netflix's 2022 documentary The Tinder Swindler she was one of the victims of fraudster Simon Leviev. This series represents another related dispatch from the wild west of modern communication. Fjellhy is turning detective, joining forces with formidable private investigator Brianne Joseph (I'm like a pitbull: when I grab hold of something, I don't let it go) to unmask romantic scammers on behalf of men and women who have been duped.
Thomas' sister, Eliza Thomas, was 17 years old when she was murdered alongside three other teenage girls-13-year-old Amy Ayers, 17-year-old Jennifer Harbison, and Jennifer's 15-year-old sister Sarah-in Austin, Texas, in 1991. To be fair, Sonora was only 13 when her sister was murdered, and her family, burdened by grief, never openly talked about what happened to Eliza. Still, memory, as Brown expertly captures in his series, is a really tricky thing.
Stites filed for a personal protection order, which held up for six years. But when that order expired, filing a new one proved difficult, as the court required a hearing with both parties present.
