Prison escapes, death row visits, and how to handle (and not handle) homicide. No it’s not an episode of one of those murder-as-snack podcasts, it’s Sarah and Nancy discussing serial killers, lovelorn prison guards, manipulative prisoners, and why people who make it their business to cover murder might do it with a little more delicacy. Plus the surgery Sarah cannot talk about, a wee bit of we-told-you-so over Amber Heard being revealed to have not written the 2018 domestic violence op-ed for which ex-husband Johnny Depp is now demanding $50 million in defamation dough, and Sarah plans a trip to see it all firsthand.
Por favor: In preparation for a bonus show, the Smoke ‘Em journalistsas invite you to send questions, mash notes, secret messages to smokeempodcast@gmail.com
As promised, a baker’s dozen of true crime books we love:
Shot in the Heart, by Mikal Gilmore
Lost Girls, by Robert Kolker
Blood Will Out, by Walter Kirn
The Adversary, by Emmanuel Carrere
Columbine, by Dave Cullen
Down City, by Leah Carroll
I’ll Be Gone in the Dark, by Michelle McNamara (which, full disclosure, I listened to on audio. Was great - NR)
Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland, by Patrick Radden Keefe (ditto)
The Journalist and the Murderer, by Janet Malcom
Helter Skelter, by Vincent Bugliosi
In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote
Crossed Over, by Beverly Lowry
Under the Banner of Heaven, by Jon Krakaeur
Episode notes:
Warrant issued for missing Alabama corrections officer, escaped convict
Coconut cream (not coconut milk)
Escape from Dannemora, starring Patricia Arquette, Paul Dano, Benecio del Toro
“Conversations with a Killer: The John Wayne Gacy Tapes”
“Destination Gacy, A Cross-Country Journey to Shake the Devil’s Hand,” by Nancy Rommelmann (Kindle)
Nancy reads “Destination Gacy” (come on, it’s free!)
“Hit on the Head,” Sarah’s essay about New Orleans stick up
“Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hill”
To the Bridge: A True Story of Motherhood and Murder, by Nancy Rommelmann
Skip Hollandsworth’s most recent Texas Monthly masterpiece, “The Notorious Mrs. Mossler”
“Sword and Scale” podcast that scared the crap out of Sarah
Outro song: “I’m Alive” by Electric Light Orchestra
Nancy and Gacy penpal Rick Gaez, 1994
Detective Nick and Sarah, 2019
7. True Crimes of the Heart