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Hey!

So the queen died. That’s pretty crazy.

By the way, for those of you who are new to this newsletter, this is Grim Weekly, where I cover all things true crime content. I help you wade through the abundance so you can get to the good shit. You're welcome!

So, let's get into it!

My Pod

This week's episode of Who's Knocking (My podcast) was about the Briley Brother and their nasty 7 month murder spree, and subsequent escape from death row.Check it out on Youtube, Apple or Spotify.And maybe subscribe to us on youtube, if you want :)‍

Recos

TRUE CRIME BULLSHIT:
We did 2 episodes on Israel Keyes a while back. Have you heard of him? He's THE worst. You can watch those episodes here. Only later did I learn (from a listener!) about another podcast called True Crime Bullshit. It’s written and produced by Josh Hallmark and it is the deepest darkest dive into everything Israel Keyes. He includes a bunch of interrogation footage you cannot find on YouTube that are absolutely so intense and horrific. He also spends a whole season researching in great detail all of Israel’s movements to try and identify some of his unidentified victims. Of which we believe there are many. This is one of the VERY few true crime podcasts that I cannot fall asleep to.

CATCHING KILLERS EPISODE 1:
Catching killers is another episodic Netflix mini series. This one takes the law enforcement perspective as they retell various serial killer cases. There are a few good episodes, but the very first one is my favourite. It is about the investigation and take down of the Green River Killer (Gary Ridgeway). The case had so many fascinating aspects including, the astonishing number of victims, the racial and political turmoil which created tension and infighting and then of course the meek and mild (and awful) Gary Ridgeway.

KEEP SWEET: PRAY AND OBEY:
Another very disturbing Netflix mini series. Showcasing the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints (Mormons!) and their leader, true human scum, Warren Jeffs. Most people probably know a bit about this story. Maybe you've seen photos of the outrageous amount of wives he's accumulated. I literally felt sick to my stomach watching this series. But the story is so much darker than you could ever imagine. And **SPOILER **, THIS MAN IS STILL THEIR LEADER!

New stuff

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So the new documentary House of Hammer just came out. It is the story of Armie Hammer, Hollywood actor and alleged sexual sadist/is into cannibalism, maybe. Also he comes from a very rich family with some sort of freaky abusive family history. It sounds fascinating. I've only watched the first episode, so I can't officially recommend it, but so far, it is, quite fucked... It looks like he might very well be a cannibal, or at least he wants to be... either way, pretty gross.I'll finish the other two episodes and give you my full and unvarnished thoughts in next weeks letter. And if you've seen it, please give me your thoughts!

Forensics good and bad

I LOVE learning about forensics. But I've come to realize that there is a lot of grey area when it comes to many forensic fields, often it's more of an art than a science. I recently read the book Junk Science and the American Criminal Justice System, by M. Chris Fabricant (highly recommend!) and it left me feeling super skeptical about a lot of what I had thought was pretty solid science (bite mark evidence, hair analysis etc). But that being said, there are certain methods which do appear to be much more scientifically sound, like DNA, although not TOUCH DNA (see it's complicated). I thought I would highlight this with one story where the forensic analysis led to a murder conviction, but then later proved the conviction wrong, not a super uncommon situation these days. The real bummer was that this whole process took 29 long years. The Innocence Project just successfully exonerated their 240th wrongfully convicted inmate. Read about Herman William's case here. New DNA was a huge factor in overturning the conviction. But another big reason (among many others) that he spent 29 years in prison was “unsupported forensic pathology testimony".  Wishing Herman all the best!

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New in true crime news

• The second suspect in the Saskatchewan mass stabbing was caught,..and then died...
• The first case where both the victim and the perpetrator were identified through genetic genealogy, 33 years later!
• Eliza Fletcher's body has been found and identified.
• Files released show that Myra Hindley earned a degree in humanities and sang in the choir, while in prison. Kinda sounds like she was thriving in there.

Survey

Which serial killer scares you the most?  Reply to this email and let me know!

I'll share the most popular answers next week.

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