Listen, I love true crime. And apparently, I’m not alone. For many of us, Sarah Koenig is the mom (and Jedd Abumrad is the dad, but that’s for another day). Has the moment of true crime already arrived? I don’t know. Perhaps? I don’t care. Anyway I like it. I even find it strangely soothing: an extremely tense but familiar sonic landscape. Inescapable small town characters. Follow. The feeling that you are on the right side of the crusade.
A valid case must be made against the true crime. i read new York Times The article is shaming us for indulging in our own bloodlust, while the families of the victims are stripped of personal space to mourn. I understood. I do. Key points abound.
Will I stop listening? No, I’m sorry, I won’t do that. But you should. Seriously, stop. Don’t be a bad person.
Assuming we’ve all quietly agreed to continue drinking, perhaps it’s time for something more demanding of style than mere auditory-ambulance-chasing. Should true crime be so plug-and-play, or can we play with the framework? Can any great purpose be served by this?
recent series Love + Radio: Blood MemoryFor example, the former does a good job of elevating the production style to that of an arthouse audio-doc. and i will argue bone valleylatest season of devil’s mine Attempts to deal with both questions.
Quick reference for the uninitiated: bone valley Follows wrongful convictions and other miscarriages of justice in the American legal system, with each season focusing on a different case. So, true crime, but with a heart of gold? The most recent season is hosted by veteran investigative journalist Paul Solotaroff, and is based on his 2021 Rolling Stone article.the devil you Know.’
on its face, devil’s mine The story revolves around the rape and murder of 12-year-old Josette Wright in Putnam County, New York, the corrupt police department investigating the crime, and the wrongful conviction of two local lost boys who spent decades behind bars.
Moving in and out of the shadow of this case is the ghost of the real killer, his trail of victims and survivors, and the possibility of a future attack. And like this, devil’s mine Finds His True Form: A Ghost Story.
As Solotaroff guides the listener back and forth through time, he evokes the supernatural atmosphere of a haunted house; With a sound like a gravel road, one gets the impression he’s shining a flashlight from under his chin, and we could be in for a jump scare at any moment.
But the fear of jumping never comes. Instead, we are forced to look over our shoulders as history continues its journey. This is an effective emotional hook. We don’t just come back for more details of the case; We’re also coming back for the possibility of the monster jumping out of the closet.
in the first episode of devil’s mineSolotaroff whispers, “In 2021, if you asked me about the Devil I would laugh in your face. But soon, very soon, you will know what I know: that the Devil is real, and walks among us.”
Nightmare fuel? Yes. True crime junkie right? We will see. “The Devil” does not remain anonymous for long. We learn the name Howard Gombert, and recommend never forgetting it. Solotaroff argues that Gombert is the real killer.
The devil is real, and walks among us.
I was surprised by this lack of ambiguity. To be clear, Howard Gombert was never Investigated Let alone be blamed for Josette Wright’s death. But you won’t find the word “allegedly” anywhere. devil’s mine. Solotaroff does not simply offer facts and ask the listener to come to their own conclusions, e.g. blood memory. No, devil’s mine Throws away the principle of objectivity, takes 30 years of evidence, and vehemently blames one man: Howard John Gombert Jr. We are told that he is the one hiding in the shadows. Which we check over our shoulder. In the broader field of true crime journalism it is audacious and frankly quite naughty.
Following the narrative, we follow three points of view: Paul Solotaroff is our host, and our ghost hunter. His stories of murderous violence are dark and raw. It seems as if he is daring us to hesitate. “Are you just going to sit there and listen to it?” He seems to be asking.
The second point of view comes from Anthony DiPippo, one of the people wrongly convicted. Provides production settings. Britt Spangler’s soundscape, built from dive-bar guitar riffs and crunchy bass lines, is reminiscent of Nick Cave. “Red Right Hand,” Taking us inside DiPippo’s natural habitat – and it’s a departure from the typical pre-established true crime musical bed. Haunting and mysterious, but more than Wes Craven dateline.
Third, and most horrifying, is our view through the eyes of victims and survivors. We are told the survivors are Howard Gombert. Here, the “ghost story” is revealed. Each victim tells an equally harrowing story of a life poisoned by a demon. We hear about Gombert’s supernatural abilities when his victims are alone. We hear about his temper, his black, rat-like eyes. For these women, even taking his name is like inviting darkness.
His accounts in later episodes are most impressive. At the beginning of the podcast, Solotaroff gives us a flavor of the events. Scenes of hard life in Putnam County, with a little “just the facts, ma’am” about crimes. But later he takes us back in time through the eyes of these women. It’s a familiar scene; We’ve heard the details before. But take a closer look, right? You will find that the devil is always looking back. This is an effective narrative device. From a pacing standpoint, it mercifully withholds the worst details until we’ve developed a stomach for them.
I wondered if the ghost story motif could possibly be beneficial. Most days, I don’t believe in ghosts. But once we’re fully faced with the details of these crimes, details I frankly couldn’t commit to paper, Solotaroff’s liberal use of words like “evil,” “demon” and “devil” hit the nail on the head. When a man walks the earth and commits acts that defy any semblance of humanity, it doesn’t matter what you call it. We know in our bones what it is.
Howard Gombert is currently serving a 30-year sentence in a Connecticut prison for a separate crime. As Solotaroff tells it, when he learned that Gombert was going to be released this fall, he knew he had to revisit the story. devil’s mine This is his attempt to take advantage of the audience’s outrage to pressure Putnam County to investigate Gombert. In an interview with Gilbert King he said, “We need your outrage to ensure that Howard Gombert never causes harm again.” A noble cause indeed.
As I mentioned in my article about this year’s Tribeca Festival, I sat down with Solotaroff to ask him about this action, and fired a potentially inappropriate question at him. Is there any risk of provoking the listener’s anger? What would be the nightmare scenario of summoning a different kind of monster – the angry mob?
His response made me realize that I was underestimating the devil, and that the ghost story was far from over.
“From the age of 12,” Solotaroff told me, “Howard Gombert grew up in the woods. . . in the scorching northeastern January. This is a man who is not only a highly skilled logger, but a man who is accustomed to living in the rugged and the wild, and off the grid. . . . My suspicion is that if he were released, he would not come back to the house that his father gave him. He would go back into those woods and out at one time. Will come and place of his choice.”
We have been telling ghost stories for thousands of years. We ask them to scare each other. To process grief, to examine the unknown. Hey, just to end the day. We also ask them to keep each other safe. By casting flickering shadows of those who were not as fortunate, steering our most vulnerable away from the entrance to the dark forests.
I submit that anyone still feeling guilty about spreading true crime propaganda devil’s mine A satisfying (and shocking) loophole could emerge.
Oh, about that call to action – at the time of this writing, the recently formed Putnam County Task Force has reopened the 30-year-old case of Josette Wright. He has requested help from Paul Solotaroff and his team.
