Word of the day: “Thundersnow.”
11:16am
So today again is a little bit more of what I don’t know. I haven’t heard much from my bosses about what I’m supposed to be doing. I mean, ostensibly, I know that I have to book the interviews, line them up, and fill in the story gaps. But who do I interview? Who do we have booked already and who is a loose strand I need to pick up?
Let me back up…to yesterday...after I finished my fruit cup and sandwich, and with a belly full of pale ale, I read (on the plane) the 3 pre-prepared documents from my colleagues about the “Sex & Candy” case. They include a timeline of events, a 1-page summary of the crime, case, and principals, along with an 24-page judgment from the District of Columbia Court of Appeals about the perp. I learned a lot more about the case. “Bryan W” the main principal, called the DC police late Sunday morning, to report his wife, “Inga W,” missing. The couple had gone to dinner at Olive Garden the night before, followed by a movie (which he couldn’t recall the name of), and eventually home to have sex. The wife, needing candy after her lustful experience, needed candy to satiate herself completely. So she drove their SUV to a gas station, at which point she wasn’t seen or heard from again. I’ll reveal more in subsequent posts. But I know what you’re thinking, “why make a TV show about a couple that eats at Olive Garden?” And I don’t have an answer for that.
Side note: After landing in Chicago, United lost my bag between the plane and the baggage claim. Then I left my wallet in the cab on the way home. I’m essentially non-existent today.
The appeal (doc 1) lists the FBI special agent names (side note: there are no “agents,” they’re all “special agents”), an investigator “Geroge B”(not sure which agency (DC metro PD? Maryland State Police? Some sort of county agency?)), the relevant witnesses, and some facts surrounding the crime and investigation. The timeline (doc 2) tells the story of what happened when. An online article (doc 3) describes the crime and the conviction/sentence.
So this morning, my task is to contact our booked interviews, get some juicy details about the case I can use to fill in my treatment, and find out anything that was left out of the articles. Questions I need answers to are: what were the “red herrings” in this case? What made this case stand out? Are you available for an on-camera interview (important to specify ‘on-camera’ – I once had an interviewee assume the whole thing would be over the phone)? Ideally, we should already have the FBI special agents on board. I mean, without them, we can’t really do the show.
Even with the FBI SAs names down, there’s always tons of protocol to go about the process of booking them for an interview. Can I just cold-call the FBI and tell them I’m doing a show about them and I need the case agents to talk to me about this murder investigation? No, I don’t think that will work. In fact, there’s almost always rules against such things. Production companies usually have a liaison that works with the FBI PIOs to figure out which cases they want to talk about (they like to promote themselves and not the cases which they fuck-up.), which agents will play ball, and what each of them will say. It’s very top-down.
So, with that in mind, I reach out to my colleagues to ask where we stand on the FBI guys, the US Attorney who prosecuted the case, and any relations to the victim (the network loves emotional interviews from victims’ relatives). What about witnesses – were there any and are they available for interviews? They should be listed in the court transcript if they testified at trial. How about accomplices? Other cops?
Well, it turns out we know very little. The FBI agents are both retired and have not committed to the show. The US attorney may not be able to participate because there might still be a pending appeal. No one has contacted the witnesses, friends, other cops, or family members of the deceased. I now know where to get started. The difficult part is finding these people. Without any DOB, address or phone number, I either help from the FBI or go to whitepages.com and see what I can find.
1:30 P.M.
Now I have some leads…A colleague forwards me an email from the retired agent “Brad G” that has the prosecutors name and number, and some info about the case. My researcher pulls together the name of the PIO at DC Metro police along with a phone number. Now the issue is getting them to talk to me.
2:50pm
Starting with the prosecutor, I need to get at least a phone interview this week to find out more details about the case. I have a phone number for him, but you almost always have to go through the PIO first. Even just to chat about the case, you need permission from someone in public affairs. It’s very important to make those people your allies. They can track down case numbers, set aside interview time, find an empty room for the interview, and more – all things you can’t easily do from 500 miles away. So how to find them? Since it was a federal case, I know it was prosecuted out of the US attorney’s office. A quick google search will give you the website and contact info for the D.C. office of the US Attorney’s. Rather than call the switchboard, I always open up a recent press release to see if my guy/lady is listed as a contact. There’s always a phone number, so either way, you’re one step closer. In this case, “Bill M” is not listed, but I give the phone number a call anyway. Bingo. I ask for Bill and he’s on the line within seconds.
I explain who I am and what I’m doing for which show and why I want to speak with “Matt C.” Bill M, He seems agreeable to the situation. He suggests putting everything in an email for him, which of course, I will do. They always suggest this, but I find it’s better to talk to them at least once on the phone, to pacify them a bit, and give them a voice/personality to associate with the request.
Next, I call “Raul M” with the DC Metro Police. Again, same situation as with the US Attorney…he seems agreeable but suggests I put everything down in an email to him. He wants me to CC his boss so they can discuss it together.
As I hang up the phone I look outside to see the snowpocalypse forming in Chicago. See attached weather map. Good thing I have frozen pizza, cheap wine, ice cream , and a muscle relaxer for later.
3:56 pm – Emails sent. Realistically, they’ll talk about it tomorrow, and I’ll hear from the dudes on Thursday, just enough time for me to get soundbytes from them over the phone and slot them into my treatment for delivery on Friday. Of course, if either the PIOs or agents/detectives say no, then I’m back to square one.
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