By Lily Margaret Jones | Co-Editor-in-Chief
Because original ideas are few and far between these days, both film and television have taken to remaking and recreating stories of the past. While we are used to watching as conglomerates like Disney and Time Warner recycle fictional princess and superhero content on a variety of platforms, 2016 saw the resurgence of a different kind of entertainment: the return of iconic court cases and crime investigations to television. In the 1990s and 2000s, America loved to watch as crazy people did crazy things in real life and received (or didn’t receive) repercussions for them. Once endlessly covered by the media through live trial broadcasts, police press conferences, and one-on-one interviews with suspects and victims alike, these murder cases made their way back onto our screens this year on both cable TV and on streaming services. If these throwbacks do anything besides mindlessly entertain the masses, they all prove how terrible everyone used to be at deciphering DNA. Here are three that I am currently obsessed with and why.
3. Amanda Knox, 2007-2015
Background: American Amanda Knox was 20 years old when she was arrested for murder in Perugia, Italy, Knox, a Seattle native as well as student at the University of Washington, was spending a semester abroad when one of her housemates, a Brit named Meredith Kercher, was found sexually violated and killed in their Perugia apartment. Knox, along with her then-boyfriend, Italian Raffaele Sollecito, were suspected due to their odd and inappropriate behavior at the crime scene (kissing, no visible signs of sadness), and were brutally interrogated by the Italian authorities to the point where they implicated themselves in the crime.
DNA belonging to Rudy Guede, a known burglar in the area, was found all over the crime scene and resulted in his subsequent arrest and conviction. Despite a lack of DNA evidence connecting Knox or Sollecito to the crime, the two were convicted of Meredith’s murder and sexual assault in 2009. In 2011, Knox and Sollecito were found not guilty in their appeals trial and were acquitted of their crimes due to a lack of physical evidence and their testifying that they had been coerced into false confessions. This allowed Knox to return to the U.S. for the first time in four years. However, in 2013, the case was heard before the Italian Supreme Court, where Knox and Sollecito were found guilty for a second time in 2014. The pair’s ultimate appeal was heard in 2015, where they were found not guilty as prosecutors had failed to provide a “whole truth” to implicate them.
The Amanda Knox case was heavily publicized in three countries: the U.S., Great Britain, and Italy. The international media often portrayed Knox as a devious sex kitten, giving her the nickname “Foxy Knoxy,” insinuating that Meredith’s murder had been a sex game gone wrong.
Show: Amanda Knox, Netflix, 2016
As someone who avidly followed the Amanda Knox case when it was first covered by the media in 2007, I found that the Netflix documentary did not tell me anything new (if you’re unfamiliar, you’ll get all the information you need to know), but rather gave various perspectives on the case, including those of Amanda, the Italian police and prosecutors, as well as from a British journalist who covered the case. The doc gives Amanda a platform to speak and tell her story, but at the same time is not overly convincing of her innocence, as even she says, “I am either a psychopath in sheep’s clothing or I am you.”
2. JonBenét Ramsey, 1996-present
Background: JonBenét Ramsey was a 6-year-old pageant queen and daughter of John Bennett Ramsey and his wife Patsy, a wealthy couple in Boulder, Colorado. On the day after Christmas in 1996, Patsy Ramsey called the police when she allegedly found her daughter missing from her bed and a ransom note asking for a very specific sum of money for her safe return. Eight hours later, John Ramsey found his daughter’s dead body in the basement, despite the note saying she had only been kidnapped. She was wrapped in a white sheet, apparently strangled, with her skull bashed in.
When the Boulder police became involved, the Ramseys did not cooperate with the investigation. Both Patsy and Burke Ramsey, JonBenét’s 9-year-old brother, were suspected of perhaps accidentally killing the young girl, with Patsy writing the ransom note as a coverup. However, because of the Ramseys’ affluence and highly respected reputation in Boulder, they managed to avoid police questioning until months after the murder. None of the Ramseys were ever considered suspects as the district attorney claimed there was insufficient evidence to go to trial in 1998, leaving the murder unsolved since there were no other suspects. Years later in 2013, it was revealed that a grand jury had recommended indicting John and Patsy Ramsey for child abuse resulting in death. The district attorney had opted not to press charges.
This was a highly publicized investigation given JonBenét’s age, prominence in pageantry, and questionable death, as well as her parents’ place in American high society.
Show: The Case of: JonBenét Ramsey, CBS, 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKjfIEgbtCA
This program was interesting to watch as it was not a documentary. In fact, it was an odd format I had never seen before, as CBS gathered a group of investigators to essentially reopen the JonBenét Ramsey case. Though all of the investigation was unofficial, a group of criminal justice experts, including a scientist who had worked on the original case, reanalyzed evidence, which included the 21st century breakdown of Patsy Ramsey’s 911 call, as well as the full recreation of the scene of the crime, the entire interior of the Ramsey estate. Ultimately, the investigators came to the conclusion that Burke Ramsey accidentally killed his sister after bashing her head in with a flashlight, causing his parents staged the murder as an outside job to protect him. How they come to this conclusion is fascinating, and to be honest, I think Burke did it, too. Both Burke and John Ramsey (Patsy has since passed away from cancer) have recently given interviews condemning the show’s conclusion, maintaining their innocence in the little girl’s death.
1. O.J. Simpson, 1994-1997
Background: Orenthal James (O.J.) Simpson was a record breaking running back in the NFL in the 1960s and 70s, beloved by Americans, who affectionately referred to him as “The Juice.” Simpson went on to star in successful ad campaigns and act in film. In 1977, Simpson met waitress Nicole Brown, who he began dating while still married to his first wife. He divorced her in 1979 and went on to marry Brown in 1985, where he had two additional children with her. After a tumultuous marriage resulting in a series of domestic abuse incidents on Simpson’s part, Brown Simpson divorced him in 1992.
On June 12, 1994, Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman were found savagely murdered outside of her home in Brentwood, Los Angeles, her two children asleep inside. Simpson quickly became the LAPD’s prime suspect in the murder case and was arrested, after which he assembled a fierce defense team including Robert Shapiro, Johnnie Cochran, Robert Kardashian, and F. Lee Bailey. Despite the prosecution’s large amount of evidence against Simpson, including a pair of his gloves found with both Brown Simpson and Goldman’s DNA and blood on them, Simpson was acquitted of the crime on the defense that the LAPD, which could have planted evidence to frame Simpson due to racism. In 1997, Simpson was found liable for the wrongful deaths of Brown Simpson and Goldman in a civil suit put forth by Goldman’s family. Simpson was ordered to pay the Goldmans $33,500,000 in damages.
The People v. O.J. Simpson is often referred to as the “Trial of the Century” due to its massive international media frenzy that focused on not only Simpson and his trial, but the personal lives of both the defense and prosecution teams.
Show #1: The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story, FX, 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAyn1gDBc7s
A narrative, 10-episode mini series depicting Simpson’s arrest and trial aired on FX early this year as a part of American Crime Story, an anthology program created by the producers of American Horror Story. The mini-series includes a star-studded cast including Sarah Paulson as lead prosecutor Marcia Clark, Courtney B. Vance as Johnnie Cochran, John Travolta as Robert Shapiro, Nathan Lane as F. Lee Bailey, Sterling Brown as co-prosecutor Chris Darden, David Schwimmer as Robert Kardashian, and Cuba Gooding, Jr. as O.J. Simpson.
The best part of this series, in my opinion, is the performances by the actors, specifically Paulson, Vance, and Brown, each of which won Primetime Emmys for their roles. The plot itself was slightly overdramatized, which granted, was exceptionally hard not to do considering the subject matter. Additionally, Cuba Gooding, Jr.’s portrayal of the calculated and smooth-talking O.J. Simpson fell short for me. The real downside of the program though is the emphasis put on Robert Kardashian, who as we know, is the late father of Kim, Khloe, and Kourtney. There were a few episodes where we saw the Kardashian children, which felt forced since they were children and played no huge role in the trial itself. In fact, neither did Robert Kardashian, and yet we got to see the end of his marriage with Kris (played by Selma Blair) and his own personal turmoil as he confronted the overwhelming evidence pointing to Simpson’s guilt. I really did not need to see Kardashian on the verge of tears in every episode, and while David Schwimmer did an okay job, I was still very aware that I was watching Ross from Friends the entire time. However, the drama in and of itself is enough reason to watch as it makes for throughly entertaining TV.
Show #2: O.J.: Made in America, ESPN (Hulu Plus), 2016
Unlike The People v. O.J. Simpson, O.J.: Made in America is a five part documentary series that focuses on O.J.’s life and gives an in-depth account of the trial and all of its key players. Marcia Clark, F. Lee Bailey, and Tanya Brown, Nicole Brown Simpson’s sister, are featured interviews and give invaluable insight on the crime and the trial. In the beginning of the series, it may seem like you are getting too much information, including a summary of O.J.’s college and NFL careers as well as a history lesson on the racial climate in LA at the time, but all of the background you get is essential to understanding the full impact of the trial and how sensationalism influence the jury’s decision. The last episode also details O.J.’s life after the career-ending trail and how it caused him to go on to do crazy things for money, including a reality show called Juiced and a book called If I Did It. The filmmaker also fills us in on the Las Vegas armed robbery that got Simpson put in jail for the remainder of his life after he “got away with murder.”
Out of all of these programs, my one recommendation would O.J.: Made in America as it is the most comprehensive and in my opinion, the most well-done. If interested in both the Simpson documentary and the narrative series, I would suggest watching the documentary first and then comparing it to the series to see what information is added, subtracted, or just completely blown out of proportion.
