True crime entails much more than what’s shown on the TV screen. Understandably, a lot about it gets left behind the scenes, which only more attentive and fascinated people may question and dig deeper into. Such persons tend to come together and discuss their findings and opinions, like those who share similar interests usually do.
This time, our Bored Panda team found them gathered under this popular thread, discussing their controversial takes on true crime cases. If you’re curious, these hot takes can be found below, just a scroll away.
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True crime fans aren’t as smart and intuitive as they think they are and have a totally unearned sense of arrogance from just being documentary watchers alone.
I work in documentary and have done true crime specifically. A lot of information is held back by LE and even gentle editing is by nature manipulative.
True crime fans are like, “You can tell just by looking at him in that photograph something is wrong with him.”
No, we’ve set you up to think that. By merely implying someone is tied to a crime in any way, your brain colors in the lines and tells you their eyes look empty. Doesn’t help that we put spooky music over their picture while we slowly zoom in on the image.
Conversely, take the same photo of a person but put different music over it and imply he’s a homicide victim, and the same true crime fan will be like, “Aw he looked so sweet 🥺”
And, look. I say this as a true crime fan.
But no one should be speaking so authoritatively , so gatekeeper-y, on anything just because of some documentary watching. Even the most well meaning and neutral documentary is biased.
THIS! The amount of people (here on BP, too!) who claim that "the eyes are the windows to the soul" and all that shyte is frightening. It means you can present any not conventionally attractive person with a squint to them and they'd be willing to condemn or even l***h them.
A polygraph is barely more reliable than flipping a coin and while some presenters are getting better at pointing out that they are not acceptable as evidence in a courtroom, they are still talked about too much which I feel gives them a false sense of reliability.
Unpopular opinion? Gipsy Rose is not the golden child she's been elevated to be. She's a liar and manipulator and was basically in on the scam the whole time. Yes, she's a product of her environment but the whole 'blame Nick' thing she's doing is lies.
I still believe Elisa Lam was having some kind of psychotic break and got into that water tank herself and drowned.
That is what happened to her. She had bipolar and stopped taking her meds. It's on the Netflix documentary
A lot of the mysterious disappearances aren’t mysterious. When people disappear in the wilderness, it isn’t a mystery. They’re often victims of unfortunate hiking accidents. Bodies aren’t easy to find so many of these people will never be found.
Social media groups “discussing” active investigations do more harm than good.
Madeline McCann's parents would have gone to jail if they weren't rich and white.
Eileen Wuormos didn’t deserve [it], she should’ve been sent to a mental institution for the rest of her days.
MoonlitStar:
The main thing I didn't get about her case is that she was so obviously mentally ill to the point of insanity- even a person without any professinal knowledge of mental health could blatantly see that- it wasn't something that was up for discussion to my mind so why wasn't she treated as such. The entire case was sensationalised beyond belief by the media it was akin to death according to the media circus and public opinion in the US. It's still sensationalised to this day over 20 years since.
I agree she should have been placed in a secure mental health facility for life rather than what happened to her.
Cops/detectives/police forces are often corrupt and [bad] at their jobs and mess up a lot of investigations through incompetence.
District Attorneys are notorious for refusing to admit their office ever screwed up even when absolute innocence is later proven. Even if is a case from several incumbent DAs before
Capital punishment should be abolished. Contrary to popular belief, it isn’t a deterrent to crime, and it costs more than it does to keep an inmate incarcerated for their entire life.
theloons:
Agree. It’s barbaric and evil. Whether it’s a deterrent or not doesn’t matter to me. I agree that it isn’t, but even if it were it wouldn’t change my stance on it.
Just the fact that there's always a small chance someone innocent is sentenced should be reason enough to end the death penalty
The jury in the Casey Anthony case failed Kaylee Anthony. In my opinion, I believe they did in fact have enough evidence. That little girl never got justice.
There should have been more repercussions for the social workers who failed Gabriel Fernandez.
I try not to think about the fact that his two get to wake up every morning and see sunlight. Injustice.
Munchkinpea:
I couldn't agree more. I'm fairly desensitised to true crime stuff, but I found the Netflix documentary about Gabriel devastating. I had to keep taking breaks as I was crying so hard.
I feel sorry for his teacher who seems to have tried repeatedly to get him help, but not received any support.
He should have remained with his great-uncles who loved and cared for him, like parents are supposed to do.
Not knowing any of this particular case, our area has a terminal lack of child protective services people. You can't expect people to see and assess cases when they don't have enough people and the ones there get blamed for the fact they can't do enough with so few people and so little resources
Not unpopular bur black and brown victims of homicide especially women are left unsolved because the police and public don’t care.
A brown girl gets hate crime punched on the subway, the police barely show up, someone white gets punched, it's a manhunt. Not saying our former minister shouldn't have a right to walk in a park get to the trains, but how is anything else dealt with???
Brock Turner should have gotten years in prison. Disgusting.
The judge who sentenced him was removed from his position. Absolutely disgusting.
Lacey Fletcher was not on the couch for 12 years.
Humanehuman1:
Right?? Like there has to be more to this! Also, I feel like this case is almost downplayed (for lack of a better word). She literally LIVED for a significant period of time with MAGGOTS eating her flesh. I feel nauseous even writing that out.
Sethsears:
I have some gross personal insight into this.
My 90+ year old grandmother developed lymphoma directly on the top of her head. She saw a doctor and received treatment for it, but as she was getting treated, it began to rot. She couldn't simply have it removed in surgery due to its size and her age. She (and everyone around her) had to endure the tumor "dropping off" of her. (At least, that's how I remember it going, I was a kid at the time).
The smell was unbelievable. I can't even tell you. The smell of flesh rotting off a living person is so strong that when we took her to the library to pick up a book, we had to roll all the windows in the car down and stick our heads out each respective window to keep from gagging. That was from a golf ball sized tumor! I can't even imagine the smell around Lacey's couch. Even if you accept her parents were mentally ill/in denial/noseblind, I have no idea how the smell wouldn't have clung to them.
My dad was paralyzed during vietnam. One of the big concerns for people in chairs, are pressure sores, sitting all day, poor circulation, loss of muscle and fat on lower half. The VA in Houston, is...f*****g criminally incompetent. They botched his rotator cuff surgery, his physical therapist made it even worse, and their solution was to just increase his oxy/vicodin/darvon/valium cocktail which caused him to develop pleurisy ....but after his surgery he was kept up in his chair for 10 to 12 hours at a stretch, moving around "helps with healing" He ended up with a pressure sore on his tailbone....looked like a little bruise the size of pencil eraser. All he could do was stay off of it, so confined to bed. Nothing he hadn't endured before. Well, i woke up one morning....and the entire apartment reeked of death. Bloated whale in the summer sun. Turns out that little bruise had opened up...to reveal a necrotic cavity the size of a grapefruit. Could smell it 40 ft outside the apartment.
Scott Peterson is guilty.
ComteStGermain:
I agree, although I think that in his case circumstancial evidence alone works for me. The timeline alone and the fact that he went "fishing" on Christmas Eve was enough for me.
"the fact that he went "fishing" on Christmas Eve was enough for me." The Comte hasn't met anyone from Wisconsin, I take it.
A lot of cases that didn’t get solved was due to inexperienced investigators (JonBenet), cops on the take (Keddie Cabin), or lazy police work (Kristin Smart).
Lots of corruption and oppression in law enforcement and the courts. There are far more innocent people than we realize who are incarcerated.
Not every [victim] was the bestest best friend, your best friend, a really great person a better person than everyone else, etc.
I guess my opinion isn’t unpopular within THIS community, but it is to others…
I think it’s okay to be interested in listening to/watching true crime stories. I think there’s a lot we, as humans living in a society, can learn from these stories when we listen to them in a considerate way.
I think it’s okay to make media about cases, as long as it’s done respectfully.
I think some cases have really interesting ethical issues with no black or white answer and that’s okay. It’s important to be aware of these issues and think about them.
The crime reporting and the detective stories have been around forever. Saying people who like crime stories are somehow wicked isn't new either. Let people have fun ffs!
Andrea Yates should have been in a mental health facility until she is fit for release and while I can’t think of an exact criminal charge for her husband, he deserved to be held accountable.
Rears4Tears:
Andrea is in a mental hospital. Her attorneys successfully appealed her case, and the guilty verdict was overturned. She was found not guilty by reason of insanity. She can undergo a review every year to see if she is competent to leave the facility. But Yates opts each year to waive her right to be reviewed. She has never undergone review, choosing instead to continue treatment. And yes, her husband was horrible and should have been charged.
Many parents' lies mean that disappearance of their children will never be solved and they are to blame for this.
Whether it's to protect themselves or others, the lies, hiring of spin doctors and refusal to cooperate with the police means they bear some responsibility for the unsolved crime.
bsa554:
Oh yeah...in a LARGE percentage of "missing child" cases at least one parent knows well what happened to their kid.
Don't know how these people can live with themselves.
There have been a few noticeable cases like that in France: parents were literally crying for the cameras and begging for their kid to be found. It turned out they had k*lled the kid. While the crime is horrible, I find it scarier to see that people are able to keep up with this kind of lie for weeks of giving tearful interviews.
True crime adjacent: documentaries are not the word of god. They are fallible, they have an angle, they are meant to entertain, sometimes the producer ends up dating the suspect (I’m looking at you Staircase).
Kurt Cobain is a great example of this. There’s one documentary that can have you 100% sure Courtney Love is to blame and another can make you feel 100% sure [is not].
That Diane Schuler’s loser husband knew she had a drinking problem. But he will never admit it because he let her drive those kids. His insistence that she was not an alcoholic is not to clear her name. It’s to cover his own [bum].
Maura Murray ran into the woods to hide from the cops and got lost. Animals scattered her remains.
Rripurnia:
That has been my take all along but I wonder if the stranger abduction theory holds any water after all - someone volunteering to help her go somewhere else and return to her car later on but things went sideways.
I’m listening to her sister’s new podcast and I’m eager to finally hear her thoughts on the case.
Child Protective Services will never change. The number of children who slip through the cracks is tragic. Government beauracracy is responsible.
Rex Heuermann [is responsible for] a lot more women whose bodies have not been found and whose loved ones may not even realize are missing.
In the OP [is responsible for] = has kіllеd. For dog's sake, if you're going to censor it don't post it, BP.
Summer Wells’ parents know what happened to her.
Opening_Raspberry_91:
oh man this case kept me up at night when it first happened.
anon:
I think they sold her to someone.
I don't think they are smart enough to successfully cover it up, either she would have been found or some other clue to her whereabouts would have been found by now.
Kendrick Johnson & Kenneka Jenkins were both freak accidents. Elisa Lam had a psychotic break. It’s not always foul play.
Not every [criminal] is a narcissist, sociopath, or psychopath.
Equivalent_Spite_583:
It irks me to my core that ‘narcissist’ is thrown around so casually. While some people were dealing with one, they ‘pick up’ some of the traits done by said narcissist. That doesn’t make them one themselves, it just means they’ve been picked up learned behavior while enduring abuse. Not every ‘mean’ person is a narcissist, contrary to today’s young tiktokers’ standards.
I will agree. There is a difference between a narcissist and a person with narcissistic qualities. Most everyone is guilty of some form of narcissism in their life.
I have come to believe that the Menendez brothers truly were horrifically [mistreated] by their father and that they were unfairly railroaded because of the family’s wealth. The more I learn about them, the worse I feel for those guys….
Someone knows who the Zodiac is and no one believes them.
sai_gunslinger:
I know someone who thinks it may have been her grandfather. He was stationed in Cali and resembles the sketch. Some believe Zodiac moved to NY which is where we are. He was always doing cryptogram puzzles. He once made a suggestion for material to use to make a Zodiac costume. And some bodies were found in the woods near where he lived in NY.
Does anyone believe her? Not really. I'm not sure she believes herself. Stranger things have happened, but odds are low it's really him.
Very few cops actually know how to conduct an interview.
I think it’s dumb to base guilty or innocent on body behavior alone. Especially when people react to traumatic events like their love ones going missing differently.
The sentence should have read, "Especially when people react differently to traumatic events like their loved ones going missing." It was simply a badly worded statement.
Sometimes an “unsolved” case is 90% the family being in denial.
beeboopbeepKt:
Diane Schuler comes to mind when mentioning family denial too.
theacondaa:
Kendrick Johnson comes to mind here. Very sad and unfortunate case. It was an accident, imo.
flat_tire_fire:
Yeah Maura Murray definitely just wandered into the winter and died of exposure and never got found. I feel bad for her family but dragging it out seems more traumatic than just accepting it.
I think at least one of Ivan Milat's brothers was involved in some of the backpacker [homicide]. The majority of the family is a half-step away from inbred.
He gave family members items belonging to the victims (camping equipment)… some of the items had their names on them. Of course they knew.
The [criminals] are more like us than we want to believe.
Scott Peterson is guilty and I can’t believe anyone thinks otherwise.
Maura Murray sadly passed away in the woods and she will hopefully be found one day.
Adnan is guilty.
The West Memphis Three are innocent.
Kendrick Johnson was a tragic accident.
Defence attorneys/barristers/solicitors (etc) aren’t immoral monsters. They’re doing the job they’re paid to do and it’s a really important job.
FWIW- NAL but I am a paralegal in criminal defence in the U.K.
A LOT of people don’t realise that defence lawyers (using a catch-all term for brevity) are duty bound to act on their client’s instructions. If the client says they’re not guilty, it doesn’t matter what you personally as their lawyer believe, you represent them as not guilty. If, as their lawyer, you believe that the evidence against them is overwhelming and they stand little chance at trial, you can advise them of that however, you are ultimately bound by your client’s instructions.
You •cannot• represent your client in the event that they plead not guilty but tell you in private that they committed the offence. In the U.K. you have to withdraw from representing them due to “professional embarrassment”. The amount of people/podcasters I see/hear going on about defence lawyers as though they’re the devil incarnate for representing clearly guilty people is infuriating.
Defence lawyers, in the U.K. at least, do not invent theories for why their client is not guilty. They review the evidence with their client, take the client’s instructions, and then highlight any inconsistencies between the client’s story and the evidence and ASK THEM how that could be explained. They don’t fill in the gaps for the client.
Defence lawyers are the only people looking out for clients. Their objective is not to keep guilty people out of prison, their objective is to make sure they receive a fair trial and the justice system follows protocol in the prosecution of the client.
They’re not monsters. Phew, vent over!
Adnan is 100% guilty.
TheMobHasSpoken:
I'm not sure if it's true (partly because I can't remember where I read it), but I read once that he was calling her cell phone constantly in the days leading up to her disappearance and then, once she disappeared, never dialed her number again. That sealed it for me.
I believe that Brittany Murphy and Simon Monjack’s [cases] are TOO coincidental.
Additionally, BMs mom was probably in love with SM.
Content_Pool_1391:
I feel exactly the same way. It just felt like they closed both cases with a nice little bow and brushed it under the rug. It doesn't feel like anyone cares enough to say something isn't right.
Barron Trump is the one who made the phone call to the Feds about all of the classified documents.
It will be resurrected just for my “I told you so” when it’s revealed.
The Menendez brothers should be released.
The parents were literal monsters.
So much a***e and then so many years in such a hostile environment, they probably couldn't transition....poor boys
Not an unpopular opinion but definitely my hill.. PATSY WROTE THE NOTE!
wellgroomedmcpoyle:
Practice notes in the trash, their pen, their legal pad, “movie like” language and unbelievable length…fancy unnecessary words like “attaché”…one of the parents definitely wrote the note and it was more than likely Patsy. Also the fact that she, a woman near obsessed with keeping up appearances, was still dressed in the same outfit she wore to the party the night before…she never went to sleep that night.
Nicole Kessinger is obsessed with Chris Watts/stalked him and Shanann online/is extremely creepy but did not participate or know about the crimes (until later).
Can't say what i want to say about him on this site. BP won't let me. But all he had to do was get a divorce and 4 people would be alive.
Asha degree's family is not telling the full truth. i'm not necessarily saying they're responsible for her disappearance, but it seems like they know more than they let on. maybe an argument happened that night that led Asha to become so upset she ran away once everyone went to bed, or she actually had a history of running away (even if it was just down the road to her relative's house) but her family didn't divulge this to LE because they were afraid they would not be taken seriously.
I think the most likely scenario is that her family is aware of something that happened that drove Asha to become distraught enough to decide to run away, but her family doesn't want to disclose it because it makes them look bad or they feel ashamed of it.
I believe in the theory that she wanted to go on an adventure and unfortunately met the wrong person on the way. As adults, we assume running away means wanting to escape from something bad, but young kids don't think like that: a lot of time, they "run away" because it sounds exciting and they're curious to see what's out there in the world, they don't really want to leave their home and family.
Elisa Lam stopped taking her meds and had a psychotic break. The Netflix doc is absolutely disgusting for how they twisted her case. And I feel so bad for that metal band guy who was caught up in all that. Let her rest and let her family grieve.
The True Crime community is one of the worst online communities in terms of actual effects they have on the people they center on.
I’ve been in a lot of different community spaces. Went through the one direction craze. Kpop Stan’s. The whole lot. Still have never been a part of another community that houses individuals so willing to be as obtrusive and annoying as possible about their theories and beliefs.
Steven Avery is guilty.
Yes, the police and the prosecutor involved did some awful things. I think he deserves a new trial. But i still think he’s guilty.
I believe the foster parents were involved in the disappearance of William Tyrrell. I remember watching a documentary on the case and the producers of the documentary were so dismissive of their possible involvement and I remember saying to myself: “Um, why? This case feels like it has way more to it.”
True crime internet sleuths that come up with something law enforcement missed are probably wrong. Coverups can happen, but they’re not as common as people think. Most law enforcement wants to get to the bottom of stuff as much as anyone else, but they are way better at it and have access to much more information that anyone on the internet does.
Brian Shaffer left the bar.
IamL0rdV0ldem0rt:
To add to this, I have never seen conversations about WHY everyone thinks he didn’t make it home that night. I think he probably did and whatever happened was the following day.
Baby Deorr was never at the campsite and his parents know more.
nevertotwice_:
I don’t doubt their grief but the parents absolutely know more than they’re saying.
The Delphi [case] should have been solved within days or weeks, and justice may be denied because of investigative incompetence.
Maura Murray ran into the woods, hid somewhere to keep warm and succumbed to the elements. Her body is likely less than a mile from where her car was parked.
Darlie did it and Darren had more involvement than thought. I was her neighbor and while I was young my mom always said they were "off".
senna4815:
Her sister is on TikTok fighting for her innocence and giving “proof” as to how it couldn’t have been her. Something about a sock found outside. Gives me OJ “the glove don’t fit obviously it wasn’t me!” Vibes.
The Anglin brothers successfully escaped from Alcatraz and lived long lives in South America.
Also I really want there to be some crazy conspiracy behind the Dyatlov Pass hikers.
Sadly, the Dyatlov Pass hikers got caught in a whole series of events. An avalanche, paradoxical undressing, wild animal predation and probably some kind of radiation from a nearby base. All can be true at the same time.
John Wayne Gacy had accomplices.
Yeah, he said he had accomplices, and it's very likely that he was involved in a S*x trafficking ring. John David Norman, one of the most notorious and public facing pedophiles, had moved to chicago in 1973, was quickly sent to prison where he began to rebuild his little p**o circus with help from another inmate, Phillip Paske....who continued to do norman's bidding upon release.....Gacy employed Paske at one point. Gacy was a dedicated member of the local political party, even serving as democratic precinct captain in the years before his arrest. He was friends with cops in the area, familiar with powerful bosses, and would throw barbecues in his back yard to bring that community together. Hard to believe none were aware of him sodomizing an underage boy in the mid 60's given that it led to one of his divorces.
Whew lots of unpopular opinions and theories:
Damien Echols was not just a misfit who was judged for liking rock music. He had documented homicidal delusions and was very mentally ill. Investigators didn’t assume he was into sacrifices because he liked Metallica, it’s because he would tell doctors he wanted to sacrifice a child. He also didn’t get a fair trial, but that doesn’t change the other facts.
The jury was correct to find Casey Anthony not guilty. I’m confident she is guilty but the prosecution did not prove that at trial.
There has not ever been a clear timeline of what happened in the Degree house on the night of Asha’s disappearance. I’m not saying the family is guilty, but almost every major detail about what happened during that time has multiple different versions.
Bryce Laspisa's parents were too strict and bigoted mormons, and they caused his issues and him to flee. I really hope he's okay somewhere far from them..
Amanda Knox is 100% innocent.
And was found to be and widely reported to be. I'm assuming that was a very old post. Not really a hot take in 2025.
Darlie Routier is 100% guilty.
There was no owl on the staircase.
I’ve volunteered in a bird sanctuary, and any bird ever attacks you or comes into close involuntarily contact with you- there will be no question about what happened. Owls are precision hunters, and the thought that the owl somehow couldn’t avoid bumping into Kathleen seems very far fetched. But for arguments sake: If the owl was really startled or ill or whatever and flew into Kathleen, there would have been so much owl-evidence. You just cannot wrestle/fight/ward off any bird without it losing TONS of feathers . There would be feathers and plumes everywhere. Ever seen the bottom of a bird cage? Exactly.
Kathleen had only microscopic feathers on her, which she most likely picked up just from walking outside or under a structure where an owl once sat. The defence read about the feathers in the report and ran with the story, hoping people didn’t know too much about owls (and succeeded).
Volunteering at a bird sanctuary doesn't make anyone an expert. One piece of evidence was videos from a supermarket's security cameras showing an owl attacking employees who were leaving the place late at night. It happened over a few days so it wasn't an isolated incident, and there have been many reports of people getting attacked by owls as well. Now whether or not an owl did it in this case can be up for debate, but it's a fact owls do sometimes see humans as prey and fighting back probably isn't the first thing that comes to mind when they dig those talons into your skull, it's best to try and flee.
I will get so much hate for this but i feel uneasy about The West Memphis Three. Not so sure about the innocence...
Nicole Kessinger was at best aware that Chris Watts was going to [commit a crime] and at worst she helped him!!!!!!!!!!! The only reason she wasn’t investigated further is because Chris admitted to the crime and the case was closed. Idc idc idc!!!
Jeffery Epstein [ended his life]. There's no evidence that doesn't square with "American prisons suck" and he had plenty of motive.
Nah. Not buying that one, or more accurately, if he did people made sure to give him every opportunity to do so and likely pressured him to ensure he followed through.
My absolute favorite case is the Isdal Woman. I know many people disagree and have other theories, but I still believe that she was an agent or spy of some kind. There are too many clues to simply toss away - removed clothing labels, bogus names, secretive meetups, observing submarine drills, etc. I don’t know who she was an agent for (I believe the USSR and Mossad are likely guesses).
Sandra Melgar is innocent.
SurrealCollagist:
The second I saw her interrogation years ago I totally thought she was innocent. I've heard/read people who said that there were things/facts mentioned at trial that show guilt, and I imagine there has to be Something or the jury wouldn't have found her guilty. I suppose I should look into it more. Because all the prosecution could come up with as a motive is that she was bored with him... Would be interesting to hear from jurors.
That Jeffery Dahmer will always be the most fascinating case of all time for people who are actually really into psychology and true crime.
That all criminals can benefit from counselling, no matter what armchair psychologists think.
Nobody under the age of 18 should ever be tried a an adult.
Nope. A number does not make you less able to be responsible for your actions.
Cops aren't being lazy when they refuse to start an investigation because you reported someone as missing after they didn't pick up your calls for three hours. There's no reason for investigation unless the person has a serious physical or mental condition (like Alzheimer's) or they expressed s*icidal thoughts/received death threats. Any adult person has the right to stop answering calls and disappear, it's not the cops' job to track them and ask why they don't wanna talk to you anymore.
In some of these cases hindsight is 20/20, but if the police were coming in looking for a missing person, preserving the crime scene (JonBenet e.g.) wasn't their first priority.
Load More Replies...Too many [dսmb] brackets, BP. If you're going to censor every kіll, mսrdеr etc. don't post.
Cops aren't being lazy when they refuse to start an investigation because you reported someone as missing after they didn't pick up your calls for three hours. There's no reason for investigation unless the person has a serious physical or mental condition (like Alzheimer's) or they expressed s*icidal thoughts/received death threats. Any adult person has the right to stop answering calls and disappear, it's not the cops' job to track them and ask why they don't wanna talk to you anymore.
In some of these cases hindsight is 20/20, but if the police were coming in looking for a missing person, preserving the crime scene (JonBenet e.g.) wasn't their first priority.
Load More Replies...Too many [dսmb] brackets, BP. If you're going to censor every kіll, mսrdеr etc. don't post.
