True crime podcasts have develop into a multi-million greenback business, with a few of the business’s hottest podcasts garnering thousands and thousands of downloads a month whereas diving deep into tales of homicide. The opposite facet of the rising business is the legal circumstances that podcasts like Crime Junkie have helped re-open or remedy.
True crime as a style shouldn’t be with out its controversies. Creators within the house stability the positives and negatives, ethically and creatively, of citizen journalism. Accusations of exploitation – of tragedies or victims’ tales – levied at true crime exhibits have develop into a ubiquitous a part of the cultural zeitgeist a lot in order that it has been satirized in exhibits like Peacock’s “Based mostly On A True Story” the place a seemingly common husband and spouse host a real crime podcast with a serial killer, or Hulu’s “Solely Murders within the Constructing” the place novice true crime podcasters assist an actual detective remedy a homicide so as to construct a brand new profession for themselves.
Tia Lincoln, the real-life host and creator of the brand new and uncooked “Maryland’s Most Infamous Murders” podcast, is way from the satirized prototypical true crime host detailed in exhibits like “Solely Murders within the Constructing.”
Lincoln helped remedy the homicide of her father, discovering the perpetrators to be her mom and brother earlier than venturing into true crime podcasting. Lincoln, a lifelong true crime fan, paralegal by day and printed creator, sat down with The Crime Report to debate her fascination with all issues true crime, the place the work of true crime podcasts matches into the sector of legal justice and the way she works to carry the unfiltered, weird and true tales of Maryland murders to her audiences in an impartial podcast nonetheless discovering its approach.
THE CRIME REPORT: When talking of the world of true crime podcasting there can usually be a concern of podcasts and their followers romanticizing murders, so I believe it’s usually good to know the explanations for folks going into this house. The place does it come from for you?
LINCOLN: True crime comes from a private house for me, I come from, I don’t need to say a family of murderers, I don’t need to say that per se. However I’ve grown up in Baltimore Metropolis, which has led the nation as one of many crime capitals of the world. I’m surrounded by homicides, surrounded by crimes.
My mom and my brother have been accused and convicted of the first-degree homicide of my father. And I believe that’s type of what thrust me into speaking about true crime and the way it impacts households. As a result of his [my father’s] crime was unsolved for a interval of seven years. And I assisted in fixing that crime. My story was featured on TV One’s “Payback” and it was featured on TV One’s “Justice by Any Means.” Due to that have of changing into a real crime commentator for TV One, I sometimes am profiled for tales on their exhibits Deadly Attraction and Black Widow murders. It’s embedded into my life, mainly, justice reform and highlighting true crime.
TCR: Are you able to inform me a bit bit extra about what you are feeling is the function of true crime within the legal justice ecosystem?
LINCOLN: I imagine true crime and the legal justice system go hand in hand. As a result of, you understand, with out the crime, you wouldn’t want this technique of legal justice reform.
TCR: And I think about additionally proper, there’s a energy to storytelling, versus a two-minute section on the nightly information on a crime that occurred.
LINCOLN: Precisely, my podcast type of covers what the information media typically leaves out. It consists of numerous my private opinions and private viewpoints. However it makes an attempt to be as factual as it may be. A number of the episodes embody interviews with members of the family who have been concerned instantly or not directly within the crime. And finally, it’ll embody interviews with the legislation enforcement that have been concerned. One of many documentary episodes I’m creating that was primarily based on the primary podcast, which handled triple child homicide, that documentary will likely be launched in a while this 12 months, consists of commentary from the defending lawyers in addition to the defendant’s household.
TCR: What kind of sources are you continuously in touch with in your podcasts?
LINCOLN: Initially, can be the family and friends of the victims, family and friends of the particular murders. Ultimately, it’ll embody interviews with the murderers themselves, I’m getting a clearance from the prisons, and North Department clearance from the ward. And that’s one thing that’s not accomplished within the state of Maryland so much. However it’ll embody these as a result of I prefer to get my data strictly from the those that I’m interviewing. Since I’m a paralegal, and I work within the authorized area, it’ll embody interviews with the defending or prosecuting lawyers that have been concerned. It’s vital to get each side of the story.
TCR: Who do you hope listens to your podcast? Who’s your podcast for?
LINCOLN: It’s for, typically, anyone who’s fascinated about outlandish, weird crime. You don’t need to be a resident of the State of Maryland. Mainly, anyone that’s a fan of true crime [and] these which might be within the particulars of what occurred.
Typically the main points could be fairly gory. My podcast does include a disclaimer, the documentary will as nicely, as a result of I dwell within the state of Maryland. We don’t sugarcoat stuff right here. We’re fairly uncooked. And you understand, most individuals which might be into true crime like I’m, are actually deep into it. That is one thing I’ve been fascinated about since I used to be 12 years previous. We need to see what actually occurred. We don’t need issues watered down. We need to hear what the killer stated. We need to hear what the assassin stated, we truly need to see it someday to be trustworthy with you, however that’s the world of true crime that we’re presenting with my podcast.
TCR: Your podcast began simply two years in the past however you’re already on season 8 and also you spotlight unsolved murders in each episode. How do you go about your analysis to seek out which [cases] you’re going to cowl?
LINCOLN: That’s query. Imagine it or not, like I stated, since I’m so deep into true crime, that is one thing I had been doing for years anyway earlier than I spotted it was a podcast. If a murder occurred in Maryland that was actually notable to me, I’d simply jot it down. It might replay in my thoughts and I’d simply write it down.
[There were] approach too many homicides in Maryland taking place for me to not create some kind of podcast or e book and I did create a e book on a few of these circumstances entitled “Maryland’s Most Infamous Murders from 1990 to 2008,” however we had so many homicides [that] I used to be going to give you an element two to that e book, however determined to place it right into a podcast first.
TCR: Why do you are feeling {that a} true crime podcast is your greatest approach to do that work, versus working for legislation enforcement or a public defendant, or a prosecutor?
LINCOLN: I believe as a result of it’s extra passionate in direction of inmates. Like I stated, I’ve had a ardour for legal justice reform, I don’t know why, however ever since I used to be 12, I used to need to be a feminine John Walsh, the man that was answerable for America’s Most Wished. I used to need to be him. I by no means needed to be a police officer, nevertheless, however I’ve been a correctional officer and I’ve been an inmate additionally.
Then I needed to be how Jodie Foster was in Silence of the Lambs, no matter she was doing, speaking sitting throughout from inmates sitting throughout from the weirdest inmates on this planet. That’s what I needed to do. I needed to interview them. So I began writing about them, writing about them began resulting in wanting to assist those that have been in hassle legally, that led to you understand, being a paralegal. I didn’t need to be an lawyer, per se. I didn’t need to be a police officer. However I knew I needed to work with inmates and those that have been wrongfully convicted and wrongfully utilized by the system in some type of approach or to get their tales of how they ended up that approach.
I didn’t even know podcasting and speaking about [true crime] was an precise profession till I heard of Crime Junkie.
