It was fascinating to watch this. The first part was a clear if slightly flat rundown of events, characters and situations leading up to the murder, while the second part was far more gripping once we got to the nitty-gritty of the police investigation. It was fascinating, and often infuriating, to see the various routes taken, the dead-ends encountered and then, after a number of years, the trial for obstruction of justice of the guilty parties. I recall attending this for a couple of days as the original event was very much in my ‘hood’ – Swan Street being only a stone’s throw from Logan Circle where I lived. But of course in this film, the area was invariably referred to as Dupont Circle as that is the known ‘gay central’ of DC.
At the time of the initial investigation, the living arrangements of the inhabitants of Swan Street (a BDSM-based throuple arrangement) was both central and yet also concealed. The (very good and aggressive) pit-bull defense lawyer ensured that this aspect of the situation would not be mentioned in the trial which was a smart move I think – even though it was not a jury trial but rather decided by the judge which, I think was a pretty major misstep by the prosecutor.
But there was a degree of ignorance shown by the defense lawyer (and others) re the psycho-sexual aspects of the throuple arrangements. For example it would be perfectly for someone to be restrained and there not to be any ligature marks on the body, paralytic drugs that did now show up in autopsies it seems would have been available, certainly in the ‘scene’ in which the defendants moved. And the ‘fluids’ found on the deceased’s body and how they could be obtained…well, let’s say many more things are possible than may be thought, particularly with the V ERY extensive collection of gear that one of the defendants had.
The Michael Price matter (brother of one of the defendants) was only glancingly referred to. I recall, from the extensive blog that was made about the murder and trial that I read and the creators of which were major contributors to the programme, that this could have been very significant.
A couple of other elements that I felt were missing was the impact and interest that this, and the trial in particular had on the ‘gay community’. Its impact was not really explored and I do recall that there was some conflict as at least one of the defendants was a major mover and shaker on the so-called A-list gay scene in DC (if that even exists other than in the minds of those who think that they belong to it). Another person missing was the LGBTQ Liaison Officer Brett Parsons but he has very seriously blotted his copybook as I found out when checking on his name.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/interactive/2022/gay-dc-cop-parson-teen-florida-arrest/
An intriguing programme on what happened in that house on that night. but I suspect we will never really know