Paramount Plus has turned Burden of Guilt into a docuseries. Nancy Glass talks with Executive Producer Jon Hirsch about the upcoming three-part docuseries. You can stream, Burden of Guilt starting February 4th on Paramount Plus.
If you would like to reach out to the Burden of Guilt Team, email us at burdenofguiltpod@gmail.com.
Hi, It's Nancy Glass. I want to introduce you to an award winning filmmaker and executive producer, John Hirsch. He has created documentaries that have aired on CNN. He did Pope, he did Lincoln, he did Jefferson on History, he did Betrayal on Hulu, and he is executive producer with me A Burden of Guilt and that's why you're here.
Yes, it is. It is so thank you for having me.
You and I we put together the documentary for A Burden of Guilt on Paramount Plus. What did you think when I first told you that we were going to do audio documentary and a video documentary on a woman who was accused of murdering her baby brother.
Well, I will never forget when you called me to tell me about this story. You sent me a text actually, and he said, you got a minute. I got an incredible story to share, And so I called you a couple minutes later and he said, Johnny's sitting down. I've found a story that I think is one of the best I've ever come across. And you know you and I have worked together long enough, and you know how much I trust your instincts when it comes to story, and I said, all right, lay it on me. What do you got. And you know, at this point, we've worked on serial killer documentaries and cold cases, and you know, we've seen a lot, we've heard a lot. It's hard to be shocked anymore. And Nancy, you started telling me about the story and telling me about Tracy Urkel's journey from what she knew growing up, about her baby brother, you know, passing away, and sort of the questions that existed. And then you started hitting me with one thing after the next, after the next, after the next, and I was like, this can't be true, because no true crime story reads or sounds the way this one does, which sounded almost like a scripted movie, like you couldn't make up these twists and turns, and I so it's really taken aback. I almost didn't believe the story at first. And I think the part of it that I couldn't get over was having worked on so many cases that had gone cold that you had a little spark that got an investigation restarted. Never had I seen one where it was over two decades had passed since law enforcement had made a determination about what happened, and in that case, actually getting not only reopened but solved. I mean, that just doesn't happen. It's such an incredible amount of time to pass, and so many things can happen, and the way in which this case gets reopened and then solved is just remarkable.
It is remarkable. And I have to tell you my only I guess hesitation was the way I personally feel about Tracy Rouquel, because I don't get involved that way, but I care so much for her as a person. I admire her so much. I mean, here's somebody who grows up and as is horrible. I mean some of the stories we weren't even allowed to use about this horrible, horrible childhood, and she grows up and really becomes a hero. You know. She solves her baby brother's murder, she gets the murderer convicted, She becomes an incredible mother. She cares so much about people. She is one of the strongest people I've ever known.
When I first met her, when you and I went out to Colorado that first time to meet her in person, I was taken aback right away by her warmth. She's incredibly warm and genuine to everybody that she meets, whether it was you know, us coming to meet her to talk about potentially telling her story, or just the waiter who was telling us the specials that night when we all went out to dinner. She just has a kindness about her that it's endearing, but it's also a little surprising when you start to know about some of the incredible hardship. It's true that she's been through. It's amazing, and it's ever to see.
It that way though. That's the whole thing. You know. She talked about being an opening of a center for abused women or children, and they were calling her a victim, and she thought, oh my god, I'm not a victim. She didn't even think of it that way, thought herself, not a victim.
A crusader, is what she Yes, yeah, absolutely, this case was dead in the water. I mean, law enforcement had made a determination the day that Matthew tragically passed away that you know, unfortunately, could have buried this crime forever. And Tracy's the reason this case got looked into again. It's the reason the case got reopened. And you know, I don't I don't want to share too many spoilers, but the efforts that she put in that triggered the reopening of this case are unprecedented. I've never seen it from a private citizen to do what they did twenty five years after a crime took place, to spark this kind of you know, reinterest and then actually getting the case reopened is unbelievable.
And she also risked her life, she was threatened. I really admire her for it. I am, you know, so proud to call her my friend.
Absolutely. That's as important to me as you know a lot of people tuning in. I mean, this relationship is one that you know, means a lot to us right now, and it's going to mean a lot to us ten years from now.
So John as the executive producer of Burden of Guilt, which you can see on Paramount Plus starting February fourth, what is it that people will see on the documentary that they didn't hear in the podcast. Oh?
Well, the biggest thing is an interview with the murderer himself. You're going to hear it from him, his version of what happened that day and the aftermath, and it is pretty wild and not often that you when the dust settles on a story that's just as extreme as this one is, and a documentary that is as heartfelt is this one is you don't often get to hear that side from the murder's out himself, and that that is something I think viewers are really going to be interested in and surprise by.
We actually had to put up a warning on the screen saying this man looks very different from the way he looked in his youth, and I didn't even want to do that because I think he looks like the person he is.
Yeah, I don't disagree with you. I thought that was a tricky situation, and I look at it this way. You know, having worked in prisons on prison shows and being around people who are living that life. Prison is a really really tough place, right and it'll aid you quickly, But it's an even tougher place when you murdered a kid and it shows on his face and in his body. What the toll of decades behind bars for doing what he did.
I agree. I also think that we've heard from all these people, but seeing them makes a difference. We all imagine what these people look like, but I think you'll be impressed when you see what Terracy ur Kell looks like. When you see the prosecutors, you hear how they've reacted to things, and it's very moving.
Look, it is a three part documentary that I know you and I are both incredibly proud of. I think we've done the story justice. But it is a story that is hard to believe at times, with the twists and turns and the things that happen. You know, after the truth comes out and you get into the legal process of the trial and the trials in this case, you see the ways in which, you know, our legal system kind of can converge with facts of a case and feelings towards a case, and the little nuances of the rules of law and how those end up inflating this case. Tracy or Kell doesn't just fight to clear her name and find out who actually committed the murder, but she's also up against a justice system that, twenty five plus years later, you know, is set up in a way that makes it really, really difficult to navigate. And she navigates it, I don't want to say flawlessly, because she doesn't, and it makes it even more dramatic on the back end to finally get to that conclusion after all the twists and turns and this saga that we're on. It's so incredibly satisfying when you get to the end, because you're rooting so hard for Tracy Raqual that when you finally get to the end, it's like, Ah, she did it, we did it. And I really hope the audience, you know, feels that way as well, and I'm confident they will.
So I hope that people will watch Burden of Guilt, and I hope they walk away from it feeling like there is justice in this world.
I hope so too.
Burden of Guilt premiere is February fourth on Paramount Plus. I hope you'll tune in and watch