When Hollywood Rewrites True Crime: The Impact on Public Opinion with Aphrodite Jones

Aphrodite Jones is a New York Times best-selling author who dissects bizarre murder cases and brings readers into the heart of crime. She is also the host of the hit TV show True Crime with Aphrodite Jones, which airs on Investigation Discovery and is available on Amazon Prime. Listeners can learn more about Aphrodite at her website: aphroditejones.com/, or on X @Aphrodite_Jones

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In this episode of Zone 7, Crime Scene Investigator, Sheryl McCollum, talks with renowned true crime author and TV personality Aphrodite Jones to discuss the impact Hollywood dramatizations have on the public perception of true crime cases. Sheryl and Aphrodite discuss infamous cases like the Menendez brothers and Michael Peterson, scrutinizing how factual distortions in cinematic portrayals influence public opinion. They dive into the differences between documentaries and dramatizations, focusing on the new evidence that can reshape our understanding of these cases. They also touch on the broader implications of misleading narratives in true crime media and appeal for a more truthful representation of victim and perpetrator lives.

Show Notes:

(0:00) Welcome back to Zone 7 with Crime Scene Investigator, Sheryl McCollum
(0:10) Sheryl welcomes Aphrodite Jones back to Zone 7
(2:30) The Menendez case - public perception vs. reality
(6:50) “It's incredible to me that people watch a series and then jump to reasoning and theories about what could have or should have happened, and want to argue about it.”
(7:30) New pieces of evidence for a potential new sentencing
(10:00) Reflections of All He Wanted
(14:00) The Case of Brandon Teena
(15:00) Opinions on the title - “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story”
(18:30) Aphrodite reads elements of Erik Menendez's letter
(24:30) Dissecting the scenes in Monsters and the incest claim
(27:00) The Staircase - Michael Peterson's case
(34:00) The owl theory and its absurdity
(41:00) Harmful impact of online conspiracies
(46:10) “A half-truth is a lie.” -L.M.R
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Sheryl “Mac” McCollum is an Emmy Award winning CSI, a writer for CrimeOnLine, Forensic and Crime Scene Expert for Crime Stories with Nancy Grace, and a CSI for a metro Atlanta Police Department. She is the co-author of the textbook., Cold Case: Pathways to Justice. Sheryl is also the founder and director of the Cold Case Investigative Research Institute, a collaboration between universities and colleges that brings researchers, practitioners, students and the criminal justice community together to advance techniques in solving cold cases and assist families and law enforcement with solvability factors for unsolved homicides, missing persons, and kidnapping cases.

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