(the first crime saga to run the media gamut from newspaper series to podcast to documentary to scripted series), she was the unlikely hero who, in 2016, stabbed her mothers scam-artist husband to death in self-defense when he attacked her in a California parking garage. He was grabbing my legs that night, grabbing my thighs, grabbing me by the back of the neck, she recalls. There was no time to grieve because there was work to be done, Jensen told Oxygen.com. Hes appeared on Discovery ID shows, co-hosted the true crime podcast The First Degree, written books, started the Murder Squad with Holes, and has been greeted by screaming fans at increasingly popular true-crime conventions. (Rolling Stone reached out to Burkes lawyer but did not immediately hear back.) Order "Killers Amidst Killers: Hunting Serial Killers Operating Under the Cloak of America's Opioid Epidemic". I felt [she] was hurt, and deeply affected by this incident., Jensen confirmed to Rolling Stone that he was indeed the subject of a workplace investigation regarding the party. is going off the air. The tweet set off dismayed speculation among the, , that detailed the hunt for the serial killer, after author Michelle McNamara died in 2016. Newell next saw Jensen at a true-crime meetup event at the L.A. bar Idle Hour on Oct. 18, 2019. According to five sources who spoke with Rolling Stone, Jensen has a history of touching women inappropriately. Nicholas Karlin; Getty Images. Editors picks This corruption has been going on since the 1970s, there have been several internal reports that have been made public. What a fantastic night, reads Caileans). Tisdale, however, denies this. Last year, the family of Gabby Petito, a 22-year-old who was murdered by her fianc on a cross-country van trip. In it, they includedgeo-profilingmaps andDNA evidence that McNamara was researching as well as her notes. The only thing I can do now is keep working the program to be and stay accountable, make direct amends where appropriate, and treat my underlying issues so that I stay on the forward path.. The 100 Best Albums of 2022, Taken by themselves, some of these allegations show embarrassing behavior in my private life, Jensen tells Rolling Stone. at least one cold case so it was a shock when the podcast was unceremoniously discontinued. It wasnt like he brushed past her. Linkletter: I actually didnt start by digging into the Long Island serial killer case; I set out really just to tell Chriss story. For the short time he lived in Lawrence . Sign up forOxygen Insiderfor all the best true crime content. Her face was every bit as shocked and embarrassed as mine was.. I provide a summary of it in the comments below, along with my thoughts on the matter. Fiercely dogged. An event at Gramercy Books featuring true-crime podcast host and author Billy Jensen has been canceled after the publication of Jensen's latest . Williams, the second podcaster to go public, first shared his account of that evenings events on his show, Affirmative Murder. Its the end of an era, podcast network Exactly Right tweeted in May 2022. Billy Jensen and Alexis Linkletter's new investigative podcast 'Unraveled: Long Island Serial Killer' looks at the case of disgraced police chief James Burke and asks what the Suffolk County Police Department may have been hiding. Her face was every bit as shocked and embarrassed as mine was., - Hes well aware that Im a survivor, she says. Tisdale, however, denies this. [She] told me Billy grabbed her after he came up behind her, and that she felt extremely violated by this, Williams said in the sworn statement. Celene Beth Calderon-Olsen, a podcast host and victim advocate who has spoken openly about surviving rape, also alleges that Jensen acted inappropriately toward her in 2019. that Jensen acted inappropriately toward her on more than one occasion after she was a guest on a, . Hes well aware that Im a survivor, she says. Newell says she was intoxicated so some of the details are hazy, but claims that, after his co-hosts left, Jensen began acting aggressively flirtatious with her and talking about his open marriage, an arrangement well known among his friends and acquaintances. The number of stories of which I was aware increased significantly as women I didnt know began reaching out to me to share their own experiences with [Jensen], and as other women posted their stories anonymously on Reddit and Facebook groups. You just have to. I was not acting in tandem or collaboration with anyone else, Haynes tells Rolling Stone. Link your TV provider to stream full episodes and live TV. Our relationship was entirely based on crime, he told Oxygen.com. He also said something about how he would go down on [his co-worker], she says. This byline is for a different person with the same name. Selena Gomez vs. Hailey Bieber: Why Everyone Thinks They Need to Pick a Side. Linkletter: The Long Island serial killer case really does loom over Long Island. Then, More Women Came Forward, She Used the Bathroom And Became a Target of the Culture War, Here's How LaRussell and Intuit are Helping Independent Artists Understand How to Achieve Their Financial Ambitions, Alex Murdaugh Sentenced to Life in Prison for Murder of Wife and Son, Alex Murdaugh Found Guilty of Murdering Wife and Son, Tennessee Enacts Nations First Law Restricting Drag Shows, The National Stay Up Late to Perform 'Tropic Morning News' on Fallon, David Lindley, Multi-Instrumentalist Who Shaped the Sound of Soft Rock, Dead at 78, Suki Waterhouse Won't Take Romance for Granted on New Single 'To Love', Travis Barker Says His Finger Ligament Surgery Was a 'Success' After Postponing Blink-182 Tour. The woman in question did not respond to. All of this has led to the cancellation of The Murder Squad, his book and book tour, and an article by the Rolling Stone. The bag, Loeb said, contained sex toys and pornography, and what he claims appeared to be a snuff film. Political partnerships and allyships that are formed go beyond budgets and votes and elections. Journalist Andrea Grimes also made a statement in a series of tweets about her previous work with BJ when he was her boss. It worked, to an extent the hosts claim to have helped crack at least one cold case so it was a shock when the podcast was unceremoniously discontinued. As one social media user put it: Time to step up and be honest because the rumors going around are about to get ahead of this. And they did. And the release of his upcoming book, Killers Amidst Killers: Hunting Serial Killers Operating Under the Cloak of Americas Opioid Epidemic, which had been scheduled for publication this summer, has been indefinitely delayed. Visit website . The end result, I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer, was published in 2018, just two months before the killer now identified as former police officer Joseph DeAngelowas arrested. Terra Newell claims to Rolling Stone that Jensen acted inappropriately toward her on more than one occasion after she was a guest on a June 5, 2019 episode of The First Degree. Loeb got a three-year sentence for the theft of the duffel bag. And how did people connected to the police department react when you started asking questions? Hes very familiar that Ive been outspoken about my rape. He was running Suffolk County Police Department like he was the prince of Suffolk County. You can read it in full here: https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/billy-jensen-murder-squad-misconduct-allegation-investigation-1384950/. Helping to complete the book allowed Jensento help McNamara's familyand her legacy. Billy Jensen was a true crime journalist focused squarely on unsolved murders and missing persons. Billy Jensen was booted from his hit podcast, The Murder Squad. When Chris started calling me back in 2013, his story was pretty out there, even just the broad strokes of his claims that he was beaten by the chief of police, Linkletter says. This is one of his photographs from his website. 32 The company limited replies to the tweet, but that didnt stop the networks fans from demanding answers. Another time he sent condolences after her close friend died. Newell is perhaps the most well-known survivor in modern true crime. You know, the chief of police is engaging in nefarious activities and kicking the FBI the most sophisticated crime solving unit in the history of the world out of the investigation of the Long Island serial killer case. What does this case mean to you both as people who grew up on Long Island? For a full and detailed summary with sources and citations, please read Part 1.The summarized story so far: Billy Jensen, co-host of the Murder Squad and contributor to various books and podcasts, has been accused of sexual harassment from multiple co-workers and fellow pod-casters. Jensen who has decades of writing and editing experience was one of several who devoted themselves to finishing McNamaras book following her tragic death in 2016. In 2017, Jensen was on the . Jensen: Having grown up on Long Island and starting my career on Long Island as a true crime journalist, I was working on this case even before it was the Long Island serial killer case. As proof that he, Calderon-Olsen and Cailean continued to be friends as normal after the alleged incident, Jensen points to tweets Calderon-Olsen and Cailean tagged him and others in after the Death Becomes Us event. OBrien says Newell told her about the conversation and the kiss when Newell came to her house later that night. This whole Billy thing coaxed me into one hundred percent not drinking anymore, she says. The murders of sex workers have always been shuffled to the back of the pile. In Chase Darkness With Me, true-crime scribe Billy Jensen empowers readers to become citizen sleuths, capitalizing on social-media resources to suss out clues to the identity of uncaught criminals. So, you know, having not released anything other than some jewelry, a belt and they havent even released the whole belt. So again, to have somebody who is supposed to be well-versed in survivors and victim sensitivity, those boundaries were crossed. Jensen, for his part, claims Calderon-Olsen is part of the organized effort to spread negative stories about him, a claim she denies and calls irresponsible, saying she only came out in support of his accuser at Exactly Right. Celene Beth Calderon-Olsen, a podcast host and victim advocate who has spoken openly about surviving rape, also alleges that Jensen acted inappropriately toward her in 2019. No, I did not. He was grabbing my legs that night, grabbing my thighs, grabbing me by the back of the neck, she recalls. This alleged behavior seems to have come to light after an Exactly Right Halloween party in 2021, which led to a workplace investigation and the eventual end of the, In response to a detailed list of questions from, , Jensen apologized for some of his alleged behavior, denied other parts of it, and told the magazine he has a drinking problem, coupled with mental health issues, and has entered rehab to address them both. Jensen says he has no recollection of this moment as [Calderon-Olsen] describes it, other than that it was a friendly hug. You learn that later but there was alittle bit of a feeling of,I guess a little bit of guilt in the sense of:Could I have seen something? Time is running out to solve this case. Newell says the first alleged inappropriate incident followed a signing for Jensens book, on Aug. 13, 2019, in Los Angeles. Soon true-crime social media was in convulsions over the allegations and people were choosing sides. But after 17 years of writing hundreds of stories without endings, he was fed up--and decided to solve the murders and find the missing himself. Now, it all seems to be crashing down. According to Jensen, a lawyer from Exactly Right contacted him not long after the party and connected him with an investigator, who said they received complaints from three people saying that my hugs and embraces had been over the line, he says. The 200 Greatest Singers of All Time Create your free profile and get access to exclusive content. Tisdale says that she decided to speak about the alleged slap on her podcast after she heard about allegations following a 2021 party that ultimately led to Jensens removal from his podcast. Send us a tip using our anonymous form. Exactly Right, the podcasting company founded by hosts of the mega-popular My Favorite Murder, Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark, offered only the end of an era tweet as the public statement about the decision and did not respond to Rolling Stones requests for comment. Since the popularity of true crime podcasts began to soar, families of victims have begun putting their trust in amateur investigators and podcasters who they believe can help reinvigorate cases that may have languished in obscurity. I felt honored at the time he would do something like that for me, even though I was still stewing over what had just happened a few weeks prior, she says. They just dont have the information because the police havent released it. And then I realized I was just another girl that got groped by Billy Jensen., Jensen tells Rolling Stone that he understood it to be a mutual flirtation and mutual kiss between him and Newell, noting that the two maintained a friendship for three years after the alleged incidents. https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/billy-jensen-murder-squad-misconduct-allegation-investigation-1384950/. I never had romantic feelings for Billy. Tisdale says that she decided to speak about the alleged slap on her podcast after she heard about allegations following a 2021 party that ultimately led to Jensens removal from his podcast. I have incredible respect for [Newell] as a person, Jensen says. The woman in question did not respond to Rolling Stones requests for an interview and her attorney, reached for comment, declined to discuss the matter. In the story of Dirty John (the first crime saga to run the media gamut from newspaper series to podcast to documentary to scripted series), she was the unlikely hero who, in 2016, stabbed her mothers scam-artist husband to death in self-defense when he attacked her in a California parking garage. - Bj tries to excuse this by showing that they tweeted each other occasionally- Two other sources allege that there had been whispers about Jensen in the true crime community well before Murder Squad was cancelled and allegations of Jensens inappropriate touching came to light. In his account entitled Michelle McNamara, True Crime Writer he wrote of McNamaras dogged nature, her apt ability to get grizzled investigators to open up, and her dedication to tracking down the serial killer responsible for 13 murders and close to 50 rapes. Billy Bush, who was fired from the "Today" show over lewd Donald Trump video, believes T.J. Holmes and Amy Robach should start their own show after being ousted from ABC. Because it has really been traumatic., A True-Crime Star Lost His Podcast Over Misconduct Allegations. But if you have this man in charge of a police department, its just a recipe for total chaos as far as enforcing the law is concerned, because, like Billy said, his whole reason for kicking the feds out was so he could protect his wrongdoings, and whether thats as extreme as murder or just roughing up sex workers, it plays into why the case hasnt been solved. Terra is an incredibly smart girl and very sweet, she says. Hes very familiar that Ive been outspoken about my rape. I never had romantic feelings for Billy.. To all of this, I want to make clear that I was unaware I had done anything untoward, and it certainly wasnt intentional I would never want to make others feel uncomfortable in any way, and I am deeply sorry., Jensen isnt new to the true crime community; he got his start in the Nineties as a reporter on Long Island, and went on to cover crime for alt-weeklies and magazines, including. Meet a gumshoe for the digital age: the Facebook detective. Combining the shoe-leather investigative tenacity and skills . That was really when it clicked for me that this behavior is not OK, Newell says. - Jensen, for his part, claims Calderon-Olsen is part of the organized effort to spread negative stories about him, a claim she denies and calls irresponsible, saying she only came out in support of his accuser at Exactly Right. Why was that approach important now? 2 min read. In 2016, he joined a vast community of web detectives who have been increasingly lauded for contributing to the resolution of major cases. Following McNamara's death, Oswalt connected Jensen to citizen detective. I did not smack or grab the back of her head. Saying that Calderon-Olsen never voiced any objection to him, Jensen says that he only found out about this allegation when he received a request for comment from Rolling Stone. Yet every case he investigated reached the same conclusion: the missing stayed missing, the murderer got away. Theycontained about 3,500 files on the Golden State Killer. Billy Jensen. I love Suffolk County. Newell says she was intoxicated so some of the details are hazy, but claims that, after his co-hosts left, Jensen began acting aggressively flirtatious with her and talking about his open marriage, an arrangement well known among his friends and acquaintances. This was no coordinated smear campaign.. He was grabbing me all over the place, Newell claims. Feb 28 (Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration neurosciences head Billy Dunn will retire from his role effective immediately, the health regulator told Reuters on Tuesday. So if youre a dude thats advocating for women, how about dont go after the most vulnerable? At the time, though, Newell stood up for Jensen, and encouraged OBrien to move forward with a podcast episode shed recorded with him. Following McNamara's death, Oswalt connected Jensen to citizen detective Paul Haynes, who McNamara had enlisted as a research collaborator on her investigation. Theycontained about 3,500 files on the Golden State Killer. for helping the case gain national attention. Just curious how people are feeling. - the release of his upcoming book, Killers Amidst Killers: Hunting Serial Killers Operating Under the Cloak of Americas Opioid Epidemic, which had been scheduled for publication this summer, has been indefinitely delayed. She had seen rumors circulating online about his behavior at the Halloween party, which made her rethink her interactions with him in the past, which she says she hadnt quite yet processed. His band, which consists of mandolinist Jarrod Walker, banjo player Billy Failing, bassist Royal . And of course theres the end of the Murder Squad. Paul Haynes, who had also worked on McNamaras book, posted lengthy diatribes about Jensen that landed him a. from Jensens lawyers. Theyve held back so much. Stories of diehard Islanders fandom from true crime author and investigative journalist Billy Jensen. Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes attend the Disney Upfront Presentation, May 2022. In various communities, there are people who are missing stairs. One person had said I hugged them for too long and talked too closely to them; one said I put my arm around them multiple times; and one said I touched their behind during an embrace., Pointing out those are *three* allegations from this one party ^, When I was informed of the complaints, I was shocked, embarrassed, and hated to hear that I had made others feel uncomfortable, Jensen tells Rolling Stone. In this engrossing memoir, Jensen takes the reader on his quest to hunt down killers using social media and crowdsourcing. Send us a tip using our anonymous form. I will post the summary of the Rolling Stone article in this thread, however subsequent updates will be done comment form. "Everyone [in the news, following her death] kept referring to her as Patton Oswalt's wife and I was like, no, she was her own person," Jensen . But after seventeen years of writing hundreds of stories with no endings, he was fed upand decided to try to solve the murders and find the missing himself. Linkletter: I do think geography plays a role, too. Calderon-Olsen says she had expected better from Jensen. Billy Jensen speaking as part of Death Become Us' The Murder Squad Live Show on November 9, 2019 in Washington, DC. The following spring, six more sets of human remains were found in the same area. After reading article after article which referred to McNamara as simply a liaison to her successful husband, Jensenwrote up his own tribute to honor his friend's achievements and not just her marriage. to collect negative stories and criticisms about me to share to the public wholesale., Both Haynes and Tisdale strongly dispute this characterization. But over time, he became more and more credible because his case ultimately went in front of a federal judge and Burke pled guilty. In 2016 Burke was sentenced to 46 months in prison for violating Loebs civil rights and for pressuring police witnesses to help him cover up the assault. Linkletter: We also talked to several people who talked about Burkes sexual proclivities, and almost every time, with him, sex intertwined with violence. They should all have movies made about them. I think its going to be solved with utilizing the public and putting those details out there. Ive seen a lot of chatter about Billy Jensen on Reddit and in FB groups since Jensen and Holes was cancelled. Williams, the second podcaster to go public, first shared his account of that evenings events on his show, He recalls that Jensen appeared drunk and that, at one point during the party, his friend approached him and told him that Jensen had just grabbed her buttocks. After the two bonded online over their mutual disappointment in a Netflix Ted Bundy documentary, Jensen and Calderon-Olsen met up on Nov. 8, 2019, in Washington, D.C., at the Death Becomes Us true crime and pop culture festival. Within a week of McNamara's passing, Oswalt gave Jensen and Haynes McNamaras hard drives. BJ sent Paul Haynes a cease and desist (OP note this is something I somehow missed in the back and forth but Paul actually shared pieces of it in this comment here). We want to hear it. Copyright 2023 Penske Business Media, LLC. After the rest of the party left, Newell says Jensen tried to talk her into getting a hotel room. In December 2010, law enforcement found four bodies along a scrub-covered stretch of highway on the south coast of Long Island. One of those podcasters claimed that Jensen had slapped her during an otherwise consensual encounter something Jensen has, . Billy Jensen earned his first cover story in the spring of 1997. He was telling me about how good he was at going down on women. They never got a room, however. If you are familiar with Billy Jensen's work, you will know he is a dogged investigative . Calderon-Olsen, the podcaster who bonded with Jensen over the Bundy documentary, hasnt seen him since the alleged hair-touching incident in November 2019, but says they communicated a few times since then: once in December of that year, he let her know hed mentioned a Bundy project she was working on in an interview he did. A lthough the story you are about to read involves a fugitive, law enforcement and a six-month chase across Mexico, for Billy Jensen it was just another day on the job. Jensen: If the chief of police treats a lot of women the way that he does, how are we supposed to think that he cares at all about solving this case? As the pandemic descended in 2020, they lost touch. Jensen also came across a powerful document amongst the files in the hard drives: McNamara's ALetter to an Old Man" in which McNamara directly addressed the killer. The 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time http://themurdersquad.com/contact/ Find the Podcast: In his interview BJ apologizes for some behaviour (they don't go into detail specifically), denies parts of it, and admits to a drinking problem, BJ has entered rehab to address his drinking problem and mental health issues, While I understand some might be cynical of my seeking treatment, I needed to not only address my alcohol use, but my mental health as well, he says. "Often it's nothing,but with this I could do something.. I think he feels free to share details he was at first too afraid to say., The hosts hope the podcast puts heat on Suffolk County law enforcement to make progress on the decade-old case. (He has also posted publicly about it on his website in response to recent allegations.) I did not smack or grab the back of her head. Saying that Calderon-Olsen never voiced any objection to him, Jensen says that he only found out about this allegation when he received a request for comment from Rolling Stone. Why are they holding it back now? Billy Jensen is a true crime journalist focused squarely on unsolved murders and missing persons. You know, if they would have released that belt right after it happened or even the six months after it happened, after it was discovered [rather than in 2020], you would have had people trying to find who might have made belts like that at the time. Producer: Unraveled: The Long Island Serial Killer. Combining the shoe-leather investigative tenacity and skills he learned . It was very obvious and pronounced, this sort of petting, stroking her hair. McNamaras work on the case has been credited for helping to catch the killer, who pleaded guilty to the decade-spanningcriminal campaignlast month. I was probably about 11 or 12 and it was about Nostradamus and how heit was narrated by Orson Welles about all these things he predicted. "Whenever someone passes away, everyone wants to know what they can do," he said. Kristina . According to Jensen, a lawyer from Exactly Right contacted him not long after the party and connected him with an investigator, who said they received complaints from three people saying that my hugs and embraces had been over the line, he says. Hes very familiar that Ive been outspoken about my rape. I thought this was all my fault., Newell next saw Jensen at a true-crime meetup event at the L.A. bar Idle Hour on Oct. 18, 2019. In 2019, CBCs investigative podcast. The behavior described to me sounded obnoxious, with me making a spectacle of myself and being too familiar with people. Like I had a crush. So, regarding Billy, there have been whispers for a long time, but he was just a drunk guy that hit on your friends.. Jensen has written crime stories for Rolling Stone, Los Angeles Magazine, The New York Times, and the Long Island Press, which he co-founded . Its a tangible demonstration of what corruption can do. And if it wasnt for podcasts like this and for people making movies about it, keeping this story in the mainstream, I dont think they would put the resources behind it. Said employee then sued ER for mismanaging the situation and they settled out of court in May. Billy Jensen An event at Gramercy Books featuring true-crime podcast host and author Billy Jensen has been canceled after the publication of Jensen's latest book has been indefinitely. Paul Haynes, who had also worked on McNamaras book, posted lengthy diatribes about Jensen that landed him a cease-and-desist from Jensens lawyers. to collect negative stories and criticisms about me to share to the public wholesale., I was not acting in tandem or collaboration with anyone else, Haynes tells Rolling Stone. NYT bestseller Chase Darkness with Me: How One True Crime Writer Started Solving Murders, Discovery+: Unraveled, Killers Amidst Killers coming 2023. Linkletter: I just think accountability. This will help save on space and keep comments a little more streamlined. During this time a lot of people saw this and then it became a rumor that he may have had a relationship with me., At the time of these interactions, Newell says she dismissed Jensens behavior but reassessed it after the Exactly Right employee allegations came out. I don't know what is going to happen to the book, but if asked, I would do my damnedest to help get it out there, he promised. There are rumors swirling that he has been accused of being a creep. I regularly listen to two other podcasts that hes on (The First Degree and Unraveled, which is between seasons right now). So again, to have somebody who is supposed to be well-versed in survivors and victim sensitivity, those boundaries were crossed.. Two podcasters tell, Jensen made inappropriate physical contact with them, including touching or grabbing them without consent. I didnt know that she was in this sort of cycle of taking stuff in the morning to pep herself up, taking stuff at night to calm herself down. I think thats what made me most disgusted by him, is that he knows shes a victim of trauma to the scariest degree. Together, Jensen and Haynes wrote part three of McNamara's book. OBrien confirmed Newells account to Rolling Stone and says she left the gathering because she was uncomfortable with the way Jensen was acting toward Newell.
