The authors of “Trial Watchers,” an anthology of stories exploring America’s fascination with true crime, have created a docuseries that’s streaming on Amazon Prime Video and airing on local broadcast networks.
Co-author Mike Petchenik of Sandy Springs, said the docuseries that explores why the genre generates so much passion and why people are putting their lives on hold to travel to witness these trials in person.
His fellow author, Neil Jordan, said the five-part docuseries includes interviews and cases not found in their book that was released two years ago.
They began their collaboration intending to create a documentary about the Alex Murdaugh murder trial in the Low Country of South Carolina. Jordan’s wife, Melissa, took a buddy trip to watch the trial.
Melissa said once she arrived in South Carolina, she saw the circus-like atmosphere outside the courthouse. She shot video of the food trucks, the media, and the trial watchers. She wanted to hear why people put their lives on hold and traveled long distances to watch a court case.
Petchenik said that after reviewing her video footage and discussing it with Neil, they agreed the story was about the people who had driven hundreds of miles or more to witness the unfolding of the cases.
“The goal was always to tell the stories of the trial watchers and what fuels their fascination with true crime,” Petchenik said.
Jordan said Melissa handled the video, he and Petchenik wrote and produced the episodes, and Petchenik did most of the editing.
“Thankfully, Neil and I both come from a television news background, so we’re used to that multi-dimensional storytelling, multimedia storytelling, and so I think it came a little more naturally to us than maybe even writing a book,” Petchenik said.
Attending CrimeCon in Nashville last June was more than a book promotion tour. Petchenik said that with 6,000 true crime fans in attendance, they explored the question of why people are so interested in true crime. Dozens of people were interviewed, including Nancy Grace, John Ramsey, and Mark Geragos, who served as convicted murderer Scott Peterson’s attorney, as well as representing prominent public figures such as Michael Jackson, Gary Condit, Winona Ryder, Jussie Smollett, and Chris Brown.
The first episode shares the story of two sisters seeking justice for their father’s murder. Melissa, 30 years ago, attended a trial in support of a family member who was convicted of murder, Neil said. The second episode delves into the controversy surrounding Becky Hill, the clerk of court accused of jury tampering in the Alex Murdaugh trial. The final episode is about two ladies they met at CrimeCon, who Petchenik said are the ultimate super True Crime fans.
“We document their experiences going to the Alec Baldwin trial in New Mexico, the trial of the Doomsday killer out in Idaho and her ex-husband, and then the case of the Delphi, Ind. murder, where the gentleman was just convicted of murdering those two teenagers outside of Indianapolis,” Petchenik said.
In addition to Amazon agreeing to license the docuseries for streaming, deals with two smaller streaming services have been made and “they’ll be coming to an Amazon Fire Stick near you soon,” Petchenik said.
The docuseries has been viewed internationally, including in Ireland and the United Kingdom, Petchenik said.
Jordan said the docuseries also will broadcast on Peachtree TV, starting on Saturday, April 12, and on Atlanta News First/Channel 46. For five consecutive weeks, it will air on Peachtree TV.
“We were able to negotiate to have our program run right after Braves’ baseball,” Jordan said.
They paid for the airtime. Derek Hays Law Firm of Lawrenceville, agreed to sponsor airing the episodes on Peachtree TV, Jordan said.
Once that five-week run ends, the docuseries will air on ANF, the local CBS affiliate, for two weeks in a late-night airing after the rebroadcast of their late local news. The Hays firm will sponsor five of those airings. Ross & Pines LLC, a Sandy Springs law firm, is sponsoring the other five airings.
Trial Watchers will air on April 12, 19, 26, May 3 and 10 on Peachtree TV 17/CW at 1 p.m. after an Atlanta Braves re-broadcast.
The docuseries will be available from May 12 to 16 and then on Fridays, starting May 23 through June 20 on Atlanta News First CBS 46. The airing follows the overnight news broadcast just after 2 a.m.
Learn more about Trial Watchers online.
