Two podcasters tell Rolling Stone Jensen made inappropriate physical contact with them, including touching or grabbing them without consent. SEATTLE For seventeen years, true crime journalist Billy Jensen wrote about unsolved murders and missing persons, before turning his focus to trying to actually solve these mysteries himself. I will be changing the format of how we manage the mega thread going forward to help with the character limit. Rolling Stone has done an article now on the BJ issues. 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? https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/billy-jensen-murder-squad-misconduct-allegation-investigation-1384950/. Theres still a chance that somebody might remember it. Then I could feel him running his fingers through my hair, she says. Williams, the second podcaster to go public, first shared his account of that evenings events on his show, Affirmative Murder. 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. Jensen continues to work on trying to crack cases like the Golden State Killer mystery. Newell says she cut ties with Jensen at the beginning of June when Jensen was in the process of helping her with a book she was working on. 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. Billy Jensen - Investigative Storytelling, Crime Solving, Citizen Sleuthing, Product Building HOME ABOUT ME THE BOOK FIELD REPORTS CITIZEN DETECTIVES PRINT STORIES Selected Works CRIME STORIES How Crowdsourcing Cracked The Case Of A Gay-Bashing Attack There was no time to grieve because there was work to be done, Jensen told Oxygen.com. James Renner has inserted himself into this yet again with a blog. It was very awkward, she says. In 2019, CBCs investigative podcast, Finding Cleo, uncovered what happened to a missing indigenous girl, Cleopatra Semaganis Nicotine, highlighting the plight of her community. 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. This is one of his photographs from his website. The show ran for three seasons, after all, and both hosts had new books on the horizon and tens of thousands of fans on social media commenting on and liking every photo and tweet. Jensen and McNamara would meet every month for lunch, where she would update the true crime journaliston her hunt for the Golden State Killer, according to Jensens book Chase Darkness with Me: How One True-Crime Writer Started Solving Murders.. 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. Jensen confirmed to Rolling Stone that he was indeed the subject of a workplace investigation regarding the party. OBrien confirmed Newells account to. You dont drive through Suffolk County to go someplace else. 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. [He was] grabbing the back of my neck. What a fantastic night, reads Caileans). So if you kick out the feds, its not like a fed is going to come wandering in there unless theyre really called in there. Its a tangible demonstration of what corruption can do. The most important thing is that the guy was captured, Jensen said. Now, women allege a pattern of intoxicated groping before the firing By Brenna Ehrlich, Andrea Marks July 22, 2022 Billy. He currently hosts a podcast alongsideretired investigator Paul Holeswho also worked on the Golden State Killer case called "The Murder Squad." Newell says the first alleged inappropriate incident followed a signing for Jensens book, on Aug. 13, 2019, in Los Angeles. The true crime podcasts Subreddit exploded with a so-called mega thread to discuss Jensen. Stories of diehard Islanders fandom from true crime author and investigative journalist Billy Jensen. You just have to. BJ has stated via the article that he is now in rehab for drinking. 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. Get all your true crime news from Oxygen. Billy Jensen was booted from his hit podcast. For over fifteen years, Billy Jensen worked as a true crime writer, fighting for victims' families as he examined unsolved murders and disappearances across the country. People who a whisper network will warn you about, she says. Billy Jensen was booted from his hit podcast, The Murder Squad. Newell says she used to drink heavily in social situations and has since stopped, following her experience with Jensen. When true crime writer and author Michelle McNamara died from a sudden accidental overdose in 2016, her friend and fellow true crime enthusiast Billy Jensen was devastated. I guess its software that is going through all of that and looking for patterns that could help point to somebody. He was grabbing my thigh. This byline is mine, but I want my name removed. (Rolling Stone reached out to Burkes lawyer but did not immediately hear back.) THE BOOK. In December 2010, law enforcement found four bodies along a scrub-covered stretch of highway on the south coast of Long Island. He was telling me about how good he was at going down on women. They never got a room, however. research collaborator on her investigation. He also said something about how he would go down on [his co-worker], she says. However, when these moments are presented inaccurately, all together, and without context, the result is to not only mischaracterize each of the individual events, but also fundamentally misrepresent who I am and have been as a person., that Jenn Tisdale, the podcaster who claimed he slapped her, has enlisted her friends including Haynes, who Jensen claims harbors a professional grudge as part of an organized effort. According to five sources who spoke with Rolling Stone, Jensen has a history of touching women inappropriately. Calderon-Olsen says she had expected better from Jensen. It worked. 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 woman in question did not respond to Rolling Stones requests for an interview and her attorney, reached for comment, declined to discuss the matter. We heard he broke a sex workers arm, we heard he strangled a stripper in a club. Another time he sent condolences after her close friend died. Billy Bush thinks T.J. Holmes and Amy Robach should keep working together after their firing from ABC, and gives a few ways how they can bounce back. A suit was brought against Exactly Right that deposed several podcasters from their network, after a victim alleged then did not handle the harassment claims appropriately. And if law enforcement would have been really clear about the days those people went missing and put that out there on the front page of the paper who was acting weird on those days? Why is he doing that? Then I could feel him running his fingers through my hair, she says. Four, including a toddler and a person with male anatomy remain unidentified. Hes appeared on Discovery ID shows, co-hosted the true crime podcast, with Holes, and has been greeted by screaming fans at increasingly popular true-crime conventions. We felt that the victims families and the public at large needs to know why this case hasnt been solved, and its because the people that were initially in charge of the investigation were setting up a lot of roadblocks. "Often it's nothing,but with this I could do something.. 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. Hes well aware that Im a survivor, she says. While Loeb was in custody and shackled to the floor of an interrogation room, Burke violently beat and threatened him. The further you get away from it, the harder and harder it is. I can help by getting this book out; its the one thing that I can do.. They also knocked on the door of Burkes last known address, but were told he no longer lived there.). 32 Its my understanding that Billy sort of framed it as Id been scorned, she says. Paul Haynes, who had also worked on McNamaras book, posted lengthy diatribes about Jensen that landed him a. from Jensens lawyers. 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. 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 Murder Squad. During this time a lot of people saw this and then it became a rumor that he may have had a relationship with me., To be honest, I was friends with Billy for a while until this stuff started coming out, she says. Last year, the family of Gabby Petito, a 22-year-old who was murdered by her fianc on a cross-country van trip, thanked social-media sleuths for helping the case gain national attention. If you ever wanted to have a place where you would be able to set up a little fiefdom, it would be in Suffolk County because its rich, its the 11th biggest police department in the country, and Long Island is a dead end. Linkletter and Jensen interview people who knew Burke, including former cops who worked with him and a sex worker who says she had a disturbing encounter with him. Billy Jensen earned his first cover story in the spring of 1997. What a fantastic night, reads Caileans). Its a tarnishing that needs to be fixed. 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. Im actually dating someone at this time so any flirty behavior with him is absolutely not OK, Newell recalls. After Michelle McNamara passed away, Billy Jensen did what he could to honor her. (He has also posted publicly about it on his website in response to recent allegations.) Sign up forOxygen Insiderfor all the best true crime content. 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. 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. Her face was every bit as shocked and embarrassed as mine was.. In response to Jensens allegations of a smear campaign, Tisdale insists that she and others are coming together to find solace and comfort which is not a coordinated effort to spread negative information about him., According to five sources who spoke with Rolling Stone, Jensen has a history of touching women inappropriately. 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. 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. Yet every case he investigated reached the same conclusion: the missing stayed missing, the murderer got away. . for helping the case gain national attention. 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). BJ appears to now be out of rehab according to a tweet showing him in attendance of an event. I just cant help but think about the cases that didnt get solved underneath him, on top of the serial killer case, because he didnt want anybody poking around into his business. The company limited replies to the tweet, but that didnt stop the networks fans from demanding answers. Newell is perhaps the most well-known survivor in modern true crime. 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. 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.. Related Stories Two podcasters tell Rolling Stone Jensen made inappropriate physical contact with them, including touching or grabbing them without consent. In 2016, he joined a vast community of web detectives who have been increasingly lauded for contributing to the resolution of major cases. After the theft, Loeb was quickly apprehended and taken in. I remember walking in and Billy immediately grabbed me and started hugging me to the point where it was a little too long, she says. These women all had []" #TedBundyTapes, Help solve the Chester, PA murder of Dino Dizdarevic, Father's Day nightmare: Daughter disappears, later found murdered, Surviving an active shooter: Videos produced by U.S. police departments and colleges, Losing Faith: The Hedgepeth murder mystery at UNC. The 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time He was grabbing me all over the place, Newell claims. This article has been updated to clarify an interaction between Newell and Jensen. OBrien, watching the alleged touching, asked her friend if she was OK, then excused herself. There was no time to grieve because there was work to be done, Jensen told, Our relationship was entirely based on crime, he told, Jensen who has decades of writing and editing experience was one of several who devoted themselves to finishing McNamaras book, : 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 DeAngelo, McNamaras work on the case has been credited for helping to catch the killer, who pleaded guilty to the decade-spanning, Jensen continues to work on trying to crack cases like the Golden State Killer mystery. I remember walking in and Billy immediately grabbed me and started hugging me to the point where it was a little too long, she says. 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. Photo: Soon true-crime social media was in convulsions over the allegations and people were choosing sides. Like, we know that [at least six of the victims] were all petite women that were sex workers, and all went missing during summer months. I provide a summary of it in the comments below, along with my thoughts on the matter. Hes very familiar that Ive been outspoken about my rape. Said employee then sued ER for mismanaging the situation and they settled out of court in May. 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. The 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time I have incredible respect for [Newell] as a person, Jensen says. 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. 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. Like I had a crush. The Suffolk County Police Department is a microcosm for what goes on larger scales.. It was almost a different person when I saw him at the bar. Everyone was drinking that night, Calderon-Olsen says, including her, adding that Jensen seemed particularly intoxicated. Jensen: Also just explaining to listeners that the police dont always have the victims best interests at heart. Loeb got a three-year sentence for the theft of the duffel bag. s requests for an interview and her attorney, reached for comment, declined to discuss the matter. So, regarding Billy, there have been whispers for a long time, but he was just a drunk guy that hit on your friends.. These claims have been supported by multiple witnesses and led to the network Exactly Right dismissing Jensen. Linkletter: We also talked to several people who talked about Burkes sexual proclivities, and almost every time, with him, sex intertwined with violence. It was very obvious and pronounced, this sort of petting, stroking her hair. It was just kind of jarring because I actually had [seen] him an hour or two prior to this, and he didnt have that same interaction. This was no coordinated smear campaign., Jensen further claims that Tisdale made allegations against him because he rejected her advances; on his website, he has shared flirtatious texts she sent before and after their alleged encounter. 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. I was not acting in tandem or collaboration with anyone else, Haynes tells, . With the man she was dating on the way, she alleges Jensen once again began making advances on her. Newell says Jensen kissed her right before she got into her Uber. It wasnt like he brushed past her. Newell says the first alleged inappropriate incident followed a signing for Jensens book Chase Darkness With Me on Aug. 13, 2019, in Los Angeles. DNA evidence that McNamara was researching as well as her notes. For Billy Jensen, using targeted social media posts is not a way to influence your political beliefshe's trying to solve murders. Its uncomfortable that its gone completely unacknowledged in The First Degree FB group (though Im pretty sure they have post approval on and Im sure they wouldnt allow posts). 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. Billy is suspected of being a serial harasser and assailant of women which has drawn a lot of attention presently. What does this case mean to you both as people who grew up on Long Island? One of those podcasters claimed that Jensen had slapped her during an otherwise consensual encounter something Jensen has, . Another time he sent condolences after her close friend died. - 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. Why were they holding it back in the beginning? Tom Sizemore, Heat and Saving Private Ryan Actor, Dead at 61 This was no coordinated smear campaign.. Theycontained about 3,500 files on the Golden State Killer. 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. I was just trying to make excuses for his behavior, Newell says. 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 article summarizes the podcaster Alvin Right's recollection of things which was previously shared here so we won't re-do it. There are rumors swirling that he has been accused of being a creep. 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. Klicken Sie auf Alle ablehnen, wenn Sie nicht mchten, dass wir und unsere Partner Cookies und personenbezogene Daten fr diese zustzlichen Zwecke verwenden. 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. veryone [in the news, following her death] kept referring to her as Patton Oswalts wife and I was like, no, she was her own person, Jensen reflected to, Jensen and McNamara would meet every month for lunch, where she would update the true crime journaliston her hunt for the, How One True-Crime Writer Started Solving Murders. In 2016, he joined a vast community of web detectives who have been increasingly lauded for contributing to the resolution of major cases. 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. And of course theres the end of the. He was grabbing my legs that night, grabbing my thighs, grabbing me by the back of the neck, she recalls. Get an all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! Its my understanding that Billy sort of framed it as Id been scorned, she 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. 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. The 200 Greatest Singers of All Time Billy Jensen: When my parents finally let me stay home by myself with the cable and a couple of Stouffer's French Bread pizzas I watched a show on HBO called The Man Who Saw Tomorrow. What are you hoping that the podcast and TV special will achieve? Send us a tip using our anonymous form. (Thank you for a lovely time looking forward to when we are all in one city again!, reads Calderon-Olsens tweet. He was also annoyed. The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time In Episode One, listeners hear from Christopher Loeb, a childhood friend of Linkletters, who tells the full story of his encounter with Burke for the first time. Hosted by crime podcast veterans Billy Jensen (The Murder Squad) and Alexis Linkletter (The First Degree), Unraveled: Long Island Serial Killer and its accompanying TV special premiering March 9th on Discovery+ examines how corruption in the Suffolk County Police Department may have stymied the investigation of one of the biggest homicide cases in Long Island history and questions what police were trying to hide. 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. No, I did not. 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. Selena Gomez vs. Hailey Bieber: Why Everyone Thinks They Need to Pick a Side. Theres enough there. The company limited replies to the tweet, but that didnt stop the networks fans from demanding answers. Suffolk County Police and police recruits in April 2011, searching an area of beach in Babylon, New York, near where law enforcement had recently found human remains. 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. to collect negative stories and criticisms about me to share to the public wholesale., Both Haynes and Tisdale strongly dispute this characterization. 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. In it, they included. Ask for some sort of statement/acknowledgement? 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. The 100 Best Albums of 2022, The series also probes Burkes close ties with former District Attorney Thomas Spota, who was convicted in 2019 for participating in the coverup of the Loeb assault. (He has also posted publicly about it on his website in response to recent allegations.) McNamaras work on the case has been credited for helping to catch the killer, who pleaded guilty to the decade-spanningcriminal campaignlast month. Jensen further claims that Tisdale made allegations against him because he rejected her advances; , he has shared flirtatious texts she sent before and after their alleged encounter. Soon true-crime social media was in convulsions over the allegations and people were choosing sides. The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time In 2019, CBCs investigative podcast. "As we all binge The Bundy Tapes on @Netflix and share the trailer for the Zac Efron movie, please remember the victims. A new podcast looks at why. This week we're joined by investigative journalist Billy Jensen and retired cold case investigator Paul Holes to talk about why we're obsessed with true crime, their experiences solving cold cases like the Golden State Killer, and how to keep ourselves safe. Take that for what it is. 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. In late 2011, authorities announced they were looking for one murderer responsible for all of the deaths. Tell me more about coming at this case from the angle of corruption in the Suffolk County Police Department. This whole Billy thing coaxed me into one hundred percent not drinking anymore, she says. Hes very familiar that Ive been outspoken about my rape. 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.. Jensen said that the success of the New York Times best-selling book along with the HBO docuseries pales in comparison to what would have mattered most to McNamara. These women all had hopes and dreams. Billy Jensen - Investigative Storytelling, Crime Solving, Citizen Sleuthing, Product Building THE BOOK FIELD REPORTS CITIZEN DETECTIVES PRINT STORIES Field Reports 22 Michelle McNamara, True Crime Writer Posted April 23rd, 2016 in Field Reports by Billy Jensen Michelle McNamara was dogged. Each episodethey try to crack another cold case, evendivingintocases their friend McNamara had previously written about on her true crime blog. 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 2017, Jensen was on the . In the past two months, the community appears to be distancing itself from Jensen. at least one cold case so it was a shock when the podcast was unceremoniously discontinued. He was grabbing my legs that night, grabbing my thighs, grabbing me by the back of the neck, she recalls. Our relationship was entirely based on crime, he told Oxygen.com. Again, all these signs pointing to, he was a good guy. She also says she reached out to him with a professional request on behalf of a production company she worked for, and acknowledges she tagged him in some social media posts.