An Almanac of Infamy

While the field of true crime podcasts has gotten a little crowded, a new entry into the genre from Sundance is sure to stand out given the notoriety of its host. On October 25, the network will launch The Truth About True Crime with Amanda Knox . The first episode will examine the tragedy of Jonesville. Because of her own ordeals with the press and the justice system, Knox herself is not really a fan of the true crime genre, believing that it too often veers into sensationalism. However, in a press statement about her new venture, Knox says, “But these stories are very important when told with compassion and context. I’m excited to partner with Sundance to bring nuance to the story of Jonestown.” And I'm excited to tune in. Speaking of true crime sensationalism, few cases have garnered the kind of attention received by the decades-long saga of Robert Durst . Director Andrew Jarecki first explored the case in his fictional 2010 film All Good Things , which starred Ryan Gosling as

Mary Woodson/Al Green On this day in 1974, famed soul and gospel singer Al Green was attacked by Mary Woodson, a woman who he had been in an on-again-off-again relationship with for a year. Woodson threw a boiling pot of grits on Green's back while he was undressing to take a bath in his Memphis, Tennesee, home. Mary Woodson then shot and killed herself with a gun belonging to Green. By the time of the attack, Al Green was at the height of his fame having sung such hits as "Tired Of Being Alone" (1971), "Let's Stay Together" (1971) and "I'm Still In Love With You" (1972). In 1973, after becoming a born-again Christian, Green began performing charity concerts at hospitals and prisons. It was at one of these concerts, held in the New York State Correctional Facility, that he first met Mary Woodson, who told Green that she was there to visit a friend. In reality, she had left behind her husband and their children in New Jersey to specificall

Joseph Harris in Court On this day in 1991, former postal worker Joseph Harris murdered two of his co-workers at the Ridgewood, New Jersey, post office. His crimes were detected when another postal worker, Marcello Collado, drove up to the facility for a scheduled delivery and saw that the bay doors were closed and the two workers who were usually stationed there for the 3 A.M. shift were missing. Collado entered the building and saw a man all in black, wearing a bullet-proof vest, gas mask, and a Ninja headdress. He fled the building when the man shot at him, but missed, and alerted the police. Two police officers tried to enter the building but were attacked by a pipe bomb tossed by the assailant. It soon became obvious that the SWAT team and hostage negotiators were needed on the scene. At dawn, Joseph Harris finally surrendered. When investigators entered the building they found the bodies of two mail handlers, Joseph VanderPaauw, 59, and Donald McNaught, 63. They had both be