The Ugly Side Of True Crime: Cruel And Unethical Online Sleuths

Prosecutor Nick McLeland, who had previously been barred by a gag order from discussing the Delphi case, noted that social media attacks on his office increased exponentially after Allen’s defense team shared graphic details about the crime scene and made unsubstantiated allegations that a pagan cult had been responsible for the girls’ murders.

“You’re always gonna have a group that’s against you in whatever argument you make,” he told me in an interview, but after the defense filing, “social media became a huge factor in our lives.”

“We didn’t want it, we didn’t ask for it, but it just happened,” McLeland added.

Jerry Holeman, the lead investigator on the Delphi case, noted that online critics were not privy to all the “facts and evidence” — and never will be.

“The public’s not going to ever know everything,” he told me. “We wish we could be that transparent, but we just can’t. There’s certain things that just can’t be out there in public, but it doesn’t mean we’re corrupt and hiding anything. We’re protecting the integrity of the victims at this point” — referring to the judge’s decision to permanently seal the crime scene and autopsy photos — “and before that, we were protecting the integrity of the investigation.”

Before the trial, McLeland said he vehemently argued against allowing cameras in the courtroom because he was worried that it might turn into a “circus,” and the judge agreed. She refused all media requests for it to be livestreamed or recorded via video, audio or still photography. In hindsight, McLeland said he feels “really torn” about that decision.

“With the misinformation that’s out there, it sure would be nice to say, ‘Hey, just go watch the tape. Go watch that direct examination, go watch that cross-examination, and you’ll see the truth,’” he said.

Meanwhile, a vocal contingent of Allen supporters continue to maintain that he is innocent and rehash debates about alternate perpetrators.

Holeman insisted that investigators don’t have the time or resources to address their allegations.

“It’s not our job to go back and disprove all the false conspiracy theories,” he told me.

In a motion filed earlier this monthattorneys for Allen, who is appealing his convictionindicated that they plan to address the court’s refusal to allow them to present “third-party evidence” that the girls were killed in a ritual sacrifice. Given the high-profile case’s complexity, the appeal process could take years.

In the meantime, interest and speculation about the evidence and investigation are unlikely to wane.

“Even after attending CrimeCon year after year, I can’t get over the shock of seeing the numbers of people who are fascinated, even obsessed, with some murder cases,” Moriarty said. But, she noted, “as interesting as the facts of any case may be, we can never forget that the lives of real people are impacted by the way we report and analyze cases.”

Beck Patty said that “everyone’s entitled to their opinion, [but] there’s a right way and a wrong way to go about that.”

“People need to be nicer,” she added.