Oct 20, 2020
This week’s episode updates two podcasts from the first season of JTT – Episode 16, which focused on the weird death of Vicki Morgan, who had been a sort of paid mistress to Alfred Bloomingdale and (sometimes) his high powered friends – and Episode 19, which told the tale of Grade A Asshole Scott Peterson – who may or may not have murdered his wife Laci and the couple’s unborn son back in 2002. The Vicki Morgan case took a fascinating turn over the course of this year when photographer, writer and blogger Brandon Stanton began filling the pages of his Humans of New York blog with stories of one Stephanie Johnson, who in her younger days as a burlesque dancer in New York was known simply as Tanqueray. Stanton’s publication of Tanqueray’s stories have made her a social media star at 76 – and her fans have raised over $2.5 million dollars through crowd sourcing to make sure her rent and medical bills will never be a worry, But it’s those stories – and those stories of stories – that brings Tanqueray to the Vicki Morgan murder. Let’s just say that the rumors of Alfred Bloomingdale’s powerful friends being given “access” to Vicki have just gotten a lot more credibility – turns out Vicki and Tanqueray were good friends back in the day – and what Melissa’s found out about one of those powerful men is…well…you’ll just have to listen… Scott Peterson’s case, on the other hand, is filled with about as much subtlety as a knock on the door with a bulldozer. A total douchebag, Mr. Peterson behaved so badly in the aftermath of Laci’s disappearance, a lot of people (including Melissa) think he’d have been convicted if a video had surfaced showing someone else killing Laci. Yeah, the jury hated him and just assumed he was guilty. And probably, he was – but looking at this almost 100% circumstantial case, it’s hard to say with a straight face that he was convicted on anything. In August of this year, the California Supreme Court vacated Peterson’s death sentence – and now, just this past week, that same High Court ordered a re-examination of Peterson’s conviction itself – signaling the possibility of a new trial and possible acquittal. Like. Wow. Melissa takes a look at some of the reasons this may have happened – including the shocking revelation that one of the jurors at Peterson’s trial may not have been the most upstanding citizen.