Tonight on Dateline, this man will die.

August 6, 2007 9:25 PM

Tonight on Dateline, this man will die. Esquire explores the sordid backstory of one To Catch A Predator episode.
posted by bijou (15 comments total)

Well, Esquire seems to have learned a lot from Dateline about how to be dilatory. Talk about burying the lede. Is this story available in news format, i.e. inverted pyramid, essential facts first, then details?
posted by George_Spiggott at 9:31 PM on August 6, 2007 [1 favorite]

Sort of dealing with Dateline here
posted by phoque at 9:33 PM on August 6, 2007

the story
posted by phoque at 9:34 PM on August 6, 2007

I started to read this, but was having a difficult time keeping interested. Then I noticed the "Women We Love Gallery" in the sidebar.
posted by Eekacat at 9:36 PM on August 6, 2007

Basically, the dateline people came to murphy and "caught" a bunch of people, one of which was a DA (I think) that ended up shooting himself over it. It was later decided that the entire operation was so corrupt and/or incompetent that no charges were filed against anyone caught in the sting. Dead guys family is kind of upset, if you can imagine that.
posted by puke & cry at 9:40 PM on August 6, 2007

I got to page 5 of I think 12 on the story before I gave up.
posted by LarryC at 9:54 PM on August 6, 2007

I've only skimmed - it was more complicated than their normal stings; apparently DA never actually showed up at the decoy house, police had misgivings about the whole thing, dateline was pressuring them, Dateline claimed there was a Myspace page for the DA which was erased shortly before the sting but the only page that can be found is one that was erased months before...etc.
posted by frobozz at 9:56 PM on August 6, 2007

I made it to page 3. Thanks for the summary p&c.
posted by 2sheets at 9:57 PM on August 6, 2007

This might be a clearer rundown of the whole Murphy/Dateline thing. It's a timetime of 6 different articles.
posted by puke & cry at 10:06 PM on August 6, 2007

So is this just a dupe, or does the article add anything to this?
posted by tkolar at 10:07 PM on August 6, 2007

The Riverside County Sheriff's Department has been hit with allegations that the NBC television network bribed a lieutenant to win his cooperation for a televised sex-sting operation.

I envision an entire future television industry: The Frame.

Coming in Fall of 2019 to NBC! We bribe local police and prosecutors to frame prominent community leaders for heinous crimes! Can they prove their innocence? The "Constitution" says they don't have to prove innocence, but we'll fix that! Hosted by Katie Couric and Stone Phillips. 60min.

8 Eastern/7 Central only on NBC.
posted by Avenger at 10:08 PM on August 6, 2007

Each article is relatively short, btw. One page each.
posted by puke & cry at 10:08 PM on August 6, 2007

I'd heard that the guy killed himself. Are they saying there was fabricated evidence now?

Schrack’s role in all of this would be as the real-life incarnation of the fake boys that Perverted Justice creates. (An actress would be hired to portray the fake girls.) His picture would be used in the online profiles, he would conduct any telephone or Web-cam conversations, and when the men showed up at the house, he’d be there to greet them at the door and invite them inside, usually getting a few moments of screen time before Chris Hansen makes his appearance.

When did they start doing that? I've never seen more then a few minutes of the show on MSNBC. I imagine they can't really show their actors, or whatever.
posted by delmoi at 10:11 PM on August 6, 2007

I started to read this, but was having a difficult time keeping interested. Then I noticed the "Women We Love Gallery" in the sidebar.

I love Lucy Liu.
posted by KokuRyu at 10:15 PM on August 6, 2007

... that's what I get for using "Dateline" as my keyword, tkolar. Sorry, everyone.
posted by bijou at 10:16 PM on August 6, 2007