It’s good to see the former lead detective bringing some sense and sanity to the ongoing chatter around the Watts case. In his second blog post, the detective issued this stern rebuke to the legions of brain-addled conspiracy nuts still obsessing over the Accessory Theory:
CrimeRocket has struggled with the same issue which is why the comment approval setting is still in place on this site as well. TCRS has been criticized in the past for “not allowing” posts that “disagree” with the TCRS position. It’s not as simple as that. This site, like Baumhover’s, is about a particular topic and maintaining both a scientific and neutral approach to the evidence and facts of the case. TCRS doesn’t take sides, unless the truth can be considered a side. So it’s not about your take on that particular topic, and even less whose side you are on, especially when that involves spreading unfounded conspiracies, rumors or gossip, none of which are helpful in true crime, and true crime is infested with it. And as Baumhover writes, some people simply can’t respect that. Those that can’t shouldn’t be allowed to influence the conversation.
There is always a special place for the loonies, and they should stick to those places.
As all creators know, the amount of filthy, mindrotting commentary that comes through on a daily basis by obsessive, addicted followers of the Watts case is staggering. It’s even harder when one has multiple channels [for TCRS it’s this site, the growing YouTube channel, Patreon, social media and book reviews]. Of course each commenter thinks they are the only one, and that their questions are either completely original or deserving of First Amendments Rights. Each voice does matter, but at the same time, when there is a dull roar endlessly recycling the same conspiracy nonsense, it’s just easier to filter that stuff out.
TCRS welcomes the detective’s commentary online. Writing can be cathartic and Baumhover’s approach is likely to do just that. It will also bring some much needed mythbusting to this case, and hopefully by shining a light into the darker side of criminal investigations – the emotional and psychological toll investigators suffer – do some good along the way.
Visit Detective Baumhover’s blog at https://www.mental-armor.org/
It would haunt me too if I saw what Det. Baumhover saw and what he felt when he questioned Watts, the utter lack of remorse, the matter of fact way in which he gave one confession after another, it’s as if this is simply how you solve a problem when you want it to disappear. It would make you question all of humanity. Are we all just killers?