Meet a gumshoe for the digital age: the Facebook detective. This whole Billy thing coaxed me into one hundred percent not drinking anymore, she says. And how did people connected to the police department react when you started asking questions? OBrien confirmed Newells account to Rolling Stone and says she left the gathering because she was uncomfortable with the way Jensen was acting toward Newell. These claims have been supported by multiple witnesses and led to the network Exactly Right dismissing Jensen. After Michelle McNamara passed away, Billy Jensen did what he could to honor her. The 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time This corruption has been going on since the 1970s, there have been several internal reports that have been made public. You learn that later but there was alittle bit of a feeling of,I guess a little bit of guilt in the sense of:Could I have seen something? It wasnt like he brushed past her. These women all had hopes and dreams. OBrien, watching the alleged touching, asked her friend if she was OK, then excused herself. It was very awkward, she says. Billy Jensen Journalist NYT bestseller "Chase Darkness with Me: How One True Crime Writer Started Solving Murders," Discovery+"Unraveled," "Killers Amidst Killers coming '23 The woman in question did not respond to. is going off the air. The tweet set off dismayed speculation among the, , that detailed the hunt for the serial killer, after author Michelle McNamara died in 2016. Editors picks And the police are being so tight-lipped with so much of the information. And if it wasnt for podcasts like this and for people making movies about it, keeping this story in the mainstream, I dont think they would put the resources behind it. Jensen, his, co-hosts, Newell, and Newells friend Rachael OBrien went to a bar after the event. Its a tarnishing that needs to be fixed. And the release of his upcoming book, Killers Amidst Killers: Hunting Serial Killers Operating Under the Cloak of Americas Opioid Epidemic, , which had been scheduled for publication this summer, has been indefinitely delayed. Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, breaking news, sweepstakes, and more! The true crime podcasts Subreddit exploded with a so-called mega thread to discuss Jensen. Paul Haynes, who had also worked on McNamaras book, posted lengthy diatribes about Jensen that landed him a cease-and-desist from Jensens lawyers. Hes very familiar that Ive been outspoken about my rape. Linkletter: I just think accountability. The number of stories of which I was aware increased significantly as women I didnt know began reaching out to me to share their own experiences with [Jensen], and as other women posted their stories anonymously on Reddit and Facebook groups. At the time, he was also struggling with inner turmoil over revelations about his late friend's drug use. Each season features a deep dive investigation into a case or issue that true crime fans will be obsessed with, culminating in a special streaming on discovery+. Terra Newell claims to Rolling Stone that Jensen acted inappropriately toward her on more than one occasion after she was a guest on a June 5, 2019 episode of The First Degree. I was not acting in tandem or collaboration with anyone else, Haynes tells Rolling Stone. He has since returned to TV as an anchor on Extra. I did not smack or grab the back of her head. Saying that Calderon-Olsen never voiced any objection to him, Jensen says that he only found out about this allegation when he received a request for comment from Rolling Stone. While I understand some might be cynical of my seeking treatment, I needed to not only address my alcohol use, but my mental health as well, he says. Does anyone think the rumors will be addressed by either team? Twitter statements since the Rolling Stone Article, Celene Beth made a public reply in a series of tweets. It worked. The pair didn't want to try to replicate McNamara's writing style; rather they wrote in their own voice for their section while incorporating as much of McNamara's work as possible. research collaborator on her investigation. As the new HBO docuseries Ill Be Gone in the Dark points out, McNamarawas using pills on a regular basis to help her complete the book and sleep. In late 2011, authorities announced they were looking for one murderer responsible for all of the deaths. Newell claims Jensen kissed her right before she got into her Uber. What does this case mean to you both as people who grew up on Long Island? You can read it in full here: https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/billy-jensen-murder-squad-misconduct-allegation-investigation-1384950/. Theres still a chance that somebody might remember it. Billy Jensen - Investigative Storytelling, Crime Solving, Citizen Sleuthing, Product Building HOME ABOUT ME THE BOOK FIELD REPORTS CITIZEN DETECTIVES PRINT STORIES Selected Works CRIME STORIES How Crowdsourcing Cracked The Case Of A Gay-Bashing Attack The further you get away from it, the harder and harder it is. And then I realized I was just another girl that got groped by Billy Jensen., Jensen tells Rolling Stone that he understood it to be a mutual flirtation and mutual kiss between him and Newell, noting that the two maintained a friendship for three years after the alleged incidents. Celene Beth Calderon-Olsen, a podcast host and victim advocate who has spoken openly about surviving rape, also alleges that Jensen acted inappropriately toward her in 2019. In 2016, he joined a vast community of web detectives who have been increasingly lauded for contributing to the resolution of major cases. Billy Jensen An event at Gramercy Books featuring true-crime podcast host and author Billy Jensen has been canceled after the publication of Jensen's latest book has been indefinitely. The 100 Best Albums of 2022, Taken by themselves, some of these allegations show embarrassing behavior in my private life, Jensen tells Rolling Stone. But as soon as I pulled on that thread and realized who was responsible for Chriss beating, it just sort of led us there. We want to hear it. (He has also posted publicly about it on his website in response to recent allegations.) But after 17 years of writing hundreds of stories with no endings, he was fed up--and decided to try and solve the murders himself using radical social media techniques. I remember walking in and Billy immediately grabbed me and started hugging me to the point where it was a little too long, she says. She says he then took hold of her head in his hand. Together, Jensen and Haynes wrote part three of McNamara's book. Celene Beth Calderon-Olsen, a podcast host and victim advocate who has spoken openly about surviving rape, also alleges that Jensen acted inappropriately toward her in 2019. 3. Basically Jensen was fired from ER after a sexual harassment claim was lodged by another ER employee. All of this has led to the cancellation of The Murder Squad, his book and book tour, and an article by the Rolling Stone. I felt [Jensens] hand just grab and smack, basically, the back of my head, Calderon-Olsen says. If you ever wanted to have a place where you would be able to set up a little fiefdom, it would be in Suffolk County because its rich, its the 11th biggest police department in the country, and Long Island is a dead end. Every time we learned of a sexual encounter, there was violence involved. by this publication. You know, if they would have released that belt right after it happened or even the six months after it happened, after it was discovered [rather than in 2020], you would have had people trying to find who might have made belts like that at the time. The company limited replies to the tweet, but that didnt stop the networks fans from demanding answers. Unraveled is hosted by journalists Billy Jensen and Alexis Linkletter. OBrien says Newell told her about the conversation and the kiss when Newell came to her house later that night. Theycontained about 3,500 files on the Golden State Killer. The true crime podcasts Subreddit exploded with a so-called mega thread to discuss Jensen. But after seventeen years of writing hundreds of stories with no endings, he was fed upand decided to try to solve the murders and find the missing himself. Jensen said that often people feel helpless after someone dies, grappling with what they can offer the family. It wasdecided it had to bethe ending of the book. Hes very familiar that Ive been outspoken about my rape. Exactly Right, the podcasting company founded by hosts of the mega-popular, Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark, offered only the end of an era tweet as the public statement about the decision and did not respond to. ER investigated the claim, fired him in December I believe but only recently announced that they were pulling the plug on TMS. I really dont. She had seen rumors circulating online about his behavior at the Halloween party, which made her rethink her interactions with him in the past, which she says she hadnt quite yet processed. To be honest, I was friends with Billy for a while until this stuff started coming out, she says. So what did you find when you started digging around? During this time a lot of people saw this and then it became a rumor that he may have had a relationship with me., To be honest, I was friends with Billy for a while until this stuff started coming out, she says. Together, Jensen and Haynes wrote part three of McNamara's book. that Jensen acted inappropriately toward her on more than one occasion after she was a guest on a, . Within a week of McNamara's passing, Oswalt gave Jensen and Haynes McNamaras hard drives. Newell is perhaps the most well-known survivor in modern true crime. Two podcasters tell Rolling Stone Jensen made inappropriate physical contact with them, including touching or grabbing them without consent. Copyright 2023 Penske Business Media, LLC. What a fantastic night, reads Caileans). Jensen: The people that would go on the record talked about how, if you got on Burkes bad side or if he saw you as a threat, hed come down on you. According to Calderon-Olsen, a group of festival participants were socializing in the bar of the Watergate Hotel, where they were staying for the event. I really thought it was this idyllic, beautiful place. Billy Jensen The tattoo of Russian teen Olesya Krivtsova, who faces 7 years in prison over an Instagram story criticizing the war in Ukraine. As one social media user put it: Time to step up and be honest because the rumors going around are about to get ahead of this. And they did. His band, which consists of mandolinist Jarrod Walker, banjo player Billy Failing, bassist Royal . In 2017, Jensen was on the . Calderon-Olsen, the podcaster who bonded with Jensen over the Bundy documentary, hasnt seen him since the alleged hair-touching incident in November 2019, but says they communicated a few times since then: once in December of that year, he let her know hed mentioned a Bundy project she was working on in an interview he did. Four, including a toddler and a person with male anatomy remain unidentified. But after seventeen years of writing hundreds of stories with no endings, he was fed up-and decided to try to solve the murders and find the missing himself. Yet every case he investigated reached the same conclusion: the missing stayed missing, the murderer got away. He was also annoyed. In 2019, CBCs investigative podcast, Finding Cleo, uncovered what happened to a missing indigenous girl, Cleopatra Semaganis Nicotine, highlighting the plight of her community. The only thing I can do now is keep working the program to be and stay accountable, make direct amends where appropriate, and treat my underlying issues so that I stay on the forward path.. Linkletter and Jensen interview people who knew Burke, including former cops who worked with him and a sex worker who says she had a disturbing encounter with him. BEFORE COMMENTING IN THIS THREAD PLEASE READ THE STICKIED COMMENT AT THE TOP. He was grabbing my legs that night, grabbing my thighs, grabbing me by the back of the neck, she recalls. Jensen confirmed to Rolling Stone that he was indeed the subject of a workplace investigation regarding the party. BJ appears to now be out of rehab according to a tweet showing him in attendance of an event. BJ sent Paul Haynes a cease and desist (OP note this is something I somehow missed in the back and forth but Paul actually shared pieces of it in this comment here). Guns, Grift, and Gore: The Life and Times of an Arms-Dealing Hustler, In response to a detailed list of questions from Rolling Stone, Jensen apologized for some of his alleged behavior, denied other parts of it, and told the magazine he has a drinking problem, coupled with mental health issues, and has entered rehab to address them both. Like, we know that [at least six of the victims] were all petite women that were sex workers, and all went missing during summer months. Williams, the second podcaster to go public, first shared his account of that evenings events on his show, Affirmative Murder. Linkletter: The Long Island serial killer case really does loom over Long Island. After the two bonded online over their mutual disappointment in a Netflix Ted Bundy documentary, Jensen and Calderon-Olsen met up on Nov. 8, 2019, in Washington, D.C., at the Death Becomes Us true crime and pop culture festival. Newell says she used to drink heavily in social situations and has since stopped, following her experience with Jensen. It also helped him cope with his own feelings as well, in his view. Jensen who has decades of writing and editing experience was one of several who devoted themselves to finishing McNamaras book following her tragic death in 2016. Billy is suspected of being a serial harasser and assailant of women which has drawn a lot of attention presently. I just cant help but think about the cases that didnt get solved underneath him, on top of the serial killer case, because he didnt want anybody poking around into his business. Copyright 2023 Penske Business Media, LLC. #TedBundyTapes" The murders of sex workers have always been shuffled to the back of the pile. Why are they holding it back now? Contact Billy, search articles and Tweets, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place. That was really when it clicked for me that this behavior is not OK, Newell says. The 100 Best Albums of 2022, The series also probes Burkes close ties with former District Attorney Thomas Spota, who was convicted in 2019 for participating in the coverup of the Loeb assault. 32 We want to hear it. Why is he doing that? Newell is perhaps the most well-known survivor in modern true crime. As the pandemic descended in 2020, they lost touch. Billy Jensen was booted from his hit podcast, The Murder Squad. You dont drive through Suffolk County to go someplace else. Following McNamara's death, Oswalt connected Jensen to citizen detective Paul Haynes, who McNamara had enlisted as a research collaborator on her investigation. [She] told me Billy grabbed her after he came up behind her, and that she felt extremely violated by this, Williams said in the sworn statement. Send us a tip using our anonymous form. Hes well aware that Im a survivor, she says. Six of the victims have been identified as young women who were sex workers. He currently hosts a podcast alongsideretired investigator Paul Holeswho also worked on the Golden State Killer case called "The Murder Squad." I did not smack or grab the back of her head. Saying that Calderon-Olsen never voiced any objection to him, Jensen says that he only found out about this allegation when he received a request for comment from Rolling Stone. She is a survivor, but that was not the context of our relationship I saw her as a peer in the true-crime space. As for her account of his language at the bar that evening in L.A., Jensen said hearing it makes me ashamed and I have previously apologized to her for over-the-top comments. Jensen says he has no recollection of this moment as [Calderon-Olsen] describes it, other than that it was a friendly hug. He recalls that Jensen appeared drunk and that, at one point during the party, his friend approached him and told him that Jensen had just grabbed her buttocks. Billy Jensen is a true crime journalist focused squarely on unsolved murders and missing persons. Everyone [in the news, following her death] kept referring to her as Patton Oswalts wife and I was like, no, she was her own person, Jensen reflected to Oxygen.comin an interview. In the story of. McNamara struck a match when she teamed up with armchair sleuths and real detectives to track down the killer, who turned out to be. In the past two months, the community appears to be distancing itself from Jensen. Michelle McNamara died from a sudden accidental overdose in 2016, her friend and fellow true crime enthusiast Billy Jensen was devastated. There are rumors swirling that he has been accused of being a creep. I didnt know that she was in this sort of cycle of taking stuff in the morning to pep herself up, taking stuff at night to calm herself down. In various communities, there are people who are missing stairs. So if youre a dude thats advocating for women, how about dont go after the most vulnerable?. I never had romantic feelings for Billy. Tisdale says that she decided to speak about the alleged slap on her podcast after she heard about allegations following a 2021 party that ultimately led to Jensens removal from his podcast. BJ gave an interview to Rolling stone and the article includes some of his quotes. No, I did not. Fiercely dogged. I felt [she] was hurt, and deeply affected by this incident., that he was indeed the subject of a workplace investigation regarding the party. Wall Street . As proof that he, Calderon-Olsen and Cailean continued to be friends as normal after the alleged incident, Jensen points to tweets Calderon-Olsen and Cailean tagged him and others in after the Death Becomes Us event. Create your free profile and get access to exclusive content. She had seen rumors circulating online about his behavior at the Halloween party, which made her rethink her interactions with him in the past, which she says she hadnt quite yet processed. Im actually dating someone at this time so any flirty behavior with him is absolutely not OK, Newell recalls. She says he then took hold of her head in his hand. Our relationship was entirely based on crime, he told Oxygen.com. I guess its software that is going through all of that and looking for patterns that could help point to somebody. Newell says Jensen kissed her right before she got into her Uber. NYT bestseller Chase Darkness with Me: How One True Crime Writer Started Solving Murders, Discovery+: Unraveled, Killers Amidst Killers coming 2023. The behavior described to me sounded obnoxious, with me making a spectacle of myself and being too familiar with people. Jensen also came across a powerful document amongst the files in the hard drives: McNamara's ALetter to an Old Man" in which McNamara directly addressed the killer.