The Truth About Amy

This podcast is a wonderful examination of a pretty typical DV / intimate partner violence (IPV) homicide. They do an incredible job for many episodes portraying wonderful Amy and her “murder in slow motion” (as Laura Richards calls it) and how the male system ignored and / or incompetenced the murder and stonewalled perpetrator accountability while gaslighting the family for years. Great job-excellent investigating and reporting! Then in the most recent episode the reporter (male) and the attorney (male) veer off into a bizarre tangent that most IPV murders - femicides- are primarily increasing because of meth. I have a degree in criminology and studied and work in the IPV and family violence field. Over 90% of IPV perpetrators are male. Male violence against women is a centuries old, world wide public health crisis rooted in power and control, patriarchy, and misogyny. (Not meth). Ask any DV- IPV- femicide expert anywhere worldwide why DV is increasing and the answer is “not meth”. That is an erroneous and simplistic view of a complex societal construct of male power over women. It was deeply disheartening to hear these two males talk about women being murdered by men, blaming it on meth, and talking OVER the one female in the room, because THEIR experiences of women’s lives (and deaths) are more valid. When you study the history of DV, going back to England several centuries back, when crime laws were first created (and then adopted worldwide), you’ll learn that DV/IPV/Femicide/child abuse was 100% looked at as a “family problem that should be handled by the man of the family.” Standard Police routine was NOT to intervene until the late 1970’s and then it was still more of “why didn’t she leave” victim blaming, as opposed to holding perpetrators accountable, similar to … blaming it on the meth. Yes, meth is horrible, it’s an epidemic, and it exacerbates violence and anger but it is NOT a root cause of increasing femicides. Amy’s unseen murder is a typical example of how police, courts, prosecution, and the system in general systematically fails women. That’s why women don’t come forward - they are blamed and made to feel “crazy” and … they are much more likely to be killed when leaving and after a TRO is filed. When women are murdered by their current/former/ex-partner, if the perpetrator is charged he usually gets a small “crime of passion” sentence. I beg you. Please stop calling male-violence against women a “crime of passion”. That is language that has been used for centuries to minimize men murdering their partners and get them a manslaughter and not a murder conviction. I live in the U.S. and some of our states are now finally getting rid of that horrific “crime of passion” false defense. It’s why now with a deeper understanding of DV, when men batter women we don’t give them anger management classes, we give them Batterers Intervention treatment. Because their “passion” for homicide is almost always only against their female partners as an act of power and control. It’s also why “the meth made do it” is not a defense in most courts. But the men in the room think they know everything about how women live in the world facing male violence every day. When are you going to bring in Laura Richards or Jess Hill? Please bring it all together with someone who actually knows the world-wide facts, history, and current stats on IPV and femicide.

This is a good podcast and I’m early into the episodes. I do find Liam hard to listen to, though. In interviews he’s so natural. The narration though, he speaks haltingly and stiff. It’s quite hard to listen to during those parts because it doesn’t sound genuine. Sorry mate… Don’t like leaving feedback like that.

It seems apparent that Amy did not shoot herself, but I don’t understand how the people making this podcast think that it would be in any way possible for someone to be charged with homicide with absolutely no proof. It’s unfortunate that the police did not do their job in the first place, but it certainly seems way too late to rectify the matter. Don’t waste your time listening to all the conversations that follow, they just keep rehashing the same thing over and over again.

I really like the show, a lot but the voice of God narration is extremely dated and hard to take seriously. I think all the information is great and I can’t stop listening but am slightly perplexed by the voice of God narration? Makes it almost seem like it could be a joke😔