expertainment

Paired up with Mark Fuhrman as crime investigator experts for FOX News, Steph Watts wrote one of the more positive reviews of Fuhman's recently released book that includes yet one more regurgitation of the same under baked theory-from-a-distance about the murder of JonBenet Ramsey.


I confess; I had no clue who Steph Watts was until today. I read a series of blogsphere opinions about this supposed up and coming freelancer's blog as opposed to expectations of a what a connected, professional investigative journalist's blog ought to look like. And that is where I found Watts' article about tearing it up with Fuhrman.

Many serious crime book reviewers have taken Fuhrman out for what appears to be a self-serving effort from a media-damaged individual, but the guy wants to be heard and is really striving to be taken seriously. He wants to set himself apart as an authority on crime in contrast to crime news as an entertainment money bucket. That certainly appears to be a noble aspiration; experts weighing in on crimes with no entertainment value and no financial reward.

From this angle, Watts isn't helping Fuhman (or himself) out with his image as reliable and credible expert at all - -

EXCLUSIVE: MARK FUHRMAN — “THE MURDER BUSINESS

Posted in Watts Up With This

By Steph

"...When Mark and I worked together, we would whenever we could wrap up or weeks with what we called ‘F*@# em Up Fridays. It was the day we would usually confront people, let the police in on something they didn’t know, or just out and out cause some kind of trouble at the end of the week. So, in Honor of F*@# em up Fridays; here’s an excerpt from “The Murder Business.”

....[...read more]

fuhrman: grade b minus

I've been waiting for some more reviews of Mark Fuhrman's book out earlier this month that as advertised, naming who killed JonBenet Ramsey. Pete Kozt delivered yesterday. Grading Fuhrman's book with a just passing mark, Kotz gave some points to the writing skills of the retired LAPD officer turned Fox TV talking-head and author.

Part of the let down for me was in between Fuhrman's rants and complaints about subject matter experts and smart-like-a-fox cable news, already well known and tired paths, there was nothing new about the cases Furman discusses. Following in the footsteps of delusional false confessors to JonBenet's murder, Fuhrman discounts non-Ramsey male DNA discovered (so far) in 4 places from 3 bodily sources at the crime scene and believes JonBenet Ramsey was killed by her now departed mother.

-yawn -

Yup. Since Fuhrman was not working this case he may have learned all this the media; maybe even on cable news. Not from case files or facts, that is certain, else he would have a very different opinion. Oh well, perhaps his version was spiced up by a few far fetched 'insider' details gleaned from certain individuals attempting to manipulate the media and public opinon. And the leaky title still may fit today, almost 13 years later.

I have always held compassion for Fuhrman, post OJ. Kotz, along with fulfilling the duty to fire point blank at the irony of Fuhrman's latest work, sums it up well: "It's clear Fuhrman's a badly damaged human. His resentment over being portrayed as the racist, inept detective..."

The Murder Business: Mark Fuhrman's Surprisingly Interesting Anti-Media Rant
Posted in The True Crime Report
By Pete Kotz

"...The book traces how police and the media covered some of the biggest criminal cases over the past 20 years -- from JonBenet Ramsey to Scott Peterson. His essential argument: The media -- by which he means cable news -- does everything it can to pimp ratings and prolong big cases for its own betterment, often interfering with police work in the process...

Fuhrman isn't big on self-reflection. He conspicuously avoids any critique of Fox, and seems wholly unaware of the irony that he now makes his living writing and talking about all these cases too.

...Fuhrman unveils a stunning level of ineptitude, spotlighting the good 'old boy networks, the preening prosecutors, and the inept coroners who make justice a 50-50 proposition. His is the view of a former detective looking over the shoulders of his peers, and it's not pretty....

The Final Call: What's interesting is not Fuhrman's theories, but seeing inside the damaged mind of man badly tarred by the media machine, and who were now supposed to trust to deliver the news despite that damage."[...read more]

JonBenet's killer named by Mark Furhman

In his new book available November 1, 2009, former LAPD detective Mark Fuhrman makes a wild claim that he knows who killed JonBenet Ramsey--

ahem

The Murder Business
by Marl Fuhrman

From inside the flap:

"More than a crime, murder has become big business. An entire industry depends on the steady drumbeat of horror that starts up at the first signs that a pretty white girl is missing. Suddenly, law enforcement’s difficult task is made worse by media carnival barkers who cavalierly tamper with witnesses, throw up false leads, and subvert justice in pursuit of the “story.”In The Murder Business, renowned former LAPD detective and current FOX News crime investigator Mark Fuhrman delivers an explosive exposé of the facts, obscured or ignored by much of the media, of some of the most riveting murder cases of our time. Fuhrman reveals:

*How investigators knew Caylee Anthony was never “missing”—and how media reports to the contrary prolonged misery and impeded the investigation

*Who killed JonBenet Ramsey

*How Scott Peterson almost got away with murder

*Why suspects love sitting down with the media[...read more]