New True Crime Series ‘People Magazine Investigates’ To Debut on Investigation Discovery
According to Variety, this new 10-part series will draw on investigations and reporting conducted by People’s true crime editorial team. Each episode of People Magazine Investigates will examine some of the country’s most notorious characters and well known, iconic stories of true crime. The stories will be diverse, with some ranging as far back in time as 1970, and from as far away as the remote town of Craig, Alaska.
“Investigation Discovery is thrilled to partner with People on their exclusive television series. With some of the best reporters in the world, their dedication to getting to the bottom of the stories that matter to us, shines through every episode,” said Henry Schlieff, group president of ID and other Discovery networks, the American Heroes Channel, and Destination America.
“People’s audience – and now ID viewers alike – will be thrilled to come back each and every week with a unique marriage of storytelling that will keep us all transfixed.”
#PeopleMagazineInvestigates: New series coming to @DiscoveryID https://t.co/hr6BtAbe3P pic.twitter.com/coFUbBtzQg
— TVSeriesFinale.com (@tvseriesfinale) March 31, 2016
People Magazine Investigates examines the extraordinary stories of ordinary people that were thrust into the national spotlight and were investigated and reported on by People’s award-winning, top-crime journalists. People Magazine Investigates takes viewers along as each episode focuses on stories taken from the headlines and features archival footage, recreations, and interviews with those involved in the investigations. During People Magazine Investigates, journalists divulge new facts while revealing surprising twists and resolutions that occurred while they were investigating each case.
“People tells captivating crime stories every day across all our platforms, paying tribute to the victims and investigating the real story behind the crimes that shock America,” said Jess Cagle, editorial director, Time Inc. Style and Entertainment Group.
“Now we’ll be bringing viewers closer to these stories with a powerful show that elevates the true-crime genre and creates compelling television. People has found the perfect partner in Investigation Discovery and I couldn’t be more excited to bring People Magazine Investigates to our huge audience.”
The first special, two-hour season premiere of People Magazine Investigates will feature “The Long Island Serial Killer” story, where new updates will be revealed exclusively by the People reporters. For those unfamiliar with the case, The Long Island serial killer (also known as the Gilgo Beach Killer or the Craigslist Ripper) is a suspected and currently unidentified serial killer who is believed to have murdered anywhere from 10 to 17 people over a period of almost 20 years. The bodies were found along the Ocean Parkway, near the remote Long Island beach towns of Gilgo Beach and Oak Beach located in Suffolk County, and in the area of Jones Beach State Park in Nassau County.
https://t.co/0RqxoapxoJ https://t.co/nXQXNZL0v7
— Shannan Maria Gilbert (@ShannanMaria) February 23, 2016
People Magazine Investigates shares with viewers that in 2011, Shannan Gilbert’s remains were found in a marshy area on Oak Beach, near where the bodies of 10 other victims of a suspected Long Island serial killer were discovered. The NY Times shared that Shannan’s mother, Mari Gilbert, always maintained that Shannan’s death was related to the others. People Magazine Investigates reveals that police officials believed that she drowned while trying to reach Ocean Parkway through the surrounding swampland, and in May of 2012, the Suffolk County medical examiners ruled that her death was “death by misadventure” or “inconclusive.”
Five years later… Cops: FBI to give Gilgo case a 'fresh look' @Newsday https://t.co/PaIJjNgAVo https://t.co/k5gGJitrfy
— Bob Kolker (@bobkolker) December 10, 2015
In a tragic side note, on July 23, 2016, Mari Gilbert was murdered in her home in Ellenville, New York. Shannan’s younger sister, Sarra Elizabeth Gilbert, was arrested and charged with the murder of her mother. People reported that allegedly, mental illness drove Sarra Gilbert to kill her mother five years after Shannan’s remains were found.
“It was schizophrenia,” attorney John Ray, told People. “Sarra was hospitalized several times. Over the past couple of days she began to hear voices. She called her mother and said come over. And she stabbed her to death.”
Police say after Mari’s body was discovered they arrested Sarra, charging her with criminal possession of a weapon and second-degree murder. Twenty-seven-year-old Gilbert pleaded not guilty in Ulster County Court on August 12 to the second-degree murder charge in the killing of her mother, and she was ordered to be held without bail.
Other cases featured on People Magazine Investigates include “Grim Sleeper,” where one of People’s reporters worked this case from the very beginning, interviewing victims and families, and connecting the killings that were occurring in Los Angeles. Due to the public’s current fascination with the 20th anniversary of the mysterious JonBenet Ramsey murder, there will be an episode on People Magazine Investigates regarding this unsolved case, and it will air on December 19. Entertainment Weekly shared that the infamous MacDonald family murders and Hannah Anderson’s 2013 kidnapping will also be featured on People Magazine Investigates.
Will you be checking out this new series? Leave your comments, thoughts, and opinions below. The two-hour season premiere of People Magazine Investigates airs on Monday, November 7 at 9 p.m. ET on Investigation Discovery.
[Featured Image by Investigation Discovery]
