M. Gessen

Additional production by Fia Bennett.

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Art by John Kern.

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On May 1st, 2023, I went to the federal courthouse in downtown San Francisco.

My cousin Alan was on trial for hiring someone to kill his ex-wife, Priscilla.

The man he hired was actually an undercover FBI agent who worked out of the San Francisco office, so the trial was in California.

No way was I going to miss this.

Nine months had passed since Alan was arrested in my father's backyard.

Now in the courtroom, he looked like he'd aged 20 years in that time.

Allen used to be fat and shiny.

His bald head shone, as did his gadgets and his cars.