Chapter 1: What is the story behind the murder in Deadly Mirage?
Hey, it's Josh Mankiewicz from Dateline. Here's a special preview of our new podcast called Deadly Mirage. The body lay on the shop floor, the man's shaven head leaning against the front left tire of a service truck. There was a dime-sized hole in his chin and a pool of blood slowly congealing on the concrete floor.
Scarlet stained the front of his shirt, which was stiffening in the dry desert air. A few feet away lay a bullet and a line of broken fluorescent glass, white and powdery, like a line of drugs. For more than an hour, silence hung over this scene of death and disorder. A quiet broken only by the occasional sound of a big diesel rig out on the highway.
Then shortly before 7 p.m., a man scheduled to work second shift walked in, and that silence was replaced by screams.
Tell me exactly what happened. I opened the garage door, and there's a light bulb busted out. Uh-huh. A kid in the office tore up, and he's on the ground bleeding out of his head. Okay. Oh, my God.
Chapter 2: What happened at the scene of the crime?
This is the story of what happened that afternoon in 2014 and why. But it's also about much more. It's about long shadows cast by old sins.
It starts as a Playboy Channel fantasy, but this is real life and there are real complications.
It's about the pairings of flawed souls, unholy alliances that spiraled out of control.
It had everything. It had sex, religion, the seemingly perfect, beautiful family that had all these secrets.
Chapter 3: What themes are explored in Deadly Mirage?
It's about faith and faithlessness, murder, and the thrill of moral escapism.
God's given us a purpose, and he's given us a chance with that purpose. This murder was God's work. They spoke about that many times. They were doing God's work.
Chapter 4: How do personal secrets play a role in the narrative?
In this podcast, you'll hear from people who loved that man found lying on the shop floor in August 2014.
He became my best buddy, like everybody else is. You'll hear from some who wanted him dead. I had a frank disgust for him that was developing and contributing to me being very dismissive of his life, ultimately.
And you'll hear from the newly minted homicide detective whose job it was to find the killer or killers responsible.
That was the first homicide that I had arrived to and was assigned as a lead detective.
It's a pretty big first case.
It is a big first case.
I'm Josh Mankiewicz, and this is Deadly Mirage, a podcast from Dateline. And to listen ad-free.
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