I really appreciate the narration, the first person interviews and how the details of (Laura ) tragic end was structured. Everyone wants resolve when they listen. Expecting answers to a mystery- but that is not the reality we live in as humans. This was so over and above the garbage pods where two people are telling details about someone' tragic demise and the sound freaking amused. Keep up the good work, hope to see more episodes someday!

As an Iowa City/Kahoka native, I was interested in finding out more about this cold case. All I can say is don’t waste your time listening to this podcast that focuses on Annie who only cares about herself. Unfortunately, it just made a bad name for Iowa and no justice for the victim.

This podcast is truly the best. I have listened to many many many crime podcasts and none of them grab my attention like this. production of this is truly amazing coming from an award winning film writer myself I find this podcast so captivating and thrilling. When I finished this podcast I recommended it to my whole family. Even my niece loved it (she is 12). Thank you for this great listen!

I hate it when the podcast hosts try to make themselves the center of the story and insert themselves into the case they are covering. Leave your ego out of it and just present the facts without anything else.

If you’re into cold murder cases, then yeah, this is probably going to have what you want, in many regards. The most compelling character in the story is Laura. Learning about her life kept me coming back. However, I thought this podcast had a major problem. The host apparently lacks empathy for the people he interviews. His contempt made this show difficult to listen to at multiple points. Therefore, I think this podcast is memorable not because it’s a titillating cold murder case, but because it is a story within a story - what happens when a holier-than-thou New Yorker deigns to step into flyover country. I say this as a big city coastal American liberal.

“I’m not unduly freaked out about what these rednecks in the Midwest could do.” Ahhhh the tolerant left. Never using stereotypes. Always open minded. Always unbiased. 😂 Ol’ Ann is your typical regressive. Has an utter disgust for “fly over country”. Just listen to the way she describes Iowa. By the way, the Knights are far from rednecks.

It had the makings and production value of being a 5 star podcast but it just didn’t cut it for me. I liked the lawyer slant of it all but it just goes to show that you need someone to dig deeper to get info. I feel like there weren’t any big revelations about the case which perhaps some seasoned journalists could have uncovered. The ending was also borderline undignified to the victim. Made her seem like a cliche. But it had all the pieces to make something excellent just didn’t get there for me.

Really compelling story that humanizes Laura very well. But the character and timeline whiplash of Eps 5 and 6 almost stalled it for me. I hate skipping forward, but it's begging me to...

Great podcast - great narration Look forward to updates

Ann is not truthful regarding Chevron. She worked for the private prosecutor. To me that shows a complete lack of morality or ethical standards. I don't think she's in this for any reason other than self promotion. And that is a risk to the reputation of those in this podcast.

I’m on episode two and can already sense the cultural bias of the main character and possibly the narrator. The listener is introduced to the main character, Annie’s credentials by her lawyer skills fighting back against the Trump Admin for revoking Jim Acosta’s press credentials. And then another press member by the Trump Admin. Seems a message is being sent as to where they want to be viewed in their acumen. Then the main character Annie goes on to make a statement concerning her friend’s death, “I know how rednecks in the Midwest can be.” Incredibly prejudiced statement. Can you imagine another podcast saying something like, “You know how those ….. can be.”? Reminds me of the incorrigible character in Twelve Angry Men who is prejudiced against Puerto Ricans. THEN… the podcast continues with an actor playing a one, officer Platt from Kanoka MO. They give him this mid 19th century terrible southern accent. I guess to make him sound like a country boy. In reality, look up videos of residents talking in Kanoka. They speak with a midwestern accent more akin to Illinois. Content creators are just insufferable and they think we are too stupid to notice these things. I will try to finish the podcast because the story is captivating. The woman who lost her life deserves to have her story told and hopefully her death/murder solved. It’s just unfortunate that in no time flat a ridiculous semi political or cultural tilt is injected.

The story is so-so. I find it extremely distracting to hear the horrible fake southern accent of the man reading the occasional things: the letter from the jail, etc. Why have the reader do such a horrible southern accent??? Nobody else in the show has an accent. It’s a weird detail and it’s so bad it’s distracting.

Justice for the family and friends

This is by far one of the best podcasts I have listened to. I liked how it was all put together; the way the story was told. We really got to know Laura through Annie’s personal perspective. I am so glad you did the episode with Samson. I wanted to know how he did throughout all of this from the first episode. Jason’s voice and the way he told the story was great. I hope there are some answers to what happened to Laura soon!

Great podcast!!

What strikes me is this podcaster’s talent as a writer. Often writers force analogies as descriptions just for the sake of ticking a box. This storyteller keeps the story precise and only includes analogies that truly help the listener create a mental image. It’s refreshing.

This excellent podcast gives value to every life touched by a significant loss. It shows the complexity of relationships as well as the crosscurrents of policing, law, journalism and personal views. The fact that it is searching for answers in a determined and respectful manner rather than turning a lost life into short term entertainment is impressive...BUT too many advertisements.

It would be great listen if you are the guy wearing your mask alone in the car with your “I voted for Biden” bumper sticker. Total liberal speak and a really bad listen

This is a great listen, but I can’t imagine why I’m a Murder story, we are never told the actual cause of death. Was it blood loss? A head injury? This is a huge omission, and leaves too many questions unanswered. Don’t get me wrong, I’m almost at the end and really enjoying it, but I’m really baffled and frustrated that the investigation and the podcast never answered the most critical question.

The episodes are short. The 1st seven minutes are filled up with commercials and advertising other podcasts. The content of the show is technical to the point of boring.

Storytelling is very strong but found myself hungry for more foundation of investigative facts. I asked myself repeatedly, have they told us about the autopsy findings, with any specificity? I would have liked certain facts to be tracked/traced to their current status (even if a dead end so far) — for example, tracing the facts and theories pertaining to the contents of her pockets and clothing; thoroughly examining the autopsy findings and likely objects that could have inflicted those injuries; her likely path(s) that night to the spot where she was found, etc. It is strongest with the human stories that intersect and for that, kept my full attention.

Well researched, written and produced. Many other true crime podcasters could learn from this podcast team. Keep up the great work. Thank You!

Skip up to about minute 7 to avoid ungodly ads and the 5th, 6th retelling of a few facts. I only listened because of the smart, dedicated lawyer friend.

I loved every second of this podcast. Would recommend 1000%!!!

I am giving it two stars because it is well produced and sound quality is very good. I personally feel that this podcast had, at most, three episodes worth of information. 1) setting the scene 2) the backstory on main characters 3) the (very little) evidence and why it hasn’t been solved. The author/narrator starts the podcast talking about how he wanted to become a journalist and needed a story to report on, his friend Annie tells him about a tragic death of a friend, so he decided to make a podcast about it. At some point, after months (probably more) of investigating he comes up with nothing. But instead of following the leads and tips they have and waiting until more information comes out. He just writes and produces the podcast, decided it was going to be 10 episodes and sticks with it. Then spent hours talking about back stories and personal relationships and giving context to a story that, currently, has no substance. It’s tragic and Laura’s death deserved more of an investigation from police. But this podcast was more about putting something out there for the world to listen to so that Jason (the author) could make a some money based off of his work because he wanted to become a journalist. Not because he was a good journalist or investigative reporter, because, in present day, there is nothing to report on of this case. This podcast has almost no substance and should not have been released yet.

A well produced story basically about nothing. If you’re looking for true crime, this isn’t for you. If you’re looking for a podcast about people who were effected by someone else’s murder, or if you want to hear about how awesome one of the victims friends is (Ann champion) then I guess this is for you.

What stuck out for me was how Laurie became who she was and what a good friend she has still in Annie. Unsolved crimes are unsatisfying but still hope. I believe what was covered in the podcast could have fit 8 episodes

good story telling episode to episode

Opens with one sided political views before even introducing the story.

Ugh. Maybe true crime just isn’t for me. But a few complaints- First, the commercials are so loud it almost makes the podcast unlistenable. Also, there’s no reason for this to be a 10 episode series. Lastly, it really bothered me that every depiction we get of Laura is from the perspective of those who knew her when she was very young. They did not talk at all to with friends she might have had around the time she died to give a clearer picture of who she was, and they skate over some of the darker parts of her story, with the hosts often saying things like “Laura would never have done that!” - based on how much they knew about Laura as a young girl. It felt like a disrespect to Laura’s memory and like we weren’t hearing the full story. The hosts are smart; maybe they felt like diving into Laura’s turbulent lifestyle wouldn’t get the same level of sympathy and action from their audience as the sound clips of her weepy childhood friends.

I think this story is such a tragic story of a young women’s murder. I can’t seem to except the fact that she would leave her infant son alone on the floor. I hope something comes from this and killer is found

This series would have been much better if an experienced podcast editor had edited it. The sound bytes during re-caps are bizarre, the dramatic reading of written documents (including an auto bot for text messages) is cringe inducing (and detracts). Annie is amazing in my book but the world is not going to be enamored of her bonafides and love of her “resources” as much as the creator is - letting her position and passion speak for themselves would have been better (not sexism - just pointing out the reflexive elitism) and mygod, the ads really are obscene in this one. Overall, it’s a good podcast but it could have easily been great.

Just tell the story without alienating people with different political views.

Perhaps because it’s narrated by a pro journalist and lawyer, this podcast goes beyond crime scene facts and interviews to bring to life the very human motivations (flaws?) in some of its characters. The end result is something less dramatic but far more real. (Though, yes, like some of the other reviewers, I also think the audio level on the ads is way too loud.) Overall, I loved this and look forward to its continuation.

Such a great way to get followers- bash Trump. This is a true crime Pod Cast, Let’s stay in topic people.

I enjoyed this podcast overall, but the commercials and the dramatic reading of testimony was kind of ridiculous. It seemed almost comical for such a serious subject and I’m not sure why the host couldn’t have just read those parts normally instead of a random voice that sounded like it was satire.

Thoughtful and intriguing, you all have created an extremely well told podcast that I hope will finally provide answers!

This is a compelling story and it’s well organized — my only complaint as a true crime fiend is that they spend a lot of time in the later episodes doing a good deal of frantic speculation. This tends to happen with unsolved crime as the story draws to a close, and it’s not unforgivable but does work to undermine the larger story. Worth a listen, for sure.

So many commercials. And soooo LOUD. The “distracted driving” commercial over and over and OVER. I was distracted driving trying to skip all of the commercials.

It’s a great podcast but who ever edited it to make the commercials 30% louder should be let go. I listen on ear buds but dive for the skip button as soon as the woman’s voice for the commercials comes on. They play so much louder if insures I never actually listen to them so it effectively defeats their purpose.

Intriguing story, well-researched… but it just didn’t hold my interest. This production could benefit from a producer with a bit more style- someone to heighten the tension, as the narration often felt like it was relaying information instead of drawing us in. Maybe I made the unwitting mistake of listening to this one after the riveting “Gone South.” Maybe I’m drawing an unfair comparison, but if you’re investigating an unsolved crime with no promise of resolution, the least you can do is give us suspense in the telling of the story.

I cannot justify with words how incredible this podcast is. A must listen.

There is a lot of sexism in some of these reviews. Some people seem to feel threatened by a successful woman. They resort to insulting her voice, her personality, or her political views to make themselves feel better. I thought the podcast was very well done and I learned a lot about a case I hadn’t heard of before.

I am an avid reader and podcast listener. This victim and the story deserve to be brought into light and solved. The production is done well. The narrator does an excellent job. My only negative would be the friend and lawyer. Although well meaning, her style of jumping to conclusions and harassment is reckless and irresponsible. Investigators must try to get information without tainting an innocent person. I don’t respect the notion that simply when a person doesn’t want to talk over and over about a topic that makes them guilty or even suspicious. Please use ethics and respect a person’s rights when interviewing individuals.

Thank you for bringing light to this really interesting (and seemingly solvable) case! This is definitely a strange one. The podcast editing was just right: not too many episodes, and just enough suspense to keep me on the hook until the end. Can’t wait to hear updates!

Unlike many true crime podcasts which rehash a story, Bonaparte investigates a long cold crime with interviews with family/friends who all come across as caring and invested in resolving this case.

the story is intriguing and the characters well developed. i have 2 more episodes to listen to. Check it out it's a good one

You need to touch grass. Mary trumps book was NOT , by any definition, a huge success. Pull your head out. I’m out.

Within 15 min of opening the show they are attacking the President of the United States and attempting to brag at the attorney’s exploits into political agendas against him. I was immediately embarrassed for the family of this girl who certainly did not deserve her death to become a platform for a peacocking attorney’s political views. I too am in the media and know better than to alienate half my viewers with my personal agenda. Very poor taste to take your friend’s death and make it a billboard of your career. It has absolutely nothing to do with her and you should publicly apologize to the family.

Holy Heck! Just starting the very first episode, considering whether I’ll give the podcast a chance and I’m just bombed right away with multiple commercials with a relatively short episode. You haven’t locked my devotion in enough to have patience to deal with that shish! Plus…if you all so successful and this is about a “friend,” perhaps take the BIG financial hit of burying your commercials later in your very first episode. Whatta turnoff