Local couple sharing experiences in new true crime docu-series
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Are you obsessed with watching crime documentaries or true crime series?
Well, one local couple is taking their experiences and sharing them with the world.
Neil and Melissa Gordon just struck a deal with Amazon Prime Video to launch their new docu-series called “Trial Watchers.”
It’s a five-episode series that is now available for anyone to watch.
If you know the name “Neil Gordon,” it’s probably from the infamous Murdaugh murder trial and former Clerk of Court Becky Hill.
She and Neil co-wrote a book on the Murdaugh trial called “Behind the Doors of Justice.”
Episode four teaser: “There are true crime fans, and then there are true crime fans.”
Neil Gordon: “Trial watchers. They just want the good guys to go free and the bad guys to end up behind bars.”
Melissa Gordon: “It’s just about justice. It really is.”
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Neil and Melissa Gordon are a part of a unique and quickly exploding group called “Trial Watchers.”
This is the name Neil dedicated his book to, and the husband and wife’s docies was recently picked up by Amazon Prime Video and is streaming internationally.
Episode three teaser video: “Why did you do it. I’m here to investigate you! Shame on you!”
They say it’s a community made up of true crime fans who travel to trials, listen to podcasts, watch court programming and are of true crime Facebook groups.
This group has inflated in size over the past decade or so, mostly made up of women from around the country.
Neil Gordon: “Most women are extremely curious. They want to feel safe, so they want to see the trial through to the end. They tend to be more comionate than men. In some cases, what we’ve learned, through, you know, Melissa, going to the trial and talking to people, is that this is a way for some people to trauma bond with others because they may have had an awful situation happen to them.”
For Neil and Melissa – it all started with the Murdaugh trials in Walterboro, South Carolina.
Neil Gordon: “She just went and discovered, like, hundreds of other people just like her, who had traveled from all over the country. And I just thought, boy, it’s almost like people who go to concerts and stay over in hotels.”
That’s where the idea was born to talk to people there, and start filming what they went through.
Episode one includes sisters from Evans, Georgia, whose father was murdered 40 years ago.
Episode one teaser: “He tried to defend himself and they shot him three times.”
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Neil Gordon: “They actually met Melissa in line at the trial, and they’ve become close and become friends and they bond together.”
Episode two is coverage of the Murdaugh trial, including a bit of scandal behind the scenes.
Episode two teaser: The outspoken court clerk under fire. So, this county clerk in Alex Murdaugh’s murder trial had already been in the spotlight. his attorney said she tampered with the jury, which she and prosecutors deny, but now there’s this new controversy.
The role embattled clerk of court Becky Hill - she and neil co-wrote a book on the murdaugh trial “behind the doors of justice.”
Neil Gordon: “It’s called oh my god, Becky. Those were the words I said in our living room when I was discovering that Becky plagiarized one chapter of our book.
Just this month, investigators charged Hill with perjury, obstruction, and misconduct.
Neil Gordon: “It’s just kind of everything that occurred behind the scenes of, of that whole situation and really how we felt like we were collateral damage in something... we’re just storytellers, and we just wanted to kind of share what we thought was a really interesting story about the murdoch trial behind the scenes and ended upp getting kind of thrown into it.”
Will: “What was your experience like being down there?”
Melissa Gordon: “Going into the courtroom. It was very surreal, actually.”
Melissa Gordon: “I the first day when Alex walked in, the gravity of the situation really hit me. And, it was a bit overwhelming.”
Episode three is about the gonzo journalists who have YouTube channels and podcasts dedicated to true crime.
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Episode three teaser: “I’m just a news hound and a curiosity seeker.”
Episode four is all about Crime Con. It’s like Comic Con – but for true crime fans.
Neil Gordon: “6000 different people were there. And, what struck me about being there was that a number of people had missing family , and they were there in a comfortable setting to share how they felt and to out fliers, in some cases, 20 years after a loved one had been missing.”
Episode five is about the true true crime fans.
Neil Gordon: “Super true crime fans. And they had gone to about their trials in six months, just traveling, for different reasons.”
“So, we kind of explore those real personal stories related to true crime.”
It’s those personal stories – and connections - that push this group of fanatics to pursue justice, and ability in courtrooms across the country.
Melissa Gordon: “I think it’s important. I think it matters.”
“We’re going to make sure that we are present to, say, you know, this life mattered. And, you know, you should be held able. or on the flip side of that, to protect the sanctity, our justice system that everybody should have a fair trial.”
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