The telling of this who done it, is a very well told tragedy, keeping me engaged with every episode and tugging at my heart strings for the loved ones of the victim of this awful crime. The most glaring question that may have helped exonerate Foster immediately is, was a simple gun shot residue test done since he was immediately named suspect on the scene?

Unfortunately this is basically just an episode of the first forty eight stretched to its thinnest mixed with some additional case update to make it in to a multi episode podcast. It definitely all could have and probably should have just been a one episode ir show or at the most a two parter. It was odd the amount of time the podcaster spends describing the sisters, almost like it was a fiction author going overboard trying to be poetic when describing female characters. It seemed like the podcaster was attempting to make a the story more romanticized which felt inappropriate really took away from the overall listening experience and unessicarily destracted from the facts of the case.. i mean, seriously.. it’s true crime podcast not your diary.

I couldn't continue this Podcast. Then I read a review and realized there are several others who feel the same way. Makes me wonder if the podcaster has ever listened to a podcast herself. Listening to detectives talking, actual interviews, phone ringing, etc, very distracting. How about you report it, not have us listen to interviews with a bunch of background noise. Also sounds like from other reviews, it goes no where.

What happens when you mix CRT training with low IQ police work. This crap.

I think that more looking needs to go into this “ witness”.

I was initially really interested in this story, but it is so hard to listen to, literally, not because of the story itself, but all the background noise, it’s just too much, so loud that I couldn’t hear some of what was being said, and very distracting. Just couldn’t get past it to continue to listen.

The reporter captured the feelings on the side of the police officer ,the friend of the family, and also the eyewitness to the murder. Will subscribe to more of this type of reporting stories

One of the worst podcasts that I’ve listened to. Kept waiting for there to be some kind of twist or something. Never happened.

Meh. We’ve heard better and we’ve heard worse in terms of production value. The main things that bothered us was the volume changes and the sound bite of a ringing phone that they kept using.

Very good. Very sad. Loved it. Kept me intrigued.

Far too manyepisodes for a story that could have been told in 1 episode; has no resolution; reporter tells you in the first episode that Forest is charged and released- so there’s little reason to keep listening. Could have been done much better!!

1) Could have been told with much more impact in one episode. 2) the reporter actually notes at the beginning that the attraction in this case was that the family was white and privileged. Huh? 3) the only compelling character in this whole story was the detective. I realize a reporter’s job is to be objective and factual but if the purpose of the podcast was to engage the public the story for the purpose of helping to find justice, it should have been told by a more skilled narrator. I didn’t feel involved in the story at all, and with four deaths, I should have. I suggest you listen to Chris Lambert’s Your Own Back Yard.

I have questions to this? Why haven’t you opened this up to a question and answer for the listeners? This might help looking at an angle from multiple perspectives. For instance, did someone show Forrest a picture of the first witness? You all interviewed the 1st witness and you didn’t sneak a current photo to ask Forrest if he looked familiar? This is never brought up. Seems obvious to me the 1st witness is lying. He even stated he was behind the cop listening when Forrest was giving his story. Was he hiding because he knew Forrest may recognize him? He def has something to do with it. Not thinking he’s the shooter, but maybe the 2nd perp.???

Serious waste of time. Seven episodes that could easily have been a single hour, and it went nowhere.

Decent overall

This is great thanks for sharing and also love the title it makes tons of sense

Why did it leave cliffhangers saying a phone call was going to release forest

Loved it! Thank you so much for sharing this story

I really love the way that this podcast was conducted, My question is, how come Forrest wasn’t shot, why would killers leave a witness?

Please. How many POCs lives ruined by being arrested and still being innocent. But let’s not ruin this white guys life.

The story never really comes together. The episodes seem disjointed and as soon as we think we’re going to get a little excitement it falls flat. Not horrible but not something I would recommend.

Needed to be told, so sad for the family!

Each episode is about 15 minutes, interesting story just too short of episodes

Interesting case to listen to!

It’s a simple story of a mugging (told well) but with no conclusion of who the murder is.

I just found this story...I get bored easily with podcasts but this one was amazing...every second! I couldn’t wait to listen to the next one but wanted to savor the episodes. Hearing the recordings from that time was so intriguing and sad but hearing all the police dispatches, interviews made you feel like you were there...

First of all, there is far too much of the reporter inserting herself into the story. How this has affected her, and how wide an impact this murder has had for her life. It's not her story. Secondly, (of some potential social edification), there's a glimpse inside the inherent bias of police, as they react to the affluent, not-very-experienced with law enforcement, first suspect (read: white), as acting "entitled", as he is arrested and accused wrongfully of the murder his friend. Take a moment to think about that. He's an "entitled" brat, because he expects to be treated fairly by police? The greater implied acknowledgement is that minority suspects know well enough to resign themselves to harassment and being presumed guilty. It's all the worse, when the reporter essentially cosigns this bias. Finally, in a further blow to civil liberties, the abundance of cameras leads the cop to bemoan the lack of CCTV 16 years earlier, which could have solved the case for him. He had two witnesses and bungled the handling of both, I doubt CCTV would have helped him.

The telephone ringing was too campy and far too often used. The sound effects and background reminded me of the stooges. Not what you want in crime podcast and certainly not very honorable to the poor man who is dead.

Very enjoyable. So what it it was short. It did out my interest

Story is well told. The only thing that I could think about the whole time, however, is how the murder of the victim (white man whose last name is O’Brien) was pursued for years by the police in an effort to bring justice and healing to the family. How many poor people of color die in the streets every day and have no media attention, are brushed off as “cold cases” and are never resolved. Never covered by the media and portray the victims as animals. None of this was addressed in the podcast. Inequities perpetrated by podcast.

Make me want to listen. Voice droning on.

Ten minutes into the podcast, I have no idea what the story is. I’m Glad to meet the players in the story, but make me want to know them based on the story. What happened?

I agree with others that the content runs up short. I think the first witness is the perp. It’s not uncommon to involve oneself in the investigation-he admitted he hung around to gather more information. He told conflicting accounts, he matched the description. He can obviously tell believable lies as he did in front of his foreman. If they investigated him and his acquaintances at the time they might have discovered the accomplice. I also agree that this case is straight forward and speaks to white privilege. The cops paid it more attention because he was young, college educated, didn’t do drugs (as far as we know), and came from “a good family”.

I want to listen to pods when I’m driving. I don’t want to be messing with things when I’m on the road.

It's an interesting story, but the episodes are short and they jump straight into the story with very little backstory. I felt lost on occasion and would have liked to know more about the background of the individuals. Who are they? Give me a broader picture of who, why, when, so I can be more invested in this cascade of names. Lots of potential, but needs more exposition.

While this was about the murder of Burke, it still included the close relationship of the family. I believe it was Karleigh that talked about how their father died but I’d sure like to know how Tommy as well as the mother died. Did Tommy get into drugs? Why was that left out? The only thing I could find out online was that he was 24 and the mother was 55 at the time of their deaths. I think that should have been covered in one of the podcasts. Very disappointed in not knowing.

Sometimes you just need a shorter story. We listened to this on a short car trip. Well played out, at times the audio was hard to hear but overall enjoyed it.

Fine storytelling but if the episodes are ten to fifteen minutes long there probably isn’t enough content for a episodic podcast. I feel very sorry for the victim but the podcast doesn’t do anyone involved any favors.

I see a ton of comments upset about the short episodes... that honestly doesn’t bug me. This is one of the BEST podcast ever. The reporting was raw, in-depth and the host/reporters voice kept you hooked. I’d definitely recommend and already have to my friends/family!

Rich educated young white male professional is shot dead on the street during a mugging after out partying with his frat brother. It remains unsolved with absolutely no twists, unexpected finds, or anything unique or bizarre about the case. The production value is high but it's not particularly interesting, memorable, or compelling at all. If he wasn't a rich straight white guy, no one would care whatsoever.

Good story but extremely short.

This show is shorter than most podcasts, but more to the point. No need for extra filler to make the podcast longer. I enjoy that this show gets right to the investigative work, without spilling non necessary conspiracy theories. The shows vary in length, but that makes the perfect for commutes and lunch breaks. Hope they do more!

I love murder stories but this podcast is So pro-cop. It says so many cringy moments. Someone should’ve done better research or editing bc there’s so many errors. Misrepresentation of specific groups of people can be heard on nearly all episodes.

The blaring telephone ringing and all the supposed newsroom/police department chatter is so distracting. The telephone jolts me. Why so much noise? One of the worst podcasts I’ve listened to, and I listen to many. Hard to focus on the real story also. Sad for the victim and his family.

Spoiler alert: this is an unsolved mystery. It’s deeply personal and so so sad to the family involved, but as far as being entertaining or educational to a listener, unless you know something that can contribute to the solving of the case, it doesn’t have much to offer. The case doesn’t have twists and turns or interesting features; unfortunately for the cops, there’s very little to go on. Therefore much of the podcast is simply the cops not knowing what to do next, or the family mourning the loss of the murdered boy. I feel terrible for the family, but it isn’t compelling radio.

I’m very familiar with Orchard Street in New York City even though I live in Florida we often go there so this was very exciting to hear about a story that happened there. It’s very unfortunate that this family has not had any closure to find out who killed Mr. O’Brien. Hopefully this podcast will help uncover some new clues.

Why were there no gun shot residue tests done?Why did they all assume that the first witness was incorrect and the second was correct? Why was the reporter so fixated on proving the first witness wrong and even suspect? The middle class tilt of the reporter and her fear of the poor and the trappings thereof was palpable. She is a perfect example of why we need more diversity in newsrooms.

How many siblings did the victim have?

I appreciate the obviously thorough research behind the story but I felt that the tempo of the piece was rather slow. Only on a few occasions did I feel emotionally engaged with the story. Maybe I’m a cold, unfeeling person but that was my honest reaction

Dear ABC- Get a clue. At least listen to your podcast all the way through before you publish it. If you did you would realize that the (incessant) ringing of the detective phones, the slamming of cell doors, the clicking of handcuffs are all at top volume while one can barely hear the victim’s sister or original suspect. Constantly turning up the volume to hear people speak and then hitting mute as your stupid drama noises disrupt every living thing around you is really annoying. How does a broadcast company like ABC not know these basic tenets of a podcast?? Have you listened to Strangers? They have a fraction of your budget and put out a podcast that is far superior in every way.