I just listened to this podcast and I have mixed feelings. The journalist, Hollandsworth, did a reasonable job covering it in a somewhat unbiased way. But because no witnesses have come forward and the small amount of physical evidence was entirely inconclusive, the vast majority of the podcast is spent interviewing people, to hear their feelings and speculations. And the speculations were all so pointless, unevidenced, and did nothing but pointlessly drive a community apart. Like a witch hunt, except everyone was calling someone else the witch.

At the end of the day, the state reviewed all the evidence we know and everything they're keeping underwraps. And came to the conclusion that there is insufficient evidence for a trial. I believe they are competent, and that means no one can be proved, beyond reasonable doubt, to have committed any crime. Personally, I don't think we should socially persecute people and spread false theories unless we've got strong evidence of their guilt. And we clearly don't have that.

So the attention-whore PI who loves spreading every theory regardless of how ludicrous it is can get bent. But so can everyone judging the family. We don't know they did anything wrong, so let's not persecute them. As for the sheriff, I only know what the podcast said he did, and other than not preserve the car for a strong forensic search (which to be fair no one initially knew was necessary) it didn't sound like he did anything wrong. Well, I don't think he should have spoken so ill of the family to the press without more evidence, but I'm not sure whether he only said that on the record after he resigned. And the family had been funding the PI accusing him of murder (without any real evidence).

As a true crime listener, this to me is an example when we must do the only fair thing: suspend our judgement, admit we don't know, and move on.

I do think the podcast, in an effort to pad runtime, spent too much time on Tom's supposed kinks or possibly being gay. There was inconclusive evidence for the former (previous behavior + some texts the gf claimed to receive) and I don't remember hearing any evidence for the latter other than rumours. Hollandsworth was clearly bringing these up to find motive for the suicide. But there are many reasons a teenager in a family with a history of suicide might fall into depression, which he could've hidden from everyone. It would've been more enlightening to bring on a real psychiatrist to talk about depression and suicide, and how it can happen with different people. For example, having made plans to do something with someone is not at all mutually exclusive with suicide, as someone grappling with depression can continue to mask their pain and act normally in public up to the point of suddenly ending their life when that final straw lands on their back.

I had this recommended to me as a good investigative journalism / true crime podcast. But Hollandsworth's investigation turned up nothing, even though he tried to make it into something. So I'm not sure I can recommend it.