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to look out for dangerous suspects who
could be lurking in their communities.
But Serial—along with a host of other
hugely popular productions, including
Making a Murderer on Netflix, The Jinx on
HBO and American Public Media’s pod-
cast In the Dark—is credited with usher-
ing in a new generation of fans more eager
to see flaws in the justice system inves-
tigated than to sit through another reca-
pitulation of child beauty queen JonBenét
Ramsey’s unsolved murder.
“That showed that there’s a whole new
way to present this genre,” Balfe says.
But no matter how glossy the produc-
tion values or how serious the audience,
the victims are real, and many survivors
say their nightmares are being marketed
as entertainment. “We are the living vic-
tims,” Pendleton says.
Before Making a Murderer aired in
2015, the family of victim Teresa Halbach
said they were “saddened” by those who
“continue to create entertainment and
to seek profit from our loss.” As Serial
sparked cries of support for Adnan Syed,
who is serving a life sentence for killing
his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee, the vic-
tim’s loved ones suffered in silence. “We
do not speak as often or as loudly as those
who support Adnan Syed, but we care
just as much about this case,” her family
said in 2016, as Syed’s family fought
unsuccessfully to win him a new trial.
After receiving letters of oppo-
sition from at least seven of Mast’s rela-
tives and friends, the executive producer
of I Am a Killer, Ned Parker, emailed Pend-
leton that he had never encountered such
a “moral dilemma” in his career. But they
went forward with the project, includ-
ing interviews with Mast’s biological
mother, Dori Greeson, who shared cus-
tody of Mast with Pendleton and Mast’s
biological father as he was growing up,
but who had little contact with Mast after
he turned 18.
Parker, who did not respond to re-
quests for comment, told Pendleton in
an email that because Greeson forgave
her son’s killer, she deserved to be heard.
He also told her that as long as the killer
was speaking to the media, another TV
network was sure to do the story if Netflix
passed on it, and the result was likely to
be a “more sensationalist” project.
Meanwhile, Clark and Pendleton cling
to private memories of their loved ones.
Clark’s mother Mary Lockhart raised
five children, never forgot a birthday
and helped Clark through life’s toughest
moments, including her son’s death from
cancer and her divorce. Her brother, Greg
Holmes, was a veteran who had served
in Iraq and Afghanistan. “They were so
much more than just victims,” Clark says
of her slain family.
So was Robert Mast, says Pendleton,
describing him as a laid-back man who
was passionate about playing guitar, tell-
ing stories and traversing the country by
train. Mast loved trains so much that even
now, when his nieces and nephews hear
a train whistle, they shout, “Choo choo,
Uncle Robby!”
The details that Pendleton holds clos-
est to her heart are one reason she refused
to participate in the Netflix show, under-
standing that among the audience would
be her stepson’s killer. “She shouldn’t get
my memories,” Pendleton says. “They’re
all that we have left.” □
THE GENRE
Serial, Making a Murderer and Tiger King:
Murder, Mayhem and Madness are among
the podcasts and TV series that have fueled
the popularity of true-crime productions
PREVIOUS PAGES: COURTESY MINDY PENDLETON; GETTY IMAGES; THESE PAGES: GETTY IMAGES; NETFLIX (3); CARLOS BARRIA—REUTERS
