OUR GUEST
Vicky Ward
Investigative Journalist; Co-author
of “The Idaho Four: An American Tragedy”
MODERATOR
John Donvan
Host and Moderator-in-Chief
This week:
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- New episode: Investigative journalist Vicky Ward on lessons learned from the Idaho Four tragedy and what the criminal justice system should consider in future cases
- Your Sunday reading list
On Open to Debate this week, a “Think Twice” book episode where journalist and bestselling author Vicky Ward joins Moderator-in-Chief John Donvan to unpack lessons learned in the criminal investigation profiled in her new bestselling book, co-authored with iconic novelist James Patterson, “The Idaho Four: An American Tragedy.” The title covers the case of four college students, Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen, and Kaylee Goncalves, who were murdered in their off-campus home in Moscow, Idaho, in late 2022.
In this conversation, Ward compellingly shares how law enforcement may need to break from norms in public communication in a 24/7 news cycle, an era of relentless TikTok speculation and frenzied true crime commentary. She also talks about the ways that cutting-edge forensic genealogy shaped the investigation —and how that process should be handled in cases in the future.
She shares how working with Patterson reshaped her storytelling instincts, and why the case challenges other long-held assumptions about truth, trust, and transparency in America’s justice system.
If you think you know the story — think again.
More soon,
Lia Matthow
Chief Content Officer
POINT/COUNTERPOINT
Vicky Ward on Thinking Twice About Procedure in High-Profile Cases
Vicky Ward
“[Police Chief] James Fry said to me that in hindsight, his one mistake was doing exactly what he’d been trained to do, which was to stay silent. You do that for a number of reasons; one, to protect the investigation, but two, in a situation where you have no idea who did this, you don’t wanna say anything that could tip the murderer off, and this was certainly not his first homicide. He never had four bodies all in one crime scene before.
What he realized was that in the modern world that we live in, and when there is this much interest in a case, you can’t say nothing because what happens is, into the void comes all these fake theories, this fake narrative, if you will.
It becomes so overwhelming that it almost becomes the actual narrative. The police then waste their time publicly clearing all sorts of people who had nothing to do with this.”
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