‘Look at where you’re finding information’
◆ Zara Mcdermott talks to Rachael Davis about her interest in true crime and her new BBC Three documentary, The Idaho Murders: Trial By Tiktok
The story of the 2022 University of Idaho killings which saw four college students stabbed to death in the small town of Moscow, Idaho, is not necessarily the kind that would normally capture the attention of a global audience.
It’s tragic, but it’s a local story from a normallyunremarkable town in the United States, one that would rock the local community but isn’t likely to make waves across the oceans.
However, millions of people around the world were hooked on the details of the case being presented on social media apps like Tiktok – among them, former Love Islander-turneddocumentary presenter Zara Mcdermott, 27.
For six weeks after victims Ethan Chapin, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Madison Mogen were stabbed to death in November 2022, the police said they had no suspects, no motive, no weapon and saw no signs of forced entry into the home, leading online sleuths to begin putting together their own theories and accusations about what went on that fateful night.
From Youtubers like JLR, who calls himself an investigative reporter, to spiritual sleuths who contact the dead and concerned local residents, there were plenty of new theories surfacing and new accusations being made outside of the local police force’s investigation.
In new BBC Three documentary The Idaho Murders: Trial By Tiktok, Mcdermott heads across the pond to meet some of these social media sleuths and find out more about the impact of true crime content and the importance of sourcing reputable reports.
When did you first hear about the case?
I became aware of it only a couple of days after the crime actually happened. When you use social media, especially Tiktok, the algorithm will send you back to the same topic of a video that you’ve consumed. So I was obviously seeing this case coming up on my For You page, watching the content, and I was getting fed more and more and more and more.
I started trying to get an understanding of how far this was going – what are the chances that me, from London, is really aware of this case that’s going on in a state in America that I’ve never been to?
I was seeing, every single day, the viewership, and the plays, and the engagement on these videos was increasing… and I saw more and more global creators talking about this crime and this case.
To be honest, I was absolutely hooked by it.
How much of what you were watching came from legitimate media sources and the police?
There was really little information coming from
the police, and it felt like the only real place to get any kind of information was through social media, was through Tiktok.
I mean, ‘information’ – I say that now loosely, knowing what I know now from making the film and speaking to some of the sleuths.
Why did you want to make this documentary about the true crime community and online sleuthing? I remember texting my commissioner saying: Have you seen this case? It’s going viral, it’s global, and I’m fascinated by it, not necessarily because of the case, but because of how crazy this is going online because of all the conspiracy theories and all the content
that’s been created and how global this is going…
I felt like there was a documentary here to be made – not necessarily about the case… we’ll find out all that information in due course, when the investigation is finished, and the court case is done – but I was mostly interested (in) myself and my hook to the case. I was interested (in) other people’s hook to the case. And I was also interested in all the online sleuths that were creating content.
How factual was all this content that was out there? How fictitious was it? How were they coming up with all these theories?
I was just fascinated by how hungry people were for more information on the case and to what lengths they were willing to go to get it.
What would be your advice for people interested in true crime about finding reputable sources? Look at where you’re finding your information. If you find yourself on a medium’s page who’s connecting with the dead, live streaming on Tiktok, then maybe it might be time to think: Is this definitely legitimate information that I am consuming? Or am I just looking for a new theory? If it’s the latter, then I suppose it’s probably time just to switch off.
I think that, obviously, the mainstream media is a reputable way to find information, because they are bound by journalistic rules and guidelines that they do have to follow. I will still be following the case through social media, but through trusted means. It’s really important to know, who is trusted and who isn’t trusted.
It’s made me realise you don’t need to consume every single theory on social media… we’re all thinking we’re going to learn something new – the more we watch, the more we’re going to understand it – but actually, if you’re learning something new, is it just someone’s conspiracy theory that they’ve made up?
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