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We normally associate February with Valentine’s Day and Black History month, among other things, but February 2021 is turning out to be a little different. It’s shaping up to be a month of true crime docuseries and dramas. Among them is a three-episode Dateline NBC event: “The Widower.”
Word started spreading about it a week or so ago, but at first we didn’t know much about it, including what it would be about. The most I could find was a little nugget of info that Deadline reported:
The Widower goes behind the scenes of one of the country’s most confounding murder investigations, revealing a tale of evil and a tireless quest for justice in real time. It features unprecedented and exclusive access to the alleged killer playing cat-and-mouse not just with investigators, but with Dateline’s cameras.
Well, now we know a little more what it’s going to be about. Let’s take a look.
About The Widower
In 2017, Thomas Randolf was sentenced to death for killing his sixth wife, Sharon —who, as it turned out, was his fourth wife to die under mysterious circumstances.
Had he hired a friend to kill her, then turned around and killed the friend, claiming he’d done it in self-defense all in a bid to lay his hands on life insurance? That’s the case the prosecutors made and that a jury apparently agreed with.
However, during trial, the prosecution also pointed out similarities to the 1986 death of his second wife. Randolf’s defense team cried foul and appealed his case to the Nevada Supreme Court, which agreed that information never should have been allowed to be considered in Sharon’s case. They ruled he should get a new trial, which will start on February 19.
Which leads me to believe “The Widower” isn’t the last we’ll see of this case on Dateline. Because as the docuseries’ producer Dan Slepian told the AP, “‘The Widower’ is actually 12 years in the making.”
Over the course of 10 years, #Dateline veteran producer @danslepian traveled across the country, interviewing and documenting in real time the alleged killer as he tantalized law enforcement, the legal team and even the #Dateline cameras in a twisted game of cat and mouse.
— NBC News PR (@NBCNewsPR) February 4, 2021
As executive producer Liz Cole said, Slepian followed the case since Las Vegas police arrested Randolf in 2008. Then “he kept following, and filming, until there was a recent resolution.”
Well, there was. That’s why I say we’ll see more of this case that, as Slepian said, is loaded with “twists and turns.” Because the three-part event starts on Thursday, Feb. 18, a day before Randolf’s new trial is set to start.
However, we’ll get to see all of what they’ve documented so far. Even better, we won’t have to wait long for the second or third parts. Part Two airs on Friday, Feb. 19, Part Three airs on Sunday, Feb 21.
For More Info
Visit https://www.nbc.com/dateline.
Check-In
Who’s your favorite Dateline NBC host/narrator? Feel free to pick all that apply!
- Keith Morrison
- Lester Holt
- Craig Melvin
- Natalie Morales
- Andrea Canning
- Josh Mankiewicz
- Dennis Murphy
Courtney Mroch is a globe-trotting restless spirit who’s both possessed by wanderlust and the spirit of adventure, and obsessed with true crime, horror, the paranormal, and weird days. Perhaps it has something to do with her genes? She is related to occult royalty, after all. Marie Laveau, the famous Voodoo practitioner of New Orleans, is one of her ancestors. (Yes, really! As explained here.) That could also explain her infatuation with skeletons.
Speaking of mystical, to learn how Courtney channeled her battle with cancer to conjure up this site, check out HJ’s Origin Story.
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Randolf sounds like a scary dude. As for Dateline narrators . . . no, I don’t have a particular favorite. I think by the time correspondents get to that level, they’re ALL good!
Again, you bring up an amazing point. Agreed! (But I’m not gonna lie…there’s something about Keith Morrison’s voice that gets me every time! lol) BUT they’re all good and I’m always invested in the Dateline stories!