Crime Scene: The Texas Killing Fields

The 1970's saw a boom in Houston, Texas, construction grew, people flocked in, and a stretch of waste land was used to dump the bodies of several young women.

It's a very well made documentary, it's insightful Nd thought provoking, looking at several of the victims, the fact that they were largely ignored, and the potential suspects.

Very powerful interviews from those that were affected by the deaths, acts that still haunt people to this day. I thought Tim Miller in particular was a hugely impressive man, his words hit home.

Some pretty horrible crimes are explored, over a long period of time. What struck me was the way in which The Authorities jumped into action over the death of one young girl, the fact that it took that tragedy before anything really happened.

I liked that it was over three episodes, and that it wasn't stretched out into six or seven, Netflix does have a habit of fleshing things out.

Texan laws, insane or what.

8/10.

Split across 3 episodes, this docu-series tackles a spate of mysterious deaths arising in Texas and, more specifically, along the I-45 highway in Houston. In the mid 1980's, the bodies of three women are found in the Calder Road field. Fast forward to 1991 and another body is found, with the area eventually dubbed as "The Texas Killing Fields."

As more victims are found - all the while showing bad police work, suspicious culprits and shocking revelations - it soon becomes apparent that this case is much bigger than it initially appears. But who is responsible? Is it a serial killer? Are there multiple killers? Or is there a conspiracy with law enforcement? All of this is investigated in more detail, although those looking for all the answers may find themselves a little dismayed by the ending.

Docuseries finally on Netflix that's worth watching, tells a coherent story and comes together in the end.

I'm not sure all 3 episodes were necessary- I think all the information could have been sufficiently parsed out in 2 episodes, but 3 isn't an overreach.

It's crazy that these producers could tell a solid story yet not interject their insane political narrative into the stories- there are some vaguely political points but they're very relevant to the telling, and while it revolves around law enforcement, it is deservedly so- what the aforementioned police department did (or rather, lack thereof effective policing) deserves a spotlight and the attention of the public eye. It's one thing to espouse the common thread amongst departments of the time and claim runaway/wait 48 hours- which was incredibly obtuse and shortsighted even then, but even now, when we all know better to not at least acknowledge you're wrong and accept public responsibility for your department failings speaks volumes about your department.

My only concern is the lack of transparency and wishing there were more transparency among the departments and accountability to the public. Naming names would be a good start to getting public attention rightly focused on this group.

My request is that someone do an extensive documentary on Tim Miller and his Equusearch group- his is a fascinating story and one worth telling. Even though he's not particularly interested in the spotlight, the amount of good he's put into the world on behalf of his daughter is invaluable and I fear he's not much longer for this world. Keep fighting the good fight Tim- this may not be the path you chose but it is your path nonetheless. You've helped so many people through one of the most incredibly difficult times in their lives with experience, care and compassion and for that you deserve our unending gratitude and support.

The only spoiler in this review is that there are no spoiler's because we all know how Netflix documentaries turn out. Netflix, please pull yourself together. There were at least 2 dozen victims. Episodes 1 and 2 were ok but 3 was just tunnel vision. This reminds me of the Netflix documentary with the catholic nun. There was a whole series of events with multiple victims, but the documentary goes off on some singular tangent. These documentaries are getting worse in terms of telling a story about multiple victims. The subject in these Netflix documentaries ends up changing at some point in the series. Just like their other documentaries, we are led down a path in one direction but then we are pushed off a cliff so we land in the opposite direction. Definitely worth the watch if you want to learn about the area, but do not expect to learn about more than 1.5 victims stories out of a few dozen victims.

Obviously a hideously horrendous story, in terms of the victims and family left behind. However, this actual documentary... I don't feel it did any of that justice.

Sooo many shots of photos on a table, random streets, woods, the sky, etc etc. Genuinely in every five minutes of screentime, three minutes of that are just random scenery shots or the exact same repeated shots of headstones/photos.

I also felt it was really quite disjointed and jumped about on the timeline and victims with no real cohesion.

A LOT of time is spent with one of the victim's fathers. Of course the viewer feels deeply for him, but so, so much time is spent with him with not a lot of information gleaned from it. He seems incredibly miserable and I wanted someone to just say to him, "you can stop." The documentary also kind of jumps over the fact that he harassed and possibly drove a person of interest to suicide as he became obsessed with him and pinning the crime on him. That was... unsettling.

In relation to that, there's very, very little actual critique of the police department and the absolute farce of so much of the initial investigations. It's again kind of mentioned then glossed over.

And a more nitpicky critique - when they're talking about the court records and it's stated that the murderer "had sex with and then murdered (victim)" - Jesus wept, he did not 'have sex with', he raped her. A huge difference.

Again; a horrific story. Just... very poorly documented.