S205: The Reporter - Vester Flanagan

Warning, this episode may be disturbing for some listeners. It describes a shooting that resulted in the death of two people. While this story is not technically about a mass shooting, it has every characteristic of one.

 

I began working on this story prior to the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting. My first reaction was to pull the episode. Then, I thought I should postpone the release. But, you know what? There’s never an appropriate time to talk about mass shootings. Unfortunately, this is our new reality.  

 

This is the story of Bryce Williams, the reporter who murdered Alison Parker and Adam Ward live on television. It turns out Bryce Williams is not his real name. Bryce Williams is just a pseudonym for his on air personality. The killer’s real name is Vester Flanagan.

 

The morning of the shooting, Vester Flanagan faxed a 23 page manifesto to ABC News in New York. In the letter, Flanagan describes his grievances. He writes, “I've been a human powder keg for a while… just waiting to go BOOM!!!!"

 

Later that morning, Vester Flanagan sends out a tweet from his Bryce Williams account.

 

“I filmed the shooting see Facebook”

 

He posts two video on his Facebook timeline showing the murders recorded from his point of view.

 

The first video shows a hand pointing a gun at the news crew. The second video shows Vester opening fire on Alison Parker.

 

He later tweets again.

 

“Adam went to HR on me after working with me one time.” Then, in another tweet he claims Alison made racist comments about him.

 

In this episode, we’ll talk about what you and I can do, as individuals, to spot the next mass murderer. We’re going to dive deep into the psychology of a killer and talk about the traits some of them have in common.

 

This episodes was written and produced by Javier Leiva.

Post-production and producing support by TJ Counihan from the Pints and Puzzles podcast.

Music for this episode is courtesy of Podington Bear and Audiobinger.