Talhotblond is a 2012 Lifetime made-for-television movie based on a shocking real-life internet love triangle that ended in murder. The film dramatizes how online anonymity, emotional insecurity, and deception spiraled into deadly violence.

The story centers on Thomas Montgomery, a middle-aged, married factory worker who is dissatisfied with his life and seeks escape through online chat rooms and poker sites. There, he reinvents himself as a younger man, claiming to be a U.S. Marine named “Tommy.” Using this false identity, he begins an online relationship with a young woman known by the screen name “talhotblond.”

Unbeknownst to Montgomery, one of his younger coworkers, Brian, is also communicating with the same girl online. Unlike Montgomery, Brian is honest about who he is, and his growing connection with “talhotblond” triggers intense jealousy in Montgomery. As the online relationships deepen, Montgomery’s lies multiply, and his emotional stability begins to unravel.

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This podcast episode explores the tragic true story of Nick Markowitz, a 15-year-old boy whose life was taken after being used as leverage in a reckless dispute that spiraled out of control.

When a conflict involving his older half-brother and a local drug dealer escalates, Nick is pulled into a situation he had no part in creating. What starts as a misguided attempt to intimidate someone quickly becomes a tragedy driven by fear, ego, and the inability of the adults involved to stop what they started.

The episode also examines how this case entered popular culture through the 2006 film Alpha Dog. While the movie brought national attention to the crime, it also raised difficult questions about storytelling, responsibility, and whose perspective gets remembered. We compare the film’s portrayal of events with the real case, including criticism from Nick’s mother, Susan Markowitz, who later wrote My Stolen Son to reclaim her child’s story from sensationalized narratives.

Sources:

My Stolen Son: The Nick Markowitz Story by Susan Markowitz w/ Jenna Glatzer

https://allthatsinteresting.com/nicholas-markowitz

Alpha Dog

https://allthatsinteresting.com/jesse-james-hollywood

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpha_Dog

https://www.independent.com/2009/06/21/witness-rundown-hollywood-trial/

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-nov-01-me-64254-story.html

https://www.independent.com/2009/06/10/ben-markowitz-on-stand/

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In this episode, we explore the real-life case of Susan Wright, a Texas woman whose story captured national attention and later inspired the Lifetime made-for-TV movie Blue-Eyed Butcher. We walk through Susan’s background, her marriage to Jeff Wright, and how a seemingly ordinary suburban life became the center of a high-profile criminal case.

Sources:

https://www.texasmonthly.com/true-crime/susan-wright-193/

Snapped season 1, Episode 9

https://abc13.com/post/susan-wright-murder-trial-jeff-stabbed-husband-193-times/9184616/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Wright_(murderer)

https://www.actionnewsjax.com/news/trending/blue-eyed-butcher-texas-woman-who-stabbed-husband-193-times-2003-released-parole/GMR2DZYQLVEIBCYYT7DPOB6IW4/

https://6abc.com/archive/7736279/

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.