Billy Jensen Brings Bear Brook to CrimeCon 2020

Billy Jensen likes to stay busy. A CrimeCon mainstay since our first event, Jensen will join us in Orlando for his fourth consecutive CrimeCon appearance -- and he has a lot to talk about.

“First, we’ll be doing a live presentation of our podcast The First Degree,” he says. The podcast, which he hosts with Jac Vanek and Alexis Linkletter, explores cases through the eyes of survivors and other players one degree removed from the case.

Jensen, who began his career as an investigative journalist, has successfully evolved into an actual investigator, working alongside LEO legends like Paul Holes, with whom he hosts The Murder Squad podcast. (Told you he likes to stay busy.) The citizen super-sleuth will also take the CrimeCon stage to demonstrate the power of the “armchair detective.” This time, though, he’s bringing backup.

“We’ll be talking about the Bear Brook murders,” he explains. The paperback version of Jensen’s book Chase Darkness With Me which will be available at CrimeCon, will include a new chapter with details about the recent developments concerning the bodies found in the barrels in Bear Brook State Park in Allenstown, NH. Three of the four victims were recently identified by librarian and amateur investigator Becky Heath, who will join Jensen at CrimeCon 2020.

“Becky identified these victims just with diligent web investigation,” says Jensen. “We’ll talk through step-by-step how she connected the dots and identified the victims.” But don’t expect to leave the session without homework: “We’ll ask attendees to go out and do whatever they can to help us identify the fourth victim,” he says.

The session, he promises, will be a true celebration of the citizen detective. “The people who come to CrimeCon, they’re not passive observers,” he says. “They want to do something, they want to get their hands dirty and help out. This session will give them a chance to do that.”