The Prime Detective

Computer. End program.

In 2014, twelve-year-olds Anissa Weier and Morgan Geyser stabbed their friend Payton Leutner nineteen times in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Their motive: proving their loyalty to Slender Man, a fictional monster born on an internet creepypasta forum. In 1993, the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode ‘Ship in a Bottle’ asked what happens when a holodeck simulation becomes self-aware and Professor Moriarty walks out of the program. In the Season 1 finale of The Prime Detective, we connect those two moments and finally find the word for what we’ve been tracking all along. Credits: This episode of “The Prime Detective” was produced and hosted by Grayson Thagard. Music for “The Prime Detective” is composed by Ben Wise: https://benwise.bandcamp.com/ [https://benwise.bandcamp.com/] Website and publishing support thanks to David Moody, Producer: “Let’s Talk About Treks [https://www.letstalkabouttreks.com/]” The Podcast. Original artwork for “The Prime Detective” by Julie Hendrickson [https://www.linkedin.com/in/julie-hendrickson-4096332/]. Buy me a coffee: buymeacoffee.com/theprimedetective [https://buymeacoffee.com/theprimedetective] Special thanks: Izaak Brown: Trek 365 [https://open.spotify.com/show/1Z2mQFDm86fhPozyr3N4XJ] Open Pike Night [https://openpike.com/] Crusher Convo [https://crusherconvo.com/] Captain Goodwill: Trekkin Up North [https://www.instagram.com/trekkinupnorth/] Battlestage Theatrica [https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/battlestage-theatrica/id1796332609] My Figure Universe [https://www.instagram.com/myfigureuniverse/] – Boosting the Signal podcast [https://www.instagram.com/boostingthesignal/] OK Boomer: What are creepypasta [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creepypasta]?

Profiles in Murder

The Link Between Quantico, Hannibal Lecter, and Deep Space Nine Trace the evolution of criminal profiling from its gritty origins in the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit to its transformation into a definitive pop-culture trope. This episode explores the thin line between reality and fiction, connecting the revolutionary work of John Douglas and Robert Ressler to the haunting Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode “Field of Fire.” By analyzing the parallels between Hannibal Lecter, Ezri Dax, and the real-world tragedy of the Columbine High School shooting, the story examines the seductive power—and the documented limitations—of the profiler narrative. It is a journey through the psychological maps used to understand monsters, highlighting how profiling can contextualize the horrors of the past while remaining a deeply imperfect tool for predicting the violence of the future. Credits: This episode of “The Prime Detective” was produced and hosted by Grayson Thagard. Music for “The Prime Detective” is composed by Ben Wise: https://benwise.bandcamp.com/ [https://benwise.bandcamp.com/] Website and publishing support thanks to David Moody, Producer: “Let’s Talk About Treks [https://www.letstalkabouttreks.com/]” The Podcast. Original artwork for “The Prime Detective” by Julie Hendrickson [https://www.linkedin.com/in/julie-hendrickson-4096332/]. Buy me a coffee: buymeacoffee.com/theprimedetective [https://buymeacoffee.com/theprimedetective]

The Star Wars Guy

In Oshawa, Ontario, everyone knew Ken Chopee as “the Star Wars guy.” A lifelong collector of memorabilia, comics, and film artifacts, his identity was built around a galaxy far, far away — until his life came to a violent end in January 2023. In this episode of The Prime Detective, we examine the real-life killing of Ken Chopee, the man behind the nickname, and the events that led to his death inside a micro-housing unit. Drawing on reporting from The Globe and Mail and Oshawa This Week, this story explores addiction, loss, and the fragile line between fandom and identity. But this isn’t just a true crime story. It’s about what we collect. What those collections say about us. And what happens to them — and to us — when we’re gone. Credits: The killing of Oshawa’s ‘Star Wars guy’ has residents wondering what’s happened to their city [https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-oshawa-ken-chopee-death-star-wars/] by Marcus Gee (The Globe and Mail) ‘Live with this regret’: Man sentenced in fentanyl killing of Star Wars memorabilia collector [https://www.durhamregion.com/news/crime/live-with-this-regret-man-sentenced-in-fentanyl-killing-of-star-wars-memorabilia-collector/article_7608070d-22cc-5f22-b708-c42ff2913ccc.html] by Jeremy Grimaldi (Oshawa This Week via DurhamRegion.com) ‘RIP, Ken’: Friends post tributes to Ken Chopee, victim of Oshawa murder [https://www.durhamregion.com/news/rip-ken-friends-post-tributes-to-ken-chopee-victim-of-oshawa-murder/article_544f43ca-8f08-55e3-897c-45733c6207c1.html] by Jeff Mitchell (Oshawa This Week via DurhamRegion.com) “The Prime Detective” is produced and hosted by Grayson Thagard Music for “The Prime Detective” is composed by Ben Wise: https://benwise.bandcamp.com/ [https://benwise.bandcamp.com/] Website and publishing support thanks to David Moody, Producer: “Let’s Talk About Treks [https://www.letstalkabouttreks.com/]” The Podcast Original artwork for “The Prime Detective” by Julie Hendrickson [https://www.linkedin.com/in/julie-hendrickson-4096332/] Buy me a coffee: buymeacoffee.com/theprimedetective [https://buymeacoffee.com/theprimedetective]

Jack the Ripper Was an Alien (According to Star Trek)

Jack the Ripper is history’s most famous unsolved murder case. Five victims. Ten weeks. Zero arrests. But in the 1967 Star Trek episode “Wolf in the Fold,” written by Psycho novelist Robert Bloch, the crew of the Enterprise finally closes the case — and the answer is terrifying. This week on The Prime Detective, we follow Jack the Ripper from the fog of Whitechapel to the pleasure planet of Argelius II, where the Enterprise crew discovers the Ripper isn’t human, isn’t dead, and never stopped killing. Credits: This episode of “The Prime Detective” was produced and hosted by Grayson Thagard. Music for “The Prime Detective” is composed by Ben Wise: https://benwise.bandcamp.com/ [https://benwise.bandcamp.com/] Website and publishing support thanks to David Moody, Producer: “Let’s Talk About Treks [https://www.letstalkabouttreks.com/]” The Podcast. Original artwork for “The Prime Detective” by Julie Hendrickson [https://www.linkedin.com/in/julie-hendrickson-4096332/]. Buy me a coffee: buymeacoffee.com/theprimedetective [https://buymeacoffee.com/theprimedetective]

Vanguard’s Dystopia: NXIVM’s Sci-Fi Nightmare

What does Isaac Asimov’s Second Foundation have to do with one of the most notorious cults in American history? More than you’d think. Keith Raniere — the self-styled “Vanguard” behind NXIVM — didn’t just build a self-help empire. He built it on a twisted reading of science fiction, casting himself as the hero of his own dystopian story. From Asimov’s Foundation series to Star Wars to Battlestar Galactica, sci-fi’s biggest ideas about destiny, control, and transcendence became tools for manipulation, branding, and abuse. In this episode, we trace how NXIVM recruited actors from Smallville and Battlestar Galactica, how Keith Raniere’s racketeering and sex trafficking conviction unraveled his empire, and why science fiction — which warns us about mind control — became the blueprint for it. Featuring references to Sarah Edmondson’s memoir Scarred, HBO’s The Vow, and the 2019 federal trial of Keith Raniere. Credits: This episode of “The Prime Detective” was produced and hosted by Grayson Thagard. Music for “The Prime Detective” is composed by Ben Wise: https://benwise.bandcamp.com/ [https://benwise.bandcamp.com/] Website and publishing support thanks to David Moody, Producer: “Let’s Talk About Treks [https://www.letstalkabouttreks.com/]” The Podcast. Original artwork for “The Prime Detective” by Julie Hendrickson [https://www.linkedin.com/in/julie-hendrickson-4096332/]. Buy me a coffee: buymeacoffee.com/theprimedetective [https://buymeacoffee.com/theprimedetective]