The Prime Detective

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/ Website and publishing support thanks to David Moody, Producer: “Let’s Talk About Treks” The Podcast. Original artwork for “The Prime Detective” by Julie Hendrickson. Buy me a coffee: buymeacoffee.com/theprimedetective Special thanks:Izaak Brown: Trek 365Open Pike NightCrusher ConvoCaptain Goodwill: Trekkin Up NorthBattlestage TheatricaMy Figure Universe – Boosting the Signal podcast OK Boomer: What are creepypasta?

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/ Website and publishing support thanks to David Moody, Producer: “Let’s Talk About Treks” The Podcast. Original artwork for “The Prime Detective” by Julie Hendrickson. Buy me a coffee: buymeacoffee.com/theprimedetective

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 by Marcus Gee (The Globe and Mail) ‘Live with this regret’: Man sentenced in fentanyl killing of Star Wars memorabilia collector by Jeremy Grimaldi (Oshawa This Week via DurhamRegion.com) ‘RIP, Ken’: Friends post tributes to Ken Chopee, victim of Oshawa murder 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/ Website and publishing support thanks to David Moody, Producer: “Let’s Talk About Treks” The Podcast Original artwork for “The Prime Detective” by Julie Hendrickson Buy me a coffee: buymeacoffee.com/theprimedetective

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/ Website and publishing support thanks to David Moody, Producer: “Let’s Talk About Treks” The Podcast. Original artwork for “The Prime Detective” by Julie Hendrickson. Buy me a coffee: buymeacoffee.com/theprimedetective

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/ Website and publishing support thanks to David Moody, Producer: “Let’s Talk About Treks” The Podcast. Original artwork for “The Prime Detective” by Julie Hendrickson. Buy me a coffee: buymeacoffee.com/theprimedetective

A Star Trek superfan rescues an iconic shuttlecraft from ruin — then gives it away. But his next legendary acquisition, a Wicked Witch hat from The Wizard of Oz, leads somewhere far more complicated: the courtroom. When fandom, collecting, and big money collide, things get messy fast. 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/ Website and publishing support thanks to David Moody, Producer: “Let’s Talk About Treks” The Podcast. Original artwork for “The Prime Detective” by Julie Hendrickson. Buy me a coffee: buymeacoffee.com/theprimedetective

How Star Trek turns nothing into news When a man was arrested in Clearwater, Florida for lewd conduct at a bus stop, it should have been a forgettable local story. Instead, it made national headlines—in the Miami Herald, the New York Post, even Fox News. Why? Because he told police his name was “James Tiberius Kirk.” In this episode, we explore how cultural symbols—from Star Trek captains to shark attacks to self-driving cars—warp our sense of what’s newsworthy. It’s not about the event itself. It’s about the shorthand. The clickbait. The story that writes itself. Sometimes a headline is just a headline. And sometimes, fiction matters more than fact. 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/ Website and publishing support thanks to David Moody, Producer: “Let’s Talk About Treks” The Podcast. Original artwork for “The Prime Detective” by Julie Hendrickson. Buy me a coffee: buymeacoffee.com/theprimedetective

A fatal trust, a hidden life, and a case that shook a fandom. Thomas Krider, known as TJ Greene, was a tour guide at the Star Trek Original Series Set Tour in Ticonderoga, New York, where fans from around the world can walk through meticulously recreated Enterprise sets. An Elvis tribute artist with a warm smile and generous spirit, TJ helped visitors experience Star Trek’s vision of the future up close. But in April 2024, TJ disappeared after telling his wife he was helping an old friend move furniture. Four days later, Ronald Rayher walked into a police station with a confession: There was a body in his basement. What emerged in court was a story no one expected. Claims of secret role-play, homemade chloroform, and a fatal encounter that divided a community. Was this a tragic accident between consenting adults, or reckless manslaughter? This is the story of TJ Greene, the trial that shocked upstate New York, and the question at its center: Where does consent end and criminal responsibility begin? 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/ Website and publishing support thanks to David Moody, Producer: “Let’s Talk About Treks” The Podcast. Original artwork for “The Prime Detective” by Julie Hendrickson. Buy me a coffee: buymeacoffee.com/theprimedetective

“Why did you kill him?” “No reason. I didn’t like the way he looked at me.” It’s the kind of confession that stops an interrogation cold. No jealousy. No rage. No self-defense. Just violence that refuses to explain itself. And when the investigator demands answers, searching for logic where none exists, the senselessness begins to consume him too. This isn’t a cold case from the archives. It’s from Star Trek: Voyager, 1996—an episode so psychologically dark it shattered the franchise’s utopian foundation. But it didn’t come from nowhere. Executive producer Michael Piller was haunted by the nightly news: nuns murdered in their convents, commuters gunned down on trains, children thrown from bridges. Acts that defied human comprehension. Then in 2011, life imitated art. A sailor opened fire aboard a nuclear submarine—a sealed vessel of ultimate trust turned into a crime scene. A starship. A submarine. The difference is mostly aesthetic. The fear is the same. What do you do with violence that has no reason 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/ Website and publishing support thanks to David Moody, Producer: “Let’s Talk About Treks” The Podcast. Original artwork for “The Prime Detective” by Julie Hendrickson. Buy me a coffee: buymeacoffee.com/theprimedetective

Four mysterious letters appear at the bottom of a ransom note left at the scene of one of America’s most infamous unsolved murders: S.B.T.C. Nobody knows what they mean. Religious symbolism? A military reference? Or, as JonBenét’s father himself once suggested, could they stand for “Star Based Technical Command”. This week on The Prime Detective, we explore the bizarre intersection between the JonBenét Ramsey case and the Final Frontier. From a Star Trek poster glimpsed in crime scene footage to one faction of online sleuths nicknamed “The Borg,” we examine how science fiction has shaped the language, theories, and obsessions surrounding this tragic mystery. Content Warning: Discussion of child murder 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/ Website and publishing support thanks to David Moody, Producer: “Let’s Talk About Treks” The Podcast. Original artwork for “The Prime Detective” by Julie Hendrickson. Buy me a coffee: buymeacoffee.com/theprimedetective

In February 2009, a would-be robber walked into a Colorado Springs 7-Eleven wielding a bat’leth, a Klingon sword from Star Trek: The Next Generation. No injuries. No arrests. Just a surreal police report, a question about why this weapon, and what it may have meant to the person holding it. 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/ Website and publishing support thanks to David Moody, Producer: “Let’s Talk About Treks” The Podcast. Artwork for “The Prime Detective” is by Julie Hendrickson. Buy me a coffee: buymeacoffee.com/theprimedetective

What happens when a story about saving humanity becomes an instruction manual for destroying it? In Japan, a cult found its answers in Isaac Asimov’s Foundation. 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/ Website and publishing support thanks to David Moody, Producer: “Let’s Talk About Treks” The Podcast. Artwork for “The Prime Detective” is by Julie Hendrickson. Buy me a coffee: buymeacoffee.com/theprimedetective

On Star Trek: Voyager, and now on Starfleet Academy, Robert Picardo’s portrayal of the Emergency Medical Hologram, or EMH, embodied ethics, compassion, and the hope that technology at its best could serve humans facing their worst. But in 2014, the actor behind the character found his name caught up in something far less utopian: A real-world murder case that blurred the line between private pain and public scandal, and showed how the halo of a beloved sci-fi franchise like Star Trek can pull even the messiest human headlines into its orbit. 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/ Website and publishing support thanks to David Moody, Producer: “Let’s Talk About Treks” The Podcast. Artwork for “The Prime Detective” is by Julie Hendrickson. Buy me a coffee: buymeacoffee.com/theprimedetective

Content note: Suicide In March of 1997, the Hale-Bopp comet lit up the night sky — the brightest comet visible in decades. For most of us, it was a wonder of nature. But for one small group in California, it was a signal: a way to reach what their wide-eyed leader called the Next Level. Thirty-nine people were convinced that to reach that next plane of existence, they would need to leave their human containers behind — and join the comet on its cosmic journey. This is the story of the largest mass suicide in U.S. history, and how science fiction, especially Star Trek, shaped the language, symbolism, and beliefs that led them there. If you or someone you know is struggling, help is available. Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (U.S.): Call or text 988International resources: findahelpline.com 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/ Website and publishing support thanks to David Moody, Producer: “Let’s Talk About Treks” The Podcast. Artwork for “The Prime Detective” is by Julie Hendrickson. Buy me a coffee: buymeacoffee.com/theprimedetective

This week: A special preview episode from Let’s Talk About Treks, a weekly Star Trek podcast hosted by the enigmatic Earl Grey and jaQ` Darino (aka David Moody). Their tagline is “an episodic review of today’s visions of the future,” and most weeks, they’re doing exactly that — breaking down new episodes of Star Trek as they air. From Strange New Worlds to Star Trek Scouts and everything in between. They have been incredibly supportive of The Prime Detective. David, for example, was instrumental in guiding me through all the back end podcasting shenanigans, and they’ve trusted me with this abbreviated preview from a show that normally lives behind a paywall. It’s called Segment 31 — a looser, more conversational series where David and Earl wander off the bridge and talk about whatever’s on their minds: Comic books, politics, dog shows, time travel… and occasionally, science fiction fandom itself. Today’s episode comes from that Patreon-only feed. This particular Segment 31 centers on David’s trip with his partner Chris to Chicago in 2024 for a Battlestar Galactica convention — and the genuinely wonderful way he chose to commemorate it. See the image David had signed at the con here. “Let’s Talk About Treks” is available at letstalkabouttreks.com or wherever you listen to podcasts. 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/ Website and publishing support thanks to David Moody, Producer: “Let’s Talk About Treks” The Podcast. “The Prime Detective” logo was created by Julie Hendrickson. Buy me a coffee: buymeacoffee.com/theprimedetective

A stolen jewel, a Christmas goose, and the galaxy’s most logical half-Vulcan walk into a mystery… and somehow the trail leads straight to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. This holiday special unpacks one of Star Trek’s strangest canonical quirks: Spock casually claiming Sherlock Holmes as an “ancestor.” Was he talking about the fictional detective? The real-life author who created Holmes? Or neither?From The Blue Carbuncle, to The Great Keinplatz Experiment, we follow the breadcrumbs Doyle left through Victorian literature, Trek canon repairs, Vulcan body-swaps, and a family tree with more dead ends than a London cul-de-sac.Pour some cocoa and join us as we unwrap how Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and Mr. Spock end up exchanging gifts across two centuries and one imaginary cosmos. Special thanks to:Open Pike Night – Watch their full interview with writers Dana Horgan & Kathryn Lyn here: Strange New Words: A Space Adventure HourJason Usry – Listen to his delightful audio drama “Santa Maybe, a Criminal” on your favorite podcast player. 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/ Website and publishing support thanks to David Moody, Producer: “Let’s Talk About Treks” The Podcast. “The Prime Detective” logo was created by Julie Hendrickson. Buy me a coffee: buymeacoffee.com/theprimedetective

In 1968, Star Trek tried to save its sinking ratings by casting celebrity lawyer Melvin Belli as a glowing space ghost. A year later, the Zodiac Killer demanded to speak with that same lawyer live on television. This episode traces the bizarre overlap between sci-fi and true crime — from stunt casting, to the Jack Ruby trial, to the hoax call on The Jim Dunbar Show — and how David Fincher turned it all into one of the best true-crime films. 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/ Website and publishing support thanks to David Moody, Producer: “Let’s Talk About Treks” The Podcast. Artwork for “The Prime Detective” is by Julie Hendrickson. Buy me a coffee: buymeacoffee.com/theprimedetective

He once played a child caught between identities on Star Trek: The Next Generation. Years later, Brian Bonsall learned someone had stolen his real one—copying his tattoos, adopting his persona, and using it to prey on women nationwide. This is the story of the impersonation that became a crime spree, and the investigation that finally brought the imposter down. 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/ Website and publishing support thanks to David Moody, Producer: “Let’s Talk About Treks” The Podcast. Artwork for “The Prime Detective” is by Julie Hendrickson. Buy me a coffee: buymeacoffee.com/theprimedetective

In 2001, Jeri Ryan — then rising to fame as Seven of Nine on Star Trek: Voyager — became the center of one of America’s first cyberstalking convictions. What began as hundreds of explicit and bizarre messages turned into a historic case that tested California’s brand-new cyberstalking laws. This episode of The Prime Detective traces how Ryan endured her own “Year of Hell,” and how fiction once again bled into the real world. 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/ Website and publishing support thanks to David Moody, Producer: “Let’s Talk About Treks” The Podcast. Artwork for “The Prime Detective” is by Julie Hendrickson. Buy me a coffee: buymeacoffee.com/theprimedetective

Happy Thanksgiving! Instead of a new true crime, strange coincidence or cultural controversy this week, we’re pausing to give thanks to one of the inspirations behind The Prime Detective. This week’s special features an exclusive preview from the daily podcast that inspired the tight, short-form structure of our show: Trek 365! Host Izaak Brown—who was instrumental in encouraging the launch of The Prime Detective—has given us advance access to one of his final 365-second episodes for 2025. A high-energy, deeply nerdy breakdown of one of the most morally complex episodes in Star Trek history: Deep Space Nine’s “In the Pale Moonlight.” Get ready for rapid-fire jokes, dozens of cameos from some of your favorite Star Trek podcasters, and an appearance from a special guest! It’s a fun and fast contrast to our usual style! 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/ Website and publishing support thanks to David Moody, Producer: “Let’s Talk About Treks” The Podcast. Artwork for “The Prime Detective” is by Julie Hendrickson. Buy me a coffee: buymeacoffee.com/theprimedetective

How a Montreal murder trial pulled a hit Netflix series into the courtroom. A 24-year-old artist, Romane Bonnier, was murdered in broad daylight near McGill University. Her killer, François Pelletier, didn’t just confess — he wrapped the crime in a bizarre pop-culture narrative, calling himself the “Chief antagonist of the Black Mirror Society” and naming his plan “Operation Wrath of Heaven.” And in one of the strangest twists in Canadian legal history, the jury asked to watch an actual episode of Black Mirror during deliberations. This episode unpacks how a toxic breakup turned into a premeditated killing, why prosecutors fought over Pelletier’s mental state, and how an episode of a sci-fi cult classic unexpectedly ended up in front of a jury deciding a real life-and-death verdict. 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/ Website and publishing support thanks to David Moody, Producer: “Let’s Talk About Treks” The Podcast. Artwork for “The Prime Detective” is by Julie Hendrickson. Buy me a coffee: buymeacoffee.com/theprimedetective

When actor Malcolm McDowell ‘killed’ Captain Kirk on screen in Star Trek: Generations, some fans couldn’t separate fantasy from reality. This episode investigates the bizarre, real-life consequences: The death threats, the involvement of a Deep Space Nine actor with surprising ties to McDowell, and the strange LAPD security detail assigned to a man whose only crime was reading a script. This week: How one fictional death led to a genuine security nightmare. 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/ Artwork for “The Prime Detective” is by Julie Hendrickson.Website and publishing support thanks to David Moody, Producer: “Let’s Talk About Treks” The Podcast. Buy me a coffee: buymeacoffee.com/theprimedetective

In 1996, a Star Trek fan named Barbara Adams showed up for federal jury duty wearing a full Starfleet uniform—tricorder, phaser, and all. She wasn’t just making a statement… she was making headlines. In this episode of The Prime Detective, Grayson investigates the real-life consequences of one woman’s cosplay in a courtroom tied to the Whitewater scandal, and how fandom sometimes finds its way into the halls of power. Links:The Spokesman Review/AP: Star Trek fan Dismissed from Whitewater Jury International Federation of Trekkers Barbara Adams at Hidden Little Rock “Trekkies” review at Entertainment Weekly The Washington Post’s Whitewater archiveCredits: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/ Artwork for “The Prime Detective” is by Julie Hendrickson.Website and publishing support thanks to David Moody, Producer: “Let’s Talk About Treks” The Podcast. Buy me a coffee: buymeacoffee.com/theprimedetective

Halloween’s most infamous killer hides behind a Captain Kirk mask. From a Hollywood magic shop to Shatner’s own confirmation, discover how Star Trek’s fearless captain became Michael Myers’ terrifying face. Links:Mike Myers mask at Amazon Was Michael Myers’ Halloween Mask William Shatner’s Face? startrek.com Bryan Fuller chose the Discovery‘s registry number, 1031, because he loves Halloween: Memory Alpha Devil’s Rain movie: Wikipedia Halloween behind the scenes: HalloweenMovies.com 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/ Artwork for “The Prime Detective” is by Julie Hendrickson.Website and publishing support thanks to David Moody, Producer: “Let’s Talk About Treks” The Podcast.

Cathy DeBuono was a background actor on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, playing one of Quark’s casino hostesses — known as “dabo girls.” But in real life, she helped expose a Hollywood predator whose scam auditions led to murder. This episode of The Prime Detective follows DeBuono’s close call, the testimony of women like Alice Walker, and the 2006 conviction of Victor Paleologus. Links:NBC News: He posed as a Hollywood hotshot. He was actually a ‘master manipulator’ with a dark fantasy Dateline NBC: The Girl with the Hibiscus Tattoo 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/ Artwork for “The Prime Detective” is by Julie Hendrickson.Website and publishing support thanks to David Moody, Producer: “Let’s Talk About Treks” The Podcast. Buy me a coffee: buymeacoffee.com/theprimedetective

True crimes, strange coincidences, and cultural controversies that collide with the Final Frontier. In 2020, a Long Island grandmother surrendered her license plate and gave up driving for good. But that’s when the traffic tickets started arriving — from cities she’d never visited, for violations she couldn’t possibly have committed. And they all pointed back to the same number. LINKS: How a Star Trek Fan Gets Traffic Violations Without a Car – Inside Edition via YouTubeGrandmother gets hundreds of false tickets due to Star Trek vanity plates – Jonathan Edwards, The Washington PostWoman sent $16K in fines linked to old license plate – WNBC New York via YouTubeLong Island woman’s Star Trek novelty license plate saga finally comes to an end – CBS New York via YouTube 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/ Artwork for “The Prime Detective” is by Julie Hendrickson.Website and publishing support thanks to David Moody, Producer: “Let’s Talk About Treks” The Podcast.

There are weak spots in the fabric of our reality, places where Star Trek and other science fiction stories spill over into real life. The Prime Detective is a short-form true crime and culture podcast that investigates those cracks between fact and fiction. Host Grayson (@TVGuyGrayson on social media) uncovers the unexpected ways sci-fi has inspired, and sometimes interfered with, real-world crimes, strange cases, and cultural controversies. From headline-grabbing stories like the unsolved murder of JonBenet Ramsey and the Heaven’s Gate cult, to smaller slices of life like a woman whose license plate tribute to the starship Enterprise racked up thousands in fines, each episode runs ten minutes or less and uncovers surprising connections between sci-fi and true crime. Join us as we investigate the places where science fiction collides with reality… on The Prime Detective.