A Must Listen

New true crime podcast with CultureMap ties dives deep into baffling case

If you've got a true crime addiction (and don't we all?), here's another podcast to add to your list. Final Days on Earth comes from investigative journalist Claire St. Amant, a development producer for CBS News who just happens to be a former CultureMap Dallas editor.

St. Amant has produced over 20 episodes of the true-crime television show 48 Hours since she joined CBS News in 2014, along with a handful of stories for 60 Minutes. But she began researching her latest subject while at CultureMap, where Texas-based murders and mysteries were often part of her beat.

Final Days on Earth premiered on April 20 and focuses on Dammion Heard, a college wrestler who vanished after a party in 2014 in Gunnison, Colorado. After a six-month investigation, Gunnison Police ruled Heard's death a suicide, but his friends and family have always wondered if foul play was involved.

The 12-part podcast from Cold Case Productions and PodcastOne covers his baffling disappearance through police interviews with witnesses from the party and Dammion's friends in 2014, as well as original interviews conducted in real time as the podcast is being produced. It debuted at No. 30 on the true crime podcast charts, and is sure to keep climbing.

We chatted with St. Amant about her foray into podcasting, why this case has stuck with her all these years, and why she's hopeful that new witnesses will come forward to shed light on Heard's death.

CultureMap: How did you first become interested in the Dammion Heard case?

CSA: I was actually the managing editor of CultureMap Dallas when Dammion's story first came across my desk in April 2014. It was a compelling story to me because of how suddenly Dammion's life was turned upside down. One day, he's a rising star on the wrestling team, with tons of friends and close relationships with his family, and then he just disappears out of thin air.

The college freshman walked into a party and had no idea it would be the last night of his life. It's just such a tragic turn of events on a seemingly normal night that I had to know more about who Dammion was and what events led up to his disappearance and death.

I never imagined my reporting journey would last this long — seven years and counting — but believe I'm closer than ever to getting the answers that Dammion's family has been looking for ever since his death.

CM: How did the podcast come about?

CSA: I was contacted by a recruiter in 2018 about hosting a true crime podcast and she pitched me on a bunch of different cases, but none of them felt like the right fit for me. I already focus on true crime cases for CBS News, so I have a pretty high threshold of what kinds of cases that I find interesting.

There was a local newspaper poll that came out after Gunnison Police ruled Dammion's case as a suicide, and 85 percent of respondents said they did not believe that police were justified in closing the investigation. I realized it wasn't only Dammion's family who had questions about the suicide ruling, and I wanted to see if I could help find some answers.

Dammion's story had so much material — the Gunnison Police Department conducted 47 recorded interviews with witnesses in the case — and it had never been heard by the public. When I got ahold of that raw audio, it was a jaw dropping moment. I realized it was a podcast waiting to happen, and I wanted to be the one to put it together.

CM: What extra reporting have you done for the podcast?

CSA: I've conducted over 35 interviews of my own for the podcast, and in June 2020, I roadtripped to Gunnison and spent a week reporting on location. The cornerstone of my reporting was putting together a timeline of Dammion's final days on earth and the ones following his disappearance, before police found his body.

The police file on Dammion's case was 187 pages long, but it was just a listing of individual reports from three different investigators. No one had ever taken the time to go through everything and put all the events in order.

Using eyewitness statements, bank records, cellphone data, and information from Western Colorado University about Dammion's ID card usage, I constructed a timeline that paints a much clearer picture than anyone has ever seen in this case.

CM: What was the experience of putting it together like?

CSA: It was a lot harder and took a lot longer than I ever could have imagined when I started the process back in 2018. But I've learned so much about every aspect of podcast production. In the beginning, it took me a week to put together one episode, and it was so stressful handling all the technical aspects of audio editing. But around the third episode, I really hit my stride and got into a rhythm.

CM: Did you discover anything new while making it?

CSA: Absolutely. You'll have to listen to the full season to get all the details, but suffice it to say I've found new witnesses and consulted experts from all over the world, as close as McKinney and as far away as Germany, to get insight and answers that no one else has about Dammion's case.

CM: Do you think this case could benefit from increased exposure and renewed interest from the public?

CSA: Definitely. There are key witnesses in Dammion's case who have never been identified, even though there are vehicle descriptions and other pieces of identifying information available. We need the public's help to get these descriptions out there and hopefully compel someone to come forward and share what they know about Dammion's case.

CM: What are some of your favorite podcasts?

CSA: Oh man, so many! The classics for me will always be season one of Serial and season one of Up and Vanished. More recently, my favorite podcasts of 2020-2021 were season two of American Nightmare; Murder in a Safe Place with Paul Wagner; and Tom Brown's Body, the first podcast from Skip Hollandsworth at Texas Monthly.

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New episodes of Final Days on Earth with Claire St. Amantare released every Tuesday on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and all other podcast listening platforms. The 12-episode series runs through July 6.

Original CultureMap Dallas managing editor Claire St. Amant.

Courtesy photo

Original CultureMap Dallas managing editor Claire St. Amant.

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Movie Review

Long-awaited Wicked movie adaptation lives up to the hype

Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures

Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande-Butera in Wicked.

The musical Wicked is indisputably the biggest Broadway smash of the 21st century, having grossed more $1.6 billion in New York alone and achieving the rare feat of running for over 20 years. All of which is to say that the long-awaited movie adaptation of The Wizard of Oz prequel will most likely be a massive success whether it lives up to what longtime fans envisioned or not.

Part one — yes, this 2 hour and 40 minute film is merely the first act of the musical; part two arrives a year from now — introduces Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), the green-skinned witch who goes on to become Dorothy’s nemesis, and G(a)linda (Ariana Grande-Butera), the pink-garbed “good” witch, as they meet at Shiz University in Oz. Glinda is the ultra-popular one with sycophantic hangers-on, while Elphaba is shunned by almost everyone, sometimes including her disabled sister Nessarose (Marissa Bode), who’s desperate to make her own space away from Elphaba.

Her mistreatment by others leads Elphaba to get angry, which manifests itself in uncontrollable magic. Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh) notices this and takes a personal interest in her, giving her one-on-one instruction in hopes of harnessing her power. In the meantime, Elphaba and Glinda attempt to go from forced roommates to actual friends, although Glinda’s entitled personality is more of an obstacle than anything else they encounter.

Directed by Jon M. Chu and written by original book writer Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox, the film does a great job of distinguishing itself from the stage version while still remaining true to what made it so beloved. As Chu showed in his last film, In the Heights, he has an innate feel for how to tap into the essence of the source material while expanding it into something befitting the scope of a blockbuster movie.

In this case, he finds a way to give even greater emphasis to the bigotry that Elphaba faces simply because of her green skin; the fact that she is being played by a Black woman drives home the point even more. The story remains light and fluffy for the most part, but the ostracization/otherness that Elphaba feels is delivered in a powerful way, as is her empathy for talking animals like Dr. Dillamond (voiced by Peter Dinklage), who are facing their own persecution.

Of course, the highlight of the film is Stephen Schwartz’s music, and while not all of the songs are equal in impact, they still make for a cohesive whole. The number of songs and order they appear in the first act is identical to the stage musical, with the standouts remaining “The Wizard and I,” “Popular,” and “Defying Gravity.” While there is some superfluous action and cutaways added to certain numbers, it’s not enough to distract from what makes the songs effective.

Oddly, the progression of the friendship between Elphaba and Glinda works better on stage when the timeline is accelerated, but Erivo and Grande-Butera make up for this slight lack with their fantastic performances. The emotion each brings to their characters fits them almost perfectly, and there’s simply no denying the strength of each of their voices. Bode, Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero, Ethan Slater as Boq, and more make for a solid supporting cast.

The well-known ending of the first act of Wicked is a huge high point that is so good that it almost makes up for the fact that audiences won’t see the second film for a long time. But if part one is any indication, part two should turn out to be another great musical theater adaptation in a decade that has already seen its fair share.

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Wicked opens in theaters on November 22.

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