Joseph Sexton

I-

We both agree we're w- strangely attracted to Joe Sexton, right? [laughs]

Uh, strangely or just okay?

With the cigarette hanging out of his mouth unlit.

Mm-hmm

... went out there and covered the case.

And Joe Sexton, you know, kinda doing the same thing here.

And I have realized

So there's that.

But the way the story was so captivating and just even like, I don't know, I kind of fell for Joe Sexton.

I thought he was so funny and so maybe because he like dropped the F-bomb constantly, but I just, which I sort of like, I just thought he was fascinating to watch and to listen to.

And I don't know, pen pal, the whole thing I thought.

Why a killer story?

I mean, I was reached out to by Story Syndicate, who's the production company that ultimately produced the documentary.

This had started with Joe Sexton actually receiving the tip from Eileen.

I mean, the whole genesis of this project was literally how it was portrayed in the series.

They built their own case file from the ground up.

And when no one in the press would listen, Eileen began emailing investigative journalist Joe Sexton, formerly of The New York Times and ProPublica.

She sent him more than two thousand emails before he finally agreed to hear her out.

So what Joe found became the basis for A Killer Story.

This is such an interesting story.

Tell me where, how it found both of you.

Well, it actually found Joe Sexton first.

Um, the origin story is very much like the first minute of the series, which is that Eileen Humbert reached out to Joe when he was, uh, one of the editors of ProPublica.

Well, don't be jealous.

I'm about to interview Joe Sexton from it and the director.

I, and I'm not jealous 'cause I get to listen to this.

Yeah.

The cases now stretch across more than two decades, three separate trials, without forensic evidence ever definitively settling the question of guilt.

The series is told largely through the eyes of investigative journalist Joe Sexton of The New York Times and ProPublica, who became involved in the case after being contacted repeatedly by Eileen and Keane, who are a husband and wife team of citizen sleuths convinced of Chandler's innocence.

It's filmed over six years.

This series follows Sexton as he works through a tangle of family conflict, betrayal, and alleged prosecutorial misconduct.