In Court TV's "Accomplice to Murder" Host Vinnie Politan Delves Into a Seldom Explored Element of True Crime

"I'll play pickleball or try to watch a comedy, but my wife and I will end up watching some true crime docuseries," he shared during an exclusive interview with MediaVillage. "I don't know, it's running through my veins, so even though I do decompress from it, it's always there because of a natural interest I have in the subject matter."

Besides hosting, Politan is actively involved in the story selection, using his extensive knowledge of prior cases. "There's an ongoing conversation with the executive producer about that," he explained. "I've been on Court TV for a long time, and in most of the cases we highlight, I was either anchoring or may have been a correspondent in the field. I'll throw a lot of [those] at our EP's, but the concept is, it's an accomplice to murder. You have to have more than one person involved, and you want stories where there's something to it. It's not a couple of guys getting together and robbing a bank [who] kill someone. There's much more to the relationship, and the back story, which starts with the relationship between the principal and the accomplice.

"How did this relationship get someone who otherwise may have been living a relatively ordinary life wrapped up in the middle of a murder case?" he continued. "They're not the ones who had the motive to take someone else's life. But because of that relationship, they somehow end up getting wrapped up in the whole thing. It's about the how, and the why, they got in the middle of it. We also look at the aftermath, which includes what happened to that relationship, those close to the victim, and what happened in terms of any further court proceedings resulting from that moment."

Politan believes the keyword to someone being manipulated into becoming an accomplice is always "relationship." It's something he finds fascinating. "For me, it's about understanding a relationship's dynamics," he said. "We have very young people being manipulated by older people. For some, it's burning love. Many times, it's the female [in] the relationship who ends up getting dragged into a murder plot. What's interesting is, over the course of the crime they've been on board. Yet, going to trial, they try to separate themselves as much as possible [as] they're not the principle.

"That doesn't surprise me," he added. "It goes back to that initial part of the stories we're telling, which is the nature of the relationship and the dynamic. I'm always surprised anyone living a normal life, not addicted to whatever, sees the solution to a problem is going along with someone else to take another life. It's the ultimate crime in our society and getting to that level, it would seem it would take more. But sometimes it doesn't."

Ultimately, Politan hopes the series will wave a red flag, and if people see something, say something. "There are a lot of nuances to these stories," he said. "The reason our laws punish and hold accomplices accountable is they're engaging in conduct that results in the loss of life. It's the action they could refrain from taking that would have saved [an] individual. [We] put that out there as a deterrent for others to not get involved in murder plots. The cases we've chosen have different scenarios. With some, at the end of the episode you may say, 'Yeah, of course, this person should be doing life in prison.' In others, you may say, 'Was that fair?' You'll see the way that juries and appeals courts have handled all those issues."

Testimonials from those affected by these cases, who often feel justice was not served, and are usually happy to share their story, play an important part in the series -- as do those from convicted accomplices who are usually enthusiastic to revisit their case. "It depends on how things ended up," Politan explained. "We're finding people who lost the trial, or an appeal, are more willing to talk. They're [now] locked up and looking for anyone to hear their story because in their minds as accomplices [they are thinking], 'I didn't commit the murder. I didn't do it so why am I in prison for the rest of my life?' No lawyer is saying, 'Don't say anything, it could hurt you.' They're looking for anyone to hear their story and [possibly] help.

"For me, the most difficult thing is interviewing victims and accomplice's families," he said in closing. "It's really, really tough. But I think it's important and I do it at every opportunity I have. Even in my job as a prosecutor, it wasn't about just convicting someone, it was about the truth. You want the truth of what happened and by exposing the truth, I feel like what I'm doing is important."

Accomplice to Murder with Vinnie Politan is telecast Sundays at 8 p.m. on Court TV.

Click the social buttons to share this content with your friends and colleagues.

The opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author and/or subject(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillage.com/MyersBizNet, Inc. management or associated writers.