The Last Broadcast

I'd come to this project with many

of the same assumptions that you have,

concerning the Jersey double murders

and the guilt of Jim Suerd.

His characterization is a troubled young man,

responsible for a spree of horrific,

ritualistic homicides in the Pine Barrens.

The question in my mind was why?

Why would a man commit such crimes?

After reviewing hours of archived footage

generated by Steven Avkast and Locus Wheeler,

the hosts of "Fact or Fiction",

I've been forced to change my perspective.

The question now for me is what?

What really happened that night

and is Jim Suerd truly responsible?

Ironically, in the course of this project,

Jim Suerd has died in prison under mysterious causes.

His death will forever shroud the reconciliation

of this case.

As they said on "Fact or Fiction", "You decide."

911, what is your emergency?

My name is Jim Suerd.

I just hitchhiked here from...

from the middle of pine barrens

and I can't seem to get,

I can't seem to find the people

that I was in the Pine Barrens with,

and I was camping with them last night doing a project

Are you lost?

I'm not lost.

I'm just trying, I can't find the people

who drove me here and,

You know I looked around for them

and I went back to the site where we had parked

and they're not at the van

and they're nowhere to be found

like I don't know where they are.

Their vehicle is still there?

The vehicle's still there and I had to

hitchhike to this payphone.

How far are you from the vehicle right now?

I'm about five five,

somewhere you know five, 10 miles from it I don't know.

Okay, Jim.

We'll send someone out.

Yeah it would be a good idea,

I got a really bad feeling about it.

You might want to send somebody out quickly,

I have a bad feeling-

- WBRK time it is five o'clock.

It's time for that afternoon drive that you love so much.

Hey, guess who made missing reports?

It's those hosts from "Fact or Fiction".

Missing. Ha

Bob, you know those guys gonna be showing up sometime

in the next day saying, "Surprise did you miss us?"

Let's go to the phones and we'll ask you.

Do you miss them?

We have found bodies.

At this time we don't know who they are,

or how many we have found.

We cannot assume at this time that it is

the "Fact or Fiction" crew.

At this time, we have arrested Jim Suerd

for the murders of Rein Clackin and Locus Wheeler.

Behind me is a house where Jim Suerd

resided until his arrest nearly seven months ago.

Inside, amongst his dirty laundry, blood evidence was found,

linking him to the grisly "Fact or Fiction" murders.

Today, Jim's own life hangs in the balance

as jurors decide his fate.

I had heard of the "Fact or Fiction" murders.

They were big news for a period of one year,

and then like so many things in today's fast-paced world,

were forgotten.

I was intrigued by how this case, this story,

was so well documented.

How, in spite of the remote location of the murders,

and the rural nature of the people prosecuting Jim,

that these were murders of a high tech age.

I was intrigued by the fact that the four individuals

were indeed children of a digital age.

Mostly though, I wondered why the man named Jim Suerd

would commit such horrendous acts of violence.

- This is Johnny- - And Locus.

- And we are live in the Pine Barrens where tonight

we are doing a first-ever, internet broadcast, cable,

ham radio, broadcast all live, all real

and we are doing it with the help of a psychic

and a sound man

who has the ability to record sounds from other worlds,

otherworldly sounds.

Yeah, that's right, Steven.

We're here in the Pine Barrens southern New Jersey

live and direct, coming right at you

in your living room, first-ever web

simulcast cable-cast and everybody

is on the edge of their seat and I know you are,

because I am and I'm sure Steven is too.

- A little later we're gonna be showing you the campsite,

but right now we're gonna do a little recapping,

and you're gonna see some tape of the history of the legend

of the Pine Barrens and the Jersey Devil.

- They actually lived their show, "Fact or Fiction".

Here's this real eerie circumstances that come to play

And they were actually the victims of it.

He had the opportunity.

It appears as if he had the motive.

He did lure those people up there in a in a veil of secrecy.

I would say yeah he fits the profile.

Who was Jim Suerd?

The answer proved more difficult than I imagined.

His mother had died four months before the murders,

His father, five years before.

The only two people that I was able to speak with

that knew him personally were his landlady,

Joyce Dryer and a childhood psychologist

named Dr. Dale Orstall.

- I was sort of a father figure to him, I feel.

Sort of a surrogate father, if you will.

He didn't talk a whole lot about his family life

but one of the things I know

is that his father left them when he was very young,

ran off with another woman.

He had few friends if any.

Very reclusive.

I remember him being quite a loner.

He seemed to stay in his room quite a bit

when he wasn't at work.

And the computer seemed to be a highlight

in his in his life.

With the advent of the Internet,

of course he got into that years after I was seeing him.

It wasn't even available I don't think at the time.

It opened up a whole new world

for a guy like Jim.

- Often he would be on the internet with people

and as we know the horrible situation

that has come up because of the internet fiasco,

with him being blamed for these murders.

The internet was the first of two interests

that would attach him to the "Fact or Fiction"

television show.

The second interest was a bit more obscure.

Jim had this fascination for magic.

I mean a true fascination,

I mean he like I told you he was very reclusive

so I believe he must have spent countless hours

in his room alone

working on tricks.

And he used to come in and start the sessions and he had to

show me a new trick and often

was a simple card trick but very quickly he

built skills and became very proficient at magic.

The internet and magic,

both interests generally considered harmless.

Both interests that could have a sinister edge to them.

Either way, it was a combination that virtually

sealed his fate in meeting Steven Avkast and Locus Wheeler,

The hosts of "Fact or Fiction".

Welcome to "Fact or Fiction".

Welcome to "Fact or Fiction".

Yes we are rolling.

We are on we are ready to go.

Locus you joker, you knew it all along that we were on,

didn't you?

Yeah welcome to our new show,

well actually it's not a new show, it's got a new name.

Thanks to everybody out there who helped us come up

with this great name,

"Fact or Fiction"

That's right.

"Fact or Fiction" was one of those fluke successes

that no television producer would ever predict.

Short on production value, talent and execution,

It maintained a following of youth probably more amused

by its Kitsch value than anything else.

Steven Avkast, the creator of "Fact or Fiction"

is remembered.

- Steven, I always got bad bad vibes about Steven,

you know he always came in here with this,

you know attitude that you know,

all he was doing is making a little cable show.

I mean, nobody ever goes anywhere with this stuff.

But he had this idea

he was destined for stardom and was gonna be rich, you know

millions of dollars and you know he basically

had that that big you know

director stereotype that you think of,

you know, you think of the big

Hollywood directors and I mean he really

just had to put it in perspective.

Steven's longtime friend, Locus Wheeler,

was the co-host of the show.

Their pairing was like oil and water.

Locus, I think,

he and Steven would have problems

getting along sometimes but I think

Locus, he knew what he was doing.