# S21 Ep95: The Politics Of Murder: The Power and Ambition Behind "The Altar Boy Murder Case" w/Margo Nash

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/darkness-radio-470582/s21-ep95-the-politics-of-murder-the-power-and-ambition-behind-the-altar-boy-murder-case-w-margo-nash
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/darkness-radio-470582/s21-ep95-the-politics-of-murder-the-power-and-ambition-behind-the-altar-boy-murder-case-w-margo-nash.md
Podcast: [Darkness Radio](https://stenobird.com/podcast/darkness-radio-470582)
Published: 2026-08-11T08:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://audioboom.com/posts/8938238
Audio file: https://prfx.byspotify.com/e/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/audioboom.com/posts/8938238.mp3?modified=1786414318&sid=5080242&source=rss
Processing state: not_requested
JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/darkness-radio-470582/episodes/s21-ep95-the-politics-of-murder-the-power-and-ambition-behind-the-altar-boy-murder-case-w-margo-nash
Duration seconds: 9390

## Resource

True Crime Tuesday presents: The Politics Of Murder: The Power and Ambition Behind "The Altar Boy Murder Case" with Litigator/Author, Margo Nash! On a hot July night in 1995, Janet Downing was stabbed 98 times inside her Somerville, Massachusetts, home. Within hours, police identified 15-year-old Eddie O'Brien, the best friend of one of her sons, as the suspect. Eddie had no criminal history, no clear motive, and no apparent opportunity. Yet his case emerged during a national panic over juvenile "superpredators," when Massachusetts officials were pushing to prosecute more children as adults. His highly publicized trial helped change the state's juvenile laws. Attorney Margo Nash, appointed as Eddie's guardian ad litem, attended every court session and later gained access to the case files, forensic reports, and trial transcripts. Her conclusion was disturbing: Eddie could not have committed the murder. On today's TCT, Margo Nash joins the show to talk about what went wrong with Eddie O'Brien that fateful night, how different people and circumstances failed an innocent boy, what can be done to free an innocent man after over thirty years of incarceration, and an update as to how Eddie is doing despite pressures from within the penal system to give in to bad behaviors! Get your copy of "The Politics Of Murder" here: https://wildbluepress.com/politics-of-murder-2nd-edition-margo-nash-true-crime/ PLUS AN ALL-NEW DUMB CRIMES/STUPID CRIMINALS WITH JESSICA FREEBURG! Jessica Freeburg is offering a new program on her website! STOP SHRINKING: A 30 Day Path to Calm Inner Authority is for everyone who finds themselves: - Overthinking - People Pleasing - Replaying Conversations for hours - Shrinking when you want to speak - Reacting when you wish you had stayed calm. THIS COURSE WA…

## Actions

- request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/darkness-radio-470582/episodes/s21-ep95-the-politics-of-murder-the-power-and-ambition-behind-the-altar-boy-murder-case-w-margo-nash/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.
- read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/darkness-radio-470582/s21-ep95-the-politics-of-murder-the-power-and-ambition-behind-the-altar-boy-murder-case-w-margo-nash.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.

A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed.

## Transcript

Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.