True crime podcast ‘Over My Dead Body: Fox Lake’ uncovers the many secrets of a shot police officer
Wondery’s “Over My Dead Body” is a true crime series in its third season titled “Fox Lake.” In 2015, a police officer called “GI Joe” was shot in a swamp. His death received national media coverage until an investigator started digging and uncovered truths about the officer’s sketchy life.
As the town was shocked with the truth, the community came to terms with betrayal and secrets. They began to reconsider who gets to be called an American hero. Joe Gliniewicz was the 25th cop to be shot that year, and his death entered a greater, national conversation about guns and police violence.
In the first episode, Detective George Filenko, police chief from a neighboring town, set out to find the killer and was interviewed for this series. “Fox Lake” is hosted by writer Matt Baglio whose books include Argo: The True Account of the 1979 Rescue of Six American Hostages from Iran and The Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcist. Matt brings his researching expertise to “Over My Dead Body.”
Matt traveled to the blue collar boating town, Fox Lake, Illinois, a historically rumored hotspot for gangster activity and folks like Al Capone.
Joe was described as an uber-fit guy, physically prepared for any threat, who would scour the town for crime: this is what he was supposedly doing when he was gunned down. Did Joe pull the trigger on himself?
On the morning of his death, Joe stopped at a swamp-side, abandoned cement plant that was targeted by squatters.
Joe volunteered to check on it and told the police dispatcher that three suspicious men caught his attention, and originally said he did not need backup. He changed his mind, asked for help, and jumped from his car toward the swamp. In 5 minutes, three other officers arrived but could not locate Joe. They heard a sound, followed it, and found Joe’s dead body. His gun holster was empty. The officers quickly checked their surroundings and did not find anyone in the woods.
The officers returned to the police station to find Joe’s distraught wife, Melody. The town was placed under lockdown and 300+ cops arrived to divide up the investigation. SWAT teams, the FBI, Secret Service, and even the ATF showed up, heading to the crime scene to search for evidence.
The FBI began to suspect the death was not a homicide. The records Joe left behind painted a different picture than his clean cut public persona. Evidence of fraud and more were discovered, including misusing his badge and stealing from the police department’s youth programming funds. And these are just a few of the secrets uncovered in this season of “Over My Dead Body.”
“Over My Dead Body’s” first season, “Tally,” covered a sour divorce that resulted in unexplained events and a murder case. The second season focused on animal breeder Joe Exotic, aka The Tiger King, and his feud with Carol Baskin.
New episodes of “Over My Dead Body” are released weekly, and the full season is now available for Wondery+ subscribers to stream.
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