Epix’s four-part docuseries “Fall River” and Oxygen’s “Cold Justice” were among the key winners of CrimeCon’s first annual Clue Awards, announced on Saturday night at the Paris Las Vegas Hotel.
The event took place during CrimeCon, a live event for true crime content creators, industry professionals and fans. Law & Crime network founder, NewsNation host and ABC chief legal analyst Dan Abrams hosted the ceremony.
Winners of the awards were selected from a panel of over 30 true crime professionals, ranging from executives at NBC, iHeart Media and Spotify, to authors and podcast hosts.
In the television categories, Epix received the award for best docuseries, for its Blumhouse Television and Pyramid Productions series “Fall River.” The series, which was directed and produced by James Buddy Day, ran in May 2021 and centered on a series of crimes in Fall River, Mass., where three young women were killed in 1979. Police blamed a satanic cult and its leader, Carl Drew, was captured and sent to prison for life without parole. But two decades later, lead investigator Paul Carey began to doubt inconsistencies in the stories and re-investigated his own case — as evidence surfaced that brought the entire story into question.
The Oxygen Network received two awards during the night. For best episodic series, Oxygen’s “Cold Justice,” produced by Dick Wolf’s Wolf Entertainment and Magical Elves, which aired its sixth season last year, won the top prize. The show follows veteran prosecutor Kelly Siegler as she and her team travel to small towns to dig into unsolved homicide cases. The second, for best documentary film, went to Erik S. Weigel’s “Escaping Captivity: The Kara Robinson Story,” which centered on the titular teenager who was abducted by a serial killer.
In addition to the competitive awards, during the ceremony the crimefighter of the year award was presented to Natalie and Derrica Wilson, the founders of the Black and Missing Foundation. The foundation was announced as the winner of the award, which is presented to an individual or an organization that has made a significant difference in providing justice for crime victims, on April 20. The Black and Missing Foundation was awarded for its work raising awareness on Black missing people, whose cases are often systemically ignored and underreported. Along with presenting the award, CrimeCon will make a donation to the foundation.
View the full list of winners below.
Television: Outstanding Docuseries
WINNER: Fall River (Epix)
Produced by Blumhouse Television, Pyramid Productions
“Dr. Death: The Undoctored Story” (Peacock)
Produced by UCP, a division of Universal Studio Group
“Epstein’s Shadow: Ghislaine Maxwell” (Peacock)
Produced by Blue Ant Studios
“The Missing Children” (Topic)
Produced by Topic, True Vision, Nevision
“The Way Down: God, Greed and the Cult of Gwen Shamblin” (HBO Max)
Produced by Campfire Studios, Huntley Productions
Television: Outstanding Episodic Series
WINNER:”Cold Justice” (Oxygen Network)
Produced by Wolf Entertainment, Magical Elves
“Accident, Suicide or Murder” (Oxygen Network)
Produced by Dorsey Pictures, a Red Arrow Studios company
“Dateline” (NBC)
Produced by Dateline NBC
“Evil Lives Here” (Investigation Discovery / Discovery+)
Produced by Red Marble Media
“True Crime Story: It Couldn’t Happen Here” (Sundance TV / AMC+)
Produced by Authentic Entertainment, Mischief Farm, Bungalow Media + Entertainment
Podcasting: Outstanding Episodic Series
WINNER: “Stolen: The Search for Jermain” (Spotify’s Gimlet Media)
“Body Bags with Joseph Scott Morgan” (CrimeOnline)
“Crime Show” (Spotify’s Gimlet Media)
“Disappearances” (Spotify / Parcast)
“My Life of Crime with Erin Moriarty” (CBS Audio)
Podcasting: Outstanding Docuseries
WINNER: “Carrie Low VS”. (CBC Podcasts)
“The Next Call with David Ridgen: The Case of Melanie Ethier” (CBC Podcasts)
“Hooked” (Apple TV+ Original / Campside Media)
“The Followers: House of Prayer” (USG Audio)
“The Followers: Madness of Two” (USG Audio)
Outstanding Documentary Film
WINNER: “Escaping Captivity: The Kara Robinson Story” (Oxygen)
Produced by Marwar Junction Productions and Entertainment One
“Broken Harts” (Discovery+)
Produced by Jupiter Entertainment and Condé Nast Entertainment
“The Doomsday Files” (NBC)
Produced by Dateline NBC
“The New York Times Presents: To Live and Die in Alabama” (FX)
Produced by The New York Times, Left/Right (a Red Arrow Studios company)
“What Happened to Amy” (NBC)
Produced by Dateline NBC
True Crime Book of the Year
WINNER: “The Case of the Murderous Dr. Cream: The Hunt for a Victorian Era Serial Killer” (Algonquin Books)
“Do Not Disturb: The Story of a Political Murder and an African Regime Gone Bad” (PublicAffairs, Hachette Book Group)
“Killer By Design” (Hachette Book Group)
“Last Call: A True Story of Love, Lust, and Murder in Queer New York” (Celadon Books)
“Two Truths and a Lie: A Murder, a Private Investigator, and Her Search for Justice” (Random House)
The Clue Awards’ nominees and winners were determined by a selection committee made up of producers, network and streaming executives, and other creatives and industry leaders, representing all sectors of the true crime genre.