Big Trouble in Little Quartzsite

In this introductory episode, we find out about murderous mayors, kooky councilmembers, corrupt cops and the loony locals that contributed to the conflagration that's still palpable in the tiny town of Quartzsite, Arizona. To hear the full season, sign up to the Legally Insane Fanclub at https://www.patreon.com/LegallyInsaneFilms.Follow on our socials for all the updates on behind the scenes outtakes and our other podcasts from Small Town Justice on Twitter & Instagram: @cyleodonnell.

The second mayor is jailed, the first mayor is elated and the community falls into the first of its most divided moments as an incorporated town. But will it last? And what will happen now that the first mayor has access to the town's coveted mayor seat once again?

Moving from feud to fury, the town's two biggest and wealthiest men take their battle from the curb to the courts, and finally to the council as the cadence of contention was set to split the town forever. Follow: Twitter, Instagram: @cyleodonnellAll podcasts: LegallyInsaneFilms.comPlease visit the following Twitter accounts for great true crime and advocacy podcasts:@WrongConviction with Jason Flom, who has also worked with the Innocence Project -- @innocence@CrimeStoryMedia which is edited by Kary Antholis @kantholis@MyFavMurder which is run by gory gal pals Karen Kilgariff & Georgia Hardstark@darkpoutinepod, of the "2 wacky Canucks" boasting dark tales of Canadian crime

After several character intros, and a snafu with a few council-associated members of the Quartzsite community, the story of the town's introduction is finally afoot. Heading things off both literally and metaphorically, Richard Oldham, the town's overtly paranoid first mayor, takes center stage as colleagues, long time friends and political critics detail his rise to power, and his many attempts to stay in power. The producers would like to thank our listeners for their patience as this episode was delayed. In fact, as the final stages of post-production heat up, we have decided to make this a bi-weekly podcast to ensure that we are not sacrificing quality of the film for the quantity of podcast episodes we release leading up to the film's unveiling. Not to worry, though, this show will continue until the fullness of the story is told, irrespective of the film's release date.

Chief Ponce takes center stage to discuss town history, strange on-the-job challenges and running a campaign for sheriff of La Paz County, Ariz.

Following up episode 3 with the full conversation that influenced it, this talk between Jennifer Jones and the film's director, Cyle O'Donnell, dives into the questionable nature of and the not-so-terrible threat posed by, the ill-fated attempts of a few folks in Quartzsite to derail the film before it gathers steam.

Halting the originally planned episode for this week, this podcast was published as a response to the abrupt backlash to the start of the podcast series, the launch of the media campaign, and a newspaper article and radio interview that broke the story of the film's pre-release plans. This week's talk dives right into the heart of the outright threats that came in upon the town of quartzite finding out about the film. This, of course, prompts the director to start asking some deeper questions about who he is really filming, what story has his interviewees given him, if perhaps he has been used by many of his interviewees as a mouthpiece for propaganda, and even what the viewer response would be if it turns out that the success story being filmed isn't all that successful after all. What happens when, at mid production, you find out that the film you're making might not be a celebration of past trials overcome, but a current and ongoing struggle that still has yet to see that success? This is all in The First 24 Hours.

On the backdrop of the issues hitting our headlines like fake news, fear mongering and corruption, we right into the first candidate if the 2020 sheriff's election in La Paz County, Ariz. Among other things, Mike Roth is campaigning against police targeting and harassment. He says he was targeted by then-Sergeant Will Ponce. The Crux: Will Ponce, who's gone on to become the chief, is Roth's opponent in the race. But he says he was ordered to target residents by then-Chief Jeff Gilbert. So, bot candidates are campaigning against corruption but from very different perspectives. Once from the law enforcement side, and one from the civilian side. Who is telling the truth? Who will win the election? Who's message will be sent out to an embattled community ready for change?

In this pilot episode, we dive right in, discussing the three major pillars that will set the groundwork for the entire series. Murder, corruption, international scandal - it's just another Tuesday afternoon for the tiny, desert town of Quartzsite, Arizona.

 Welcome to the Legally Insane Films podcast, where we discuss the true crime films we are making in real-time! Join the director, Cyle O'Donnell, as he interviews witnesses, talks about the production, records live feeds on radio talk shows and hosts chats with other true crime podcasters and investigative documentary filmmakers. Get the insider scoop on the complex stories that we tell, as we are crafting the upcoming documentaries for release!