Podcasts · True Crime · Society & Culture

Rorschach: Murder at City Hall

iHeartPodcasts and Best Case

11 episodes · in order

A shocking public shooting at New York City Hall leaves the ambitious, charismatic City Councilman James E. Davis dead, before his assailant is gunned down by a New York City cop. It turns out that Davis had been murdered by his political rival, Niel Askew. And yet all that summer, the two men had been seen around Brooklyn together, been together in James’ office, sat side by side at a barbershop. Despite the shock waves this murder sent through New York City in the summer of 2003, the story is now forgotten, along with the mystery of what really happened between these men. RORSCHACH: MURDER AT CITY HALL recounts their final fateful day through eye-witness accounts, and then traces the path that led James Davis and his killer Niel Askew to their deaths.

Episodes

  1. Introducing Rorschach: Murder at City Hall

    · 2:36 · Trailer

    Rorschach: Murder at City Hall trailer is a story of double lives and fatal ambition that results in the murder of City Councilman James E. Davis by his political opponent, Niel Askew. And the battle that still rages…

  2. Episode 1: Shots Fired

    · 30 min · S1 E1

    July 23rd, 2003. Brooklyn City Councilman James E. Davis arrives at City Hall with a guest, Niel Askew. Both men are Black, handsome and wearing a suit. And both are carrying concealed weapons. Niel Askew had been…

  3. Episode 2: How Could This Happen in City Hall?

    · 37 min · S1 E2

    The city is shut down. A cop – serving his first day on the security detail – acts heroically. Word spreads to Councilman Davis’s disbelieving family, and emotions run high. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy…

  4. Episode 3: A Victim of Blackmail

    · 30 min · S1 E3

    Who is the strange guest who came with James Davis to City Hall, only to shoot him repeatedly at close range. And why did he do it? Niel Askew’s close friends tell the story of a quiet closeted kid from a religious…

  5. Episode 4: Niel’s Secret

    · 23 min · S1 E4

    Niel and his boyfriend live in a luxury highrise on the West Side of Manhattan called Riverbank. We look at a notorious crime that happened a few floors below Niel which may have inspired his own dark, violent…

  6. Episode 5: Friends and Enemies

    · 33 min · S1 E5

    Officer James E. Davis was no ordinary cop. And now, he’s no ordinary political candidate. He’s brash, braggadocious. He carries a gun – and he lets his enemies know it. James Davis is ambitious and he’s complicated.…

  7. Episode 6: A City in Crisis

    · 27 min · S1 E6

    After a nasty campaign against political favorite Letitia James, James Davis finally wins elected office. Just as James’ fortunes are on the rise Niel Askew’s are headed the other direction. He’s broke, and he’s been…

  8. Episode 7: James Meets Niel

    · 33 min · S1 E7

    It’s the summer of 2003. Everybody in the neighborhood knows Councilman James Davis. No one knows Niel Askew, who’s running against him in the primary. Niel infiltrates James’s orbit, and becomes something like his…

  9. Episode 8: The Last Day

    · 36 min · S1 E8

    James and Niel don’t just arrive at City Hall together – they spend that whole day together. And after their lives end in tragedy that afternoon, speculation runs wild about why someone would want to kill James – and…

  10. Episode 9: The Empty Seat

    · 27 min · S1 E9

    James’s district, his colleagues and his family all mourn his shocking death. But the work of politics must continue, and someone must fill his seat, The Brooklyn Democratic Party has a candidate in mind. The family…

  11. Episode 10: It Stays with You

    · 28 min · S1 E10

    James Davis continues to surprise from beyond the grave, leading to a painful legal battle. And a final mystery persists: How could a dramatic shooting in City Hall be all but forgotten, even by the people who lived…

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