CrimeCon 2026

On Sept. 9, 2023, Scott Spivey was killed by a gunshot wound to the back following a high-speed, 9-mile chase — yet the shooters walked free, shielded by a “Stand Your Ground” law critics say has become a license to kill. The Wall Street Journal investigative podcast series Camp Swamp Road tells the story of a South Carolina road-rage shooting that might have gone unnoticed if not for one man’s decision to record all of his phone calls, an alleged police cover-up, and a grieving sister’s relentless quest to uncover the truth about her brother’s death.

Join Kate Arthur, Variety's managing editor and Valerie Bauerlein, host of the WSJ series and author of The Devil at His Elbow: Alex Murdaugh and the Fall of a Southern Dynasty, as they reveal how police allegedly coached the shooters to “act like a victim,” while a deputy police chief promised from the shadows, “You’re taken care of.” Together, they’ll discuss how Scott’s sister, Jennifer Spivey Foley, and her attorney, Mark Tinsley — who helped crack open the Murdaugh case — exposed what many see as a growing national crisis: laws linked to an 8% increase in gun homicides across 30 states.

Was Scott Spivey’s death a “clear case of self-defense” — or a state-sanctioned ambush?