Ethics, Empathy, and Empowerment: Doing True Crime Right, a panel discussion 

This program is part of our series Notorious: Maine Crime in the Public Eye, 1690–1940, and offered in conjunction with the exhibit of the same name.

“True crime” has captured the attention of the public for centuries. With the advent of the internet, on-demand streaming, and podcasting, the genre has grown in popularity and visibility in the 21st century, and with it, the question of just how ethical it is to produce and consume these stories as a form of entertainment. Is it inevitable that true crime as a genre romanticizes perpetrators, dramatizes suffering, and sensationalizes tragedy? How can true crime content be produced and consumed while respecting the privacy and dignity of victims and their families? How can the genre be used as a means of raising awareness and as advocacy for victims? Join self-defense instructor and former police officer Coreena Behnke, author Sharon Kitchens (The Murder of Dorothy Milliken: Cold Case in Maine (2025)), and podcasters Julie Murray (Media Pressure) and Kristen Seavey (Murder, She Told) for a panel discussion on how to do true crime responsibly and to learn more about their work for empathy and empowerment in the genre.

About the panelists:

Coreena Behnke is a former police officer with 24 years of experience on the force. She works as a special education case manager/teacher in Portland and as a self-defense instructor with the Amy St. Laurent Foundation, the legacy of Amy St. Laurent who lost her life in 2001, a homicide victim during a sexual assault.

Sharon Kitchens lives and writes in Maine. Her book The Murder of Dorothy Milliken: Cold Case in Maine (2025), is a deep dive into the decades old cold case of Dorothy Milliken, a homicide victim in Lewiston in 1976. A portion of the sales of this book benefit the Forensic Anthropology Identification and Recovery (FAIR) Lab at the University of New Hampshire. 

Julie Murray is the host of the podcast Media Pressure, a deeply personal look into the life and disappearance of her sister Maura Murray, a nursing student who vanished in 2004. The podcast was featured on The Today Show in 2024. Her #EngageWithEmpathy Campaign unites survivors of true crime, supporters, & content creators to make the difficult journey for those struggling with loss a little more bearable.

Kristen Seavey is an actor, victim’s advocate, and podcaster based in New York City and Maine. She is the creator and host of Murder, She Told, a podcast that dives into the lesser-known cold cases and crimes of Maine, New England, and small-town America and places the victims and their family at the center of every story. Her work has been featured on Oxygen, News Center Maine, and True Crime Garage.