True-crime podcast has a local flavor - The Register-Guard

Attention true crime fans: A podcast is set to debut Friday that may strike a chord with Lane County residents.

And for some, the stories may hit close to home.

The podcast, “Small Town Dicks,” tells real-life crime stories in 13 individual episodes, some of which are based on crimes that occurred in the Eugene-Springfield area. The names of everyone associated with the crimes have been changed. Victim’s families and relatives of suspects will speak but not be identified by name.

Set in the fictitious community of “Small Town, U.S.A.,” the podcast features new details and behind-the-scenes perspectives from those who were involved in the cases, including police officers.

The show could be the next in a line of popular true crime podcasts — an audio broadcast on the Internet — following such hits as “My Favorite Murder” and “Serial.”

For local fans, the new series could be something they can identify with, especially those who may have heard about the crimes before. “Small Town Dicks” premieres with the first three episodes to be released on iTunes, GooglePlay and Stitcher.

Listeners may also find that the voices on the podcast sound familiar, too.

The host of the show is Yeardley Smith, the voice of Lisa Simpson, one of the main characters on “The Simpsons,” the longest running series on television, set in Springfield. Smith’s best friend Zibby Allen, an actress on TV shows such as “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” also is a host.

Together, the two discuss the true crime cases with brothers Dan and Dave Grice, both Springfield police detectives together until Dan Grice’s retirement last October. The identical twins are the other two hosts of the show.

So how did two Hollywood actresses and two local small town police officers pair up to launch a true-crime series?

That’s another story, Smith said earlier this week.

And it all started in Springfield three years ago.

A love story

For those who watch “The Simpsons,” Homer and Marge’s relationship doesn’t automatically come to mind when one thinks of a whirlwind fairytale romance.

But for Smith, the latest chapter in her life may be just that.

Smith, who has appeared in many TV shows and in such movies of “As Good As It Gets,” and “City Slickers,” has voiced Lisa Simpson since the show debuted in 1989.

Many viewers over the years had argued whether “The Simpsons” Springfield is in Oregon or Illinois. But a mural unveiled locally in 2014 settled the debate — proclaiming the Oregon city as the official place where the cartoon Simpson family resides.

Smith was not scheduled to be at the mural’s unveiling on Aug. 25, 2014, she said. But she was asked to fill in when the show’s leading producer had to cancel his scheduled appearance at the event.

“I love my show, and if they need something, unless I can’t do it, I always go,” she said. But to that invitation — to unveil a mural — she initially declined.

After a little pleading, however, she reluctantly agreed.

Meanwhile, the same conversation was occurring at the Springfield Police Department.

“I heard later from Dan (Grice) that when his sergeant went to the detectives and asked, ‘Who wants to guard this celebrity?’ No one raised their hand,” she said, with her recognizable laugh.

Dan Grice eventually volunteered, but Smith said the lack of enthusiasm from both of them to do the event was not lost on her, given what happened later.

“I flew in on a Sunday afternoon and he picked me up at the airport. And I just remember being so impressed by how quietly in charge he was,” Smith recalled. “I lead my life in a way where I am usually the one in charge and there are pluses and minuses to that. It was unusual for someone to seem as if, ‘It’s OK, I got this.’ But Dan did that without being forceful in any way. There was a quiet authority about him that I found really attractive. He had a dry sense of humor that I didn’t get to see a lot of because we didn’t actually have a ton of time together.”

Grice drove her from the airport to a hotel. On Aug. 25, the day of the mural unveiling, he again drove her, with a city councilor, to the event.

“I did the event and I had a great time. It was fantastic,” she said. “The (“Simpsons” writers) had written me a fun little speech. I put my hands and feet in cement. Writing your name in cement is no easy feat.”

Smith also signed autographs. She recalls the community of Springfield as being warm and welcoming. “That grace wasn’t lost on me,” she said.

But after about four hours, it was time to go back to Los Angeles.

“I had the afternoon flight home,” she said. “Dan, in his unmarked car, drove me to the airport and he offered to wait with me at the gate.”

Smith said she felt she no longer needed protection once she got through the airport’s security gates, and she normally would have declined the offer. But for some reason that day, she said yes.

At the gate, “we talked for an hour and there was just something about him,” she said lovingly.

Smith said she’s been married and divorced twice. Dan Grice also was single. But neither one of them were looking for a relationship, she said.

“I loved the unexpected aspect that neither of us were in the market, neither of us wanted this assignment, and, yet, the power of ‘yes’ can never be overstated,” she said.

The two started as friends, texting and talking on the phone.

Soon, she invited him to visit Los Angeles, where she lives, and their relationship grew. “We both thought, ‘How are we going to do this?’ ” she recalled. “Eight hundred and fifty miles is a heck of a commute, but we just did it. And so for two years there was a lot of flying back and forth.”

Her hours were more flexible than Grice’s, who was a full-time detective at the Springfield Police Department.

She said she usually came to Springfield every other weekend and he flew to Los Angeles when he could. Last October, Grice, 41, told her he would retire and move to Los Angeles.

“What an incredible gift and an extraordinary vote of confidence and a romantic way to follow your heart,” she said. “I don’t take that decision lightly.”

Grice on Tuesday said: “I feel incredibly blessed that she came into my life, even though it took nearly 40 years for me to find someone I could picture spending the rest of my life with.”

The podcast

Smith and Allen decided to start a podcast after hearing stories from Grice about his police work in Springfield.

“I heard stories about his work and they are just fascinating,” Smith said.

Best friends for many years and both big fans of true crime stories, Allen and Smith peppered Grice with questions about cases. “We would always be like, ‘Dan, tell us a good story!’”

He always delivered, she said.

“What’s unique about small-town detectives are that they’re doing big city work. Maybe with less frequency, but with no less attention to detail,” Smith said.

“We are trying to show people that big things happen in small communities and tragedy can touch people anywhere,” Dan Grice said. “We also want to educate the public. Dave (Grice), especially with his case load, hopes we can identify red flags for people to recognize sexual offender behavior and prevent it.”

Dave Grice declined to comment for this article.

“I hope that we’re onto something remarkable, and I am proud of everything that this stands for and it means a lot to me,” Smith said.

Allen and Smith are already thinking about the next season of the series, which will be based on crime stories from another “Small Town, U.S.A.” community. That town and any that follow will also remain anonymous.

Allen said the stories are “100 percent factual” and have not been embellished to make them more interesting. “We were really meticulous about that,” she said.

The two women have done research, requesting crime reports through the Freedom of Information Act, reading newspaper articles and talking to sources. But to protect the identities of victims, something that is very important to both women and the Grices, names and other identifying facts have been changed.

Previews of each of the episodes are available at smalltowndicks.com.

After Friday’s release of three episodes, podcast listeners will get to hear one episode weekly until all 13 are released.

The three-part season finale listed on the website describes a police officer who victimized “those he knew would be too afraid to speak up.” That appears to be based on the story of former Eugene police officer Roger Magañ a, who was sentenced in 2004 to 94 years in prison for raping, sexually abusing and harassing women while he was on the force.

Springfield Lt. Scott McKee said he is a guest on that three-part episode.

McKee, who formerly worked for the Eugene Police Department, said Magaña was one of the worst serial criminal police officers in Oregon history.

“The women in this case, they were all criminal frequent flyers and they had backs turned on them by police, the courts, judges, defense attorneys,” said McKee, who has previously spoken publicly about his work on that case. “It’s really compelling to hear the story, and for people to listen to it in the way ‘Small Town Dicks’ tells the story, Zibby and Yeardley, they’re making inquiries and asking questions. The way ‘Small Town Dicks’ goes about their process of interviewing, with Dave and Dan (Grice) adding colorful commentaries from within the law enforcement industry, their candor sort of removes the formality, so that it’s entertaining. They did a great job.

“I can’t wait ’til it comes out so I can listen, too.”

Follow Chelsea on Twitter @ChelseaDeffenB. Email chelsea.deffenbacher@registerguard.com.