In 2007,I interviewed true crime author Aphrodite Jones about Michael Jackson:
Luke: "Why is it important to present this other side to Michael Jackson?"
Aphrodite: "There is another side to him and the press is like a consortium that no one knows about. Once they make a decision, that’s it. In his case, they’ve made their decision. It’s like they’ve made a business of making fun of him and they don’t want to do anything else but that.
"I went to a bookstore looking for books on Michael Jackson and I only found two."
Luke: "Could you give me an insight into the other Michael Jackson?"
Aphrodite: "The other Michael Jackson doesn’t even know what is going on with his own finances. The other Michael Jackson is really a twelve year old living in a 43-year old’s body. That’s why he’s hanging around with twelve year olds.
"I have studied this guy. I have tapes that nobody has seen. I can’t release them because they belong to him.
"He’s sitting on a pillow. From the waist up, it’s a nice shirt. From the waist down, it’s pajama pants. He’s sitting with his make-up artist who’s doing his hair and he’s talking for hours on end. He lives in his own little dreamworld. He’s still this tormented soul. It’s like he lived and died at the age of twelve and he’s still alive."
Luke: "Is he a threat to children?"
Aphrodite: "No. He spent so many years trying to do good for children and to make it OK for him to spend time with children."
"He’s a case of arrested development. He’s like an elf."
Luke: "What’s with his sleepovers with boys? Are they sleeping in the same bed as him?"
Aphrodite: "Yes. That’s weird."
Luke: "Is that entirely non-sexual?"
Aphrodite: "So he claims."
Luke: "What’s your sense?"
Aphrodite: "In the Santa Maria case brought by Gavin Arvizo, the prosecution brought up every piece of dirty laundry they had, the end result was that this did not happen. He was set up to be taken down.
"He was helping that kid. He let the kid stay in his room from day one but the kid had cancer. He wasn’t sexually interested in that kid."
"The media is not going to want my Michael Jackson book because they get exposed. They didn’t tell the whole story when they reported the Jordy Chandler trial. None of us did. I was part of it. We only told the prosecution’s story. So that’s all the public knows."
"I don’t know what happened with Jordy Chandler."
Luke: "Why do you think the media so often acts as a pack? I think they are afraid to go out on their own and look ridiculous to their peers."
Aphrodite: "Let me give you an example. I was covering the BTK killer’s sentencing for Fox News. This man tormented people in Wichita for 30 years. I had an interview scheduled with the prosecutor. That morning one of the news trucks was leaving. I asked where they were going and I was told that a girl was eaten by a tiger. She was posing for a picture with a tiger and the tiger ate her.
"Next thing you know, the next news truck leaves. And so on. The next thing I know, I get the call from Fox New York that our truck is leaving. You don’t need to stay for the interview."
Luke: "Do you think true crime books feed an unhealthy appetite?"
Aphrodite: "I hope not but I know that some of them do."
Luke: "I know people who say that they love to read books on serial killers."
Aphrodite: "I hope not. I don’t write about serial killers. I had that opportunity when I covered BTK and I chose not to because it was too disturbing to me. I find it dark and detrimental to the human spirit. But when it’s a case of a crime of passion or of domestic violence, when there’s a societal issue behind it that we can learn from, a hate crime, things that I’ve delved into, a societal issue that is more important than the crime. Always. That’s where I’m coming from and that’s what I hope to reveal to the reader. What they take from it is out of my control. I hope that I’m not fueling anything demonic out there."
