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Billy Jensen | |
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![]() Image of Billy Jensen | |
Nationality | American |
Citizenship | United States |
Alma mater | University of Kansas |
Occupation(s) | Journalist author |
Years active | 1997–present |
Billy Jensen is an American investigative journalist, author, producer, and podcaster. He is known for his work creating content in the true crime genre, including co-hosting the Discovery+ podcast and associated television special Unraveled: The Real Story of the Long Island Serial Killer, [1] [2] [3] [4] and the podcasts The First Degree, [5] and Jensen & Holes: The Murder Squad. [6] [7] [8] He is also the author of the books Chase Darkness with Me: How One True Crime Writer Started Solving Murders, [7] [9] and Killer Amidst Killers: Hunting Serial Killers Operating Under the Cloak of America's Opioid Epidemic. [10]
Jensen grew up in Westbury, Long Island, New York City. [5] He received a master's degree in religious studies from the University of Kansas. [11] [8] While at the university, he helped found the university's hockey team. [11] He briefly played for the New York Riot in the professional roller hockey league Major League Roller Hockey. [5] [12]
After graduating, Jensen self-published the magazine The Fight Card, which chronicled every fight that happened during the 1996–1997 New York Islanders season. [5] The magazine led to an offer to write a story for the Long Island Voice, which was his first paid job in journalism. [5] He worked as a writer and editor at the Long Island Voice. [12] He began working as a crime reporter in 1999. [8] After serving as an editor for two pop culture magazines, Jensen helped start and served as managing editor of the alternative newspaper The Long Island Press . [13] [12] From 2005 to 2006, he was editor-in-chief of The Boston Phoenix . [13] He also worked in a management role for Village Voice Media. [13]
In 2016, Jensen began working with law enforcement to investigate crimes as a consultant. [8] He was the head of digital operations and an on-air reporter for the television series Crime Watch Daily . [13] He also filmed a pilot for a cable true crime documentary series titled Crowdsolve. [13] The network passed on the series. [13] After the passing of true crime author Michelle McNamara in 2016, Jensen collaborated with Paul Haynes and Patton Oswalt to finish her book I’ll Be Gone in the Dark , which was published in 2018. [13] [14] [15] [16] During the press tour for I'll Be Gone in the Dark, Jensen met Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark, who offered Jensen a spot on their podcast network, leading to the creation of the podcast Jensen and Holes: The Murder Squad, which Jensen co-hosted with former police officer Paul Holes. [11] The show ended in 2022 after allegations of sexual misconduct began to surface against Jensen. [17] He entered rehab for alcohol in the summer of 2022. [6]
Alongside fellow investigative journalist Alexis Linkletter, Jensen co-hosted the Discovery+ podcast and television special Unraveled: The Real Story of the Long Island Serial Killer, which was released in 2021. [1] [2] [4]
Jensen has used crowdsourced tips to investigate crimes. [18] [19] He has written for publications such as Rolling Stone , [20] Los Angeles Magazine, [13] and the New York Times. [15]
He served as the head of digital operations and an on-air reporter for television series Crime Watch Daily. [21] He also filmed a pilot for a cable true crime documentary series titled Crowdsolve. The network passed on the series. [21]
In 2019, Jensen published the audiobook Chase Darkness with Me. [7] [15] [19] [22] In the book, Jensen wrote about his experience investigating crimes, including his use of electronic tools such as social media and geotagging to identify murder suspects. [7] [22] It was released as an Audible Original. [20] The book became a New York Times bestseller. [15]
Alongside fellow investigative journalist Alexis Linkletter, Jensen co-hosted the Discovery+ podcast and television special Unraveled: The Real Story of the Long Island Serial Killer, which was released in 2021. [23] [2] [4]
The next book Jensen published was Killer Amidst Killers. [24] [25] In the book, Jensen explored the homicides of several women in Columbus, Ohio amid the opioid epidemic. [24]