CrimeCon’s Clue Awards Reveal 2023 Nominations, Honors Gabby Petito Foundation as ‘Crimefighter of the Year’

Michael Schneider
·3 min read
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The CrimeCon Clue Awards will return for a second year with a new streaming partner — Law&Crime’s YouTube, Facebook and TikTok accounts — on Saturday, Sept. 23 at 9 p.m. ET. This year’s event will be hosted by ABC News legal analyst Matt Murphy, while presenters will include Camille Vasquez, Nancy Grace and prosecutor Kelly Siegler (“Cold Justice”).

Variety has the full list of nominees, as well as this year’s recipient for the Clue Awards’ annual “Crimefighter of the Year” honor: The Gabby Petito Foundation. Per CrimeCon, the award was created to “spotlight an individual or organization’s significant impact and commitment to seeking justice for crime victims.” Derrica and Natalie Wilson, who received the award in 2022 for co-founding the Black and Missing Foundation, will present the award to Petito’s parents and step-parents during the ceremony. Petito went missing in 2021, and it was later discovered that her fiancé, Brian Laundrie, was accused of killing her while they were traveling together across the United States.

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The Clue Awards will be handed out during CrimeCon 2023, held September 22 through September 24 at the World Center Marriott in Orlando. Launched last year, the Clue Awards will this year feature a new award, “America’s Greatest Detective.” Finalists include Cynthia Garza, Special Bureau Chief of the Conviction Integrity Unit in Dallas County, Texas; Dr. Troy Looney, Akron PD Lead Investigator and Senior Director of Digital Forensics and Cybercrime at the University of Akron; and Allison Peacock, Genetic Genealogist, Founder of FHD Forensics and Advisory Board Chair of Genealogy for Justice.

According to CrimeCon, this year’s judges include executives from Wondery, Simon & Schuster, Anonymous Content, Campfire Studios, Oxygen, Access Hollywood and others. Here are the other nominees for the 2023 Clue Awards:

TV: Outstanding Docuseries

“I Just Killed My Dad” (Netflix; produced by Half Yard Productions)
“Low Country: The Murdaugh Dynasty” (Max; produced by Campfire Studios)
“Secrets of the Chippendales Murders” (A&E; produced by Big Fish Entertainment, an MGM company)
“Still Missing Morgan” (Hulu; produced by Scott Free Productions and ABC News Studios)
“Dateline NBC: Trial of Alex Murdaugh” (NBC; produced by Dateline NBC)

TV: Outstanding Episodic Series

“911 Crisis Center” (Oxygen; produced by Warner Brothers Unscripted Television’s Shed Media in association with Green Lakes Productions)
“ABC News Studios: Death in the Dorms” (Hulu; produced by ABC News Studios, The Intellectual Property Corporation)
“Accident, Suicide or Murder (Oxygen; produced by Dorsey Pictures, a Red Arrow Studios company)
“Cold Justice” (Oxygen; produced by Wolf Entertainment and Magical Elves)
“Finally Caught” (True Crime Network US; produced by Black Watch Entertainment)

Book of the Year

“American Autopsy” (BenBella Books; written by Dr. Michael Baden)
“The Murders of Moises Ville” (Restless Books; written by Javier Sinay)
“The Science of Murder: The Forensics of Agatha Christie” (Sourcebooks; written by Carla Valentine)
“Trailed: One Woman’s Quest to Solve the Shenandoah Murders” (Algonquin Books, Hachette Book Group; written by Kathryn Miles)
“Unmasked: My Life-Solving America’s Cold Cases” (Celadon Books; written by Paul Holes)

Outstanding Documentary Film

“Murdaugh Family Murders” (ABC 20/20)
“Serial Killer Capital: Baton Rouge” (Oxygen)
“The Fatal Attraction Murder” (Oxygen)
“The Fire That Took Her” (Paramount+)
“The Last Strike” (ABC 20/20)

Podcast: Outstanding Episodic Series

“Crawlspace – True Crime & Mysteries” (Produced by Glassbox Media & Crawlspace Media)
“Missing in America: Keeshae Jacobs” (Produced by NBCUniversal-Dateline NBC)
“My Life of Crime with Erin Moriarty” (Produced by CBS News Audio)
“Predators I Have Caught with Chris Hansen” (Produced by Next Horizon Media/Garner Creative)
“Zone 7 with Sheryl McCollum” (Produced by iHeartPodcasts and CrimeOnline)

Podcast: Outstanding Podcast Docuseries

“Father Wants Us Dead” (Produced by NJ.com)
“Finding Tamika” (Produced by SBH Productions, Audible)
“Freeway Phantom” (Produced by Tenderfoot TV, iHeartRadio and Black Bar Mitzvah)
“Project Unabom” (Produced by Pineapple Street Studios in association with Apple Original Podcasts)
“The Girl in the Blue Mustang” (Produced by Dateline NBC)

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