Most people would watch this for entertainment, but Ari looked at it as a plan to become successful again.
1. Copycat Killers examines the February 23, 2008 case in Lake Barrington, Illinois, where 39-year-old Ari Squire copied a crime he saw on the TV series Forensic Files.
2. Commentary comes from forensic psychologist Dr. J. Buzz von Ornsteiner, crime writer Lisa Corriel and journalist Jimila Bay, who describe Ari's psychology, finances and marriage to Denise Squire.
3. The central hook is that Ari watched the Madison Rutherford episode "over and over and over" and treated it as a plan rather than entertainment.
4. Ari's life looked successful, with a construction company, a 2,300 square foot garage for diesel trucks and 14 years of marriage, but he had pocketed $2.3 million through Medicare fraud between 1998 and 2001.
5. Legal fees of about $200,000 and $200,000 in restitution, plus five years' probation and six months of house arrest, left the couple near bankruptcy and their marriage "in name only."
6. Rutherford's scheme involved faking his death with a body and a medical alert bracelet, and Ari adapted it around a nearly $5 million life insurance policy that would become unaffordable when he turned 40.
7. Ari drafted letters to Denise, named her sole beneficiary, and searched a home improvement store for a lookalike, where he met Sandy Lively and offered him a $60,000 job.
8. Sandy grew suspicious of a job application asking for bank account and PIN numbers and skipped a meeting, so Ari turned to a backup candidate, 20-year-old Justin Newman, who lived with his mother in a cramped apartment.
9. The commentators note small details that did not fit, including the power being off before the fire and an unusual amount of gasoline, and a text sent from Justin's phone that his mother did not believe.
10. Suits listeners who follow true crime cases about fraud, deception and copycat crimes.
