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There were many jaw-dropping moments, but this was definitely the biggest one, Lazarte told Vulture.
Like, holy shit, they just put that out there.
They said this is their favorite case, and no ones ever contacted them about it, Hernandez said.
They started giving me information, and I realized this is really big.
Doug Mathews is the superstar of this series.
What was it like meeting him?
James Lee Hernandez:Hes a superstar in life!
He is like what you saw 100 percent of the time.
Once, he called us at 11:30 at night and talked for like an hour and a half.
Thats how he is all the time.
Do you believe hes responsible for thegreat fax debacle?
Did he really fax 20 to 30 pages of the case summary to theGreenville Newsby accident?
Brian Lazarte: Its a funny story how we tracked that down.
We had heard about this fax story.
We happened to be in South Carolina filming, and we see theGreenville Newsbuilding right in front of us.
The reporter who received the fax, John Boyanoski, no longer works there, so we called him.
He just burst out laughing and said he had been sworn to secrecy.
Not even his wife knew the story.
But did Doug do it?
James Lee Hernandez:Were not totally sure.
Theres a lot of finger-pointing, and we dont know how much gamesmanship is involved.
Theyre still blaming each other.
So Doug is trying to blame Mark Devereaux?
James LeeHernandez: Its more of Doug just trying to get the blame off of him.
Thats all he cares about.
The finale delivers big!
Frank and Heather tell us who the informant is, and its stunning.
When in the process did you find out this information?
James Lee Hernandez:It was at the end.
When we originally talked to them, they threw it out there.
Thats in the show.
You dont know who the informant is.
So were like, Do you know?
And hes like, Well, I gotta look into it.
Talk to some people.
Brian Lazarte:It came out of nowhere.
We got invited to come back, and they just dropped it in the middle of the interview.
Then moments later, Vinny, their son, shows up in a McDonalds outfit.
There were many jaw-dropping moments, but this was definitely the biggest one.
Like, holy shit, they just put that out there.
Had you been asking other people?
Lee Cassano was convinced that she was the informant since she had called the IRS.
Brian Lazarte: Oh, we were trying all the time.
Lee was very convinced.
Dwight Baker was convinced that it wasnt a tip from the FBI and that he was somehow to blame.
Robin said it was Frank.
She also had a former boyfriend that was a federal agent.
Once Frank and Heather shared with us what they did, all the pieces of the puzzle made sense.
We did our due diligence corroborating stories, making sure that what they put out was facts.
But what Heather and Frank say makes a lot of sense.
Did you make a run at talk to Franks mother?
We reached out, but the Colombo family is very on the defensive, very hesitant.
They dont speak English extremely well, so it was a tough sell.
Did Robin know her mother-in-law called the FBI?
Brian Lazarte:Robin speculated.
Their relationship is so interesting because today theyre actually quite close.
They talk almost every day.
We have also heard that its a little manic.
One month theyre like BFFs and then theyre not talking to each other.
What did you make of the reasoning?
Do you think it was because Franks mother wanted to keep custody of her grandson?
James Lee Hernandez: In a weird way, this all totally makes sense.
Its like all bets are off.
Brian Lazarte:Everybody has said that talking to us has been a bit of a purge.
Frank and Heather, as they put it, theyd been holding on to this all these years.
I think some people just want that relief.
Its a dead case, its adjudicated no one can get in trouble.
Did you break it to Robin, or did she know through the family?
Brian Lazarte:She has speculated, and we confirmed it.
How did she take that?
James Lee Hernandez:It was sad and frustrating, but theres nothing she can do to change it.
Shes really focusing on what she can do in her life now to be better.
So it was obviously upsetting, but at the same time, the past is in the past.
What shes been through, James and I joke that she has nine lives.
There are so many instances ofHow in the world did you survive that?And yet here she is.
What about Jerry Jacobson?
You must have tried hard to get him.
James Lee Hernandez:It was a battle to try and get him.
I dont think Ill ever stop.
But a lot of times, the legend of something is far greater than the reality.
And the legend of Uncle Jerry seems extremely large.
Brian Lazarte:Is there any redeemable element to him telling his side of the story?
But hes also moved on and tried to put this in his past.
We did our best, but its nice to have a little mystery dangling out there.
From a storytelling angle, not having him participate might not have been a bad thing after all.
The tone of the series was atypical to the true-crime genre.
Can you talk about how you balanced that?
James Lee Hernandez:From the very beginning, this was part of our plan.
And so we wanted this to be structured like life is structured.
Sometimes things can be funny and tragic in the blink of an eye.
The story inherently had funny components.
If you have funny moments, funny characters, you embrace that.
We certainly hope that audiences who watched the entire series experienced all those feelings.
What other surprises did you run into?
James Lee Hernandez:Gloria Brown was a huge surprise.
But it flips and becomes one of the scariest things to happen to them.
Brian Lazarte:Something else that we didnt include was there was another fax debacle.
But she was out sick that day.
It was a huge thing assuring the FBI that Linda had not seen it.
What are the odds?
Is there anything about Doug that you didnt include in the series?
Brian Lazarte:Oh, yes!
You know the gold suit?
Doug Mathews is convinced that Mark Devereaux paid his wife to destroy that suit.
