Popular Posts

Search This Blog

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Scorned TV Show--The Showgirl and the Salesman (behind the scenes!)


Pssst! Going to jail, buying documents, and everything else it takes to get this kind of info for the blog takes time and money! Every time you make a purchase here, it helps me be able to do more for you! 



Marjorie Orbin in jail talking to True Crime author Camille Kimball
The TV show Scorned, in which I appeared as myself while an actress portrayed Marjorie Orbin, raised a lot of questions for viewers. First, see Marjorie for real in the photo above. That's after several years in jail. The actress portrayed a much younger version of Marjorie. Marjorie's hair was platinum at that time though, while the actress portrayed her as a honeyblond.

Here are the most common questions raised by the show--

1. What about Marjorie's lover, Larry? Was he a suspect or did he just get off by testifying against her? 

My Answer:
The knee jerk reaction for 100% of people first hearing about this crime, including police, is to look first to blame the bodybuilding boyfriend of Marjorie. Larry behaved badly in the early days of the investigation. He was physically strong and powerful. He was sleeping with a married woman. Who wouldn't immediately want to finger him as the culprit?

New! True Crime Short just 99 cents!
Special for viewers of "Bridal to Homicidal" on E! Network
Viewers of Scorned!, 48 hours, and Deadly Women will love it, too!

Larry was scrutinized intensely for years. But not a shred of evidence was ever developed against him. There isn't even any evidence that he knew his girlfriend was actually considered to be the wife of someone else. Taking all evidence together, some investigators concluded that Marjorie, far from being love-struck at the gym, had coldly selected Larry to be the fall guy for a plan she already had in her head. He certainly did fit nicely into the terrible plot that unfolded. But everything Larry told police could be corroborated by other evidence. He seems to have been ignorant of Jay's fate and even of Jay's true role in Marjorie's life.  There isn't even the slightest whisper that Larry knew about it afterward and helped her in anyway.

Marjorie, of course, maintains that it was Larry who committed the crime and she who was ignorant of what he was up to.

As for immunity, yes, Larry was granted a certain limited kind of immunity in order to testify. But let me be clear that none of Larry's testimony contained any knowledge of the crime. He just testified about things like how he met Marjorie and how often he went to the house and other details of their romance.

The immunity he received--just good lawyering on the part of his own attorney--is called "use immunity." That means that police can still charge Larry Weisberg with a crime any time they develop evidence against him--they just can't use his own testimony for the purpose. This limits the police pretty much nada. Larry's own testimony contains not even a teensy bit of suspicious material. And after years of scrutiny, there's no suspicion to be found against him elsewhere, either, apparently.

Larry looked good, but he did not look the same age as Marjorie. Compare to the actor on Scorned.
Larry acted stupidly, but not criminally. 


2.  Why don't Marjorie's other ex-husbands come forward to cast light on her character? 

My Answer:
When I wrote my book, WHAT SHE ALWAYS WANTED, a couple of her husbands that I contacted did not know she had become embroiled in a murder case until I reached them. They were upset and did not want to talk about her.

One former boyfriend did have a lot to say. He was still fond of her, in a way, but also was afraid of her and relieved she was behind bars.

Another former boyfriend not only came forward to testify at her trial in her behalf, but also paid substantial legal bills for her well into six figures.  He is still very loyal to her.

And one former husband contacted police and had quite a bit to say about her. His stories did not make her look good. Prosecutors made the decision not to use this information at trial and this ex-husband did not testify. I also made the decision not to use the material in the book. The information was highly inflammatory and impossible to corroborate, so while it may have been true, it was too unfair to Marjorie.

By the way, Marjorie also has said a lot of highly inflammatory things that can not be corroborated and I would not put them in the book nor say them on TV. Like a prosecutor, I have certain standards that have to met before I will use information. This standard applies to both sides.

So the bottom line is most of Marjorie's ex-husbands, boyfriends, and lovers are unlikely to show up on TV talking about her. She is a sore subject for most of them.

3. Did Jay Orbin ever date non-strippers?  

My Answer:
Sure he did! He was a very nice man and he would have been better off if, for instance, he had married his high school sweetheart, who continued to be a friend of the family even after his death and helped support his loved ones through the trial.

Why did he marry Marjorie?  My own theory is derived from something Marjorie said directly to me when we were talking as that photo above was taken. She said she studies people as soon as she meets them to evaluate them, how much can she "get away with" with this person?  "I will roll right over you if I can," she said.

I believe when Jay came to Las Vegas, Marjorie was good and ready to leave the stripper life. She saw Jay as her ticket out. She said and did whatever it took to get him to volunteer to be that ticket and convinced him it was his own idea to boot.

I hope you enjoyed the show Scorned on ID. I'm happy to answer your questions. I enjoyed the time I spent with the producers of the show. There are always a million different ways to tell a story and, as expected, they told this one differently than I did. Many of the statements presented as "fact" in the TV show were from a single source, Marjorie herself. Since Marjorie is a convicted liar, in my book I always make sure to point out the other pieces of information that complete the picture. For instance, Marjorie says a lot of derogatory things about Jay's sexual prowess but Jay is not here to defend himself. One fact we do have, though, is that Marjorie needed fertility treatments while Jay did not. Therefore, we know that some of the insulting things she says about his private nature are absolutely untrue. Please keep these types of things in mind as you watch the show. You can always get a copy of WHAT SHE ALWAYS WANTED (download it or get the paperback--click below) and compare my version to theirs.

Another thing I'd like to mention is that the detective on the show, Dave Barnes, did not testify in Marjorie's trial (except for an extremely limited time at the very end) and did not help convict her. He is a very controversial figure in and of himself. The detective who was instrumental in putting Marjorie behind bars is Jan Butcher, whose voice can be heard on the tape of the phone call  Scorned put on your TV screens. They only identified her on TV, though, as "Phoenix Police."  I know Det. Butcher declined to talk to Scorned.  She did talk to me.

Listen to it on TV, then learn more about that very remarkable phone conversation in WHAT SHE ALWAYS WANTED.


Pssst! Going to jail, buying documents, and everything else it takes to get this kind of info  for the blog takes time and money! Every time you make a purchase here, it helps me be able to do more for you! Thank you!


Thoughts on this or any article at this site? To the next person whose comment I use for a post I will send a free signed book!  (If you post as "anonymous" for convenience, try to include an identifying website or name in your remark so no one else can claim your prize!)  For an example, please click here.

18 comments:

  1. I have to admit I haven't read the book yet but might sometime, not sure when. One more question about information presented by Scorned but at odds with much of the information at many websites is whether Jay obsessed over Marjorie for ten years, "Looking for her everywhere", or not. Probably doesn't need an answer. Especially since you already stated that much if not all of the show was based on one source, Marjorie Ordin.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Very astute of you to bring that up. The only source that I know of for that is Marjorie. No one knows what private conversations that Jay and Marjorie may have had, but the evidence for that alleged longterm mania is hard to come by. For instance, Jay's brother, to whom he was close and to whom he entrusted his son, had never heard of Marjorie until she married into the family. Yet the brother knew of several other past girlfriends and had certainly been in his home countless times. That's a rather quiet obsession, isn't it? Thanks very much for pointing this out. Oh, I might also mention that Marjorie has told me of other men who have been remarkably gobsmacked by her. According to Marjorie, these obsessions are apparently quite common. On the other hand, she has also stated both publicly and privately that "everyone" just dreams of a life like hers. Pretty sure her assessment of that is off. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I agree with that. Regardless of the source it certainly made for a great couple of minutes to start the show off with. Hmm could it be for dramatic effect.:)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Michael J. Peter was truly in love with her and could have offered her anything she wanted? In later life he has said this. Do you think it was because she wanted a biological child and maybe he didn't.

    He was definitely Marjorie's equal or do you think she wanted someone not as worldly to control?

    Jay seemed to be a nice guy who was happy to have a beautiful woman. For Majorie this was not enough!

    She is where she behinds with her true peers evil women.

    Is she in the same jail as Jodi Aria, the obsessed lover who will be going on trial for the murder of an ex lover who broke up with her?

    ReplyDelete
  5. As for knowing Marjorie way back when and her life with one of the ex-husbands, I know why they don't want to talk about her. She left destruction in every path she chose... she wanted it ALL. Whatever they gave her, it was never enough. Camille, you hit the nail on the head with this one! I LOVED "What She Always Wanted"... it really does tell it like it was...the "real" Marjorie . Well written, enjoyed it! Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'm still not convince, that Larry Weisberg had nothing to do with the murder of Jay. Jay was a heavy set dude, 260lbs to my estimation. I think Larry is a smart criminal who knew how to orchestrate his way out of a situation. The thinghs that he did are not impossible to think of; like telling Marjorie to purchase all the cleaning products to cover up the evidence, and even the Rubbermaid container that Jay's torso was discovered in(Larry set Marjorie up for failure).

    ReplyDelete
  7. The show Scorned just aired on ID tonight, and while it was both enlightening and entertaining, it left me with some unanswered questions of my own. One in particular, is the involvement of Larry Weisberg in the this sordid murder tale; Was Larry ever subjected to a polygraph test? Ifnot, why not? It's apparent that he was never a suspect but a person of interest at some point, because he was investigated to some degree or another.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thanks so much for joining us, Adrian. Larry was, indeed, investigated. The full story is in the book, of course! There really is too much to tell here. However! I have tried to put some of the info in this post (see above) and a few others. Have you seen the post from the juror? juror-speaks-out-post Or this one with an excerpt?
    boyfriend-post

    ReplyDelete
  9. I wanted to reply to the poster who believes in Larry's involvement (Anonymous comment posted March 4, 2012 11:12am).

    In fact, I'll point out something interesting for everybody...

    If you look at Larry's behavior on the night of the police raid (where he physically confronted a swat team)......you'll realize that only an INNOCENT PERSON would behave towards police in that manner during a police raid, NOT a criminal who was trying to "orchestrate" his way out of a murder.

    WHY is this true?

    Because a guilty person would know that PHYSICALLY confronting police during a murder raid would only MAKE HIM THE LEAD SUSPECT and bring unnecessary attention onto himself; this is especially true since police were ONLY suspecting Marjorie at that point in time (Larry was not yet a suspect on that night).

    Larry had no reason to draw attention onto himself that night UNLESS he were innocent and was simply looking to defend the woman that he loved from what HE CONSIDERED to be "overzealous police" who were jumping to the wrong conclusions about Marjorie.

    The fact that Larry was so BELLIGERENT (i.e had to be TASED) makes Larry's behavior even more inconsistent with a guilty person trying to hide their involvement in a murder, since by being THAT belligerent he's basically painting a big red target on his back that says "I've got something to hide in this murder investigation, please investigate me". LOL.

    In fact, I'll GO ONE STEP FURTHER and say that Larry would never act so 'belligerent' UNLESS he had no knowledge that Marjorie was involved either.......because IF he knew that Marjorie was involved then that would likely mean he was involved in the disposal of Jay's body at least, thus making it against his own SELF INTERETS to PAINT A TARGET ON HIS BACK by physically assaulting a swat team. LOL. :-)

    Anyway.....although it may sound "counter intuitive" Larry's behavior on the night of the raid is something that I would have found in his favor if I were on the jury (i.e. something to help take suspicion off of him and poke holes in Marjorie's defense theory).

    BTW: While it's true that Marjorie was 'uncooperative' towards police, her behavior is more easily understandable because she was already being targeted as a suspect and was being asked to take a polygraph (which she knew she'd fail)......thus it's logical to assume that she (as a guilty person) would resist all efforts to further incriminate herself because police were already building a case against her at that time.

    ReplyDelete
  10. You make an excellent point, Anon of March 18. Larry did tell officers later that he believed Marjorie was being victimized by private investigators and police. It is very interesting to read the transcripts of her interview with police the night he was tased vs. his interview with police that same night. Although upset, his answers are direct and straightforward. Marjorie's interview provides a contrast to that style.

    ReplyDelete
  11. This woman is going to have the hardest time when she looks into the mirror one day and sees an old saggy and baggy hag staring back at her. It's one thing to hate the idea of growing old as a narcissist---but to not have any control over the way she appears (even in prison) is a fate worse than death. The only compensation will be that as she fades into obscurity...nobody will know or care anyway. Don't get me wrong; I feel very sorry for their son who has to live his entire life with the fact that his mother is a psychopathic and delusional murderer...and that his father was her unfortunate victim. I wonder if she thought about any of "that" as she planned Jay's murder; doubtful of course. All that "effort" to even have her son was obviously to fulfill her narcissistic need to create something (operative word "thing"!) she thought would adore her forever. Sorry Marjorie. You screwed that one up big time. She's a sick puppy; she belongs exactly where she is...until she dies. MD in MI

    ReplyDelete
  12. What an interesting analysis, MD in MI. Nutritional and other beauty support resources are very scarce in prison. No fashion. No hair extensions. No hair dye. No spa treatments. No salmon salads. It is hard on any woman but Marjorie's entire life, both personal and professional, was heavily dependent on physical beauty. The only consolation for her is that most of the women around her, other inmates, are in the same boat. By prison standards, she may still feel superior, which is her habit. But by her own personal standards, it must be rough going.

    What Noah has to grow up knowing is beyond the pale. It may be out of reach of our minds, but not of our hearts. Hopefully, one day Noah will be able to embrace that thousands of people feel compassion for him. It won't make up for anything, but at least it is evidence of goodness in the world.

    Thanks for sharing your thoughts here, MD in MI.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I know one thing, I don't think Marjorie is that attractive at all but that actress in scorned is GORGEOUS!!!!!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Marjorie cut quite a figure when she was in top form and easily won the attention of many men. As for the actress, I have had many people coming to this website trying to learn more about her. She definitely has fans! I hope she has some more work, too!

    ReplyDelete
  15. According to IMDb, the name of the actress who played Marjorie is Sarah Donnelly. She also has her own webpage www.sarahdonnelly.com

    ReplyDelete
  16. there was a picture of Marjorie when she was younger on 48 Hours and she looked very beautiful. years of being in that world, and not having a heart will age you worse than normal.

    ReplyDelete