Pick your poison

Which is the more interesting story - the "Clark Rockefeller" kidnapping, or the trial of alleged Dracut hit-man Scott Foxworth, opening next week in Middlesex Superior Court?

Emily's "Beat the Press" panel discussed the  media's handling of the "Rockefeller" trial, including the issue of whether or not the press should refer to Woody-Allen-without-competent-psychiatric-care by his most recent alias (what, was "Clark Kent" too obvious?), by his apparently-real name (Gerfelt Nutsforbrainser, or something close to that), or by some other name; I voted for simply calling him "Crock." And I was struck by the fact that several other panel members admitted they were bored by the case.

Me too. Strip away the Woody Allen on trial angle (now minimized by his decision to drop the horn rims) and the Rockefeller name (why not "Kennedy"? Your honor, the insanity defense rests!), and the possibility that Gerfelt may have left behind a few dead bodies along his merry way, and there really isn't much about at that's so interesting. (The insanity defense? The defense team should donate their fee to charity when - oh, sorry, if - this one ends in conviction.)

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But the Foxworth proceedings could be much more intriguing. First off, if the shooting of Edward Schiller was supposed to look like a random act of robbery-turned-deadly, it was bungled in spectacular fashion. The cops knew right away it was a hit. It didn't take them long to finger a jealous husband, and  connect him with Foxworth, a convicted murderer now allegedly plying his craft freelance. Ten grand he was paid to snuff out a life, say prosecutors. And most intriguing to me is the fact that the case involves ordinary people, not rich, not beautiful, with anonymous names.

The story of who Foxworth is, how he allegedly became a stone killer for hire, albeit an amazingly inept one, and the underlying exploration of the dark, vicious side of humanity - paging Martin Scorcese, this one needs no tired celebrity name angle.

(Jon Keller is a frequent guest panelist on Beat the Press. You can also read his blog or leave him a message on the Guest Panelist whiteboard.)