The “Last Call killings” were the murders of four men in New York City between 1991 and 1993: they were picked up in gay bars before being drugged, stabbed and dismembered. Richard Rogers, a paediatric nurse from Staten Island, is serving life in prison for two of the killings and is probably responsible for the others. Last Call: When a Serial Killer Stalked Queer New York explains what Rogers did and how he was caught, but this four-part series is much more than mere true-crime documentary. As it widens its outlook to explore how such an atrocity could have occurred, its political savviness and thoughtful tenderness make it a masterclass in righteous, acutely relevant reporting.
Having interviewed the numerous detectives assigned to the case (the killer’s habit of dumping bagged body parts next to country roads meant the New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York state police were all involved, as well as the NYPD), Last Call sits back and lets the prejudices of these interviewees seep out. Even the most conscientious cops hint at a reduced competency born out of ignorance: of course, they didn’t know where Manhattan’s gay bars were and weren’t able to draw on any knowledge of the gay scene, they say, looking affronted that this should even be questioned. Director Anthony Caronna includes an out-take of him wondering, after a pair of detectives have answered all his questions, whether they have anything to add. One pipes up immediately with an objection that has clearly been brewing all through their discussion of the Last Call killer: “Why is the emphasis on the gay part?”
