The Mark
4/17/202655 min
In 1994, wealthy Newport Beach businessman Bill McLaughlin is shot and killed in his own kitchen. His girlfriend Nanette Johnston and her secret boyfriend, ex-NFL player Eric Naposki, are immediately suspicious…but the stories don't hold and prosecutors can't make charges stick. The case goes cold, leaving Bill's family without justice for over a decade. Fifteen years later, Orange County DA Matt Murphy picks it up, determined to finally prove what really happened and who arranged it.
Matt Murphy is a legal analyst for ABC News and an attorney in private practice in Southern California. He was a Senior Deputy District Attorney in Orange County California. Matt Murphy spent 21 years assigned to the sexual assault and homicide units where he prosecuted some of the most notorious murder cases in the state of California. He completed 132 jury trials in his career as a prosecutor, including 52 while he was assigned to the homicide unit. He worked as an adjunct professor of law for 7 years.
In addition to his work for ABC news, Mr. Murphy is in private practice representing victims of sexual abuse and some select criminal defense cases. He's also been regularly appearing on NewsNation with Elizabeth Vargas, Chris Cuomo and Ashleigh Banfield providing analysis on Criminal cases in the news. He also one of the co-hosts on MK True Crime with Megyn Kelly and is kicking off a brand-new podcast In the Well with his longtime friend and colleague Mark Geragos. Matt published his first book, The Book of Murder - A Prosecutor's Journey Through Love and Death, in 2024, which was an instant Best Seller, and he is currently drafting his second book.
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First 90 secondsYardley Smith· Host0:00
[upbeat music] Hey, Small Town fam. It's Yardley. I wanna remind you that if you want access to bonus episodes and regular episodes a day early and ad-free, and our community forum and other behind-the-scenes goodies, you gotta go to smalltowndicks.com/superfam, and then in the top right-hand corner, hit that little tab that says Join. And then listen to the end of today's episode for a sneak peek at today's new bonus episode. [upbeat music] Hey, Small Town fam. It's Yardley. How are you guys? I hope you're all wonderfully well, and I hope you're ready for a cracking episode because retired Orange County homicide DA Matt Murphy is on the microphone today, and he brings us a murder case with a motive as old as time. [gentle music] It's often said that murder is committed for one of three reasons: love, money, or pride. Of course, there are also people who are just plain evil out there, but this is not one of those crimes. There are no perplexing nuances about the suspect's motives in this case. It's just unremarkable, self-serving greed. Matt, of course, tells this story with the energy and insight he's