Part 3: ‘Close and Tight’

A genealogist finally digs into her own family’s past and unearths a 100-year-old tragedy. Then, she sets out to make sure the truth will never be buried again. Click here to see photos and more from this story.

“Operation Night Cat” is a special three-part series from NHPR’s Document team and Outside/In. Click here to listen to The Underdogs. NHPR's journalism is made possible by listeners like you. Click here to support independent, investigative journalism.  News audio clip credit: WMUR

“Operation Night Cat” is a special three-part series from NHPR’s Document team and Outside/In. NHPR's journalism is made possible by listeners like you. Click here to support independent, investigative journalism.

“Operation Night Cat” is a special three-part series from NHPR’s Document team and Outside/In.

Introducing a special three-part series from NHPR’s Document team and Outside/In: Operation Night Cat.  A New Hampshire Fish and Game warden follows a tip to a man’s backyard. He finds a twisted game of one-upmanship, digital trophy rooms, and one of the biggest poaching cases in recent state history. Then, the hunting investigation takes a surprising turn when it reveals another set of potential crimes – this time, behind the brick walls of New Hampshire’s State Prison for Men.  Host Nate Hegyi has spent the past year digging into what happened next. Catch the first episode right here, on November 5th.

Federal prosecutors now say the vandalism scheme was Eric Spofford’s idea all along. Spofford appears in federal court, and Lauren explains what this remarkable moment means for her and her sources.

Today, we’re sharing the first episode of the brand new podcast Spotlight: Snitch City, produced by The Boston Globe's award-winning Spotlight team. Praised by The Guardian and The Financial Times as a “must-listen” podcast, Snitch City brings you inside the secret world of police informants through one small city – at the forefront of America’s drug war – New Bedford, Massachusetts.In this specific episode, you’ll find yourself on the docks of New Bedford, hearing whispers about a rogue police officer harassing fishermen and stealing drugs, all of which come to a head one late night aboard a scalloping boat. The officer forces his way on board, saying an informant told him there would be drugs on board, and demands some. But when another officer, Mark Raposo, shows up, he thinks his colleague is in the middle of a “drug rip.” Now Raposo is ready to blow the whistle on what he’s seen. And it turns out that this officer’s abuse of the informant system is just the tip of the iceberg in this historic port city.To listen to the rest of the series, follow Spotlight: Snitch City on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get podcasts.

NHPR's journalism is made possible by listeners like you. Please consider donating to support our work right here.

NHPR's journalism is made possible by listeners like you. Please consider donating to support our work right here.

NHPR's journalism is made possible by listeners like you. Please consider donating to support our work right here.