Sisters trace grisly murders in the region

True crime — and fictional crime for that matter — are addictive.

Sisters Margot Carmichael and Jenna Jarrold understand that. They’re hosting the podcast “Death X Southwest,” which explores grisly murders in the American Southwest.

The Tucsonans aim to bring attention to lesser-known cases and provide new perspective on crime in the Southwest.

“Our show delves deep into the stories of these murders and offers unique insights and perspectives that you won’t find anywhere else,” Carmichael said.

“We’ve had a lot of fun so far. It’s definitely been a learning experience and we’re really enjoying it. We’re fans of true crime, which was part of the inspiration and motivation to do this.”

Carmichael said the Chicago natives, who moved to Tucson as children, are fascinated by Tucson’s status as a border town.

“I’ve always been fascinated by border towns here in the Southwest,” Carmichael explained. “I did a lot of research and talking about starting this to see what areas in true crime podcasting might be underrepresented.

“We didn’t see a lot of Southwest-specific podcasts. There were a lot of Northwest Pacific true crime podcasts and a lot across the nation. But we found there was a hole in the industry that focuses on the southwest. We thought it would be interesting to explore it a little further. There are a lot of weird, interesting murders here in the Southwest.”

“Death X Southwest” is presented by Cavalry Audio, the podcast division of Cavalry Media, founded by Dana Brunetti and Keegan Rosenberger. Brunetti and Rosenberger’s projects include “House of Cards,” “The Social Network,” “Captain Phillips,” “21” and the “Fifty Shades of Grey” trilogy.

Other Cavalry Audio podcasts include “Daddy Issues” with Joe Buck & Oliver Hudson; “The Rosenberg Case” with Oscar Isaac; and “The Devil Within.” Cavalry Audio podcasts have collectively achieved over 22 million downloads annually with numerous podcasts topping the charts.

Carmichael has been podcasting for five years and repeatedly bounced ideas off Jarrod, as they’re both creative-minded people. They listened to other true crime podcasts. The name, “Death X Southwest,” came first and the rest of it came naturally.

“We went to the bosses at Calvary, and they said to go for it,” said Carmichael, a UA alumnus. “It’s one of my favorite things about the company. They’re very open to letting us run with the ideas and seeing where they’ll go.”

Jarrold is a longtime podcast fan, too. A graduate of Sabino High School, Jarrold said coming together for “Death X Southwest” was an obvious move, as they “hang out all the time anyway.”

“We said, ‘Let’s add this to our hanging out,’” she added with a laugh.

“Death X Southwest” debuted Dec. 12, but they worked on it for three months prior. Originally, they wanted to script it.

“I would read this scripted story I had written and Jenna would pop in at planned moments,” Carmichael said. “It felt really unnatural. It took us a couple of practice tries before the balance came between conversation and narrative podcasts.”

Jarrold added, “It’s definitely a passion for us. It’s an opportunity to do something else. It’s a different creative outlet. It gives us more of a purpose for the time we spend together. I come in as not knowing anything about the specific murder. I got to learn not only about these awful things that have happened, but I can ask questions and learn about true crime and the southwest.”

Death X Southwest

Apple Podcasts

linktr.ee/deathxsouthwest

This article appears in Mar 30 – Apr 5, 2023.