Save this article to read it later.
Find this story in your accountsSaved for Latersection.
Joe Kenda still isnt used to the sound of his voice.
ET, the sentiment remains.
Its a fitting conclusion to one of IDs flagship franchises, one that attracted millions of weekly viewers.
But its not the end of the networks relationship with Kenda and his droll monotone.
Im filming a new series for Investigation Discovery, he explains.
We just dont have time for that.
But, Im in it, and youll like it.
My, my, my.
Below is the original interview, which was first published on August 3, 2018.
He refuses scripts for his parts inHomicide Hunter, choosing instead to recall his cases from memory.
387 cases total seems like a lot, even for two decades.
Is Colorado Springs a sneakily dangerous place?That number is not above average and its not below either.
We had low years where we were all looking at each other like, whats going on?
Dont anybody know theyre dead yet?
There are other years that its like, good heavens, are we ever gonna get some sleep?
Ive had as many as six in one week.
There are other factors like division of labor.
The NYPD has 7,000 sworn officers.
There was only one me and one major crimes unit in Colorado Springs.
In Chicago, they have eight of them.
But I did it because I loved it.
I would have done it for free.
Mrs. Kenda might not agree with that sentiment.
I was home for Christmas once in 23 and a half years.
But I saw it as a mission.
I just loved it.
I went through withdrawal when I retired.
Why did you finally retire?At that moment, in August of 1996, we were overwhelmed.
We just had a bad day at the office.
I had literally run out of detectives.
They had a guy under arrest, a 74-year-old man, for sexually assaulting his five-year-old grandson.
The sex crimes unit had the guy and it was confirmed.
Kid was being treated medically.
But we needed to interrogate the grandfather.
I had a couple of homicides, had a couple of shootings.
I had people everywhere.
I had no interrogation rooms, so I said, Bring him into my office.
Ive got the door closed.
I asked him, Why did you do that to that little boy?
And he said, He came onto me.
I dont remember anything after that.
I wanted to just kill this guy.
I put my hands on him.
People opened the door and they were saying Lieutenant!
I said, Get him away from me.
Just get him away from me right now.
Get him out of my sight.
I sat down at my typewriter, cause I still had one in 1996.
I always kept one.
I thought it was the coolest thing to do.
I got sick of computers and word processors so I had a IBM Selectric II.
Worked like a champ.
Very truly yours, Me.
I referred to my bus as The Waldorf Hysteria cause everybody on it was nuts, including me.
Initially I did not respond then my wife said, You know, you should really do this.
She has a bachelors of science degree in nursing but her specialty in nursing was psychiatry.
And you have a major case of PTSD.
This is not a good thing.
Youve never talked to anybody.
I used to come home from work and Kathy would say, How was your day?
Well, there were only two answers: It sucked or it really sucked.
And there was nothing more to say.
I just felt better.
Overall, emotionally, I felt better.
And here we are seven years on and I feel way better.
Mrs. Kenda, as usual, is absolutely correct.
But you say you would have done it for free.
When someone does something unspeakable to someone else they are a shadow in the night.
There is no better feeling on the planet for me.
Its solving the mystery.
I would say to people, You thought Id never find you didnt you?
Well here I am.
And I represent the rest of your miserable life.
Youre under arrest for first degree murder.
I used to love that.
That sentiment comes across inHomicide Hunter the idea that you relish the gotcha moment, especially in interrogations.
They dont have any emotion.
They dont feel guilt or love or compassion.
Theyll sit there and fall asleep while youre talking to them.
Theyll pick lint off their blue jeans.
I had a guy do that.
Hes picking a piece of lint off his blue jeans.
You dont find a snake like that very often.
Do you worry about people like that learning from your show?
That theyd go to jail.
The ultimate lesson is this is gonna end badly for you, Mr. Its gonna end badly because everybody goes to jail or gets killed in the process.
Thats how it works.
What about other true crime shows?
But they have to take some liberties, right?
In some cases theyre putting years of work into a 45-minute package.Well sure, the whole investigation is boring.
No one would watch how many rabbit warrens we go down.
And on the show they use my name on the radio.
Nobody ever says a name on a police radio.
Its a call sign.
My call sign was one x-ray one.
It almost as if its an irritated mother on the radio.
Like your mother cant find you: One x-ray one.
Related Stories
And I use a lot of profanity.
Profanity is the language of the street.
But it cant be used on the show because they consider that to be offensive.
Somebody always considers everything can be offensive.
Im also a lot more sarcastic in person than on television.
What do you think of yourself on television?It was startling when it first happened.
It still kind of is.
My face fills the screen on the show.
They do that intentionally.
Its a closeup that covers the whole screen.
It literally knocked me back the first time: God, look at … thats … geeze.
You werent supposed to be on television for Gods sake.
Youre a police man.
But the really funny part is everyone talks about my voice and how much they love my voice.
You dont hear it the way other people do.
And I said, Do I sound like that?
And she said, Well, of course you do.
And it doesnt sound like it was my voice.
I always ask them if its ok if we do the case.
We dont have to do that in Colorado; its open records.
But I want to.
And you know whats interesting?
Theyve all said, yo do the case.
I dont want my loved one to be forgotten.
No one has ever said no.
How about law enforcement?
How do your former colleagues or other officers respond?
I imagine theres been some good-natured ribbing.Its of no interest to me if they make fun of me.
I always say, by the way, hows your show doing?
That usually stops that conversation.
I have a lot of policeman as fans.
Thats the greatest compliment to me because they realize its totally legit.
Ill tell you a funny story: I was on a fan cruise on Princess Cruise Lines.
They got their wives with them.
So this guy comes by and he stops, he looks at me and says, Youre Joe Kenda.
I said, I am.
He turns and yells at everybody, Joe Kendas in this bar.
And somebody says Who?
and he says, Joe fucking Kenda is in this bar.
So they all came.
We had a hell of a good time.
But they love the show and thats because its not invented.
We even use trained police officers in our reenactments.
Does any of that bother you?
What if one of your cases were to be re-opened?America loves the underdog.
Everybody has an opinion and youre certainly entitled to it.
I never paid much attention to anything else.
I got better things to do than that.
For better or worse, my, my, my is your catchphrase.
Is there an origin story there?I used it all the time in interrogations.
I would let you lie to me, okay.
If youre lying your ass off, youre inventing it as you go along.
And Ill wait two hours.
Have just general conversation.
An hour or two.
And Ill say to you, Well Sarah, you told me what happened that night.
Could you again?.
What I want to hear from you is the first lie.
Tell me a lie.
So when they would do that, I would slam my notebook on the table.
Its to startle them.
The flat side of notebook, make a loud noise.
Id look at them across the table and say, Well, my, my, my.
Not two hours ago you said you did this and now youre saying youre saying you did that.
When your new season starts later this month, youll have aired 102 episodes.
Youve solved 356 cases of those 387 cases.
Ill be on TV when Im dead.
But there are cases I choose not to do and the connection is totally on line with that.
We wont do babies; we dont do children.
They are simply too gruesome for a television audience.
Unfortunately, Ive had a number of those.
Or do you still need the show?My nightmares will never go away.
The best way I can describe PTSD is having a nightmare while youre still awake.
But talking about it on show helps.
Plus, it pays better than police work.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
