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Jul 23, 2026
The New York Times’ Pamela Colloff talks to bestselling author David Grann (Killers of the Flower Moon) about the riveting, true story of a con man who helped send another man to death row for a murder he did not commit — and her new account, Catch the Devil: A True Story of Murder, Deception, and Injustice on the Gulf Coast.
For more than three decades, Paul Skalnik roamed the Gulf Coast lying about who he was. He passed himself off as a fighter pilot, an oilman, a criminal defense attorney, an undercover agent, and a terminal cancer patient. In these guises he married nine women — some at the same time — and helped land a man on death row for murder. But who really committed the killing? Based on years of reporting and interviews with Skalnik himself, Colloff spins a dark tale — “masterful and riveting” (Rachel Aviv) — of a remorseless and brilliant liar made lethal by a system more concerned with winning convictions than finding the truth.
Hear Colloff and Grann, two masters of true crime, as they discuss a story of deception that goes far beyond the lies of one man — a timely conversation illuminating how a culture of deception has exploited, corrupted, and undermined the American criminal justice system.
“Incendiary … a feat of dogged reporting, bravura storytelling, and clear-eyed moral conscience.” — Patrick Radden Keefe
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