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The story was a challenge to report, especially in the midst of a global pandemic. For months, I chased police, got stonewalled by lawyers and tried to gain access to public documents from a slow-moving court system whose employees’ natural inclination was to shield exhibits from my view. One character in the story tragically died of a fentanyl overdose while I was piecing together the narrative. Despite my best efforts to interview Otto, his family and his lawyers, not a single individual from his life would speak to me. Most didn’t even bother to reply to my emails, texts or phone calls. The usual journalistic workaround of knocking on peoples’ doors was near-impossible amid never-ending stay-at-home orders.