You Should Read the True Crime Story That Inspired HBO's 'DTF St. Louis'

"In 2017, The New Yorker published the nonfiction feature "My Dentist's Murder Trial," written by James Lasdun. In the piece, Lasdun invites the reader into a deadly love triangle set against upstate middle-class New York. Lasdun was a patient of Dr. Gilberto Nunez, who on October 15, 2015 was indicted for the murder of his friend, a physical therapist named Thomas Kolman of Saugerties, New York."

"Nunez had an affair with Kolman's wife, Linda. But after Linda became resolved to fix her marriage, Nunez went to extreme lengths to break them up. His efforts included catfishing as a woman named Samantha and posing as a CIA operative. In November 2011, Kolman's body was found in a Planet Fitness parking lot with trace amounts of midazolam, a "sedative used only by doctors and dentists.""

"Fast forward to 2022, and Lasdun's story entered into development as a TV series with David Harbour and Pedro Pascal attached to star. Pascal was to play Nunez, who emigrated from the Dominican Republic and whose trial was steeped in perceived racism against him. By 2024, Pascal dropped out of the project and that the show was retooled to stand alone."

DTF St. Louis is an HBO drama inspired by a 2017 New Yorker article by James Lasdun about Dr. Gilberto Nunez, a dentist indicted for murdering Thomas Kolman, a physical therapist. Nunez had an affair with Kolman's wife, Linda, and allegedly went to extreme lengths to sabotage their marriage, including catfishing and impersonating a CIA operative. Kolman's body was discovered in a Planet Fitness parking lot with trace amounts of midazolam, a sedative used by medical professionals. Nunez was ultimately convicted of forgery and insurance fraud rather than murder. The story was adapted for television with initial casting of David Harbour and Pedro Pascal, though Pascal later departed the project and the show was retooled as a standalone narrative.

Read at Esquire