Unsolved Mysteries (TV Series) Death in a Vegas Motel (2022) User Reviews

A very interesting case.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 8/10 · 25 October 2022]

Las Vegas Celebrity and loved father of four Buffalo Jim, aka James Barrier makes an enemy of local Gentleman's club owner Rick Rizzolo, and is soon found dead in his motel room.

Another very, very good episode, one that's as much a story about corruption and influence, as it is about the murder of a great guy.

The way the story was presented, it seems almost impossible to conceive any other means than murder, for the first time this series of seems a conclusive case of murder without a shadow of a doubt.

The only point I would stress is that there was no counter argument made, the only views came in support of the murder theory.

Personally, I think he was clearly murdered, having made some very powerful enemies.

8/10.

Strange pacing and editing.

[laurhartwick · 6/10 · 1 November 2022]

First of all-I am sorry to the family for their loss, Buffalo seemed a wonderful person.

However, for the show, the editing this season just isn't great. The pacing of this episode is similar to the first episode of the season with the teen who who was found dead on the train track. The beginning is slow and makes the situation look reasonable and then later in the episode they drop major pieces of information, such as Buffalo specifically telling his daughter days prior that if he were to die it would due to (insert the info here- no spoilers). This sort of information, plus other compelling pieces, should have been shown sooner for the viewer to be brought in.

The wrestler Dad

[AvionPrince16 · 7/10 · 27 December 2022]

So another case: a case pretty mysterious too. We wondering what happened to the father and his death. We see how terrible it was for his daughters. And we see how the father spend time before the death and the cocaine make us wonder: is he take the cocaine by himself or someone forced him to take it. We see the daughters get worried pretty quick and know that was a setup. With Lisa and the motel about the cardiac thing. How suspect it was. And how that man received some death threat. And mafia get involved about business and taxes. And things get more depth with Rizzolo and how powerful the mafia was. And how that was interesting to see all the problems and and the business was into. Good.

Glad to see this Vegas case on a platform like Netflix and giving new life to the case.

[rhoelgt · 10/10 · 7 December 2022]

I've lived in Las Vegas most of my life and I remember when the local news reported on Buffalo Jim's death back in 2008. There was so much about the circumstances of his death that didn't add up back then, especially with how little attention was given to the feud he had with Rick Rizzolo.

After watching the episode and seeing the new information the family revealed from the police files they were able to obtain (the room being accessed 7 minutes before Buffalo Jim checked in, the fact that the "cocaine" on his beard was never actually tested, etc), there is no doubt that the official story the police gave the Vegas news outlets and the public at the time should be called into question. The episode took this case about Buffalo Jim from being about a guy that was found dead of a supposed overdose to a whodunit involving the police, Rick Rizzolo, and any number of other people in the Las Vegas underworld that would have wanted Buffalo Jim dead and helped cover it up.

This story has brought Buffalo Jim's case back into the limelight in Las Vegas. Several news stories have been written about his case and the episode in the local Las Vegas news...and the police are still saying that Buffalo Jim's death was not a homicide, but an overdose.

It has been exciting to see this story reported on and gain new life. It means alot to me as a long time Vegas resident and as someone that played a small part behind the scenes in making the episode: my company helped the production crew find filming locations for two of this season's episodes.

Baffled as to why this case was selected for the show...

[daughterofolaf · 4/10 · 1 November 2022]

I hate to say how disappointed I am with this season but I am. Season three seems to consistently be the point that Netflix screws up good shows and apparently Unsolved Mysteries is no exception (although I suppose it had some issues from the start).

Death in A Vegas Motel is hardly a huge mystery. To a layman watching the show, it seems 100% clear what happened and who did it based on the circumstances and evidence presented in the episode. The family and the authorities seem to know exactly what happened and who did it. The hooker clearly knows what happened and was likely directly involved.

It is very unfortunate that no one has been prosecuted in the case, and my heart goes out to this man's family for their loss and lack of justice for him. However, as sad and upsetting as that is, there seems to be very little that is truly unsolved here. Perhaps the only mystery is who physically killed this man--most likely a cronie for the man who was clearly responsible for organizing it. This is a story about a lack of justice, not a story about a mystery that is unsolved.

This entire story could have been told in less than half the time it took. The episode is unnecessarily bloated with redundant information, dragged out by revealing bits and pieces of the case trying to make it seem more mysterious than it is, and with extensive testimonials about how sad people are over the loss of this man. I get that these people are grieving but that does not a mystery make.

It is clear that the goal of the Netflix series is not truly to solve mysteries like the original series, but simply to produce more slick, high production value true crime stories. I am all for true crime shows and Netflix generally does them better than any, but this episode is a shining example of what is wrong with this particular show.