so this 'journalist' Brian Merchant has not been able to prove shit, but he felt comfortable enough to dox someone, full name, and accuse him of being a murderer based on 1. his ex's suspicions and 2. the fact that he refused to give an interview?
I suppose before you do this sort of thing you make very sure that your target is not rich enough to sue you for defamation.
It’s safe to assume that Harper’s legal team have a lot more information than we do, and that this information was sufficient for them to OK this story.
Don’t forget how complicated the world is. If something looks too simple to be true, it probably is.
I imagine the legal review goes like this: "he's not rich, he doesn't have a social media following, and if we spin this shit right everybody will think he's a creepy stalker-slash-murderer so nobody will stand up for him. What's he gonna do, actually put a contract out on us? Yeah, print that shit."
I suppose before you do this sort of thing you make very sure that your target is not rich enough to sue you for defamation.