In his livestreams from South Africa on YouTube channel ‘True Crime Rocket Science’, his content is known for sparking debate and facilitating heated discussion. His opinions are often controversial, and his analysis is based on critical thinking, and uses existentialism as a touchstone.
Best-selling Amazon true-crime author Nick van der Leek has written about some of the most shocking crimes committed in the US, Europe, and his native South Africa.
Since 2014 he has published and reported on high profile cases: among these Casey Anthony, Jon Benet Ramsey, Madeleine McCann, Summer Wells, Scott Peterson, Jodi Arias, Amanda Knox, Lori Daybell, Oscar Pistorius, Henry van Breda, the Delphi murders, and the Morphew and Murdaugh cases.
Now he is beginning a foray into the US as part of a broader campaign to understand the cultural fabric of American crime, and to document his findings.
While visiting the US in April of 2023 he attended the trial of Lori Vallow Daybell at the Ada County Courthouse in Boise, Idaho, and tweeted daily on court proceedings and his own astute observations. During this time he was interviewed by CBS News, Court TV’s Chanley Painter, and Nate Eaton of the East Idaho News.
From April through June 2023, he explored a number of US States, documenting his travels in photographs which captured the social fabric of the American landscape. A professional photojournalist whose work has appeared in high profile publications, Van der Leek has plans to publish these photographs as a book tributing American culture.
He captured compelling images from New York City to the southern and western states, and visited and documented actual true crime sites, such as the student murder crime scene house in Moscow, Idaho; the Morphew and Murdaugh locations, and the infamous Delphi, Indiana site of the 2017 murders of teens Abigail Williams and Liberty German.
Van der Leek plans to return to the United States this coming fall of 2023, and later in 2024, to continue his investigative exploration and documentation.
True Crime Rocket Science, YouTube
Nick van der Leek, author’s page, Amazon
