Seeing stars: Local psychic Renier on NBC
Crime-solving psychics seem to be the latest fad in ever-popular cop shows, and the same network that brought the series Medium is picking up real-life cases from Court TV's Psychic Detectives this summer. NBC will broadcast two of Free Union psychic Noreen Renier's cases, and Court TV is airing five new Renier cases starting in July.
The Cohn case– an Albany double homicide in which "a woman hired me and I put her son in jail," says Renier– aired June 8 on NBC. There's still a chance to catch Renier June 22 on Channel 29 when she helps police in Florida find a man who'd been missing for a couple of years.
And among the new Court TV episodes, the Robinson case, airing August 17, is based on a Staunton serial rapist. "That was my very first case in Virginia," says Renier. "It started my career. It was the first time I'd ever worked with police, and I was so scared." She didn't solve the case, she notes, but the collaboration with police drew plenty of press interest.
Renier also has a new book, A Mind for Murder, published May 3 that can be found in airports and under the "true crime" section in bookstores.
And after 400 homicide and missing person cases, "I'm just so tired of working with the cops," confesses Renier. "I've been doing this for 30 years. Now I just want to talk about it."
There is one case Renier does want to work on: Charlottesville's serial rapist. But so far police have not taken her offer to help find the man who's assaulted at least seven women since 1997. "I think it's so foolish of them," says Renier, who offered to work for free.
While the jury was still out in the Michael Jackson trial, Renier was asked to predict the verdict. "I don't see him going to jail," she says, "but not because he's found not guilty."
Central Virginia's most famous psychic has hit the big time with two network appearances. NBC picked up Psychic Detectives , the highly rated Court TV series, for its summer line-up, and two cases feature Noreen Renier.
PHOTO BY HAWES SPENCER