True Detective (here be SPOILERS)

[RainDog]

1. refining my guesses

okay, since ep 5, we see where part of the story is going - an attempt to either frame, outright, or accidentally, Cohle for all the Yellow King murders.

Coehle mentioned the task force, and when the two solved the case, the guy holding the newspaper is one of the task force members...his last name starts with a B, anyway, I think part of the police force is complicit, but I don't think the two detectives interviewing Coehle and Hart are part of the set up.

The reason Coehle was at the other murder was because he's never felt like the case was solved after the 2002 event.

...and the way that played out - I think the idea that pols and religious leaders and a corrupt cop or two do create the satanic murders fear - and they use crooks who buy into all the trappings of evil because it makes what they're doing seem more important than just being a coldblooded killer and sociopath.