Stuff and Moonshine

I was thinking a better real-life parallel was the guy-who-was-probably-the-Cleveland-Torso-Killer (you told me about) - his family were pretty high-up, but this eventually seems to have worked against him, i.e. the cops finally went to them and said "we don't have enough evidence to convict, but we have enough to cause a scandal - unless you put him on a leash."