In Timberlake, Utah a woman drives home one evening during a storm and barely misses a hooded figure on the side of the road. She arrives home and calls out to her two daughters who do not respond. She finds her young daughter nearly dead, covered in blood, and her living room destroyed.
Stephen Broderick (Scott Glenn) is a ClevelandFBI agent who investigates murder cases. His 10-year-old son Jesse (Jesse Cameron-Glickenhaus) is very techsavvy and has a deep interest in his father's work. Jesse mentions to his father that he has found a potential serial killer after reviewing some crime scene reports which have similarities with the Provo CanyonMassacre five years before with the two murdered girls from the beginning of the film. Broderick readily listens to his son's theory that the mothers in both cases say that they saw what looked like an old lady wearing a black dress picking something on the side of the road and putting it into a basket right before the bodies were discovered.
Broderick gets approval from his superiors to investigate the link. He goes to Draper Penitentiary where the man convicted and sentenced to death for the Provo Canyon Massacre, Bobby Martel, is about to be executed. Broderick is greeted by FBI Agent Roxanne Lemar (Sheila Tousey) and they discuss the evidence against Martel. His muddy footprints were found outside the bedroom window of the murdered girls, his fingerprints were on the glass, and one of his pubic hairs was found in the mouth of one of the girls. They note that Martel's footprints were not found inside the house and that they should recheck the DNA evidence before his execution. The warden will not delay the execution because of severe public outcry for Martel's execution bordering on violent. Broderick and Roxanne consult with Dr. Mort Seger, a forensic pathologist and asks him to compare the pubic hair found at the scene with that of Bobby Martel. Dr. Seger says that they look very similar and that they would have been deemed a match with the technology from five years prior when the comparison was first made. They run a DNA analysis with the FBI's computer increasing the process, but the results will not be finished in time to halt the execution. Broderick talks to Martel and asks him what he saw the night of the murders. Martel says that he "saw God with the children." Martel is executed by lethal injection while still proclaiming his innocence. A few hours following the execution, the DNA results show that Martel's DNA did not match the pubic hair found at the scene.
Broderick is tasked by the FBI to investigate the case that has now been reopened in light of the DNA evidence proving Martel's innocence. Based on the evidence he surmises that Martel came to watch the girls undress through their window while the killer entered the house, stabbed the older girl, and accidentally killed the younger girl in the struggle. In the killer's frustration for accidentally killing the younger girl, the killer sexually assaults the older girls corpse while Martel watches through the window and masturbates. The killer then removes the younger girl's body and Martel is arrested soon after. Martel's boot prints are not in the house, but the killer was wearing smooth leather sandals and his prints were found in abundance though no one had noticed during the investigation.
Broderick takes his son Jesse to Timberlake, Utah to the scene of the most recent crime. Jesse finds sage on the side of the road where the old woman was reported to be standing and picking something the night of the murders. Jesse has read the files and seen the photos of the crime scene and states that the killer stabbed the girl with a 9-inch hunting knife and removed one of her ribs to take with him. Jesse surmises that with the sandal prints, the bones, the sage, and with what Martel witnessed, that the killer was dressed like God.
The killer is a bearded man who lives in the desert and dreams of being sexually assaulted and tortured in his youth. He drives his Volkswagen bus to a general store and screams "I will gather the species two by two" and when the store owner attempts to defend himself, he is killed and his two taxidermied birds are taken by the killer.
Jesse programs his computer to review crime reports looking for 25 key identifiers and to print out any with more than seven. A report in Utah has nine identifiers and he reports the shopkeeper's death to his father. Broderick asks Jesse to go back and search crime reports for five years with the same criteria. Broderick and Jesse go to the general store to investigate the crime scene. While outside Jesse notices that the killer's footprints are even and level meaning that he was not running from the crime scene but was calmly walking away.
Broderick and Jesse summarize what they have learned. The killer is 6"2' tall and weighs 205 lbs based on the sage he stepped on, he is right-handed, his prints are not in the system, so he is never been arrested, and he is blood type b based on physical evidence found on the sexually assaulted girl. He has also not been to the dentist in a long time due to bite marks found on the girl as well. They also know he drives a pre-1968 Volkswagen van based on markings left at the general store.
A woman stops at a gas station with her young daughter, Kristi Collins in the back seat and goes inside to pay. The cashier notices the killer dragging the girl into his van and runs outside with a revolver to stop him. He fires several times, but the killer is able to drive away with the young girl. Broderick goes back to Utah when news of the kidnapping reaches him, and Jesse goes home.
The Utah police are called due to a foul odor coming from a house. Officer Ben Olmon (Linden Ashby) is dispatched but warned that whoever called in the report called their direct number and not 911 so he should be cautious. When he arrives, there is no answer but inside he finds sage hanging from the ceiling and a man, woman, and little girl in black robes along with the ritualistically murdered body of a young boy. Jesse continues to search for matching crime criteria on his computer while Broderick investigates the house of the cultists who belong to a Moabreligious sect.
The killer goes to a public library and views books on Flemish paintings. Broderick and Roxanne get a tip from the library that a man fitting the killer's description has been there recently. They ask a janitor at the library if he saw the man and the janitor says that he always comes in, sits at the same place, and takes notes while reading an art book. They find the book and dust for prints from the table and the book and find that they match the previous crime scenes. Later that night, Roxanne finds a list of other books that the killer checked out, one of which is called Mother Less Child. She goes back to the library that night to look for the book and the killer watches her from across the street.
Roxanne and Broderick meet to go over the newly discovered book which deals with S&M photography. Broderick recounts that a woman named Sarah Proctor in the 30s believed God was going to visit her personally. When her followers died, she did not bury them but instead placed them around a table in her basement and used sage to mask the smell. Broderick believes the killer is using sage for the same reason.
Jesse meanwhile finds an older police report where two giraffes were stolen from the Salt Lake City Zoo. He tells his mother he is going to visit his friend for the weekend but instead books a flight to Salt Lake City using his father's credit card.
Broderick and Roxanne investigate the former leader of the Moab sect named Robert Vale who has since become a militantNeo-nazi. They go to his cabin with several sheriffs and two are killed by a roadside bomb. Broderick and Roxanne go with an FBI SWAT team led by Special Agent Ken Reynolds (Aaron Eckhart) to arrest Vale but due to the overzealous nature of the SWAT team, Vale is killed.
Jesse goes to the Salt Lake City Zoo and tells a maintenance worker that he knows he is not who he says he is and that he changed his identity after stealing money from a bank he managed and abandoning his family. When the giraffes were stolen, he did not tell them about the real perpetrator for fear of the police finding out about who he really is and his criminal past. The maintenance worker opens the locker of the man who stole the giraffes for Jesse. His name being Mordecai Booth. Jesse finds his locker full of animal photos, sage, and a child's shoe. Jesse reviews all the items found in Booths' locker including photos of the first victims at the zoo and a scrawled passage on a crumpled bible page. Jesse accesses his home computer and cross checks the imagery described in the passage with locations near the PO box of Mordecai Booth. He is able to identify the Zion National Park, Castle Valley National Park, the Nuns and Priests Monument in Castle Rock, and a closed uranium mine directly below Castle Rock. Jesse takes a train to Castle Rock and rents a dirt bike to go to the closed uranium mine.
Jesse tries to call his father several times during his investigation, but his father is still not back from the field. Jesse locates the uranium mine and calls his father telling him that he found the killer, but the reception fails. Broderick accesses Jesse's computer and finds out the name of the killer and the coordinates of the mine. Broderick does not want SWAT to come with him to retrieve his son since they already killed one suspect and he fears that Jesse might be caught in the crossfire. Jesse begins to photograph the uranium mine and finds displays of several tortured and mutilated bodies. He also finds a life size ark covered with dead bodies and taxidermied animals. Jesse is found by Booth and strapped to a crucifix while Kristi Collins is still alive and tied to a pillar. Booth, now having finished his ark and gathered two of every animal, asks God to send the rains and releases the ark on its tracks. Broderick arrives and wounds Booth before he is able to sacrifice Jesse. He climbs aboard the ark and is able to free both Kristi and Jesse before the ark falls off the cliff at the end of the tracks. Booth is killed in the crash and Broderick, Jesse, and Kristi are picked up by Roxanne in a helicopter. Later, Broderick and Jesse are walking through a cemetery and Broderick shows Jesse that he has bought a plot for Bobby Martel. Broderick explains that Martel was just as much a victim as anyone else and that they have to make sure injustices like that do not happen again. Jesse asks why people have to die and Broderick assures him that good things do not die and that they live on in other people and that is why he is proud of the good things his son has done.
Cast
Scott Glenn as FBI Special Agent Stephen Broderick
Slaughter of the Innocents originally aired on HBO on December 2, 1993.
In April 1994, the film was released on videocassette and special edition LaserDisc by MCA/Universal Home Video. In 2004, it was released on DVD by 20th Century Fox with no bonus features. The DVD is discontinued. However, Synapse Films re-issued the film on a special edition Blu-Ray on June 11, 2019.[2]
Reception
The film was described as ’A gripping FBI procedural about a serial child rapist/killer.”[3]
Related Research Articles
A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons, with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three murders, others extend it to four or lessen it to two.
Moab is the largest city and county seat of Grand County in eastern Utah in the western United States, known for its dramatic scenery. The population was 5,366 at the 2020 census. Moab attracts many tourists annually, mostly visitors to the nearby Arches and Canyonlands National Parks. The town is a popular base for mountain bikers who ride the extensive network of trails including the Slickrock Trail, and for off-roaders who come for the annual Moab Jeep Safari.
Theodore Robert Bundy was an American serial killer who kidnapped, raped and murdered dozens of young women and girls during the 1970s and possibly earlier. After more than a decade of denials, he confessed to 30 murders committed in seven states between 1974 and 1978. His true victim total is unknown.
Charles Augustus Steen was a geologist who made and lost a fortune after discovering a rich uranium deposit in Utah during the uranium boom of the early 1950s.
Bones is an American police procedural comedy drama television series created by Hart Hanson for Fox. It premiered on September 13, 2005, and concluded on March 28, 2017, airing for 246 episodes over 12 seasons. The show is based on forensic anthropology and forensic archaeology, with each episode focusing on a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) case file concerning the mystery behind human remains brought by FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth to Temperance "Bones" Brennan, a forensic anthropologist. It also explores the personal lives of the characters. The rest of the main cast includes Michaela Conlin, T. J. Thyne, Eric Millegan, Jonathan Adams, Tamara Taylor, John Francis Daley, and John Boyd.
Brooke Carol Wilberger was an American student from the state of Oregon who was abducted and later murdered. Her disappearance was covered by the national media; her murder investigation was one of the most publicized in Oregon's history. Joel Patrick Courtney ultimately pleaded guilty to the aggravated murder of Wilberger; he was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
Amy Renee Mihaljevic was a ten-year-old American elementary school student who was kidnapped and murdered in the U.S. state of Ohio in 1989. Her murder case received national attention. The story of her unsolved kidnapping and murder were presented by John Walsh on the television show America's Most Wanted during the program's early years. To date, her killer has not been found, yet the case remains active; new information in 2007 and 2013 has increased hopes of resolving the case. In February 2021, it was announced that a person of interest emerged in the case after a woman contacted authorities in 2019 with potentially valuable information.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has been a staple of American popular culture since its christening in 1935. That year also marked the beginning of the popular "G-Man" phenomenon that helped establish the Bureau's image, beginning with the aptly titled James Cagney movie, G Men. Although the detective novel and other police-related entertainment had long enthralled audiences, the FBI itself can take some of the credit for its media prominence. J. Edgar Hoover, the Bureau's "patriarch", took an active interest to ensure that it was not only well represented in the media, but also that the FBI was depicted in a heroic, positive light and that the message, "crime doesn't pay", was blatantly conveyed to audiences. The context, naturally, has changed profoundly since the 1930s "war on crime", and especially so since Hoover's death in 1972.
"A Man on Death Row" is the seventh episode of the first season of the television series, Bones. Originally aired on November 22, 2005, on FOX network, the episode is written by Noah Hawley and directed by David Jones. The plot focuses on Dr. Temperance Brennan and FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth's investigation into a seven-year-old murder, of which death-row prisoner Howard Epps is accused. Booth and Brennan are given a deadline to prove Epps' innocence or guilt before his imminent execution.
"The Girl in the Fridge" is the eighth episode of the first season of the television series, Bones. Originally aired on November 29, 2005 on FOX network, the episode is written by Dana Coen and directed by Sanford Bookstaver. The episode features FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth and Dr. Temperance Brennan's investigation into the human remains of a teenage girl found inside a refrigerator and a subplot concerning the relationship between Brennan and her former lover and professor, Michael Stires.
Hunting Badger is a crime novel by American writer Tony Hillerman, the fourteenth in the Joe Leaphorn/Jim Chee Navajo Tribal Police series, first published in 1999.
"Cross Jurisdictions" is episode twenty-two of the second season of the American crime drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, which is set in Las Vegas, Nevada. It also served as a backdoor pilot episode of the spin-off series, CSI: Miami, set in Miami. The episode aired on May 9, 2002 on CBS.
Jonathan "Jack" Stanley Hodgins IV, Ph.D. is a character in the American television series, Bones. He is portrayed by T.J. Thyne. Hodgins is introduced to the series primarily as a forensic entomologist, as well as a botanist, mineralogist, forensic palynologist, and forensic chemist at the Jeffersonian Institute; his hobby is engaging in and discussing conspiracy theories.
The smiley face murder theory is a theory advanced by retired New York City detectives Kevin Gannon and Anthony Duarte, as well as Dr. Lee Gilbertson, a criminal justice professor and gang expert at St. Cloud State University. It alleges that 45 young men found dead in bodies of water across several Midwestern American states from the late 1990s to the 2010s did not accidentally drown, as concluded by law enforcement agencies, but were victims of a serial killer or killers.
Kyle Craig is a fictional character and antagonist in James Patterson's series of novels featuring Washington, D.C. detective Alex Cross. Craig, a Special Agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, is initially a close friend of Cross and assists the detective in his high-profile investigations, and also occasionally asks Cross for help with his own cases. However, in the 2000 novel Roses Are Red, Craig is revealed to be a criminal who calls himself "The Mastermind", having organized a series of brutal bank robberies and murders. He is eventually brought to justice by Cross. From Violets Are Blue onwards, Craig is one of Cross' most formidable adversaries. In the film adaptations of Patterson's novels Kiss the Girls and Along Came a Spider, Craig is played by Jay O. Sanders.
Israel Keyes was an American serial killer, bank robber, burglar, arsonist, kidnapper and sex offender who murdered at least three victims and committed dozens of felonies including armed robbery, arson, rape and burglary across the United States from July 2001 to February 2012.
Jesse Stone: Lost in Paradise is a 2015 American made-for-television crime drama film directed by Robert Harmon and starring Tom Selleck, Mackenzie Foy, William Devane, and Luke Perry. Written by Selleck and Michael Brandman, the film is about a police chief of the (fictional) small town of Paradise, Massachusetts, who investigates the murder of the apparent fourth victim of a brutal serial killer. Filmed on location in Lunenburg and Halifax, Nova Scotia,
"Kitty" is the twenty-first episode of the fourteenth season in the CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. The episode aired on April 30, 2014 on CBS. "Kitty" introduced FBI Agent Avery Ryan from the spin-off CSI: Cyber which this episode served as the backdoor pilot of the series. Despite being credited Jorja Fox and Jon Wellner who portray Sara Sidle and Henry Andrews do not appear in this episode.
On August 18, 2021, the bodies of married American couple Kylen Schulte and Crystal Turner were found in Moab, Utah, United States. Both victims had been murdered and died from gunshot wounds. They had last been seen alive five days earlier. In December 2022, the case was closed and Adam Pinkusiewicz was cited as the murderer.
References
↑ D'Arc, James V. (2010). When Hollywood came to town: a history of moviemaking in Utah (1sted.). Layton, Utah: Gibbs Smith. ISBN9781423605874.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
