Mind Over Murder

[DanaK]

Quote

The series chronicles the bizarre and psychologically complex story of six individuals who were convicted for the 1985 murder of a beloved 68- year-old grandmother, Helen Wilson, in Beatrice, Nebraska. Acclaimed Filmmaker Nanfu Wang Explores Memory And Murder In Beatrice, Nebraska

The HBO Original six-part documentary series MIND OVER MURDER, directed by Nanfu Wang (HBO's "In the Same Breath") and produced by Vox Media Studios, debuts MONDAY, JUNE 20 (10:00-11:00 p.m. ET/PT) with new episodes airing subsequent Mondays at the same time on HBO and will be available to stream on HBO Max.

Edited June 1, 2022 by DanaK

[patty1h]

Watched part one - not sure if I'm gonna stick around for this one.  I thought it was your usual case study - who, what, why, etc.  but...

Spoiler

it seems to have detoured into the story of an overzealous cop who decided he had solved a case and a bunch of innocent(?) people got railroaded into prison.   I hate situations where it turns out someone got sentenced for something they didn't do... it hurts my heart too much and I don't think I can watch 3 more hours of folks that got stuck in that web.

[DanaK]

18 hours ago, patty1h said:

Watched part one - not sure if I'm gonna stick around for this one.  I thought it was your usual case study - who, what, why, etc.  but...

  Reveal spoiler

it seems to have detoured into the story of an overzealous cop who decided he had solved a case and a bunch of innocent(?) people got railroaded into prison.   I hate situations where it turns out someone got sentenced for something they didn't do... it hurts my heart too much and I don't think I can watch 3 more hours of folks that got stuck in that web.

I guess I should have put more detail in the first post as your complaint in the spoiler is exactly what the doc series is about

[patty1h]

@DanaK, your synopsis was fine, it's my issue on how I like my true crime shows to play out.  I also cannot watch any of the "missing person who are never found shows" - too open ended and sad for me.

[EtheltoTillie]

Based on these comments Maybe I’ll skip the rest of this. I paused halfway through episode one. Some of these series and podcasts are just too long lately. These long series have a lot of fans, unfortunately. 

[larapu2000]

On 6/28/2022 at 9:18 PM, EtheltoTillie said:

Based on these comments Maybe I’ll skip the rest of this. I paused halfway through episode one. Some of these series and podcasts are just too long lately. These long series have a lot of fans, unfortunately. 

I'm finding it interesting, but agree it's way too long.  The inclusion of the community theatre is so stupid, in my opinion.  They don't add anything.  

[I Want My MBTV]

3 hours ago, larapu2000 said:

I'm finding it interesting, but agree it's way too long.  The inclusion of the community theatre is so stupid, in my opinion.  They don't add anything.  

Agreed.  I think the producers or whomever probably thought having the play was their hook or differentiating factor.

Also, while I don't excuse or defend anything Searcy did he's not the only one to blame for this tragedy.  This all started with Clint trying to get a reduced sentence for the crime he committed and that Lisa Podendorf saying that Jo Anne confessed to her.  I don't know if she's still around but I really wish she had been interviewed because I'd like to know what her motive was for doing that.  From what we've seen she wasn't picked up for questioning or a person of interest or anything.  I just think the fact that Lisa and Clint faced no repercussions for their part in this isn't right and the fact that Clint is still married to Deb who he accused of murder and that Deb says he's the greatest guy she's ever met is incredibly sad in many many ways.  

Oh, and also, let's not forget the police had the right guy within days and if the lab tech lady hadn't messed up this could've all be over then and there'd be no need to arrest anyone else.  Of course she's deceased so she can't face any punishment.

So much blame and tragedy to go around.  I feel sorry for all the families (the family of Helen Wilson of course and also the families ((minus Clint)) of the 6 that were incarcerated). 

[MissAlmond]

I stopped watching after episode one and miscarriages of justice documentaries are in my wheelhouse. 

On 7/19/2022 at 12:49 PM, larapu2000 said:

The inclusion of the community theatre is so stupid, in my opinion. 

^^THIS^^, My annoyance of the community theater (why?) is indeed one of the reasons I lost interest. 

Edited July 22, 2022 by MissAlmond

[meep.meep]

If you watch the last episode, you'll see why including the community theater was important.

[I Want My MBTV]

I still don't understand how the real killer got into Helen's apartment.  It was made clear early on that she didn't open her door to strangers and there was no sign of anyone breaking in so did she actually know Brian or did the police miss that he broke in?  

Still don't understand why more wasn't made of Clint being the one that started the whole thing saying that Deb was involved.  When Tom was saying Deb is still brainwashed I was thinking "well yeah, her husband told her she did it!"

I don't know what the right amount of money is for anyone wrongly incarcerated since you can't buy time but I do wonder how the amount was decided.  Also, I think 3 of them served 4 years and the other 3 served 18 years so does everyone get the same amount?   I can understand the taxpayers not wanting to pay but I think that all of us taxpayers pay for things like that like when the police departments get sued for various things that money comes from somewhere and its us.  Maybe there's not as much press around it for people to draw a line to line conclusion but sadly we all pay.

Overall I thought the series was too long and not well edited but the ending was very emotional.   

[MilkMachine]

On 7/26/2022 at 2:26 PM, meep.meep said:

If you watch the last episode, you'll see why including the community theater was important.

100%. I thought the community theater part of the doc was a little much, too, but the payoff was worth it.

On 7/26/2022 at 3:08 PM, I Want My MBTV said:

I still don't understand how the real killer got into Helen's apartment.  It was made clear early on that she didn't open her door to strangers and there was no sign of anyone breaking in so did she actually know Brian or did the police miss that he broke in?  

Here's my thought on this. We all want to believe/hope that our family members are going to make the safest choices 100% of the time, but you really never know what a person is going to do in the moment. We really can't know what Brian said or did to coerce her into opening the door. Maybe they'd met before, or maybe he was a scammer who exactly what to say to convince her he was the maintenance man. Or some other thing we'll never know because they're both dead.

[Guest]

On 7/26/2022 at 2:26 PM, meep.meep said:

If you watch the last episode, you'll see why including the community theater was important.

Thank you for writing this post. I watched the series up until the next-to-last episode and decided I was done with it because I had zero interest in the hammy community theater production and the inability of the Helen's grandchildren to come to terms with what really happened. Then, I read what you wrote and thought, eh. OK. I'll finish it out. 

I am so glad I did. That final hour really packed a powerful punch. I was wrong with my assessment of the "hammy" theater group -- from what was shown, they did an incredible job. I got choked up when the one grandson who attended fully embraced the reality of the innocence of the six people who were convicted and have hopes that the other one (who didn't attend) will continue taking baby steps to the same realization. I understand that it must be very hard to disassemble something you've always believed was true and open your eyes to a completely new reality. But I have hope that with time and an understanding of actual facts, he (along with other people who have been fleeced by those with power and authority) can make peace with how things really were instead of what they believed them to be.

As for Burt Surcey (sp?) -- fuck that guy and his Moe Howard wig.   

[gaPeach]

On 7/22/2022 at 8:34 AM, MissAlmond said:

The inclusion of the community theatre is so stupid, in my opinion. 

I started fast forwarding through the community theater parts.  I guess I should go back to the last episode and check it out. 

I too found the series way too long and all over the place.  it was a complicated story so there's that.  

I don't think the Burt intended to put 6 people in jail.  I think he THOUGHT he was doing the right thing, but it was his huge ego that put those people in jail.  He ignored the fact that most of the accused were not the brightest bulbs in the box and easily lead down the narrative Burt wanted.

This is similar to Making of a Murder.