Coming to HBO this Monday, July 22: THE CHESHIRE MURDERS
Kate Davis and David Heilbroner’s investigation of a horrific Connecticut triple murder is making its debut as part of the cable channel’s acclaimed Summer Docs series.
Nearly fifty years after the shocking murder of the Clutter family in Kansas, the inspiration for Truman Capote’s IN COLD BLOOD, residents of Cheshire CT were faced with a similar crime. The victims in this case were the Petit family – mother Jennifer, 11-year-old Michaela, and 17-year-old Hayley – raped and murdered by strangers during a home invasion which ended in arson. The only survivor was father William, who was badly beaten but managed to escape his captors. After the perpetrators were arrested, the shocking brutality of the crime sparked outrage and renewed debate about the viability of the death penalty. Davis and Heilbroner delve deeply into the case, providing a comprehensive, and riveting, account of what happened in the Petit home and, disturbingly, why help failed to come, even though authorities had been alerted to the danger they were facing. Interviews with individuals directly and indirectly connected to the crime attempt to make sense of the perpetrators’ actions – why they targeted the family, what motivated their unthinkable assault, and why they turned to murder. While this in-depth exploration proves fascinating, if decidedly unsettling, the filmmakers use the incident to explore its larger implications on the controversial topic of capital punishment, smartly blending true crime with the complexity of social justice in a case where the undeniably guilty defendants could hope for little sympathy.
what (not) to doc 