"Into Thin Air" 1985, TV, with Ellen Burstyn (semi-spoiler)

[leno...@yahoo.com]

Not to be confused with the 1997 Mt. Everest TV-movie.

Very sad and painful, but worthwhile if you can watch it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfQxry0JjtU

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089345/

One review:

"Why would I so strongly recommend a film which I describe as deeply disturbing and which I would never want to see again? The reason is that we live in a world in which we do not adequately understand the dangers around us and how ineffectively our institutions deal with them. In that respect this film is an eyeopener. It is incumbent upon us as a society to do more than try to imagine what a victim and his family go through; since we are involved to some degree in punishing criminals, we must know what their victims experience. As great as this film is (especially Ellen Burstyn's performance), it cannot compare with the original documentary about the actual case. It was called Just Another Missing Kid, and the story was told by the family members and detective involved. (If you are interested in details about the documentary, it was made for a Canadian television series called The Fifth Estate, and it is search-able on IMDb under the title but the heading TV Episodes must be selected from the drop-down menu, since it is not a commercial movie title). We hear, practically daily, about horrific things being done to people, but knowing something of the circumstances and repercussions of one such case is a powerful experience..."


http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9407E0DD1738F93AA15753C1A963948260
(by John J. O'Connor)


http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084185/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
(about "Just Another Missing Kid")

"On July 10, 1978, Eric Wilson - a 19-year from Ottawa and student at Tufts University - left home to drive to a summer college course in Colorado. When he went missing four days afterward in Nebraska, his family tried to persuade local and U.S. police that he wasn't simply a runaway and hadn't simply forgotten to call home. The program examines the lengths to which they had to go to find out what happened to Eric, and the byzantine nature of the legal system which seemed less interested in pursuing justice than in avoiding the expenses involved in the investigation and potential trials."



Lenona.

[Sol L. Siegel]

leno...@yahoo.com wrote:

> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084185/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
> (about "Just Another Missing Kid")

The thing I remember most about the Canadian docu is the
FBI agent who looks into the camera, states flatly that
the private detective's long hard work to nail the
creeps had nothing to do with their long-delayed arrests,
and apparently expects us to belive it.

- Sol L. Siegel, Philadelphia, PA USA

[leno...@yahoo.com]

Here's more on why the killer Raymond Hatch didn't get as long a sentence as he might have (namely, his accomplice, 19-year-old Bertram Davis, got cold feet about testifying against him - and not because he was afraid of Hatch, per se):

https://www.fresnosheriff.org/publicdocs/0/doc/4500/Page115.aspx

Unfortunately, I can't seem to find anything more about Davis.


And, from the IMDb's entry on Hatch:

"Longtime criminal who pled guilty to second-degree murder after killing 19-year-old Eric Wilson of Ottawa; sentenced to serve 26 years in prison, he was released after 13. In 1994 he stabbed his girlfriend with an 8-inch knife, and after initially being charged with aggravated assault, he was convicted of assault and sentenced to 364 days in jail and a $10 fine; he was again released after 9 months."

Hatch died in 2000, days before he would have turned 53. (Don't know how.)


Lenona.

[leno...@yahoo.com]

Found something else, from Dec. 1991 (you have to Google on "Marilyn Wilson" and "Eric")

Last paragraphs:


...And so, by the curious accounting system for time served and a definition of good behavior that means, essentially, that he didn't manage to kill anyone (in jail), Hatch will be set loose from Limon in a little more than a year.

"I know it's costly to keep Raymond Hatch in prison," says Marilyn. "And I don't believe in capital punishment. But I do think the system is capable of distinguishing between the Raymond Hatches of this world and people who commit crimes of passion and are rehabilitated. It doesn't take too much understanding to see this segment of society should serve life in prison, and society should pay the cost.

"That's the more moral position. It's not that I care if Raymond Hatch lives or dies, frankly."

Marilyn Wilson cannot believe the state of Colorado is powerless to keep a man like her son's killer behind bars. Peter Wilson's research reveals that virtually all of Hatch's known crimes have occurred when he should have been locked up for previous offenses. Their experience with our system should prompt us to ask ourselves one pointed question.

Which is really more terrifying: That Raymond Hatch will soon be among us? Or that, when you get right down to it, we planned it this way?

(end)


Lenona.

[Sol L. Siegel]

leno...@yahoo.com wrote in
news:5dc65ee5-3de8-4925...@googlegroups.com:

> Found something else, from Dec. 1991 (you have to Google on "Marilyn
> Wilson" and "Eric")
>
> Last paragraphs:

[...]

> Marilyn Wilson cannot believe the state of Colorado is powerless to
> keep a man like her son's killer behind bars. Peter Wilson's research
> reveals that virtually all of Hatch's known crimes have occurred when
> he should have been locked up for previous offenses. Their experience
> with our system should prompt us to ask ourselves one pointed
> question.
>
> Which is really more terrifying: That Raymond Hatch will soon be among
> us? Or that, when you get right down to it, we planned it this way?
>
> (end)

According to Wikipedia, Richard Hatch died in 2000. Cause not listed.
In the interim, he nearly killed a girlfriend.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just_Another_Missing_Kid