Steven Stayner's brother, Cary Stayner, would go on to murder four women in and around Yosemite National Park in 1999. He was convicted of three counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances and one count of kidnapping in 2002 and sentenced to death. Stayner was originally housed at San Quentin prison; however, it has since been transformed into a rehabilitation center. As of 2024, all of the inmates have been transferred to prisons where they are in the general population and have access to work programs. It doesn't change death sentences; however, there have been no executions in California since 2006.
The real Steven was paid $30,000 for the movie. He died in a motorcycle accident shortly after this movie was released. He was 24, with a wife and two children.
The actual Steven Stayner has a small role as one of the officers escorting the character of Steven through the crowd and media to return to his family.
In the scene where Parnell escorts Steven into Highland Elementary School, a dubbed woman's voice says, "Mr. Teaney says you're failing his history class. I can help you!" Ken Teaney was the supervising sound editor for this film.
While Steven Stayner was fond of the production (although he felt the portrayal of him as a disrespectful teenager was inaccurate), his parents and his brother expressed their dislike of the miniseries, claiming that it was an inaccurate portrayal of the family dynamic. At the murder trial of his brother Cary Stayner in 2002, it was revealed that child molestation was widespread in the family, with the father being one of the perpetrators, along with an uncle and the maternal grandfather. The Stayner family also has a long history of mental illness.