Conspiracy of Silence

I have seen this movie many times over the years, and it is no less gut-wrenching today. Michael Mahonen won a Gemini award for his portrayal of Lee Colgan, a teenager who went out for a good time one night and ended up as an unwitting accomplice to a murder. The story is a complex tale in which the high school students who know what happened are threatened with violence if they go to the police and the older citizens don't want to see whites go prison over the death of a Cree.

The first half of the film takes place at the time of the murder, and the second half takes places roughly fifteen years later. Lee Colgan has become an alcoholic, while the other three boys who were in the car have gone on with their lives. Some of the young women who heard about the murder after the fact are still haunted by guilt at not having spoken up. There is also a sense of frustration on the part of the Mounties at knowing they're surrounded by people who know something but refuse to tell. I would like to add a personal observation here. Michael Mahonen's transformation from a carefree teenager to an alcoholic who is far older than his years was impressive to me when I first saw it. The performance became absolutely astounding to me when I learned that he made the film while he was working on the "Road to Avonlea" series. In the mornings, he was playing a teenager in the early 1900's with an Irish accent. In the afternoons, he was portraying a thirty-something alcoholic in the 1980's with a Canadian accent.

Miniseries about the killing of an innocent Indian girl and the entire town that failed to bring the guilty to justice. Set in The Pas, Manitoba, about as far north as civilization goes. The girl leaves home to get an education, but on one night she gets picked up by a carload of rowdy white boys and gets killed and dumped out. Originally shown on the CBC in Canada. It has been shown on Lifetime in the U.S.A. Vintage cars and songs are featured in this. Hypnosis is used to make a cab driver recall a license plate number. Canadian Indians are typically called "wagon burners." Excellent study of crime and white narcissism. You feel sad for the Indian mother who lost her daughter.

I've seen Conspiracy Of Silence numerous times over the years and even today it's still a haunting story to watch it's so unbelievable that a murder case like this one took over 16 years to end. What made me a bit angry was that the town Of Pas, Manitoba, Canada kept silent, they chose to protect the killers and not come forward because it was only a native woman that died and they didn't care.

Gemini award winner Michael Mahonen delivered a knockout performance as Lee Colgan one of the four men involved with the murder who was just a kid who turned into a alcoholic because of the guilt he carried for years. I read the book written by Lisa Priest and it gives accurate details from the murder in 1971 to 1987 when the man who killed Helen Betty Osborne was finally brought to justice.

On November 12, 1971 Helen Betty Osborne, (St.John) was a nineteen year old Indian woman who was out for a walk when she was beaten and murdered by Dwayne Johnston (Tracey). After her body was discovered the town was scared and shocked, one of the suspects Lee Colgan (Mahonen) couldn't stop talking about what happened at the pump house that night. The police continued to question anyone who might know something about who killed the young woman and why. However the town chose to keep quiet and all four boys including Jim Houghton (Potts) & Norm Manger (Chambers) went free. 11 years later, the boys have all moved on with their lives however Lee Colgan turned into an alcoholic and hasn't stopped talking about that gruesome murder as a result his wife Sandy (Kidney) left him and took their children. When a new constable Steve Frishbilski (Ouimette) sees the case file he becomes fascinated by the case and decides to investigate, another add is put in the paper asking people who know anything about the 1971 murder of a 19 year old Indian woman to come forward and hopefully help to close this case.

Two women Sherrie Linder(Disher) and Angie (Johnson) both tell the officer what they know Sherrie says that Lee confessed to his involvement she wrote an anonymous letter to the town paper detailing Colgan's story about the murder which lead to his arrest in 1986. In exchange for immunity he has to testify against Dwayne Jonhston & Jim Houghton his best friend. Finally in 1987 the case was officially closed when Johnston was arrested and convicted of first degree murder . After seeing this chilling tale I hated that the town was so racist against Indian people and how they kept quiet all those years it shouldn't have taken all those years to solve a murder. 10/10

Saw this while on vacation. I was amazed as well as saddened by the story.

To try to imagine such hate and disregard for this young girl, simply because of her culture, is appalling to me.

But, the fact that some people just did not give up until just was served, is gratifying.

I hope that it will, at least be re-aired, here in the states, especially here in Boston, so that many others will see it, and perhaps LEARN from Helen Betty Osborne's story.

Would LOVE to be able to locate a copy of the movie.

Anyone out there know?

Thanks!

JQ

The true story of a Native Canadian girl who was brutally murdered in November 1972 by four white Canadian teenagers. the four hour mini series is long enough to explain the town of The Pas' racism and reactions to the crime. One murderer even confesses to the crime. The character of Lee Colgan can become sympathetic to the audience. Since that night, he has become the second victim in a psychological sense. He himself has become unemployed, chronic alcoholic whose wife left him with their only son. In the small town, it becomes a well-known fact of Lee's repetitious confessions on his drinking binges. For fear of being killed, some girls remain silent but the town itself is fully haunted by the whole murder. They themselves become an ignorant accomplices to the crime with their silence. By protecting their own, they have cursed themselves into an real ugly image of racism. Still, the racism exists between the white Canadians and their Native Canadians. May Helen Betty Osburne rest in peace now. One painful scene in the movie is the last moment between Betty and her mother before Betty departs on a small plane to The Pas. While justice went undone for many years, it still haunts Manitoba.