The Unsolved Murder of Beverly Lynn Smith

As Episode 1 of "The Unsolved Murder of Beverly Smith" (2022 release from Canada; 4 episodes of about 45 min each) opens, we are in "Oshawa, Ontario" and various talking heads, including crime reporter and author Jeff Mitchell, but also Wendy, the twin sister of Beverly, and Alan Smith, one of the original suspects, talk about the terrible events that resulted in the murder of Beverly Smith in December of 1974. At this point we are 10 min into Episode 1.

Couple of comments: this is the latest documentary from Canadian director Nathalie Bibeau ("The Walrus and the Whistleblower"). Here she looks back to the events surrounding the murder of home maker Beverly Smith, whose husband may or may not have been involved in drug dealing. More importantly, Bibeau looks at the subsequent police investigation and the long-term fallout of same. I'll be honest: I was not impressed/taken in by the opening episode, and I was almost ready to bail on this, but for some reason I decided to give Episode 2 a chance, and by the time that was over, I just needed to stick around and find out how all of this played out. It was well worth it, as there are several unexpected (and major) developments (sorry, I can't spoil) that are sprung upon us in the last 2 episodes.

"The Unsolved Murder of Beverly Lynn Smith" premiered recently on Amazon Prime. I caught it this past weekend, and watched all 4 episodes in a single setting. Time just flew by. If you like true crime and documentaries, and you aren't impressed with the opening episode, be sure to give it one more episode. I think you won't regret it.

With all due respect to the victim's family and friends, it's a story that should be told but it's a shame it was this gang who told it. This is another 'gibney' type clone where the producers seem to think that splashing a lot of images and using quick edits you won't notice that the film is dragging way behind the story. You could write the whole story down in 100 words or less but they take 3 hrs to tell it in film. I won't give away the story because that would be unfair to those who want to waste 3 hrs watching this but trust me, you can use fast forward and you won't miss a thing. Don't look for the plot twists they promise at the beginning because they're not there, and there's no closure at the end either despite the interviews.

If I ever hear one more Leaf come at the US again about our legal system, this is getting tossed in their smug face.

This poor guy is mentally deficient, was duped by unscrupulous officers with ridiculous behavior and tactics that would make the most insidious mob bosses squirm, but they're willing to stand by this insane practice as being legitimate?

Between this, the wife's friend who somehow knows how to coax confessions (she should be imprisoned), the family that somehow cannot fathom innocent people confessing (although it's hard to be too angry with her family, but still, this is now well documented fact that innocent people have and will confess given certain circumstances) the lead investigator with about as much of a moral compass as a sea squid, and the idiot himself WHO WAS TOLD BY HIS ATTORNEYS TO TRUST NO ONE, and it's a catastrophic failure of jurisprudence of epic proportions.

I'd say their best bet and most likely suspect is the husband, and more emphasis should have been placed there- this simple minded guy IS NOT the killer, and all of these officers should be reprimanded and forced to admit their incompetence. But given that this is occurring under one of the most inept PMs I've ever seen, it's certainly no surprise.

This could have been a single episode, two at most. Four was far too drawn out and labored for effect.

... the sound design is SO IRRITATING and distracting. I'm in the film industry and I would have sent this back. It lacks mature choices.

This is a documentary not an episode of CSI. These are real people and a viewer knows when to feel and what to feel. We don't need a sound track that competes. We need to hear the PEOPLE and the INFORMATION.

I had to mute the sound to just get through it after a point. Beverly Lynn Smith, RIP.

There's hundreds of hours of audio and evidence of Al talking about the murder, but the producers cherry-picked and left important facts out to fit their narrative.

Why didn't they have anyone that actually knew Al in the doc from before the age of 10? Just his sister that hadn't seen him in 25 years, 4 defence lawyers, and a journalist that's friends with his lawyer?

Why didn't they have Bev's sisters read the parts of the judge's decision where he said that Al lost his temper with "Jack" and threatened him after Jack had cancelled a meetup for payment? Or the part where Al went and dug up the boots he had buried of Jack's, took a picture of them, then wrote on it "Pay up, you dig?" Or the part where he said he doesn't believe the police had tunnel vision and only evidence led them to suspect Al and that the confession was "without prompting"?

They didn't even spell Bev's name right in the title.

Do your own research, please.