FAQ

No. It was loosely based on the real life murder of Inez Peabody. The murder was blamed on the inept and bumbling teenage yard boy, Lester Grimmis. After the movie came out, being convinced that they really knew the truth, Fenton Peabody, the nephew of Inez Peabody, turned himself in. He blamed the murder on Lester Grimmis who served 5 years in prison on death row. In a strange turn of fate, Grimmis taught himself to play the tuba in order to play in the prison band, becoming quite the virtuoso. When released from prison, he was awarded a full scholarship at the local college which was fully funded by Inez Peabody's fortune which, according to her last will, her entire fortune was given to the college to be used for scholarships in band and music. As it turned out, Ms. Peabody was completely tone-deaf and had not the least bit of musical ability, so she left her money to people who could use it. Her nephew would receive not one penny of the fortune. He wound up being sent to an insane asylum where he would only mutter the words "Lester Grimmis" on occasion. He later leapt to his death off the roof the asylum after seeing the real Lester Grimmis on the Carol Burnett show playing his tuba and giving full credit to Inez Peabody for allowing him to reach such a dizzying height of fame.