The Unsolved Murder of Beverly Lynn Smith (2022) User Reviews

Tentative EP1 but finishes strongly

[paul-allaer · 7/10 · 31 May 2022]

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.

Exactly Why People Don't Trust Cops

[pinksockrock · 5/10 · 14 May 2022]

This is a documentary on how to frame an emotionally fragile, lonely person by overzealous police officers obsessed with looking like heroes. The Canadian police created such a mind-fu** to solve a cold case that they ruined dozens of people's lives, spent many thousands of government money to do so, and ended up not solving the murder. The victim and her family received no justice and another family was victimized in the process of bungling this case. If anything this is a study on how not to be a detective.

Evidence

[kchristie-29606 · 7/10 · 6 May 2022]

Were the suspects ever tested for gunshot residue? Nothing was ever mentioned about anyone involved being tested. I hate to say , "I saw them do it on a TV crime show..." but I am just wondering if this would not be one of the first protocols alongside interviewing people as a way to rule them out.

This is an important to the family so I gave it more stars BUT

[gina-95739 · 6/10 · 17 July 2022]

... 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.

repetitive, repetitive, repetitive

[howboutthisone_huh · 6/10 · 7 May 2022]

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.

Case Closed

[Astaroth22 · 6/10 · 20 May 2022]

Looks like the police got the right guy but used the wrong tactics. That final confession in the truck sealed it for me. His tone changed, he exonerated his Scapegoat, and he cried. Notice his excuse was he can make himself cry to appear believable? And yet he never cries anywhere else. Sorry, but you have to be awful gullible to accept that lame explanation. In fact, his favorite tactic for that purpose is to show anger.

The doc is set up in such a way that you "want" to believe he didn't do it. But he failed his lie detector, was street smart savvy enough around the cops, and confessed when he thought he was among trusted friends. Most criminals always minimize their roles in their early versions and he was no different here either.

There's no doubt to me he would have eventually told "Danny" during the normal course of their friendship had they been willing to wait. Being in a hurry and looking to speed up the process is what ultimately doomed this case. Unfortunately, it's the family who has to pay the price - for a second time.

If you watch this and "Wrong Man" Series...

[kvnnagel · 9/10 · 10 May 2022]

You will understand that a Cop that thinks you did a crime will do just about anything ( even illegal actions) to prove you guilty. This was an egregious case and I've been in front of a multitude of Narcissist Cops who believe they should be worshipped as ABOVE EVERYTHING. I'm a reformed former criminal and I know my fair share of how the dark side goes, how things are done.. Why things are done.. Why cops go Dirty.. how law enforcement are flipped.. Outlaw bike clubs have been flipping Coos and Prison guards for as long as there have been cops and prison guards... If I were to add my own view on this case as opinion only.. When your dealing drugs, and you don't connect any way with any organized group.. your going to get hurt.. drug dealers don't want competition they want expansion and sales.. Selling anything is still about Hierarchy... if Doug didn't have permission it may be under the radar for some time, but eventually he'd get big enough to get noticed. Probably warned.. and then probably dealt with. So my direction would be to look into the bigger dealers in the area, and who they work for... that's where I would look. Doug might even know, but is to scared to say anything.

Canada Eh?

[helenahandbasket-93734 · 4/10 · 2 June 2022]

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.

With friends like those...

[allisonjoys · 9/10 · 3 June 2022]

Who needs enemies?

Hearing the tapes of Dirty Danny and Jack-off gave me a stomach ache. These are the people upholding the law?

And Janet. Judas Janet. She drove her friend to a psychiatric hospital and she's conducting the interview like she's James Bond. She has a lot of praying to do.

It's interesting that Beverlys husband did not agree to do the documentary but Alan did. Throughout the entire documentary we kept coming back to "the husband knows who did it". That was an execution style murder to send a message to him and he got the message loud and clear.

Worth a watch

[everyhoureveryday · 16 July 2022]

What a story. I think this could have been done with fewer episodes and not so much repetition. The case itself is interesting with twists and turns and kooky characters, but in the end there was no resolution. This is fine if they were just trying to bring a cold case to light and get some justice.

It also felt as if the family and others were all holding back information. This could have been the fault of the doc makers though.

I do suggest watching it if you like true crime and unsolved crimes.

Tedious and not really that much of a mystery

[OneAnjel · 4/10 · 10 May 2022]

This show rehashes the same information but leaves out other information. I think it's clear the wife killed Beverly, she admitted it and even said that she went over there in a jealous rage. The so-called friend, Janet, is proof that the cops have a power over people who want to be cooperative. This false friend forced the wife to make claims that may or may not may not be true trying to hold onto her friendship. Still she seems the most obvious suspect. Allen had no motive at all. And those cops were way out of line because they created a scenario and made him an unwitting player. That's not the same as a sting operation or even entrapment. That is taking a vulnerable human being and putting them in a situation where their only choice is between a rock and a hard place. Trust me if you thought you were talking to a mob boss and you are not allowed to leave until you gave him some secret, you would make up a damn good secret. I'm not saying Allen is Innocent but I am saying there is absolutely no proof that he did it and that so-called confession is almost as illegal as the murder. Overall I felt this show really didn't have a story to tell, there's no ending there's not even really a start & middle because they just keep going back and forth over the same information. I feel bad for the family because they were convinced that Allen did it and yet when you look at it with a bird's eye view he is probably the least likely person to have committed the crime. They were not involved romantically, he depended on her for drugs. His wife is the only one who had a true motive, of the people they introduced us to. They should have change the focus of this story and used it as one of the cases that epitomizes why cops were so hated by the public at one time. And I have to admit hearing that Alan was a loner who didn't have anything of his own and that they came along pretending to be best friends and buying him things that he wouldn't have had acquired without them, I mean this is all very sad and part of the con. I mean, this was what the industry calls a long con. But having said that I would not recommend this series unless you just want to waste time or feel nostalgic for backwoods sort of people talking to the film without having even brushed their hair.

Canada Not So Progressive After All

[ericsipos-55529 · 10/10 · 30 June 2022]

If you're a true crime fan, and you want to watch something to truly make your blood boil, this is the one to watch. You do need to stick with it, as the extent of the police department's, if not the entire Canadian government's, corruption doesn't really come into clear and undeniable focus until the final episode. This is a true story, so I don't know if the spoiler rule applies here, but the civil liberties violations against this poor man led to the government - supposedly anyway - putting an end to this practice of basically threatening people into false confessions. The creep cops in this true story actually posed as mobsters who had just killed someone, and threatened their suspect that if he didn't tell them something they could "hold over him"... well, you can guess the rest. I hope he wins his multi-million dollar lawsuit, especially since not a single, crooked cop in the story has ever been disciplined in any way. You give police unlimited power to arrest the person they want to arrest, even though the victim's husband was a fairly big time drug dealer in a crime-ridden city (Home to a violent motorcycle gang called ' satan's specials" I believe), where there were many suspects, and cases like these are inevitable.

Propaganda

[rebeccalynsmith · 1/10 · 5 May 2023]

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.

This is a great documentary.

[luckylynndee · 10/10 · 3 June 2022]

It's sad that Beverly's family still believes in these police. They ruined Al's life and the real tragedy is that they will never get the true closure and justice they deserve.

Sound quality so poor it is unwatchable

[trimmer31 · 2/10 · 9 May 2022]

The sound quality on this is so poor that it is completely unwatchable. The background "music" is not background, and drowns out everything else. I'm disappointed, because I really wanted to watch this.

Important story

[marlealyons · 8/10 · 11 June 2023]

I had no idea this happened in my neck of the woods. It's an important story. "Mr. Big" is very controversial here in Canada. I've interacted with police over the years in a work capacity, and I don't really like them. Policing needs to change. There remains an aura of "we will have our way".

The series could have been done perfectly in two episodes ..there was so much repetition. The set "scenes" were ridiculous, shabby retro, lampshades tilted, etc. Not necessary. The panning in and out of objects was really annoying. The last episode of the series is the best.

Overall this needed to be told.

Botched investigation

[pkkids-67406 · 9/10 · 12 August 2022]

Good documentary, though slow in spots, but stick with it.

I feel it was a sloppy investigation. Where is all the physical evidence? Was there any gunshot residue?was the bullet ever tested for anything? I realize this was in 1974, but I find it interesting that some of the evidence and interviews were lost through the years, knowing it's an unsolved murder.

I totally believe Al is innocent and that the head investigator was on a witch hunt because of his own ego. (Lots of egos in play here. Linda's friend, Janet, especially.) So many other avenues that needed to be thoroughly investigated. What about the women Beverly's husband was cheating with? What about the people her husband dealt drugs with?

I thought it was quite interesting at the end when Beverly's own twin sister said that she had never seen Beverly carry the purse that had been hidden through the years by their mother and then given to Beverly's daughter, and just given to Beverly's twin a few years ago. I think they should try to get some forensic testing done on that purse, just in case there's a slim chance of finding some DNA. That makeup should have some DNA on it, if it hasn't deteriorated. They should have all the evidence tested for DNA , if they haven't yet. I didn't hear them say there was any testing done in recent years.

I really feel for Beverly's family, I can't even begin to imagine what they've been through and are still going through. I feel the police have done the family a great disservice by brainwashing them into thinking Al is the murderer. The evidence just isn't there. I pray they find the real killer!

2 victims in this unsolved murder!

[garyj007 · 8/10 · 19 May 2022]

After watching this there is no way you can believe that Alan was guilty. The only reason he became 'a person of interest' was due to the low detector test, which psychologists believe cannot determine whether someone is guilty or not, it's not even admissible in court. 80% is what detectives believe it to be accurate, that means that 20% of the time it's wrong.

Linda Smith had 2 answers contradict themselves, but of course the detective will focus on the answer that suits their narrative. With the help of Janet they coerce multiple stories out of Linda to try and point the finger at Alan. One of which was whilst she was in a psychiatric hospital where she was seeking treatment. She felt like she was blocking out this crime only because the detective taking the lie detector test told her she was involved and hiding the truth. This literally drove her to the looney bin.

Out of desperation, they took advantage of a falsely accused man whose life had already been torn apart by false imprisonment for 5 years, by befriending him. At this point he had no friends, was lonely because of being accused of this murder. They create an elaborate plan to coerce another confession, this time out of Alan himself. I 100% believe that in that circumstance, under that pressure and stress, you would say just about anything to stay out of harms way and to protect his family, even confess to a murder you didn't commit. If confessing gives someone you are scared of, and rightly so, a reason to let you go, and have this ordeal over with, what harm would it do to tell them what they clearly want to hear. He isn't confessing thinking that people are listening and will use this against him, he is confessing because he believes if I just say this, I can leave. It makes complete sense.

From the very start to the very end I had no doubt he was innocent, I kept wondering why he would have confessed as it was played in the first episode, and by the time he had explained in the last episode it made complete sense.

1 last thing I want to say is that the murderer could have been anyone. The 70's was a decade filled with the most notorious serial killers. It could easily have been a random killing by a serial killer at the time, but most likely it was related to the drug dealings of her husband and his known clients and associates.

Well-done expose of coerced confession case that changed Canadian law.

[tobydammit-2 · 9/10 · 9 January 2023]

If you like true crime documentaries, you'll enjoy this well-made film about an elderly Canadian man who the Ontario police terrified into confessing to a murder he did not commit with an elaborate "Mr. Big" undercover ruse that rivals anything you ever saw on Mission Impossible in its complexity and use of imposters to fool a target. The ENTRAPMENT was so bad, they couldn't convict the man, but he did serve FIVE YEARS in prison, they destroyed his life, they did not compensate him and NO ONE was even reprimanded for it!!!

Supposedly, Canada tightened its laws around "Mr. Big" investigations in which cops pretend to be big time criminals and actually lead people into committing simulated crimes, but I've read the socialist Trudeau state to our north STILL allows this to a much greater degree than other civilized countries.

A couple of things this film proves that aren't in the description: One, marijuana (that friendly and presumably harmless drug) leads to a LOT of violent crime, misery and ruined lives. Two, the loved ones of murder victims will never accept the innocence of someone the police arrest for the crime no matter how compelling the evidence exonerating them. The tendency of the angry relatives to cling to the belief that the murderer was caught and hate that suspect instead of hating the tunnel vision (or just lazy) police for failing to pursue and capture the real criminal is quite a phenomenon. I only took one point off for having a few white subtitles of wiretaps against a white background which made them illegible. Can't read that, eh?!

An excellent documentary that give the story the time needed.

[Mikael-wester · 9/10 · 29 May 2022]

So much sadness. No winners except,maybe, the killer that got away.

Haven't met so many confessed killer in my life.

Luckily.

But my belief has been that it's probably best for the killer to get caught too.

Serve his time and after that become part of society.

But with all cold cases being solved with dna.

A lot of the killers being dead and seemingly have lived normal lifes after.

Who knows.

A lot of people in this story have spent a long long time in pain and sorrow.

Hopefully they have had moments of joy too. But this has always been there. Like a dark cloud on a summer day.

They are all victims of circumstances and the culture of our time.

Beverley Lynn Smith is given time and seems to have been an amazing human.

Her twins sisters pain must have been unbearable.

Reminded of her sister every time she looked in the mirror.

Her hole family. The pain.

Her daughter's insightfulness about what the popularity of ''true crime'' probably have on us all.

The police are also victims. Working hard and failing.

Believing in the false science of suppressed memory and pressing that that woman so she changed her story over and over again.

But also victims of the human brain and its inclination of tunnel vision and difficulties of admitting that we have been wrong. Even to ourself.

The police in charge must have a hard time.

A good hard working police but he will probably be remembered mostly because of this failure.

That I can relate to. I'm an retired family dr. You can work for 40years doing a good work. Nobody, except your clients notice.

One mistake and you're noticed a lot more.

The false science of lie detectors and our inability to detect a lie and our overconfidence that we are good at it.

For me it's obvious that the accused man didn't do it.

An overconfident lie detector expert and the misconception of suppressed memories really destroyed his life.

It seemed as what saved him was good lawyers.

It's not hard to understand that her family still think of him as the killer.

But the daughter showed an amazing ability to reconsider it in the future.

The members of the Big team, clearly lack common sense and empathy.

I would have confessed to killing anyone to get out of that.

But maybe the only way to work undercover is to block empathy or , maybe, only individuals with low ability in that volunteers?

Some declined to be part of the movie.

Understandably.

Good documentary, but how do true crime affect us?

Sorry for spelling and grammar. Dyslexic and English as second language.

Typical lawyer move to blame the police.

[jonesysiphone · 8/10 · 8 May 2022]

Well done show, right number of episodes. Sadly, defense lawyers are what they are, paid liars. Sure the police crossed the line in obtaining the confession. This was a new technique which has guidelines now. However, I don't know anyone who would falsely admit to a murder, claiming they were so scared they had no choice but to lie about committing a murder.

Later Al tried to recant the confession to the same man he claimed he was scared of. Only to clarify the details when he is reassured that it is just between them....

Al's team of defense lawyers then state that the police got the wrong man. They don't know that for certain now do they, but they are paid to say that. Paid liars.