Getting Away With Murder
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Bill Kurtis
Morgan Atkinson
David Boodell
Mary Elizabeth Boylan
Mary Elizabeth Boylan
Pat Brennan
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Documentary about the case of Brenda Schaefer of Louisville, Kentucky, who disappeared on September 24, 1988, after going on a date with her fiance Melvin Henry Ignatow. During police interviews, Brenda's friends implicated Ignatow, claiming he had abused her, but investigators found no hard evidence. A former girlfriend of the suspect, Mary Ann Shore, confessed to helping Ignatow plan Schaefer's murder. During the trial, Shore testified that Ignatow had Shore take pictures of the crime. Police scoured Ignatow's home but found no photographs. The jury acquitted Ignatow in December 1991. Then, in October 1992, a carpet installer discovered the undeveloped film in the ductwork of Ignatow's old home. But, because of the double jeopardy law, it was too late to try Ignatow for the same offense. Prosecutors built a perjury case against Ignatow and they forced him to confess to the murder in open court. He served five years for perjury, but will never serve time for the murder of Brenda Schaefer.
