#FIRSTLOOK: “THE UNSOLVED MURDER OF BEVERLY LYNN SMITH”

22-year-old Beverly Lynn Smith was murdered in her rural Oshawa home and the case remained unsolved for over four decades, as she left behind her ten-month-old daughter Rebecca. Prime Video Docu-Series THE UNSOLVED MURDER OF BEVERLY LYNN SMITH from Director/Producer Nathalie Bibeau, is part of the streaming service’s commitment to showcasing Canadian talent and stories, and explores this mystery in four parts. The investigation raises more questions the deeper it goes.

The first couple episodes of the Series start off on an intense note, taking us back to the mid-70s. These serve to give us a bit of backstory on the circumstances and surroundings as we meet key players in the story including Smith’s twin sister Barbara, a grown-up Rebecca, some of the officers involved in the investigation and Al Smith, who was arrested twice in connection to the killing, but still never convicted.

While moving into a farmhouse and having a baby with her husband Doug was meant to be a happily-ever-after, it was anything but. We learn that some days almost upwards of 150 people would pass through their home to buy drugs and perhaps the marriage wasn’t rosy. But still, what was at stake for Beverly Lynn Smith‘s killer taking her life, execution style?

Having grown-up in humble Oshawa, it is hard to believe that this is the same city I was born in as we learn of drug rings and an undercover police operation that sounded like it was part of a Thriller. We get wiretaps, police interviews, actual interviews with said key players, plus re-enactments in telling this suspenseful, twisted tale about a family’s search for justice when the crime remained unsolved for 40+ years. What went wrong we wonder that led to this remaining a cold case so long?

THE UNSOLVED MURDER OF BEVERLY LYNN SMITH premieres at Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival on April 30, 2022, before launching in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide on Prime Video on May 6, 2022.